Games Like Hydroneer

Techtonica is a first-person factory automation game with a gripping mystery about mining your way out from the depths of an alien planet. Explore bioluminescent caves, mold destructible terrain, construct a massive subterranean factory. Dig your way toward answers & discover the secrets of Calyx.

Why similar: Automation 25.4%, Base Building 16.8%, Building 11.4%, Sandbox 9.7%, Resource Management 9%

Why You'll Like It: It delivers first-person underground mining and factory building with belts, machines, and steady base expansion that feels very close to Hydroneer's core loop.

Satisfactory is a first-person open-world factory building game with a dash of exploration and combat. Play alone or with friends, explore an alien planet, create multi-story factories, and enter conveyor belt heaven!

Why similar: Automation 23.2%, Base Building 19%, Co-op 8.8%, Open World 8.6%, Building 8.4%

Why You'll Like It: This is one of the best alternatives if you want an open-world first-person sandbox about harvesting resources and building an ever-larger automated production empire.

Build a sophisticated robot factory optimized to perfection in an infinite voxel world. Mine and harvest resources, automate your production lines and manage complex systems while researching your way to become the galaxy’s leading robotics megacorp.

Why similar: Automation 19.5%, Base Building 14.7%, Sandbox 9.9%, Co-op 9.7%, Building 9.4%

Why You'll Like It: Its voxel world lets you dig directly through terrain for resources and turn those materials into sprawling automated factories.

Interact with strange new worlds in a unique and tactile way, molding the environment itself as if it were clay in your hands. Build your base, master resource management, automate your production lines, and more as you unravel the mysteries of the universe, alone or with friends.

Why similar: Base Building 18.4%, Open World 13.8%, Automation 12.9%, Sandbox 12.1%, Co-op 12.1%

Why You'll Like It: It captures the same relaxed co-op sandbox feel through terrain deformation, resource gathering, and modular base building.

A space survival open world terraforming crafting game, designed for 1 to 10 players. Alter the ecosystem of an inhospitable planet to render it habitable for humanity. Survive, gather resources, and build your base. Then, generate oxygen, warmth, and pressure to create a brand new biosphere.

Why similar: Base Building 19.4%, Automation 19%, Co-op 11.8%, Building 11.3%, Sandbox 9.7%

Why You'll Like It: Its chill pace of collecting materials, constructing a base, and gradually transforming your surroundings makes it a great Hydroneer follow-up.

Become a gold miner. Work hard, dig deep, explore the world, and you’ll become the wealthiest person in Alaska. Use a variety of specialist machines to find as much gold as you can.

Why similar: Mining 51% ★, Open World 12.3%, Simulation 11%, Sandbox 7.9%, Building 6%

Why You'll Like It: This is a direct match for the "dig up valuables, sell them, and reinvest into better mining" side of Hydroneer.

A casual heavy equipment experience. Mine ore, Move dirt, Build and repair.

Why similar: Mining 24.7% ★, Sandbox 18.5%, Base Building 13.6%, Building 12.8%, Simulation 7.5%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on running a hands-on mining operation with equipment and extraction systems, making it a strong fit for Hydroneer's worksite fantasy.

Explore a vast cavern of creatures, relics and resources in a mining sandbox adventure for 1-8 players. Mine, build, fight, craft and farm to unravel the mystery of the ancient Core.

Why similar: Base Building 20.6%, Sandbox 15.1%, Co-op 14.2%, Building 13.9%, Open World 13.3%

Why You'll Like It: Mining outward, building up a home base, and upgrading your tools gives it a similarly addictive dig-build-improve rhythm.

FortressCraft Evolved is a unique blend of Voxel Landscapes, Tower Defense, Crafting, Logistics, Exploration, Combat and Assembly lines. Players begin by crash-landing on a strange alien world, left with only a small handful of starting machines.

Why similar: Automation 25.8%, Sandbox 12.8%, Base Building 12.2%, Mining 11.5% ★, Building 11.2%

Why You'll Like It: Few games match Hydroneer as closely in combining voxel mining, conveyor automation, and the satisfaction of growing an industrial base from scratch.

Enter the creative paradise of Scrap Mechanic! Build fantastic machines, go on adventures with your friends and defend against waves of evil Farmbots in this imaginative multiplayer survival sandbox. With Scrap Mechanic’s powerful creation tools you can engineer your own adventures!

Why similar: Building 17.2%, Sandbox 15.6%, Base Building 14.4%, Open World 12.4%, Co-op 9.5%

Why You'll Like It: Its playful building systems and contraption-focused sandbox capture the same joy of tinkering your way toward more efficient resource gathering.

