- #1 Mini Settlers
97% matchVery Positive86% of 607 reviews2025
Dev: Knight Owl GamesPub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Mini Settlers is a minimalistic city builder! Settle islands, construct cities, and design efficient logistic networks to fulfill your buildings' needs and fuel population growth to adventure into new worlds.
Why similar: Colony Sim 13.9% ★, Automation 13.4%, Transportation 11.5% ★, Base Building 8.9%, City Builder 8.6%
Why You'll Like It: The full version of the seed game offers expanded content, more complex logistics, and additional worlds to settle.
- #2 shapez
96% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 15,210 reviews2020
Dev: Tobias SpringerPub: tobspr Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.7 hrsMean: 14.8 hrs≥1hr: 66%
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 30.6%, Base Building 17.5%, Resource Management 15.1%, Sandbox 7.1%, Management 6.7%
Why You'll Like It: A purely minimalist automation game that strips away complex graphics to focus entirely on the logic of supply chains and factory efficiency.
- #3 ISLANDERS
96% matchVery Positive94% of 16,710 reviews2019
Dev: Coatsink
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.9 hrsMean: 5.5 hrs≥1hr: 64%
ISLANDERS is a minimalist strategy game about building cities on colorful islands.
Why similar: City Builder 28.5%, Colony Sim 21.6% ★, Minimalist 12.5%, Relaxing 12.5%, Building 10.3%
Why You'll Like It: This minimalist city-builder focuses on relaxing, puzzle-like placement mechanics that share the same clean aesthetic as the seed game.
- #4 Mini Motorways
95% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 23,591 reviews2021
Dev: Dinosaur Polo Club
Windows · Mac
Median: 6.0 hrsMean: 16.8 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Mini Motorways is a strategy simulation game about designing the road map for a growing city. Build a traffic network, one road at a time, to create a bustling metropolis. Redesign your roads and place your motorways to get everyone where they need to go. How long can you keep the city moving?
Why similar: Transportation 21.9% ★, Minimalist 13%, Strategy 12.3%, Management 10.1%, Simulation 10%
Why You'll Like It: A minimalist strategy game that challenges you to design a road network that keeps a growing city moving without congestion.
- #5 Factory Town
94% matchVery Positive91% of 4,419 reviews2021
Dev: Erik Asmussen
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 14.1 hrs≥1hr: 76%
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 17.2%, Colony Sim 14.8% ★, Base Building 11.1%, City Builder 10.5%, Resource Management 9.4%
Why You'll Like It: This game combines city-building with complex automation, requiring players to design intricate logistics networks to move goods efficiently.
- #6 Dorfromantik
94% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 29,027 reviews2022
Dev: Toukana Interactive
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 12.3 hrs≥1hr: 81%
Dorfromantik is a peaceful building strategy and puzzle game where you create a beautiful and ever-growing village landscape by placing tiles. Explore a variety of colorful biomes, discover and unlock new tiles and complete quests to fill your world with life!
Why similar: City Builder 26.3%, Resource Management 18.5%, Minimalist 15.9%, Relaxing 10.4%, Strategy 9.9%
Why You'll Like It: This peaceful building strategy game uses tile-placement mechanics to create beautiful landscapes, mirroring the relaxing nature of the seed game.
- #7 Rail Route
92% matchVery Positive89% of 2,461 reviews2024
Dev: Bitrich.info
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 111.4 hrs≥1hr: 74%
In Rail Route, you will design, construct, upgrade, and automate your railway network in one of the many maps based on real-life cities worldwide. Dispatch the trains to make the traffic flow and the network grow!
Why similar: Automation 13.6%, Transportation 13.1% ★, Trains 12.8% ★, City Builder 10.7%, Base Building 9%
Why You'll Like It: Focuses on the minimalist design of train networks, requiring logical planning to manage traffic and expand your railway empire.
- #8 The Colonists
93% matchVery Positive86% of 1,205 reviews2018
Dev: CodebyfirePub: Mode 7
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 13.0 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Build a new home for your team of robots as they begin a new life for themselves on a distant planet where they can fulfil their ultimate dream: to be human.
Why similar: Colony Sim 21.4% ★, Automation 19.1%, City Builder 14.8%, Base Building 10.2%, Management 6.6%
Why You'll Like It: A charming colony-sim that emphasizes building automated transport networks to help your robots thrive on new planets.
