- #1 Mars Colony:Challenger
96% matchMixed65% of 119 reviews2014
Dev: HyperKat Games
Windows
Mars Colony: Challenger is a 3D first / third person game that offers you the challenge of setting up a remote base on the surface of Mars. At its core, the game was derived from a simulator where everything is interactively tied together.
Why similar: Simulation 48%, RPG 25.9%, Adventure 15.3%, Indie 10.8%
- #2 Utopia Colony
96% matchMixed67% of 108 reviews2020
Dev: GridSky Software
Windows
The year is 2033. You, an ex-Marine with little opportunities left, have signed up with Utopia Arura, a large mining corporation on Mars. They have sent you to a location they have proposed but you have chosen for mining. Everything else is up to you.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 77.5% ★, Simulation 14.2%, Adventure 8.3%
- #3 JCB Pioneer: Mars
95% matchMixed42% of 153 reviews2017
Dev: AtomicomPub: GamesCo
Windows
JCB Pioneer: Mars drops you onto the surface of The Red Planet. Your mission: To survive and prepare Mars for future human colonization.
Why similar: Simulation 52.5%, Adventure 27.1%, Indie 20.3%
- #4 Occupy Mars: The Game
92% matchMostly Positive70% of 3,012 reviews2026
Dev: ▲ Pyramid Games
Windows
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 31.4 hrs≥1hr: 77%
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: Simulation 72.4%, Indie 27.6%
- #5 Star Rangers™ XE
94% matchMostly Negative40% of 153 reviews2016
Dev: Project Whitecard Studios Inc.Pub: Awestruck Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Explore space and build on other worlds in Star Rangers! Star Rangers is a space exploration and construction game that allows players to build habitats and spacecraft, acquire gear and explore the solar system.
Why similar: Simulation 42.1%, RPG 23.5%, Adventure 20%, Indie 14.4%
- #6 Edge of Space
93% matchMostly Negative33% of 2,729 reviews2015
Dev: Handyman StudiosPub: Reverb Triple XP
Windows
Median: 4.4 hrsMean: 5.8 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Suit up as an operative of the Ark Corporation, sent to the farthest reaches of the universe in search of habitable planets to terraform. However, after the long space journey you awaken from cryosleep to find that your ship has gone way off course and is disabled near a strange new world.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 85.3% ★, RPG 6.1%, Adventure 4.8%, Indie 3.8%
- #7 Under A New Sun
91% matchMostly Positive76% of 368 reviews2023
Dev: New Horizon Games
Windows
While searching for a new home, an unexpected failure in your ship has left you stranded on a planet surprisingly similar to Earth. Discover a vast open world, hunt for food, develop technologies, and build yourself a new home to survive!
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 86.2% ★, Simulation 6.1%, Adventure 4.8%, Indie 2.9%
- #8 Russian Village Simulator on Mars
89% matchMostly Positive79% of 68 reviews2025
Dev: VD Games
Windows
Develop a village colony on Mars, using various resources and bringing the unique flavor of Russian culture to the distant space.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 71.4% ★, Simulation 14.9%, RPG 13.7%
- #9 Surviving Mars: Pioneer
88% matchVery Positive85% of 79 reviews2025
Dev: Bolverk GamesPub: Impact Inked
Windows
The Red Planet is vast, desolate, and utterly indifferent to your survival. Surviving Mars: Pioneer is the first made-for-VR entry in the Surviving Mars universe, challenging you to carve out an existence in one of the most hostile environments imaginable.