A base-building open-world survival shooter that replaces your typical base with a giant drill. Alone or with friends, explore an island plagued by eruptions, upgrade your drill, and fight robots to uncover what's been hiding beneath the surface.

Why similar: Base Building 20.8%, Sandbox 14.3%, Co-op 13.7%, Building 13.2%, Open World 10.9%

Why You'll Like It: Mining resources and upgrading a mobile drill-base creates a familiar cycle of extraction, building, and operational growth.

Space Engineers is a sandbox engineering game where you design and build ships, stations, and planetary bases in a fully destructible environment. Explore planets and space, mine resources, survive hazards, and engage in combat alone or with friends in Creative or Survival modes.

Why similar: Base Building 22.1%, Sandbox 15.8%, Co-op 15.1%, Building 14.9%, Open World 12.8%

Why You'll Like It: If you want more physics-driven freedom, it lets you mine voxels and engineer bases, vehicles, and machinery in a huge sandbox.

Stationeers puts you in control of the construction and management of a space station to run by yourself or online with your friends. Complex atmospheric, electrical, manufacturing, agriculture, and gravitational systems require your thought and management at all times!

Why similar: Mining 22.1% ★, Automation 18.4%, Base Building 14%, Sandbox 9.3%, Building 8.9%

Why You'll Like It: It is much more technical, but the loop of mining resources and constructing a functional industrial outpost scratches a similar itch.

Explore endless Universe and create the most efficient constellation of colonies. Build conveyor systems to automate production. Take care of Astronauts and their needs! Establish new colonies as part of intergalactic simulation.

Why similar: Automation 23.2%, Base Building 20.2%, Resource Management 10.2%, Building 9.1%, Sandbox 8.2%

Why You'll Like It: It mixes mining, conveyors, and base expansion in co-op, just shifted into a space setting.

Build an industrial empire on a remote island. Mine resources, reshape terrain with excavators, grow food, construct factories, lay train tracks, and trade with the outside world. Research 100+ technologies to advance from basic metal smelting all the way to nuclear power and space flight.

Why similar: Automation 33.2%, Base Building 21.9%, Resource Management 15.1%, Mining 11.6% ★, Building 8.1%

Why You'll Like It: It shares Hydroneer's appeal of extracting raw materials and scaling them into a complex, profitable industrial operation.

Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really like you.

Why similar: Automation 30%, Base Building 20.5%, Resource Management 11%, Sandbox 10.1%, Crafting 5.2%

Why You'll Like It: Even without the first-person view, it nails the same progression from manual resource collection to sprawling automated production.

Unleash your inner miner as you commandeer a high-tech Mining Mech! Mine for valuable resources and upgrade your mech for even bigger hauls as you explore the underground. Fun to play alone or with up to 7 friends in online co-op multiplayer!

Why similar: Mining 38.1% ★, Co-op 19.1%, Sandbox 13.7%, Multiplayer 10.3%, Crafting 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: The focus on digging deeper, hauling ore, and upgrading your mining setup makes it a simpler but solid match.

TerraTech is an open-world, sandbox adventure game, where you design and build your own creations through a mix of crafting, combat and discovery. Design vehicles from a huge library of blocks. Scavenge, craft and buy new parts to survive and become the ultimate planetary prospector.

Why similar: Building 26.5%, Sandbox 24.7%, Open World 19%, Multiplayer 12.6%, Crafting 10.2%

Why You'll Like It: Building your own machines and harvesting resources in a toy-like sandbox gives off a similar experimental, self-made vibe.

Build, automate, and optimize a giant factory on 3D terrain using conveyor belts, trains, chutes, pipes, and airships. Sell your goods to nearby villages to expand their borders, increase happiness, and unlock even better technology!

Why similar: Automation 28.9%, Base Building 20.9%, Sandbox 13.9%, Resource Management 12.6%, Building 8.5%

Why You'll Like It: This is a relaxed 3D automation builder centered on extracting resources and turning them into increasingly efficient production chains.

Build and manage a massive industrial network of factories, mines, and farms. Employ a fleet of trains, trucks, and robotic drones. In the age of automation, efficiency is survival!

Why similar: Automation 26.4%, Base Building 17.9%, Mining 13.8% ★, Sandbox 10.6%, Building 9.4%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on logistics and industrial scaling, which makes it a good pick if Hydroneer's automation was your favorite part.

Craftopia is the brand new multiplayer survival action game made in Japan. We combined many features we find enjoyable, such as hunting, farming, hack-and-slash, building, automation to develop this game.

Why similar: Open World 23%, Sandbox 15.3%, Crafting 14%, Building 12.6%, Multiplayer 12.3%

Why You'll Like It: This open-world sandbox blends co-op gathering, building, and conveyor-driven automation in a way Hydroneer fans often click with.