- #9 Townscaper
91% matchOverwhelmingly Positive95% of 21,438 reviews2021
Dev: Oskar StålbergPub: Raw Fury
Windows · Mac
Median: 42 minMean: 8.6 hrs≥1hr: 43%
Instant town building toy. Place housing blocks and watch them transform, piece by piece, into idyllic ocean-side towns, pastoral gardens, or sweeping cities on the sea.
Why similar: City Builder 26.7%, Minimalist 15.8%, Building 13.3%, Sandbox 10.8%, Relaxing 10.8%
Why You'll Like It: An instant city-builder that focuses on the pure joy of construction without the pressure of resource management or complex menus.
- #10 Plan B: Terraform
90% matchVery Positive91% of 3,463 reviews2025
Dev: Gaddy Games
Windows
Median: 4.3 hrsMean: 10.9 hrs≥1hr: 80%
Terraform a lifeless rock into a lush and habitable world. Build trucks, trains, and sprawling factories on an enormous hexagonal planet. Grow its population to millions. Enjoy a dynamic simulation of atmosphere, temperature, water, and forests.
Why similar: Automation 15.5%, Transportation 15.3% ★, Colony Sim 14.9% ★, Trains 11.3% ★, Resource Management 8.7%
Why You'll Like It: This game focuses on the logistics of terraforming a planet, requiring you to build supply chains to transport resources across vast distances.
- #11 Masterplan Tycoon
91% matchMostly Positive74% of 729 reviews2023
Dev: Bureau BravinPub: Ravenage Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.6 hrsMean: 4.6 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Welcome to the resource management game where your creativity and logistics skills are put to the test! In this minimalistic simulation you will build interconnected chains of products and open new missions by completing various tasks to create the biggest system you can.
Why similar: Automation 20.9%, Resource Management 13.8%, Minimalist 11%, Abstract 9.2%, Management 8.6%
Why You'll Like It: A minimalist resource management game that uses simple nodes and lines to represent complex production chains.
- #12 InfraSpace
89% matchMostly Positive80% of 1,870 reviews2023
Dev: Dionic Software
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.8 hrsMean: 21.6 hrs≥1hr: 70%
Create an extrasolar efficiency utopia from scratch! In this sci-fi city builder you need to start mining operations, plan production, and lay down transportation routes to ensure a smooth supply chain.
Why similar: Transportation 18.6% ★, Automation 17.1%, City Builder 13.3%, Trains 10.2% ★, Resource Management 9.5%
Why You'll Like It: A sci-fi city-builder that places a heavy emphasis on managing traffic and logistics to keep your futuristic colony functioning.
- #13 Industry Idle
88% matchMostly Positive78% of 1,446 reviews2024
Dev: FishPondPub: Fish Pond Studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.0 hrsMean: 29.1 hrs≥1hr: 62%
Industry Idle is an idle game that combines factory building, resource management and market trading. Design & build your base, expand & scale up your productions, improve & optimize your economy. Plus all the incremental game goodies: offline earnings, prestige to unlock more powerful upgrades.
Why similar: Automation 18.9%, Transportation 16.4% ★, Base Building 11.7%, City Builder 11.1%, Resource Management 10.8%
Why You'll Like It: A deep automation game that allows you to manage complex production lines while maintaining a minimalist interface.
- #14 Builderment
89% matchMixed66% of 119 reviews2023
Dev: Builderment LLC
Windows · Mac
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 25.1%, Base Building 15.7%, City Builder 14.7%, Resource Management 12.6%, Transportation 7% ★
Why You'll Like It: A straightforward automation game that tasks you with building factories to research and craft items on a grand scale.
- #15 Kubifaktorium
87% matchVery Positive81% of 786 reviews2021
Dev: Neomateria Games GmbH
Windows · Linux
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 6.7 hrs≥1hr: 62%
Build, manage and grow a thriving colony in Kubifaktorium. The game features different biomes to explore, plenty of resources to exploit, complex machinery to build and interesting production chains to master.
Why similar: Colony Sim 18.7% ★, Automation 17.9%, Trains 13.3% ★, City Builder 12.8%, Base Building 9.3%
Why You'll Like It: A voxel-based colony-sim that features deep automation and crafting mechanics within a colorful, accessible world.