Why similar: Simulation 63.7%, Adventure 36.3%
- #10 Colony On Mars
89% matchMostly Negative25% of 55 reviews2018
Dev: Nikita "Ghost_RUS"Pub: Ghost_RUS Games
Windows
Median: 30 minMean: 4.4 hrs≥1hr: 20%
You play as an astronaut in a colony on Mars and you need to upgrade your colony, build new constructions and collect resources
Why similar: Simulation 68.3%, Indie 31.7%
- #11 The Planet Crafter: Prologue
84% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 10,643 reviews2021
Dev: Miju Games
Windows
Median: 1.4 hrsMean: 3.9 hrs≥1hr: 55%
Experience the first stages of terraforming an entire planet in this space survival open world terraforming crafting game prologue. Explore, survive, collect, build your base then create oxygen, heat and pressure to make an hostile planet livable for humanity.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 94.2% ★, Adventure 5.8%
- #12 Hostile Planet: Survival
86% matchMixed65% of 99 reviews2022
Dev: Aliens Developers
Windows
Hostile Planet: Survival is a harsh adventure on an uncharted planet that full of danger and trials.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 84.2% ★, Adventure 8.6%, Simulation 7.2%
- #13 Fragmented
86% matchMixed43% of 1,964 reviews2017
Dev: Above and Beyond Technologies
Windows
Median: 42 minMean: 3.9 hrs≥1hr: 41%
Stranded in a hostile alien world, you must fight to survive. Hunt, harvest, craft, advance skills, and build using local resources along with technology from your voyage.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 91.6% ★, RPG 6%, Indie 2.3%
- #14 Farlight Explorers
85% matchMixed56% of 205 reviews2019
Dev: Farlight Games Industry
Windows
Median: 2.5 hrsMean: 3.5 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Extract and gather resources from different planets. Manage the supply of electricity, water, food and oxygen of your base in order to survive. Automate the creation of new products. Build a spaceship to transport your products to other places...
Why similar: Simulation 63.7%, Indie 36.3%
- #15 Rover Mechanic Simulator
82% matchMostly Positive76% of 654 reviews2020
Dev: ▲ Pyramid GamesPub: Pyramid Games S.A.
Windows
Median: 4.4 hrsMean: 5.9 hrs≥1hr: 93%
As an Engineer - crew member of one of the first Mars colonies - you are responsible for repairing and maintaining Mars Rovers. In this advanced simulator you will learn the internal details of various Mars Rovers and their components.
Why similar: Simulation 71.7%, Indie 28.3%
- #16 Take On Mars
84% matchMixed55% of 2,023 reviews2017
Dev: Bohemia Interactive
Windows
Median: 3.0 hrsMean: 10.5 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Take On Mars places you right in the middle of mankind’s most exciting undertaking. Start out in the seat of a rover operator, finish as the first human to have ever set foot on the Red Planet.
Why similar: Simulation 92.3%, Adventure 7.7%
- #17 Planet Explorers
83% matchMixed62% of 6,817 reviews2016
Dev: Pathea Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 12.8 hrs≥1hr: 73%
Planet Explorers is an open world sandbox adventure RPG game set on a distant planet. The game uses a new OpenCL calculated voxel system to allow players to change the terrain in any way, create new objects such as weapons, vehicles, objects, and do it anywhere.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 82.9% ★, RPG 7.8%, Adventure 4.3%, Simulation 3%, Indie 1.9%
- #18 Starbound
80% matchVery Positive90% of 122,901 reviews2016
Dev: Chucklefish
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 17.2 hrsMean: 64.1 hrs≥1hr: 91%
You’ve fled your home, only to find yourself lost in space with a damaged ship. Your only option is to beam down to the planet below, repair your ship and set off to explore the universe...
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 86.5% ★, RPG 6.2%, Adventure 4.4%, Indie 2.8%
- #19 GearStorm - Armored Survival
82% matchMixed56% of 82 reviews2019
Dev: Iron City Games
Windows · Mac
GearStorm - Armored Survival is a story-driven, open-world sci-fi survival adventure. Discover what led to the Phage, a deadly virus apocalypse and our escape to a alien world. Explore a vast alien planet, build your base, create your colony, acquire vehicles, weapons, and supplies to defend it.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 35% ★, RPG 22.5%, Simulation 21.8%, Adventure 11.6%, Indie 9.1%
- #20 Astro Colony
79% matchVery Positive82% of 2,509 reviews2022
Dev: Terad Games
Windows
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 16.3 hrs≥1hr: 78%
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: Simulation 56.2%, Adventure 25%, Indie 18.8%
- #21 Cube Life: Island Survival
81% matchMixed69% of 177 reviews2018
Dev: Cypronia
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.1 hrsMean: 6.6 hrs≥1hr: 96%
Cube Life: Island Survival is an open-world, block building, survival game, taking place on a beautiful remote island. Imagine being shipwrecked and stranded left for dead, with only your will to survive. You must explore, build, craft, and fight your way to stay alive.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 88.3% ★, Adventure 6.7%, Indie 4.9%
- #22 Titan Outpost
79% matchMostly Positive79% of 97 reviews2019
Dev: The Boar Studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Titan Outpost is a hard science fiction role-playing game in which you must build a base, manage its crew, develop your character's skills and attributes, and explore Saturn's sixth moon, uncovering its mysteries and harvesting its resources.