No Man's Sky is a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe.

Why similar: Open World 35.2%, Sandbox 23.1%, Multiplayer 15.9%, Crafting 9.7%, First-Person 5.5%

Why You'll Like It: Its combination of mining, base building, open-world exploration, and multiplayer makes it a broad but very compatible alternative.

shapez is an easy-going, minimalistic factory building game about the automation of shapes through extraction and satisfying production lines. Adapt to increasingly complex shapes and grow your factory across an infinitely expanding map. Your only limitation is your creativity!

Why similar: Automation 28.9%, Base Building 18.5%, Sandbox 12.4%, Resource Management 11.4%, Building 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: This is the most abstract recommendation here, but it strongly scratches the urge to optimize processing lines and production flow.

Fight, farm, build and work alongside mysterious creatures called "Pals" in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!

Why similar: Open World 18.2%, Base Building 14.8%, Automation 14.8%, Co-op 12%, Multiplayer 11.8%

Why You'll Like It: Automated resource production, multiplayer base growth, and open-world gathering make it a surprisingly good match if you like the management side.

You are Flameborn, last ember of hope of a dying race. Awaken, survive the terror of a corrupting fog, and reclaim the lost beauty of your kingdom. Venture into a vast world, vanquish punishing bosses, build grand halls and forge your path in this co-op survival action RPG for up to 16 players.

Why similar: Base Building 29.1%, Open World 21.1%, Building 12.4%, Multiplayer 11.9%, Sandbox 11.4%

Why You'll Like It: It leans more survival-crafting than automation, but its strong building and resource gathering still fit Hydroneer's sandbox appeal.

An open-ended factory management game with RTS and tower defense elements.

Why similar: Automation 28.3%, Base Building 23.7%, Resource Management 13.4%, Sandbox 9.3%, Building 8.8%

Why You'll Like It: Its mining, conveyor networks, and base expansion emphasize the same systems-driven satisfaction, just in a more strategic format.

Build, quest, and conquer across an infinite procedurally generated world. Play alone or with friends as you establish a settlement and explore deep dungeons, fight monsters and bosses, mine rare ores, craft magical equipment, recruit specialists for your colony, and more!

Why similar: Automation 16.5%, Sandbox 14.7%, Base Building 14.3%, Open World 12.2%, Co-op 11.1%

Why You'll Like It: This top-down co-op sandbox combines mining, base building, and long-term progression in a way that still overlaps nicely with Hydroneer's loop.

In Autonauts you must build, create, and automate. Start by establishing a colony, crafting bots and teaching them via Scratch-style programming to build an ever evolving autonomous paradise of agriculture, industry and enlightenment.

Why similar: Automation 35.5%, Base Building 18.6%, Sandbox 9.6%, Building 8.7%, Resource Management 8.1%

Why You'll Like It: It captures the playful automation experimentation of Hydroneer by letting you build systems that handle more and more work for you.

Design and build a factory deep underground in this physics-based automation sandbox. Mine resources, buy machines and master the chaos as you become the ultimate Mine Mogul!

Why similar: Mining 23.4% ★, Automation 21.2%, Base Building 12%, Building 9.6%, Sandbox 8.1%

Deep Rock Galactic is a 1-4 player co-op FPS featuring dwarven space miners, procedurally-generated destructible environments, and endless hordes of alien monsters. Explore cave systems, mine for minerals, and work together to survive!

Why similar: Co-op 86.3%, First-Person 13.7%

Why You'll Like It: It loses the base-building focus, but few games hit the same cooperative mining satisfaction so well.

SteamWorld Build is a casual city-building and dungeon-management cross-over set in the SteamWorld Universe, where you build and manage a town on a dying planet. You'll need to balance resources, construction, and exploration to its depths to ensure your town's survival and eventual escape.

Why similar: Base Building 26%, Resource Management 21.2%, Sandbox 18.9%, Building 18.8%, Casual 4.7%

Why You'll Like It: Its mix of mining deeper underground while expanding operations above ground echoes Hydroneer's progression in a more structured format.

Craft your workshop as an alchemist!‌ Harness arcane devices to automate crafting. Sell alchemical goods, fulfill commissions, and rise to become a renowned alchemy magnate. ‌Multiplayer Supported!‌ Invite master designers to (ahem) contribute their expertise—let them optimize your production lines!

Why similar: Automation 28.1%, Base Building 14.4%, Sandbox 11.7%, Building 11%, Multiplayer 6.6%

An experimental clicker base building game. Craft, gather & manage resources, build your base and buy more islands to exploit and expand!

