- #1 Dwarf Fortress
97% matchVery Positive95% of 31,421 reviews2022
Dev: Bay 12 GamesPub: Kitfox Games
Windows · Linux
Median: 5.5 hrsMean: 39.4 hrs≥1hr: 78%
Build a fortress and try to help your dwarves survive against a deeply generated world. Keep your dwarves happy, grow their community and beware of digging too deeply. The deepest, most intricate simulation of a world that's ever been created.
Why similar: Colony Sim 23.1%, Base Building 15.3%, City Builder 11.4%, Building 10.7%, Survival 9.3%
- #2 Stonehearth
96% matchMostly Positive75% of 13,072 reviews2018
Dev: Radiant EntertainmentPub: (none)
Windows · Mac
Median: 14.1 hrsMean: 38.8 hrs≥1hr: 91%
Pioneer a living world full of warmth, heroism, and mystery. Help a small group of settlers build a home for themselves in a forgotten land. Establish a food supply, build shelter, defend your people, monitor their moods, and find a way to grow and expand, facing challenges at every step.
Why similar: Colony Sim 35.2%, City Builder 16.7%, Building 12.3%, Survival 9.4%, Sandbox 9.3%
- #3 Hammerting
96% matchMixed57% of 2,601 reviews2021
Dev: Warpzone StudiosPub: Team17 Digital
Windows
Median: 3.7 hrsMean: 7.6 hrs≥1hr: 87%
Manage a Dwarven mining colony in the unexplored mountains of Mara. As conflict rages in the Overworld, you will need to craft, explore and fight as you provide the allies of your choice with the finest weapons and gear to assist them in the battle for glory.
Why similar: Colony Sim 23.8%, Base Building 15.5%, Building 10.2%, Resource Management 9.9%, Automation 9.8%
- #4 Mountaincore
95% matchMixed65% of 264 reviews2025
Dev: Rocket Jump Technology
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 48 minMean: 5.0 hrs≥1hr: 45%
Settle an untamed wilderness with the might of Dwarven engineering and thoughtful planning! Design and build your colony towards fame and fortune in a deeply-simulated fantasy world. Chill out in peaceful mode with a bustling settlement, or fight for survival against monsters and invasions!
Why similar: Colony Sim 24.5%, Base Building 14.2%, Building 9.7%, City Builder 9.4%, God Game 8.7% ★
- #5 Founders' Fortune
94% matchVery Positive80% of 2,189 reviews2020
Dev: Dionic Software
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.5 hrsMean: 10.0 hrs≥1hr: 56%
A fantasy village builder focusing on creative building, colonist psychology and base defense. Handle resources, farming, production, tools, diplomacy, families, trading, defense, and research, as well as the wishes, expectations, thoughts, and equipment of every villager.
Why similar: Colony Sim 33.7%, Base Building 15.8%, City Builder 11.3%, Building 9%, Survival 6.9%
- #6 Foundation
93% matchVery Positive87% of 24,128 reviews2025
Dev: Polymorph Games
Windows
Median: 11.1 hrsMean: 27.2 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 22.6%, Colony Sim 12.9%, Resource Management 9.3%, Building 8.7%, Base Building 8.7%
- #7 Dungeon Overseer
94% matchMixed54% of 50 reviews2021
Dev: Ripknot
Windows
Dungeon Overseer is a colony simulator with a focus on base building and resource management. Become the Overseer by building a unique dungeon layout, constructing your lair, upgrading and expanding, questing, crafting, researching, recruiting, defending your base, and raiding.
Why similar: Colony Sim 24.3%, Base Building 15.8%, City Builder 11.3%, Building 9.6%, Resource Management 9.4%
- #8 Odd Realm
92% matchVery Positive84% of 1,017 reviews2024
Dev: Unknown Origin Games Inc
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.6 hrsMean: 7.0 hrs≥1hr: 56%
Build a settlement in a realm recovering from the Fracture, a calamity that nearly destroyed the realm. Choose from several unique races, establish a new kingdom, and survive in a land filled with magic and strange creatures. Farm the land, fish the seas, or raid rival kingdoms for their treasures.
Why similar: Colony Sim 21.5%, Base Building 13.7%, Resource Management 9.3%, City Builder 8.4%, Building 8.1%
- #9 Patron
91% matchMostly Positive72% of 3,194 reviews2021
Dev: Overseer Games
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 6.5 hrs≥1hr: 81%
Patron is a survival city builder with a unique social dynamics system. Gather and produce resources, build your fledgling village into a prosperous city and navigate the intricate social tensions before they reach boiling point.