Why similar: RPG 35.2%, Simulation 33.1%, Adventure 17.9%, Indie 13.9%
- #23 Surviving Ceres
75% matchVery Positive87% of 137 reviews2025
Dev: Ryan SaundersPub: One Man Media
Windows
Explore a handcrafted survival game with an emphasis on crafting and base building. Export manufactured goods to earn funding, manage colonists, defend against hostile aliens, and work towards terraforming Ceres from a frozen ball of ice to a tropical paradise.
Why similar: Simulation 58.2%, RPG 41.8%
- #24 Stranded Deep
76% matchMostly Positive74% of 47,062 reviews2022
Dev: Beam Team GamesPub: Beam Team Publishing
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.5 hrsMean: 21.1 hrs≥1hr: 83%
Take the role of a plane crash survivor stranded somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Come face to face with some of the most life threatening scenarios that will result in a different experience each time you play. Scavenge. Discover. Survive.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 92.5% ★, Simulation 3.4%, Adventure 3.3%, Indie 0.8%
- #25 Life Not Supported
77% matchMixed68% of 170 reviews2023
Dev: YETIBYTES
Windows · Linux
You are the lone survivor orbiting a potential new home planet, tethered to what’s left of your ship. Gather nearby debris and assemble a make-shift vessel in an attempt to survive the harsh realities of space. Maybe you'll live long enough to uncover the truth behind the ship's malfunction...
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 87.7% ★, Simulation 7.3%, Adventure 4.9%
- #26 Minicology
76% matchMixed68% of 72 reviews2024
Dev: Isaac DennerPub: Iceberg Interactive
Windows
Median: 4.4 hrsMean: 5.1 hrs≥1hr: 91%
You have crash-landed into a mini-verse of tiny planets. Welcome to Minicology! Embark on an interstellar survival sandbox journey. Use your crafting, combat, and automation skills to survive the many challenges this mini-verse throws at you.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 69.2% ★, Simulation 16.7%, RPG 8.5%, Adventure 5.7%
- #27 Unearthing Mars VR
78% matchMixed65% of 63 reviews2017
Dev: Light Era StudioPub: Skywalker HK
Windows
Unearthing Mars is a VR adventure game set on the mysterious Red Planet. Unearthing Mars provides hours of unique gameplay experiences, ranging from puzzle-solving to first-person shooting, the game will allow players to resolve challenges from a variety of game genres.
Why similar: Simulation 64.8%, Adventure 35.2%
- #28 Horizon Journey
74% matchMostly Negative25% of 81 reviews2026
Dev: Redivided Studios
Windows
Embark on an epic adventure to Mars in Horizon Journey, an open-world survival game that blends colonization, terraforming, and exploration in both single-player and multiplayer co-op modes. You're tasked with the monumental challenge of making Mars a new home for humanity.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 92% ★, Adventure 8%
- #29 Unclaimed World
78% matchMixed50% of 216 reviews2016
Dev: Refactored Games OÜ
Windows
Median: 4.2 hrsMean: 5.4 hrs≥1hr: 94%
Manage interstellar pioneers and their descendants in this detailed sci-fi colony sim. Centuries after planetfall, colonists are still struggling to gain foothold on their lush and alien planet. You settle on the frontier by carefully managing resources, production and different personalities.
Why similar: Simulation 76.3%, Indie 23.7%
- #30 Oxygen Not Included
73% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 138,890 reviews2019
Dev: Klei Entertainment
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 8.9 hrsMean: 67.7 hrs≥1hr: 86%
Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.
Why similar: Simulation 68.7%, Indie 17.5%, Adventure 13.9%
- #31 Planetbase
75% matchMostly Positive80% of 10,262 reviews2015
Dev: Madruga Works
Windows · Mac
Median: 8.2 hrsMean: 26.2 hrs≥1hr: 90%
Guide a group of space settlers trying to establish a base on a remote planet. Grow food, collect energy, mine resources, survive disasters and build a self-sufficient colony in a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Why similar: Simulation 73.5%, Indie 18.8%, Adventure 7.7%
- #32 Starlite: Astronaut Rescue - Developed in Collaboration with NASA
77% matchMostly Negative37% of 194 reviews2014
Dev: Project Whitecard Studios Inc.