Why similar: Automation 21.5%, Base Building 19.2%, Sandbox 12.4%, Resource Management 10.1%, Building 9.9%

Orebound is a dwarven themed factory automation game. Play alone or with friends as you build, mine, craft and explore a voxel generated world! Build your fortress, expand your factory, fight off creatures who dwell beneath the mountains and embark on a journey of greatness.

Why similar: Mining 19.5% ★, Automation 16.8%, Base Building 11.3%, Co-op 8.1%, Resource Management 7.6%

Take over an abandoned space station and manage your own ore mine. Cut through the asteroid with your laser, sell ore, and create an automated network of robot helpers to maximize your profit.

Why similar: Mining 31% ★, Sandbox 14.4%, Base Building 11.1%, Resource Management 10.4%, Building 8.3%

Pilot your drill deep below the surface of a remote planet, to mine ore to refine into resources, which will be used in drill upgrades and construction of your homebase. Upgrades will allow you to drill deeper to find more types of ores. Explore caves to uncover mysteries and secrets.

Why similar: Mining 31.7% ★, Automation 19.8%, Base Building 17.7%, Resource Management 12.1%, Building 6.7%

StarRupture is a first-person open world base-building game with advanced combat and tons of exploration. Play alone or in a group on this sublime and ever-changing planet, extract and manage resources, create your complex industrial system and fight off hordes of alien monsters.

Why similar: Automation 24.7%, Base Building 19.1%, Co-op 12.5%, Sandbox 11.6%, Open World 10.6%

Explore the depths of the earth and uncover hidden treasures in this addictive idle mining game. Unlock the power of your drill with hundreds of upgrades, discover mysterious relics, and unearth priceless gems. Can you master the mines and reveal their deepest secrets? Dive in and dig deep!

Why similar: Mining 44.6% ★, Resource Management 11.6%, Building 8.6%, Crafting 8.3%, Simulation 6.7%

Eden Crafters is a solo or co-op open-world survival, crafting, and factory-building game where you transform a hostile planet into a habitable haven for humanity. Build, automate, and terraform. Control the climate, create a breathable atmosphere, and turn toxic lakes into water: shape a new world!

Why similar: Automation 24.3%, Base Building 17.3%, Sandbox 11%, Building 9.4%, Open World 9%

Keep Digging is a digging survival craft game for up to 8 players. Explore a procedurally generated 5000m underground world, bring back ores, blueprints, and fossils, then use the smelter, forge, and enchantments to build your gear! Team up in co-op or compete for items in PvP.

Why similar: Mining 38.2% ★, Sandbox 15.1%, Co-op 14.7%, Multiplayer 9.3%, Crafting 7.9%

Grab a shovel and let's get digging! Join the adventure, hire miners and dig for a treasure

Why similar: Mining 42.3% ★, Automation 25.4%, Resource Management 6.3%, Split Screen 6.2% ★, Co-op 6.1%

Build a formidable factory and go dungeoning alone or with friends. Solve logic puzzles and automate resource collection and crafting, or venture into dungeons filled with dangers and rewards. Find your own ideal gameplay balance, as any unique path will advance the story!

Why similar: Mining 25.4% ★, Automation 17.3%, Base Building 12.2%, Co-op 8%, Building 7.5%

Play solo or co-op with up to 5 players to find oil, store crude, refine fuels, and sell them at gas stations and shop. Dig for gems and fossils, upgrade your gear, lease new land, and dominate the city as the biggest oil supplier!

Why similar: Mining 28.2% ★, Automation 16.4%, Resource Management 10.7%, Base Building 10.2%, Building 7.7%

A minimalist game about digging a hole in the garden of a newly purchased house. Collect resources, sell them, upgrade your equipment and discover a mysterious secret. Costs you only one coffee!

Why similar: Mining 50.5% ★, Sandbox 20.4%, Crafting 10.6%, Simulation 6.8%, First-Person 4.2%

Mine, farm, manufacture components and build a wide range of machines in an infinite basement. Forget primitive tasks thanks to automation! And sell your products to your customers! Build a parking, a gas station...

Why similar: Automation 30.1%, Sandbox 21%, Building 15.9%, Crafting 9.5%, Simulation 8%

Survive and colonize Mars in a highly technical, open-world sandbox game. Build and upgrade your base, discover new regions, conduct mining operations, retrieve water, generate oxygen, grow crops, and fix broken parts.

Why similar: Base Building 19.5%, Sandbox 14.1%, Resource Management 12.5%, Building 12.1%, Open World 11.9%

Explore a vast underground world to mine and craft hundreds of items while building up your modular Outpost on the surface, to prospect for gems, refine resources and farm hydroponic crops in this top-down sci-fi survival-crafter where the story always provides a reason to dig deeper.