Why similar: Colony Sim 27.7%, City Builder 14.4%, Survival 10.9%, Base Building 10.2%, Resource Management 7.8%
- #10 Aquatico
91% matchMixed67% of 871 reviews2023
Dev: Digital Reef GamesPub: Overseer Games
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 7.3 hrs≥1hr: 85%
Aquatico is a classic city builder set within the depths of the sea. Strategically build an underwater colony atop the ocean floor and face the challenges that accompany oceanic life.
Why similar: Colony Sim 26.6%, City Builder 14.9%, Base Building 13.5%, Building 10.4%, Management 7.6%
- #11 Oxygen
90% matchMostly Positive72% of 902 reviews2023
Dev: Turquoise Revival GamesPub: GrabTheGames
Windows
Median: 3.5 hrsMean: 9.4 hrs≥1hr: 80%
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 20.9%, Base Building 15.2%, City Builder 11.5%, Resource Management 9.9%, Survival 9%
- #12 Goblins of Elderstone
89% matchMostly Positive73% of 404 reviews2023
Dev: Outerdawn
Windows
Median: 1.1 hrsMean: 4.9 hrs≥1hr: 52%
This Goblin Tribe Simulator brings a challenging blend of chaos and creativity to the city-building genre. Build dwellings, manage your resources, defend your goblins, and grow your tribe, and please the Gods! Do you have what it takes to control the chaos and rule the unruly?
Why similar: Colony Sim 19.3%, Base Building 13.7%, God Game 10.7% ★, City Builder 10.3%, Building 9.8%
- #13 Farlanders
88% matchVery Positive90% of 591 reviews2023
Dev: Andrii BychkovskyiPub: Crytivo
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.1 hrsMean: 7.6 hrs≥1hr: 60%
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 23.2%, Base Building 15.3%, City Builder 11.9%, Resource Management 10.7%, Building 10.2%
- #14 Settlements Rising
87% matchVery Positive81% of 435 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 24.2%, City Builder 13.1%, Base Building 10.9%, Resource Management 9.8%, Building 8.7%
- #15 Steel Artery: Train City Builder
86% matchMostly Positive72% of 317 reviews2026
Dev: SoulAge23Pub: Crytivo
Windows
Hardcore city-building sim in a fantasy steampunk world. Manage multi-racial colonies with hundreds of autonomous citizens, balance their needs, grow the economy, build logistics, and travel a vast world carrying out the Emperor’s orders.
Why similar: Colony Sim 21.1%, Base Building 12.1%, City Builder 10.8%, Building 9.5%, Automation 7.7%
- #16 CLOUD DWELLERS
85% matchVery Positive87% of 90 reviews2026
Dev: XinZhiPub: Xinzhi
Windows
CloudDwellers is a 2D simulation and city-building game set in a world of scattered floating islands. Guide your settlers to harness technology, optimize production, and transform fragmented skies into a thriving, beautifully crafted aerial haven.
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.6%, Base Building 16.8%, Building 12.9%, Management 9.8%, Resource Management 9%
- #17 Craft The World
86% matchVery Positive88% of 17,055 reviews2014
Dev: Dekovir EntertainmentPub: Dekovir Ltd
Windows · Mac
Median: 7.2 hrsMean: 38.4 hrs≥1hr: 89%
Craft The World is a unique sandbox strategy game, the mix of Dungeon Keeper, Terraria and Dwarf Fortress. Explore a random generated world populated by dangerous creatures, build a dwarf fortress, gather resources, and craft all the items, weapons, and armor you need.
Why similar: Colony Sim 33.6%, Building 15.3%, Sandbox 11.9%, Survival 9.6%, City Builder 6.6%
- #18 Cavern Adventurers
84% matchMixed63% of 156 reviews2025
Dev: Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Windows
Build an underground network of caves in this fantasy-themed management sim.
Why similar: Colony Sim 41%, City Builder 19.9%, Survival 10.7%, Building 9%, Simulation 8.2%
- #19 Kubifaktorium
83% matchVery Positive81% of 800 reviews2021
Dev: Neomateria Games GmbH
Windows · Linux
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 6.6 hrs≥1hr: 61%
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 24.5%, Base Building 13.2%, City Builder 12.4%, Automation 11.4%, Building 11%
- #20 Diluvian Winds
82% matchMostly Positive73% of 390 reviews2024
Dev: Alambik StudioPub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows
Median: 2.9 hrsMean: 7.9 hrs≥1hr: 72%
Diluvian Winds is a relaxing management game set in a small hamlet at the foot of a lighthouse. Welcome weary travelers and work together to expand your hamlet on land, under the sea, or among the clouds.