Windows · Mac
Median: 30 minMean: 2.7 hrs≥1hr: 10%
Experience the thrill of standing in the boots of a future astronaut on Mars in the world of Starlite.Participate with your crewmate in a single-player 20 minute mini-adventure that soon turns into more than you bargained for on the Red Planet.
Why similar: RPG 40.1%, Simulation 38.8%, Adventure 21.1%
- #33 Blossom: The Seed of Life
68% matchVery Positive90% of 654 reviews2026
Dev: Pebbledust GamesPub: Pretty Soon
Windows
Terraform a dead planet back to life in this open world survival crafting game. Explore ruins, gather resources, print machines, drive modular vehicles, grow forests, biomes, and ecosystems. Create life and make it thrive with your own hands.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 94.3% ★, Adventure 5.7%
- #34 Stranded: Alien Dawn
70% matchVery Positive85% of 10,890 reviews2023
Dev: Haemimont GamesPub: Paradox Interactive
Windows
Median: 7.0 hrsMean: 24.2 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Brave a new world in Stranded: Alien Dawn, a planet survival sim placing the fate of a small marooned group in your hands. Forge your story through compelling and immersive strategic gameplay as you make vital decisions to protect your survivors.
Why similar: Simulation 100%
- #35 Lacuna Passage
74% matchMixed65% of 105 reviews2017
Dev: Candescent Games
Windows · Mac
Explore the vast terrains of Mars, generated from real NASA satellite data, and survive threats like dust storms by discovering randomized supply caches and habitats. Adventure on foot or in driveable rovers with this otherworldly first-person sandbox.
Why similar: Simulation 72%, Indie 28%
- #36 Drift: Space Survival
71% matchMixed70% of 76 reviews2023
Dev: KAR Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
You were deep in uncharted space on a research mission. Disaster struck. Together with your friends, explore a mysterious asteroid field and mine whatever resources possible to build what you need to survive.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 84.4% ★, Simulation 6.9%, Adventure 4.9%, Indie 3.9%
- #37 Citizens: On Mars - Prologue
70% matchMostly Positive73% of 74 reviews2023
Dev: Redkar LimitedPub: CreativeForge Games
Windows
Experience the ultimate turn-based colony building game in Citizens: On Mars - Prologue! As the leader of a fledgling Martian settlement, your mission is to develop a thriving colony amidst the harsh and unforgiving environment of the Red Planet.
Why similar: Simulation 100%
- #38 Radiation Island
72% matchVery Positive80% of 623 reviews2016
Dev: Atypical Games
Windows
Median: 4.6 hrsMean: 6.4 hrs≥1hr: 91%
Radiation Island is a survival adventure game where you craft your own destiny in a huge open world environment. As part of the Philadelphia Experiment you have become stranded in a parallel, alternate reality. Discover this new and mysterious world, with all its surprises.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 88.3% ★, Adventure 7.3%, Indie 4.4%
- #39 Outpost Zero
72% matchMixed49% of 846 reviews2019
Dev: Symmetric GamesPub: tinyBuild
Windows
Median: 1.2 hrsMean: 6.2 hrs≥1hr: 54%
Outpost Zero blends the genres of Multiplayer Base Building Survival and Simulation games in a Sci-Fi universe. On a lawless alien world, robotic scouts are tasked with building an Outpost for human colonists. Command AI minions, colonize the planet, and survive the perils of Gaiya.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 73.6% ★, Simulation 13.5%, Adventure 7.8%, Indie 5.1%
- #40 Earth Space Colonies
73% matchMixed50% of 167 reviews2016
Dev: Persona and Pixel studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.0 hrsMean: 3.6 hrs≥1hr: 96%
Earth Space Colonies is a strategy-simulation game where you build space colonies around the Solar system. Establish a first self-sustaining colony on the Red planet with ultimate goal of terraforming Mars. Play three story campaigns all at once: terraform Mars, fight on Ceres and explore Ganymede.
