39 Games Like RimWorld to Scratch That Colony-Sim Itch

• • RimWorld

There’s something strangely satisfying about watching your colony thrive—right up until it doesn’t.

RimWorld perfected the art of turning small decisions into sprawling dramas, where survival, base-building, and personality-driven storytelling all collide. One minute you’re tending crops and researching tech; the next, you’re putting out fires (literal or social) because a colonist had a breakdown over bad stew.

This list rounds up the best games like RimWorld—some focus on survival strategy, others emphasize colony management, base-building, or narrative surprises. Whether you prefer medieval villages, subterranean dwarves, or off-world outposts, these games deliver that same blend of planning, problem-solving, and unpredictable twists—just without the same name.

The Most RimWorld You Can Get (Without Playing RimWorld)

Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress screenshot displaying various biomes, including dirt, stone, water, and fungal areas, with a central constructed fort section.
Image: Bay 12 Games / Kitfox Games

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

If RimWorld is unpredictable, Dwarf Fortress is pure, beautiful madness carved into stone.

This is the granddaddy of colony sims—a wildly complex, ASCII-born simulation where everything is simulated, from dwarves’ individual personalities and injuries to the geological layers beneath your fortress. It’s brutally difficult, deeply rewarding, and home to some of the most absurdly detailed emergent storytelling you’ll ever experience.

The learning curve? Steep. The payoff? Legendary. Think of it as RimWorld’s older, nerdier sibling who went to school for procedural generation and came back fluent in dwarvish soap-making.

Oxygen Not Included

Screenshot of a base in Oxygen Not Included, showing various rooms, machinery, pipes, and duplicants navigating a complex underground facility.
Image: Klei Entertainment

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

If RimWorld made you anxious about colonist mental breakdowns, Oxygen Not Included will make you worry about something even more fundamental: breathing.

This colony sim swaps planetary survival for subterranean space-base management. Instead of crash-landing, your duplicants (clones with wildly quirky personalities) wake up deep inside an asteroid—and now it’s your job to keep them fed, clean, happy… and most importantly, oxygenated.

It’s packed with complex systems: fluid dynamics, gas diffusion, power grids, plumbing, temperature regulation—all intricately simulated. Like RimWorld, things can spiral when one small issue snowballs into a base-wide disaster. But it’s also packed with charm, humor, and clever solutions, making even your worst engineering blunders oddly satisfying.

If you enjoy micromanagement, survival tension, and watching emergent stories unfold from simulation-based gameplay, Oxygen Not Included scratches that same cerebral itch—just with more toilets.

Going Medieval

A screenshot from Going Medieval featuring a medieval castle wall and gatehouse engulfed in flames at night, with a lone figure standing on a stone path facing the inferno.
Image: Foxy Voxel / Mythwright

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Plague has wiped out most of humanity, and the few survivors left are counting on you to rebuild—one timber wall and cabbage patch at a time. Set in an alternate 14th century where society collapsed and nature reclaimed the land, Going Medieval trades RimWorld’s sci-fi setting for something a bit more mossy and mud-caked.

You’ll lead a band of settlers carving out a life in a beautifully overgrown post-collapse world. You’ll design multi-story fortresses, manage food, moods, and illness, and fend off raiders who seem way too excited to pillage your modest clay hut. It’s all about balancing long-term survival with short-term disasters, wrapped in a medieval skin.

The systems are deep, the challenges grow steadily, and every decision — from meal prep to militia training — shapes your colony’s story. If you enjoy RimWorld’s slow-burn tension and emergent storytelling, this grounded, grit-covered sim is a natural next stop.

Mind Over Magic

Mind Over Magic gameplay screenshot displaying different rooms within a gothic-style building, featuring a large purple Eldritchian entity, a character casting a spell, and spooky decor.
Image: Sparkypants / Klei Publishing

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Take RimWorld’s colony sim blueprint, swap the crash-landing for arcane academia, and you get Mind Over Magic—a game where you build and manage your very own magic school.

You’ll assign roles to your eccentric staff, train unruly students, expand room by room, and keep a wary eye on strange magical disasters brewing beneath the surface. The game trades guns and mechs for spells and cauldrons, but it keeps that delicious balance of simulation, sandbox creativity, and unexpected catastrophe.

Think of it as RimWorld by way of wizardry—less about surviving on a hostile planet, more about overcoming dangerous magical energies, repelling hostile spectral entities, and handling the volatile outcomes of magical experimentations.

Noble Fates

An isometric view of a Noble Fates settlement, showing a wooden house with an open interior, outdoor farming plots, and several characters.
Image: Xobermon, LLC

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

In Noble Fates, managing your colony means more than just food and shelter—it’s about keeping everyone’s egos in check, too. Your people have memories, opinions, and grudges, and they’re not shy about holding a grudge if you put the wrong person in charge.