Why similar: Colony Sim 21.4%, Base Building 14.2%, City Builder 14.1%, Resource Management 10.1%, Building 9.9%
- #21 The Bonfire 2: Uncharted Shores
84% matchMixed69% of 368 reviews2020
Dev: Xigma Games
Windows · Mac
Median: 5.5 hrsMean: 8.3 hrs≥1hr: 95%
Build, survive, explore. Design your city, manage resource chains and workers, Send ships on expedition, trade with cities, discover mysterious dungeons and uncover secrets of ancients.
Why similar: Colony Sim 32.5%, Base Building 15.1%, Survival 12.1%, City Builder 10.4%, Resource Management 10.2%
- #22 Orrstead
81% matchVery Positive80% of 80 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 25.6%, Base Building 14.1%, City Builder 13.7%, Building 11.7%, Sandbox 9.6%
- #23 Havendock
79% matchMostly Positive79% of 1,948 reviews2025
Dev: YYZ StudioPub: Pretty Soon
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 11.1 hrs≥1hr: 66%
Breathe easy and thrive in this cozy colony sim. Build a haven for castaways, manage resources, live your best life on the ocean. Lead your humble settlement into a high-tech society.
Why similar: Colony Sim 19.9%, Base Building 12.7%, City Builder 9.9%, Building 9%, Resource Management 8.8%
- #24 Life is Feudal: Forest Village
82% matchMixed66% of 6,015 reviews2017
Dev: MindillusionPub: Bitbox Ltd.
Windows
Median: 2.5 hrsMean: 30.9 hrs≥1hr: 63%
LiF:Forest Village is a city builder with survival aspects in a realistic harsh medieval world. Shape, build and expand your settlement, grow various food to prevent your villagers from avitaminosis and starvation. Possess them for additional micromanagement or simply to wander around.
Why similar: Colony Sim 37%, City Builder 19.8%, Resource Management 11%, Building 7.9%, Survival 7.8%
- #25 Empires of the Undergrowth
78% matchVery Positive94% of 18,736 reviews2024
Dev: Slug DiscoPub: Hooded Horse
Windows · Mac
Median: 5.9 hrsMean: 18.2 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Command swarms of warriors at an unprecedented scale of warfare in this blend of RTS and base-building. Lead ant colonies against the many fearsome threats of the insect world, while building intricate nests, developing pheromone-based tactics, and evolving to meet growing dangers.
Why similar: Colony Sim 20.2%, Base Building 13.8%, City Builder 10.3%, Building 9.4%, Resource Management 9.1%
- #26 After the Collapse
80% matchMostly Positive78% of 212 reviews2022
Dev: Anarkis Gaming
Windows
ATC is a base building game set in a post-apocalyptic world featuring urban environments. Build a base across several layers with dozens of survivors. Fight other factions for the control of the remaining production centers and explore the world to find long forgotten resources and technologies.
Why similar: Colony Sim 27.7%, Base Building 17.7%, City Builder 11.1%, Survival 10.5%, Management 9%
- #27 Stardeus
79% matchVery Positive87% of 1,552 reviews2022
Dev: Kodo LinijaPub: Paradox Arc
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 8.7 hrsMean: 22.7 hrs≥1hr: 77%
Stardeus is a deep colony sim set on a broken starship manned by drones and hibernating human survivors. As the AI, have your drones repair your ship, save your crew and travel the stars in this beautiful simulation.
Why similar: Colony Sim 23.1%, Base Building 14.9%, God Game 10.7% ★, Resource Management 9.9%, Survival 9%
- #28 Lord of Dwarves
81% matchMostly Positive79% of 75 reviews2020
Dev: Stellar Sage Games
Windows · Linux
Gather resources, craft weapons, and build a castle. Then defend your castle against monsters who will try to siege, sap, and smash their way in. All in a procedurally generated 3D block world that allows for extensive crafting and total construction and destruction of the terrain.