Why similar: Simulation 73.9%, Indie 26.1%
- #41 Waking Mars
71% matchVery Positive89% of 1,195 reviews2012
Dev: Tiger Style
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 54 minMean: 4.3 hrs≥1hr: 49%
In 2097, life is discovered on Mars. When your mission of first contact becomes trapped by a cave-in, you must master the alien ecosystem to survive. Soon you stumble upon more than anyone expected, and with time running out, you will make a decision that determines the fate of a lost planet.
Why similar: Adventure 61.4%, Indie 38.6%
- #42 Ocean World: Eden Crafters Prologue
65% matchVery Positive91% of 7,161 reviews2024
Dev: Osaris Games
Windows
Median: 1.3 hrsMean: 3.0 hrs≥1hr: 55%
Embark on a journey of survival, crafting, and automation in this free prologue introducing one of the planets you can transform in Eden Crafters – an upcoming open-world game that challenges you, alone or with friends, to turn a hostile planet into a habitable haven for humanity.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 88.5% ★, Simulation 7.3%, Adventure 4.3%
- #43 Adaptory
65% matchVery Positive84% of 91 reviews2026
Dev: Stormcloak GamesPub: indie.io
Windows · Mac
Deep in uncharted space, your expedition took a challenging turn when your ship crash-landed. Master complex simulations to keep your outspoken explorers alive, face unpredictable challenges, and figure out a way back home.
Why similar: Simulation 74.3%, Indie 25.7%
- #44 ASTRONEER
66% matchVery Positive92% of 136,711 reviews2019
Dev: System Era Softworks
Windows
Median: 11.7 hrsMean: 44.1 hrs≥1hr: 87%
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: Open World Survival Craft 88.8% ★, Simulation 4.7%, Adventure 4.6%, Indie 1.9%
- #45 CrossWorlds: Escape
69% matchMixed64% of 157 reviews2020
Dev: Another Reality
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 4.0 hrs≥1hr: 97%
CrossWorlds: Escape is a hardcore game in which you will have to deploy all your skills to survive in a huge open world that is susceptible to changes in weather, seasons and various natural phenomena.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 77.8% ★, RPG 10.3%, Simulation 8.9%, Adventure 3%
- #46 The Martian VR Experience
71% matchMostly Negative25% of 51 reviews2016
Dev: The Third Floor, IncPub: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
Windows
The Martian VR Experience is an interactive, immersive adventure from the perspective of astronaut Mark Watney. Participants perform tasks for Watney’s survival, fly onto the surface of Mars, steer at zero gravity through space, drive a rover, and experience key scenes from the hit film in an interactive virtual reality environment.
Why similar: Simulation 64.8%, Adventure 35.2%
- #47 The Planet Crafter
62% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 67,314 reviews2024
Dev: Miju Games
Windows
Median: 21.1 hrsMean: 37.2 hrs≥1hr: 91%
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: Open World Survival Craft 94.6% ★, Adventure 5.4%
- #48 Subterrain
69% matchMostly Positive76% of 1,385 reviews2016
Dev: Pixellore Inc
Windows
Median: 3.4 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Uncompromising Sci-Fi survival on Mars! Manage the entire colony single-handed! Craft, Research, Explore and Fight against evolving mutants. Vast open world and randomly generated levels to explore! Can you survive long enough to escape the horror?
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 93% ★, Indie 7%
- #49 CryoFall
66% matchMostly Positive79% of 6,397 reviews2021
Dev: AtomicTorch StudioPub: Daedalic Entertainment
Windows
Median: 5.0 hrsMean: 16.4 hrs≥1hr: 88%
CryoFall is a sci-fi colony simulation survival game set on a forgotten planet in a distant future. Master technology, agriculture, trading, industry, cybernetics, exploration, and more!
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 88.7% ★, RPG 11.3%
- #50 The Gold River Project
63% matchMixed67% of 526 reviews2026
Dev: Fairview Games Inc.
Windows
The Gold River Project™ invites you and your friends on an open world camping trip gone wrong. Alone or together, you must explore, craft, build, and survive the increasingly harsh environments of the Pacific Northwest wilderness as you uncover the experiment trapping you inside.
Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 80.1% ★, Simulation 9.5%, Adventure 6.6%, Indie 3.9%