- #16 Autonauts
86% matchVery Positive90% of 4,915 reviews2019
Dev: DenkiPub: Curve Games
Windows
Median: 4.6 hrsMean: 14.0 hrs≥1hr: 86%
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 29.5%, Colony Sim 20.6% ★, Base Building 13.7%, Resource Management 8.5%, Simulation 8.1%
Why You'll Like It: Combines colony-simulation with programming-based automation, allowing you to teach robots how to perform repetitive tasks for you.
- #17 Settlements Rising
85% matchVery Positive82% of 412 reviews2025
Dev: The Catalyst Crew
Windows
Settlements Rising is a medieval city building and colony management game. It offers a lively colony experience with simulated villagers, dozens of professions and resources, natural disasters, and raids, while providing full control over the colony through trade, production chains and datas.
Why similar: Colony Sim 25.6% ★, City Builder 18.4%, Resource Management 11.7%, Base Building 10.5%, Strategy 6.6%
Why You'll Like It: A city-builder that balances resource production and population management with a focus on expansion and survival.
- #18 MicroTown
86% matchVery Positive95% of 472 reviews2019
Dev: Snowy Ash Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Build and manage your own settlement! A relaxing village construction and management simulator.
Why similar: Colony Sim 25.5% ★, City Builder 17.9%, Base Building 14.8%, Resource Management 12.8%, Management 7.4%
Why You'll Like It: A cozy city-builder that focuses on managing the needs of your citizens and building a functional, self-sustaining settlement.
- #19 Terraformers
83% matchVery Positive88% of 3,606 reviews2023
Dev: Asteroid LabPub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.4 hrsMean: 9.6 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Terraform Mars in this turn-based colony builder and resource management game with roguelike elements. Explore the planet, develop spectacular cities, spread life and turn the Red Planet into a green one!
Why similar: Resource Management 43%, Simulation 27%, Management 26.9%, Singleplayer 3.1%
Why You'll Like It: A turn-based colony-builder that focuses on the strategic management of resources to make Mars habitable.
- #20 Kingdoms and Castles
84% matchVery Positive93% of 30,837 reviews2017
Dev: Lion Shield, LLC
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.1 hrsMean: 16.0 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Kingdoms and Castles is a city-building simulation game about growing a kingdom from a tiny hamlet to a sprawling city and imposing castle. Make trade agreements, alliance, and war with neighboring AI controlled kingdoms. Each villager and resource is individually simulated.
Why similar: Colony Sim 31.1% ★, City Builder 25%, Base Building 8.5%, Resource Management 7.5%, Strategy 7.2%
Why You'll Like It: A casual city-builder that tasks you with growing a small village into a sprawling kingdom while defending against threats.
- #21 Foundation
81% matchVery Positive86% of 23,481 reviews2025
Dev: Polymorph Games
Windows
Median: 11.0 hrsMean: 26.3 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Foundation is a grid-less, laidback medieval city-building game with a focus on organic development, monument construction and resource management.
Why similar: City Builder 30.4%, Colony Sim 12.8% ★, Resource Management 10.6%, Base Building 7.9%, Strategy 7.5%
Why You'll Like It: A grid-less medieval city-builder that focuses on organic growth and the management of complex production chains.
- #22 Timberborn
79% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 38,007 reviews2026
Dev: Mechanistry
Windows · Mac
Median: 9.8 hrsMean: 40.3 hrs≥1hr: 84%
Humans are long gone. In a world struck by droughts and toxic waste, will your lumberpunk beavers do any better? A sandbox city-building game featuring ingenious animals, vertical architecture, water physics, and terraforming. Contains high amounts of wood.
Why similar: Colony Sim 21.9% ★, City Builder 18.2%, Automation 18.1%, Base Building 11.5%, Management 6.7%
Why You'll Like It: A unique colony-sim featuring beavers that requires you to master water management and vertical construction to survive.
- #23 Orrstead
82% matchVery Positive81% of 77 reviews2024
Dev: IndividualKex
Windows
Orrstead is a relaxing city builder that combines resource management and incremental game mechanics. Unlock technologies, complete quests, and adapt to the changing seasons.