Why similar: Mining 25% ★, Automation 16.5%, Base Building 14.7%, Sandbox 9.8%, Building 9.3%

TerraTech Worlds is an open world, build-craft adventure game, set on an uncharted alien world. Play solo or with friends, explore your surroundings, craft unique vehicles, construct automated bases, and battle your way through hazards and enemies to harness the power of your environment

Why similar: Mining 20.8% ★, Base Building 15.8%, Automation 13%, Sandbox 10.2%, Co-op 9.8%

In Lightyear Frontier you use your powerful trusty mech to farm on a large beautiful alien planet. Settle your homestead, farm and deliver produce to remote colonies, gather and manage resources, build, craft, explore, expand, improve your mech, meet neighbors, and make a place to call your own.

Why similar: Base Building 26.1%, Resource Management 15.7%, Sandbox 15.2%, Co-op 14.8%, Open World 12.4%

Have you always dreamed of searching for gold? Then start your own adventure now - alone or together with friends. Explore a huge map and dig for gold using a variety of methods, vehicles and wash plants.

Why similar: Mining 34.1% ★, Co-op 12.5%, Open World 10.9%, Multiplayer 9.9%, Sandbox 9.3%

Build the most efficient intergalactic factory in space simulation strategy game Dyson Sphere Program! Harness the power of stars, collect resources, plan and design production lines and develop your interstellar factory from a small space workshop to a galaxy-wide industrial empire.

Why similar: Automation 31%, Base Building 21.8%, Building 11.3%, Resource Management 10.2%, Sandbox 9.6%

Take control of a mining operation run by moose. They mine and sell the gems. You need to decide where to spend the profits. Hire more miners and upgrade their gear. Buy new rails and minecarts to get deeper into the mine. The deeper you get the more valuable gems you will find.

Why similar: Mining 31% ★, Automation 21.9%, Base Building 15.3%, Building 11.1%, Resource Management 10.9%

Keep on Mining! is a short incremental mining game. Mine rocks, gather materials, find artifacts, craft pickaxes and spend your materials on permanent upgrades inside the big skill tree!

Why similar: Mining 68.4% ★, Resource Management 16.1%, Casual 6.8%, Indie 3.6%, Strategy 2.9%

Builderment is a casual factory builder, where you are sent to far away planets to keep Earth going with fresh resources. Establish your base, then mine, build, transport, and ultimately design an automated operation that will save your home one shipment at a time!

Why similar: Automation 28.3%, Base Building 19.9%, Resource Management 11.4%, Sandbox 11.1%, Building 10.5%

Build your own Super Mining Mech and explore the underground in search of new natural resources. Customize your mech with unlockable parts to dig deeper than ever - by yourself or with up to 7 friends in online co-op multiplayer! So, what are you waiting for? There’s mining to be done!

Why similar: Mining 38.6% ★, Sandbox 20.7%, Open World 13.9%, Co-op 11.2%, Crafting 7.9%

In iDigging, you’ll balance treasure hunting, home improvement, and the strategy of hiding from curious neighbors and authorities. Upgrade, dig, and create your best life despite all the challenges!

Why similar: Base Building 39.9%, Co-op 15.4%, Resource Management 13.7%, Multiplayer 9.3%, Simulation 7.8%

Check it, clean it, sort it, ship it. Welcome to the life of a cash cleaner. Take jobs from underworld contacts and clean some cash. Just don't try to leave...

Why similar: Automation 43.7%, Sandbox 23.3%, Resource Management 16%, Simulation 6.7%, First-Person 5.1%

Mining Merchant is a relaxing mining and shopkeeping adventure game. Mine by day to uncover rare ores and gems, then craft jewelry to sell in your shop by night. Rebuild your uncle’s business solo or in co-op and uncover the mystery behind the nightly earthquakes.

Why similar: Mining 49.7% ★, Sandbox 21.2%, Crafting 10.1%, Co-op 6.3%, Multiplayer 4.2%

A cozy mining platformer game. Dig deep into the earth in search of riches. Create your mine, improve your equipment, but don't get too greedy.

Why similar: Mining 56.2% ★, Sandbox 14.1%, Open World 12.5%, Simulation 7%, Adventure 3.1%

Land on a distant planet in this chill resource management game. Harvest alien resources, build and automate machinery, uncover secrets across the stars and strike shipping deals with distant colonies for exclusive rewards!

Why similar: Automation 22.6%, Base Building 18.3%, Sandbox 12.8%, Resource Management 11.6%, Building 11.6%