Why similar: Colony Sim 19.5%, Base Building 13.9%, Building 9.9%, Resource Management 8.5%, Simulation 8%
- #29 Mistward
78% matchMixed62% of 91 reviews2026
Dev: Sokpop Collective
Windows · Mac
Mistward is a survival city-builder set on a mysterious island enshrouded in a poisonous mist! Create light sources to keep the mist at bay, build houses and command humans to gather resources. Explore the island and find a way out!
Why similar: Colony Sim 28.2%, City Builder 14.3%, Base Building 10.3%, Sandbox 10.1%, Survival 7.1%
- #30 Blacksmith Master
76% matchVery Positive83% of 2,724 reviews2025
Dev: Untitled StudioPub: Hooded Horse
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.0 hrsMean: 12.8 hrs≥1hr: 91%
Manage your own medieval smithy in Blacksmith Master and supervise the entire process from mining ores and gems to designing and selling finished products. Forge everything from weapons and armor to tools and cooking utensils to fund your craft and become the Blacksmith Master.
Why similar: Colony Sim 20.2%, Base Building 13.7%, City Builder 10.3%, Building 9.5%, Resource Management 9.4%
- #31 Lords and Villeins
77% matchMostly Positive71% of 977 reviews2022
Dev: Honestly GamesPub: Fulqrum Publishing
Windows
Median: 1.2 hrsMean: 15.2 hrs≥1hr: 53%
Build a prosperous settlement in a unique simulation of a feudal economy - each family runs their shop, owns their goods, and trades with other villagers in a free market. You will manage the land, build houses, organise events, set taxes, and balance supply and demand while engaging in diplomacy!
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.7%, City Builder 13.8%, Building 11%, Management 10%, Resource Management 8.8%
- #32 Microtopia
75% matchVery Positive87% of 966 reviews2025
Dev: Cordyceps CollectivePub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 8.5 hrs≥1hr: 79%
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 23.1%, Base Building 14%, City Builder 10.5%, Resource Management 10.5%, Automation 10.1%
- #33 SteamWorld Build
74% matchVery Positive85% of 2,253 reviews2023
Dev: The StationPub: Thunderful Publishing
Windows
Median: 2.6 hrsMean: 10.2 hrs≥1hr: 69%
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: City Builder 18.4%, Base Building 17%, Resource Management 15.9%, Building 13%, Management 11.5%
- #34 Planetbase
76% matchMostly Positive80% of 10,422 reviews2015
Dev: Madruga Works
Windows · Mac
Median: 8.1 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: Colony Sim 30.3%, Base Building 17.9%, City Builder 14.6%, Survival 9.3%, Resource Management 6.1%
- #35 Survival Vacancy
77% matchMixed64% of 88 reviews2021
Dev: Mind Leak
Windows · Mac · Linux
In a nuclear apocalypse, you have to use your engineering skills to save as many survivors as possible. Defending, mining, crafting, creating production lines, and building an underground city for the survivors is your goal in this 2d side-scrolling automation game.
Why similar: Colony Sim 23.9%, Base Building 13%, Building 9.7%, Automation 9%, Resource Management 8.6%
- #36 Banished
74% matchVery Positive90% of 43,296 reviews2014
Dev: Shining Rock Software LLC
Windows
Median: 7.7 hrsMean: 27.1 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 37.5%, City Builder 20.3%, Survival 10%, Sandbox 5.6%, Resource Management 4.9%
- #37 Scorchlands
73% matchVery Positive89% of 140 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 21.1%, Base Building 13.8%, Resource Management 12.5%, City Builder 10.5%, Automation 9.1%
- #38 Settlement Survival
72% matchVery Positive85% of 8,054 reviews2022
Dev: Gleamer StudioPub: Team17
Windows · Mac
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 11.2 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 24.7%, City Builder 15.1%, Building 12.1%, Survival 9.8%, Management 8.5%
- #39 Kingdoms and Castles
73% matchVery Positive94% of 31,383 reviews2017
Dev: Lion Shield, LLC
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 6.1 hrsMean: 16.2 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 22.6%, City Builder 13.3%, Base Building 11.7%, Resource Management 9.2%, Building 8.3%
- #40 Exogate Initiative
72% matchMostly Positive76% of 727 reviews2025
Dev: Xeno Bits
Windows
Build and manage mankind’s first mission across the universe! Create a sprawling facility underground, recruit a diverse group of specialists from around the globe and explore mysterious new worlds through the Exogate.