Why similar: Colony Sim 22% ★, City Builder 15.8%, Base Building 11.1%, Management 7.1%, Building 6.8%
Why You'll Like It: A relaxing city-builder that emphasizes building a sustainable community through careful resource management and planning.
- #24 Blueprint Tycoon
84% matchVery Positive82% of 1,097 reviews2016
Dev: Endless Loop Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.1 hrsMean: 6.0 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Build your settlement, gather goods, ensure maximum efficiency and make a profit!
Why similar: Colony Sim 36.3% ★, City Builder 13.8%, Management 13.6%, Resource Management 12.6%, Simulation 9.5%
Why You'll Like It: A management game that focuses on the logistics of production chains, requiring you to balance supply and demand to succeed.
- #25 Urbek City Builder
82% matchVery Positive90% of 1,808 reviews2022
Dev: FridusPub: RockGame S.A.
Windows
Median: 3.1 hrsMean: 10.0 hrs≥1hr: 74%
Urbek is a city building game where you can build your own neighbourhoods: from nightlife district to industrial district. Don't exhaust your natural resources before you have an educated population to build more efficient structures.
Why similar: City Builder 25.3%, Resource Management 15.8%, Management 11.5%, Building 11.1%, Minimalist 10.1%
Why You'll Like It: A city-builder that focuses on resource-based growth, where buildings evolve based on their proximity to other structures.
- #26 Farlanders
81% matchVery Positive92% of 569 reviews2023
Dev: Andriy BychkovskyiPub: Crytivo
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.2 hrsMean: 7.9 hrs≥1hr: 62%
Terraform, strategize, and construct a Martian colony in this retro-inspired turn-based city builder. Create a comfortable living for your citizens, research alien artifacts, and uncover the secrets of the Red Planet.
Why similar: Colony Sim 25.4% ★, City Builder 17.5%, Base Building 15.2%, Resource Management 13.1%, Management 7.6%
Why You'll Like It: A turn-based colony-sim that challenges you to build a thriving settlement on a harsh, procedurally generated Mars.
- #27 Microtopia
79% matchVery Positive88% of 903 reviews2025
Dev: Cordyceps CollectivePub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows
Median: 3.7 hrsMean: 9.2 hrs≥1hr: 74%
Become the hive mind of a robot ant colony in Microtopia! Use pheromone trails to create, automate and optimize supply chains for your ants to follow. Collect resources, produce goods, feed your queen, grow your colony and fly out to expand the species!
Why similar: Colony Sim 20.9% ★, Automation 18.7%, City Builder 12.8%, Base Building 11.6%, Resource Management 10.7%
Why You'll Like It: A sandbox colony-sim that focuses on building and automation within a procedurally generated environment.
- #28 Oxygen
80% matchMostly Positive73% of 865 reviews2023
Dev: Turquoise Revival GamesPub: GrabTheGames
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 9.8 hrs≥1hr: 78%
Oxygen is a survival city builder. Build your city around the Oxygen Center and ensure your people's survival in a post-apocalyptic future, threatened by crack explosions, deadly winds, droughts and frosts. Lead your people and more importantly keep the Oxygen Center running!
Why similar: Colony Sim 23.3% ★, City Builder 17.2%, Base Building 15.5%, Resource Management 12.5%, Strategy 7%
Why You'll Like It: A survival-focused city-builder where you must manage resources and infrastructure to keep your colony alive in a post-apocalyptic world.
- #29 Microtopia: Prologue
77% matchVery Positive95% of 112 reviews2024
Dev: Cordyceps CollectivePub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows
Become the hive mind of a robot ant colony in this free version of Microtopia! Use pheromone trails to create, automate and optimize supply chains for your ants to follow. Collect resources, produce goods, feed your queen, grow your colony and fly out to expand the species!
Why similar: Colony Sim 21.1% ★, Automation 19.4%, Base Building 12.6%, City Builder 11.9%, Resource Management 10.9%
- #30 Masterplan Tycoon: Foundations
77% matchMostly Positive78% of 246 reviews2024
Dev: Bureau BravinPub: Ravenage Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 30 minMean: 1.7 hrs≥1hr: 19%
Foundations is a free version of Masterplan Tycoon, a minimalist resource management sim. The world is your playground: start with simple production lines for basic needs and evolve into a production powerhouse in an elegant and stress-free setting
Why similar: Automation 20.8%, Resource Management 17.4%, Minimalist 12.4%, Management 10.3%, Building 10%
- #31 Banished
78% matchVery Positive90% of 42,988 reviews2014
Dev: Shining Rock Software LLC
Windows
Median: 7.8 hrsMean: 26.9 hrs≥1hr: 78%
In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland. The townspeople of Banished are your primary resource.
