The Best Base-building colony simulation Games (2024)

PC Windows Mac OS Linux

Space Haven is an early access game where you can design your own ship and manage your crew as you embark on a journey to save humanity. Build your spaceship tile by tile, explore the vast universe, engage in tactical ship-to-ship combat and witness the drama and emotions of your crew. The game allows for complete freedom to customize and design your ship symmetrically or asymmetrically.

What we like:

• Great sprites and sublime music
• Game is approachable with a balanced feel
• Unlimited freedom to build your own ship
• Core game loop is engaging and not monotonous
• Developers fully commited

What could be improved:

• Lacks crew leveling up
• Lacks variety in gameplay beyond building bigger ship and fending off pirates.

• colony
• simulation
• base-building
• space
• management
• tile
• resource-management
• sandbox
• pirates
• building
• sci-fi
• city-building
• resource
• survival-strategy

PC Windows Xbox One Mac OS Linux

RimWorld is a life simulator and management game set in a remote planet in the distant future. It features a unique character generation system to create complex personalities with flaws, drives and needs, as well as a story generator that creates unexpected scenarios for players to face.

What we like:

• Unique character generation system
• Story generator creates unpredictable scenarios
• Tons of mods for everything
• Includes interaction bubbles to show interactions as they happen

What could be improved:

• Unintuitive UI
• Busy work tasks can be tedious

• colony
• simulation
• survival
• base-building
• management
• farming
• pirates
• sci-fi
• sandbox
• building

PC Windows IOS iPhone Linux

Dwarf Fortress is an incredibly detailed, complex game where you help a colony of dwarves build a settlement by carving out bedrooms, dining halls and other necessary structures from the side of a mountain. You don't control individual dwarves but instead provide instructions for them to follow, with each dwarf having their own needs and wants that you become familiar with as you play.

What we like:

• Robust mouse support
• New tutorial to help new players understand menus
• Complex web of characters and relationships
• Simulated world is full of surprises both big and small
• Ability to create artifacts and engravings that tell stories

What could be improved:

• Inscrutability can be off-putting for those expecting a more streamlined experience
• Convoluted user interface can make it difficult to figure out what is even possible in the game or how to access the different menus

• simulation
• dwarf
• management
• colony
• construction
• simulated
• tile
• fantasy
• survival
• procedural
• moddable
• pixel
• resource-management
• base-building
• city-building

Linux Mac OS PC Windows Android IOS iPhone

Paragon Pioneers is a casual island management game where you build and manage a series of island nations. It offers over 100+ buildings to advance through and has an abstract look and mechanics that make it easy to manage on small screens. It's a stress-free game for casual players.

What we like:

• Detailed explanations and tutorials
• No ads or premium currencies
• Easy to pick up and put down
• Reminiscent of the Anno series with idle gameplay
• No inherent time limit
• Over 100+ buildings to advance through

What could be improved:

• Long waiting times
• Lack of a thrilling narrative
• Game mechanics become increasingly complex
• Colonization aspect may be troublesome for some players
• Combat has a limited army size and isn't very interesting

• idler
• city-building
• colony
• tutorial
• management
• base-building
• building
• simulation
• medieval
• crafting
• economy
• top-down
• relaxing
• 2d
• resource-management

Nintendo Switch PC Windows Mac OS Playstation 4 Xbox One IOS iPhone Linux Android

In Kingdom Two Crowns, players must work in the brand-new solo or co-op campaign mode to build their kingdom and secure it from the threat of the Greed. Experience new technology, units, enemies, mounts, and secrets in the next evolution of the award-winning micro strategy franchise!

• micro
• medieval
• pixel
• colony
• strategy
• side-scrolling
• cooperative
• base-building
• tower-defense
• city-building
• simulation
• building
• scroller
• survival
• 2d

Android Nintendo Switch Linux Mac OS PC Windows Xbox One IOS iPhone

Kingdom Eighties is a standalone expansion to the award-winning Kingdom series. A singleplayer epic adventure of micro-strategy and base building. Defend your town against the mysterious Greed, and discover the secrets of your family lineage!

• pixel
• micro-strategy
• colony
• base-building
• city-building
• tower-defense
• strategy
• simulation
• survival
• economy
• resource-management
• building
• skateboard
• medieval
• procedural

PC Windows Mac OS Linux

Oxygen Not Included is an innovative and unique colony-building game in which you control a crew of duplicants who start beneath the surface of a procedurally generated asteroid with nothing more than a ration box and cloning device. With its childlike art style and humour, Oxygen Not Included looks like less of a space simulator and more like The Sims in space, but don't let that fool you - it's brimming with complexity and depth.

What we like:

• Child-friendly art style
• Complexity and depth
• Humor
• Procedurally generated asteroid
• Experimenting with contraptions
• Retconning decisions

What could be improved:

• Frame rate drops at the start of each cycle
• AI occasionally getting confused

• survival
• simulation
• colony
• base-building
• management
• resource-management
• sandbox
• space
• space-colony
• resource
• farming
• building
• colony-building

PC Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X Playstation 5 Playstation 4

Stranded: Alien Dawn drops you into an unknown alien world, where you'll lead survivors, build a high-tech outpost, and make tough decisions to survive. With engaging gameplay, a variety of planets, and a peaceful non-combat option, you'll experience a unique, unpredictable journey. But beware, time may slow and crafting can get repetitive in this thrilling survival sim.

What we like:

• Engaging gameplay
• Variety of planets and moons
• Non-combat peaceful option
• Customizable difficulty settings
• Beautiful graphics

What could be improved:

• Time can feel slow
• Crafting becomes repetitive
• Lack of depth in some systems
• Requires internet connection to play

• survival
• simulation
• base-building
• management
• crafting
• colony
• hunting
• destruction
• cooking

PC Windows Mac OS Linux

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.

• strategy
• simulation
• colony
• automation
• management
• moddable
• real-time
• base-building
• city-building
• resource-management
• building
• sandbox
• economy
• documentary
• replay-value

Nintendo Switch Linux Mac OS PC Windows Android

EarthX is a rocket company management game. Go from launching small rockets on Earth to eventually building a colony on Mars. Create your own Internet constellation, develop new technologies, supply the International Space Station and terraform Mars!

• space
• simulation
• family-friendly
• colony
• management
• grand-strategy
• base-building
• immersive
• building
• education
• competitive
• minimalist
• atmospheric
• 3d
• relaxing