Why similar: Colony Sim 19.7%, Base Building 15.1%, City Builder 10.9%, Resource Management 10.3%, Building 10.1%
- #41 Embark
75% matchMixed60% of 389 reviews2019
Dev: Overly Complicated Games
Windows
Inspired by the deep simulation of Dwarf Fortress, the open world survival of Minecraft, and the social interactions of The Sims. Embark is a colony management game with a focus on complex simulation in a huge living 3D world.
Why similar: Colony Sim 38.7%, Base Building 18.5%, Building 8.7%, Survival 7.9%, Sandbox 7.1%
- #42 Laysara: Summit Kingdom
70% matchVery Positive82% of 1,472 reviews2026
Dev: Quite OK GamesPub: Future Friends Games
Windows
Median: 2.3 hrsMean: 5.7 hrs≥1hr: 68%
Build and expand your very own settlements in high mountains! Carefully plan production chains and satisfy various needs of your three-caste society while dealing with mountain hazards such as weather breakdowns and avalanches. Are you skilled enough to make your town thrive?
Why similar: Colony Sim 20.2%, Base Building 12.6%, City Builder 11.2%, Resource Management 9.8%, Building 9.4%
- #43 Dwarrows
73% matchMostly Positive77% of 134 reviews2020
Dev: Lithic Entertainment Inc.
Windows · Mac · Linux
A peaceful 3rd person adventure and town-building game. Gather, build, puzzle, explore, and quest in a beautifully handcrafted world.
Why similar: Colony Sim 43.4%, Base Building 14.5%, City Builder 11.3%, Management 7.7%, Open World 6.4%
- #44 Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder
70% matchMostly Positive70% of 832 reviews2025
Dev: Tinymice EntertainmentPub: Rogue Duck Interactive
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.4 hrsMean: 3.5 hrs≥1hr: 75%
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 23.3%, Base Building 15.4%, City Builder 11.7%, Resource Management 10.5%, Building 9.4%
- #45 Oxygen Not Included
69% matchOverwhelmingly Positive97% of 143,483 reviews2019
Dev: Klei Entertainment
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 8.9 hrsMean: 69.1 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: Colony Sim 31%, Base Building 19.5%, Survival 10.8%, Resource Management 10.4%, Building 8.2%
- #46 First Feudal
71% matchMostly Positive76% of 644 reviews2021
Dev: Harpoon Games
Windows
Median: 3.6 hrsMean: 11.1 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Become a real medieval feudal lord: start with a small village and build it up into an enormous impenetrable castle. You will have to repel enemy raids: hide behind thick walls, lure your enemies into strategically placed traps, and even lead your loyal peasants into battle.
Why similar: Colony Sim 24%, Base Building 15.3%, Resource Management 10.6%, Building 10.4%, City Builder 9.8%
- #47 Surviving the Aftermath
71% matchMostly Positive71% of 4,570 reviews2021
Dev: Iceflake StudiosPub: Paradox Interactive
Windows
Median: 4.7 hrsMean: 18.3 hrs≥1hr: 74%
Survive and thrive in a post-apocalyptic future — resources are scarce, but opportunity calls! Build the ultimate disaster proof colony, protect your colonists, and restore civilization to a devastated world.
Why similar: Colony Sim 24.8%, City Builder 17%, Base Building 13.7%, Survival 11.9%, Building 6.3%
- #48 The Colonists
71% matchVery Positive86% of 1,240 reviews2018
Dev: CodebyfirePub: Mode 7
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 4.0 hrsMean: 12.0 hrs≥1hr: 84%
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 22.5%, Base Building 11.8%, City Builder 11.6%, Building 10.2%, Automation 9.8%
- #49 Guardians of the Sanctree
69% matchMostly Positive75% of 373 reviews2024
Dev: HuCang Studio
Windows
You and allies, avian inhabitants of Sanctree City, build structures and production lines on the tree, crafting weapons to fend off subterranean insects. Defense is just the start—dig deeper, destroy nests, fortify new defenses against escalating threats for an impregnable stronghold.
Why similar: Colony Sim 19.2%, Base Building 15.4%, City Builder 9.4%, Resource Management 8.9%, Building 8.6%
- #50 Mercury Fallen
69% matchMostly Positive78% of 318 reviews2023
Dev: Nitrous ButterflyPub: indie.io
Windows · Mac
Median: 3.2 hrsMean: 5.2 hrs≥1hr: 86%
A sci-fi colony management sim with a focus on exploration, expansion, and survival. Rebuild your underground facility, manage colonists and robots, and uncover the mysteries of an alien world light-years from Earth. Dig deep, expand across the surface, and shape your new home.