Why similar: Colony Sim 38.7% ★, City Builder 28.1%, Strategy 8.2%, Simulation 7%, Resource Management 5.7%
Why You'll Like It: A classic colony-sim that emphasizes the struggle for survival through careful resource management and population growth.
- #32 Anno 1800
78% matchVery Positive81% of 30,897 reviews2019
Dev: Ubisoft MainzPub: Ubisoft
Windows
Median: 9.7 hrsMean: 39.6 hrs≥1hr: 88%
Anno 1800™ – Lead the Industrial Revolution! Welcome to the dawn of the Industrial Age. The path you choose will define your world. Are you an innovator or an exploiter? A conqueror or a liberator? How the world remembers your name is up to you.
Why similar: City Builder 45.2%, Strategy 15%, Resource Management 14%, Simulation 11.4%, Sandbox 5.1%
Why You'll Like It: A deep logistics and city-building game that challenges you to manage complex trade routes across a vast oceanic map.
- #33 Urbek City Builder: Prologue
76% matchVery Positive94% of 1,703 reviews2022
Dev: Estudios KremlinoisPub: RockGame S.A.
Windows
Median: 48 minMean: 3.9 hrs≥1hr: 41%
Urbek City Builder: Prologue is a free city building game where you can build your own neighbourhoods: from nightlife district to industrial district. Don't exhaust your natural resources before you have an educated population to build more efficient structures. Try it yourself for free!
Why similar: City Builder 22.8%, Resource Management 17%, Minimalist 12.9%, Management 11%, Building 10.6%
- #34 shapez 2
73% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 13,196 reviews2024
Dev: tobspr Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.7 hrsMean: 27.1 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Dive into a factory-building game with the focus on just that – building huge space factories! Design sprawling multi-level factories and satisfying production lines without limits. Tackle progressively challenging automation goals at your own pace, without the threat of enemies.
Why similar: Automation 25%, Transportation 19.9% ★, Base Building 12.3%, Management 9.4%, Resource Management 9.1%
- #35 United Penguin Kingdom: Huddle up
75% matchVery Positive89% of 629 reviews2023
Dev: Turquoise Revival GamesPub: GrabTheGames
Windows
Median: 54 minMean: 2.8 hrs≥1hr: 44%
This free version of the United Penguin Kingdom covers the content from one year of in-game time. A city-building game where you build a penguin settlement and satisfy the various needs of your penguins while dealing with seals and killer whales.
Why similar: Colony Sim 22.5% ★, City Builder 21.2%, Resource Management 15.2%, Strategy 9.7%, Management 9%
- #36 Game Builder Tycoon - Prologue
75% matchMixed61% of 66 reviews2024
Dev: AM PlayhousePub: PlayWay S.A.
Windows · Mac · Linux
Game Builder Tycoon - Prologue is a free simulation game in which you begin your journey as an indie game developer. Personalize your character, craft hit games, manage marketing and research stuff. Create best game on the planet!
Why similar: Management 15.8%, Base Building 12.6%, Building 12.4%, Minimalist 11.8%, Relaxing 11.3%
- #37 Mini Metro
76% matchOverwhelmingly Positive96% of 16,391 reviews2015
Dev: Dinosaur Polo Club
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.9 hrsMean: 18.6 hrs≥1hr: 83%
Mini Metro is a strategy simulation game about designing a subway map for a growing city. Draw lines between stations and start your trains running. As new stations open, redraw your lines to keep them efficient. Decide where to use your limited resources. How long can you keep the city moving?
Why similar: Trains 26.9% ★, Minimalist 17.2%, Transportation 14.7% ★, Strategy 12.5%, Simulation 8.8%
- #38 Oxygen: First Breath
74% matchVery Positive89% of 1,643 reviews2022
Dev: Turquoise Revival GamesPub: GrabTheGames
Windows
Median: 48 minMean: 6.1 hrs≥1hr: 40%
This is a free version of Oxygen, featuring the first 50 game-days. Build your city around the Oxygen Center and ensure your people's survival in a post-apocalyptic future, threatened by crack explosions, deadly winds, droughts and frosts. Lead your people and keep the Oxygen Center running!
Why similar: Colony Sim 22.6% ★, City Builder 17.6%, Base Building 16.2%, Resource Management 12.3%, Strategy 7.4%
- #39 Citizens: On Mars - Prologue
74% 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: Colony Sim 29.8% ★, City Builder 20.5%, Simulation 14.2%, Strategy 13.7%, Base Building 8%
- #40 Synergy
72% matchMostly Positive76% of 1,011 reviews2025
Dev: Leikir StudioPub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.3 hrsMean: 5.4 hrs≥1hr: 53%
An ecosystem City Builder in a unique world. Build your settlement, manage your workers and optimize your resources. Analyzing your environment, spreading new plants, and harvesting them are key to prosperity.
Why similar: Colony Sim 20.6% ★, City Builder 15.3%, Base Building 11.8%, Resource Management 10.9%, Management 6.6%
- #41 Fantastic Haven: Prologue
72% matchMostly Positive76% of 283 reviews2024
Dev: Piece of Cake FabulousPub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows
Save fantasy creatures and protect them until releasing them into their natural habitat. Build your shelter, explore the neighboring region, and encounter a series of events.
Why similar: City Builder 36.8%, Simulation 16.2%, Sandbox 14%, Building 12.1%, Management 8.5%
- #42 Settlement Survival
71% matchVery Positive86% of 7,842 reviews2022
Dev: Gleamer StudioPub: Team17
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 10.8 hrs≥1hr: 80%
In this city-building game, you will lead a group of survivors in their search for a new home. Manipulate the landscape, manage limited supplies, plant crops, hunt wildlife, gather resources, and develop trade routes to build a bustling and unique town.
Why similar: Colony Sim 26.5% ★, City Builder 21.6%, Base Building 9.3%, Building 8.7%, Resource Management 8.3%
- #43 Terraformers: First Steps on Mars
73% matchVery Positive89% of 696 reviews2021
Dev: Asteroid LabPub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.0 hrsMean: 6.2 hrs≥1hr: 49%
Terraformers: First Steps on Mars is a free prologue of Terraformers, featuring an exclusive challenge to lead humanity's first attempt at settling the Red Planet.
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.5% ★, City Builder 17.2%, Resource Management 15.3%, Strategy 9.5%, Simulation 8.7%
- #44 Factorio
70% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 227,071 reviews2020
Dev: Wube Software LTD.
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 44.8 hrsMean: 188.9 hrs≥1hr: 95%
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 31.4%, Base Building 19.1%, Resource Management 14.4%, Trains 7.5% ★, City Builder 5.9%
- #45 CivIdle
68% matchMostly Positive75% of 974 reviews2025
Dev: FishPondPub: Fish Pond Studio
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 3.9 hrsMean: 79.6 hrs≥1hr: 71%
CivIdle is an idle/incremental game that allows you to lead your own civilization through thousands of years from ancient times to the modern era. Expand your territory, explore a vast tech tree, build various wonders, and trade with global players: empire must grow and numbers must go up!
Why similar: Automation 27.7%, Base Building 18.6%, City Builder 14.6%, Resource Management 12.9%, Management 8.7%
- #46 Captain of Industry
70% matchVery Positive91% of 10,408 reviews2022
Dev: MaFi Games
Windows
Median: 9.7 hrsMean: 80.7 hrs≥1hr: 81%
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 25.8%, Base Building 15.6%, Resource Management 14.6%, Colony Sim 10.7% ★, City Builder 7.5%
- #47 Dungeon Tycoon: Prologue
69% matchVery Positive96% of 369 reviews2024
Dev: Lunheim Studios
Windows
Median: 1.2 hrsMean: 3.0 hrs≥1hr: 63%
Build your own dungeon and attract heroes from all over the realm in this free version of Dungeon Tycoon. Grow your business by exploiting every facet of your visitors' dungeon exploration experience. Will you be able to keep your evil dungeon business going?