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.6%, Base Building 19.2%, Building 13.3%, Survival 12.2%, Management 11.1%
- #51 Settler's Domain
67% matchMixed63% of 68 reviews2026
Dev: rick
Windows
Settler's Domain is a strategy game about building a new settlement in unknown lands. Grow your population, explore the map, and contend with other settlements while keeping your settlers alive.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34%, City Builder 17.6%, Resource Management 15.8%, Base Building 14.1%, Management 8.2%
- #52 RimWorld
66% matchOverwhelmingly Positive98% of 245,287 reviews2018
Dev: Ludeon Studios
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 59.6 hrsMean: 266.1 hrs≥1hr: 92%
A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Generates stories by simulating psychology, ecology, gunplay, melee combat, climate, biomes, diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, art, medicine, trade, and more.
Why similar: Colony Sim 29.1%, Base Building 18.5%, Survival 10.1%, Management 7.2%, City Builder 7.2%
- #53 Buoyancy
70% matchMixed55% of 831 reviews2019
Dev: Devs on a Boat
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 1.4 hrsMean: 4.8 hrs≥1hr: 58%
Buoyancy is a city-building strategy game where you build, manage, and move a floating city on an oceanic world. Explore and scavenge resources scattered around the endless waters. Keep your villagers nourished and happy while combating fires, sickness, and pirate attacks.
Why similar: Colony Sim 42.3%, Base Building 15.2%, City Builder 14.6%, Survival 8.3%, Resource Management 6.9%
- #54 Beneath the Mountain
68% matchMixed66% of 214 reviews2024
Dev: Omnis Rector StudiosPub: Gameclaw Studio
Windows
In Beneath the Mountain, you play as the King of a new Dwarven civilization seeking to find their fortune beneath the mountain. You dig your way through the mountain, encountering many dangerous foes along the way, all while defending your kingdom from periodic Orc invasions.
Why similar: Base Building 27.1%, City Builder 19.9%, Management 19.3%, Survival 18.1%, Fantasy 9.1%
- #55 City idle
67% matchMostly Positive71% of 229 reviews2023
Dev: Grest Games OÜ
Windows
Experience a city-building game, where the citizens are fully simulated and every decision you make impacts their lives. From the Stone Age to the Iron Age and beyond, watch your civilization evolve and progress under your guidance.
Why similar: Colony Sim 34.9%, 2.5D 19.7%, Building 11.7%, Simulation 6.9%, Management 6.4%
- #56 Edge Islands
66% matchMostly Positive75% of 100 reviews2025
Dev: LS Games
Windows
Discover a unique blend of Colony Sim and Tactical RPG. Recruit and train your heroes, build your outpost, explore dungeons and engage in turn-based strategic battles to protect and expand your domain. Shape your stories by managing moods, relationships, ambitions and more!
Why similar: Colony Sim 25.7%, Base Building 17.5%, Building 11.6%, City Builder 7.7%, Sandbox 7.6%
- #57 Synergy
65% matchMostly Positive76% of 1,087 reviews2025
Dev: Leikir StudioPub: Goblinz Publishing
Windows · Mac
Median: 1.4 hrsMean: 9.9 hrs≥1hr: 54%
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 22.1%, Base Building 13.9%, City Builder 12.2%, Resource Management 10.4%, Building 10.2%
- #58 Gnomoria
68% matchMostly Positive75% of 3,539 reviews2016
Dev: Robotronic Games
Windows · Mac · Linux
Median: 2.9 hrsMean: 18.2 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Gnomoria is a sandbox village management game where you help lead a small group of gnomes, who have set out on their own, to thrive into a bustling kingdom! Anything you see can be broken down and rebuilt elsewhere.
Why similar: Colony Sim 33.1%, City Builder 15.3%, Sandbox 11.7%, Building 10.3%, Survival 8.8%
- #59 The Crust
65% matchMostly Positive77% of 3,724 reviews2024
Dev: VEOM StudioPub: Crytivo
Windows
Median: 6.9 hrsMean: 24.4 hrs≥1hr: 82%
Automate a lunar base as you become the savior of humanity exploring the future on the moon. Mine, craft, research, and trade resources with Earth in this gripping narrative basebuilder.
Why similar: Colony Sim 21.3%, Base Building 15.3%, Resource Management 9.8%, Automation 9.6%, City Builder 8.6%