Why similar: Base Building 27.7%, Management 20.8%, Building 15.3%, Sandbox 13.1%, Simulation 9.9%
- #48 Land Above Sea Below Prologue
71% matchVery Positive82% of 145 reviews2023
Dev: Glasscannon StudioPub: Skystone Games
Windows
Median: 36 minMean: 3.4 hrs≥1hr: 31%
Land Above Sea Below Prologue is an atmospheric first chapter of the building strategy and puzzle game where you have to build your island from tiles in order to raise its height as much as possible, to avoid it getting flooded by the constantly rising sea level.
Why similar: City Builder 36.4%, Building 15.5%, Strategy 13.3%, Sandbox 13.2%, Minimalist 11.3%
- #49 Scorchlands
69% matchVery Positive91% of 129 reviews2024
Dev: RinglabPub: Star Drifters
Windows · Linux
Build, optimize, and explore at your own pace in Scorchlands, a cozy yet strategic colony builder. Manage resources, shape the environment, and expand your network across a volcanic moon. No rush, no pressure, just satisfying logistics and endless possibilities.
Why similar: Colony Sim 17.7% ★, Automation 15.6%, City Builder 11.9%, Resource Management 11.8%, Base Building 10.5%
- #50 Super Loco World - Cozy Train Automation
68% matchMostly Positive79% of 331 reviews2025
Dev: Andriy BychkovskyiPub: Curve Games
Windows
Effortlessly build and automate intricate railroads and deliver goods to meet the demands of a dynamic world! Make clever use of signals and signposts to avoid traffic jams, and watch your villages blossom into bustling towns in this cozy take on the train tycoon genre.
Why similar: Transportation 19.2% ★, Automation 18.1%, Trains 16.6% ★, Minimalist 7.7%, Building 5.9%
- #51 Gym Manager: Prologue
68% matchVery Positive80% of 231 reviews2024
Dev: Han GAMES
Windows
Median: 54 minMean: 7.3 hrs≥1hr: 48%
Gym Manager: Prologue is a free simulation game where you can build, expand and manage your own Gym. To attract more clients - invest in new equipment, keep the room clean and sabotage your competitors.
Why similar: Base Building 19.7%, Resource Management 18.5%, Management 17.7%, Simulation 15.3%, Sandbox 10%
- #52 Farlanders: Prologue
69% matchVery Positive93% of 285 reviews2021
Dev: Andriy Bychkovskyi
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 10.8 hrs≥1hr: 59%
Prepare for your journey to Mars by building and managing a colony within the safety of Earth’s atmosphere. Hone your abilities to create a thriving community, terraform the land to suit your needs, and prove your capability for a larger mission. Get ready to launch in this prologue to Farlanders.
Why similar: Colony Sim 25.6% ★, City Builder 16%, Base Building 15.7%, Resource Management 10.2%, Building 7.6%
- #53 Simutrans
71% matchMostly Positive76% of 652 reviews2016
Dev: The Simutrans Team
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 36 minMean: 13.8 hrs≥1hr: 37%
Simutrans is a freeware and open-source transportation simulator. Your goal is to establish a successful transport company. Transport passengers, mail and goods by rail, road, ship, and even air. Interconnect districts, cities, public buildings, industries and tourist attractions.
Why similar: Trains 29.1% ★, Simulation 13%, Transportation 10.7% ★, Management 10.2%, City Builder 9.6%
- #54 Home Wind
67% matchVery Positive90% of 830 reviews2022
Dev: Adi Zhavo
Windows · Mac
Home Wind is a minimalist, relaxing and cozy city builder about creating large settlements based on proximity tactics. All for free!
Why similar: City Builder 28.4%, Minimalist 16.8%, Resource Management 11.2%, Strategy 9.5%, Relaxing 8.7%
- #55 Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder
66% matchMostly Positive71% of 818 reviews2025
Dev: Tinymice EntertainmentPub: Rogue Duck Interactive
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.4 hrsMean: 3.5 hrs≥1hr: 76%
Stellar Settlers is a chill space base/city builder and colony sim game. With unique vertical and horizontal base-building gameplay, settle on 10 hostile alien planets and build your own thriving colony. Get enough materials to build a physics-based Spaceship and try to escape from disasters.
Why similar: Colony Sim 22.7% ★, City Builder 15.3%, Base Building 13.7%, Automation 12.8%, Resource Management 11.5%