This 3D colony sim blends classic RimWorld-style survival with a layer of medieval drama. You’re still assigning jobs, building structures, and fending off threats—but now you’re also dealing with personality-driven politics and shifting loyalties.

If you enjoy RimWorld but wish your colonists were a little more dramatic (and had a few more feelings), Noble Fates is a hilariously unpredictable step sideways.

Ratopia

Ratopia gameplay screenshot showing a bustling 2D side-scrolling base, with multiple floors of rat-citizens engaging in activities, surrounded by constructed rooms and natural cavern elements.
Image: Cassel Games

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

What happens when you mix colony management with adorable rats and an eye for urban planning? You get Ratopia—a side-scrolling sim where you’re building a rat empire from the ground up (and below it).

Like RimWorld, it’s all about survival, resource flow, and citizen satisfaction—just with a fuzzier, cuter aesthetic. You’ll assign jobs, manage stress levels, set tax policies (yes, taxes), and respond to threats both economic and environmental. But instead of a gritty space outpost, you’re dealing with the hustle and bustle of a tiny rodent civilization with big ambitions.

If you’ve ever wanted RimWorld with less existential dread and more tiny capes and cheese-based economies, Ratopia delivers in spades—and tunnels.

Space Haven

An isometric view of a ship's interior in Space Haven, showing various rooms, machinery, and a large blue star in the background.
Image: Bugbyte Ltd.

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Take RimWorld, bolt it onto a spaceship, and you’ve got Space Haven—a colony sim that trades dusty planets for the cold vacuum of space.

Instead of building a base on solid ground, you’re assembling a modular starship tile by tile, managing oxygen levels, crew moods, and alien infestations along the way. Think floating life support nightmares, spacefaring refugees, and tense boarding encounters. Every decision matters—from how you lay out your ship to who you let onboard.

If you’ve ever wanted RimWorld with oxygen scrubbers, cryopod chambers, and the occasional space pirate, Space Haven is well worth the journey into the void.

Stardeus

A screenshot of a complex spaceship in Stardeus, with numerous rooms, futuristic machinery, and a large explosion central to the image.
Image: Kodo Linija / Paradox Arc

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Imagine RimWorld, but your colonists are all in cryosleep, the ship’s AI has gone sentient (you), and everything’s on fire. Welcome to Stardeus.

You play as the ship’s malfunctioning artificial intelligence, trying to rebuild a destroyed star cruiser, maintain life support, and keep your fragile, unconscious humans alive—all while managing drones, crafting machines, and occasionally fending off cosmic threats. There’s no planet to tame here—just the endless void and a to-do list that never ends.

If RimWorld gave you a god complex, Stardeus hands you the motherboard and says, “Good luck running the place.

Stranded: Alien Dawn

A settlement built into a red rock canyon on an alien planet in Stranded: Alien Dawn, with several futuristic buildings and farmlands.
Image: Haemimont Games / Paradox Interactive

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

Crash-landing on an alien planet with a handful of survivors? Classic RimWorld energy—but Stranded: Alien Dawn cranks up the 3D and survival intensity.

You’ll manage everything from shelter and crop growth to alien wildlife attacks and inter-group dynamics. Each survivor has a distinct backstory, personality, and set of skills, so keeping them alive (and preferably not at each other’s throats) becomes a satisfying balancing act. Expect emergency surgeries, food shortages, and the occasional meltdown—just in high-def.

If you ever wished RimWorld had a more cinematic look and a bit more extraterrestrial flair, Alien Dawn might just be your next crash site.

RimWorld Adjacent: Colony Builders With Familiar Depth

Frostpunk

Frostpunk gameplay screenshot showing a grim, snow-covered settlement built around a massive central generator, with intricate industrial buildings all within a large crater.
Image: 11 bit studios

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iOS, Android

RimWorld tests your planning. Frostpunk tests your morality.

This brutally beautiful colony sim puts you in charge of the last city on Earth during a world-ending freeze. Sure, you’re still assigning workers, gathering resources, and building infrastructure—but now you’re also deciding whether to implement child labor or pass laws that push citizens to the brink of rebellion (or worse).

Unlike RimWorld’s emergent storytelling, Frostpunk delivers structured scenarios with escalating tension and increasingly harsh trade-offs. It’s colder, darker, and far more ethically stressful—but if you liked wrestling with tough decisions in RimWorld, Frostpunk will keep you frozen in place.

Amazing Cultivation Simulator

Amazing Cultivation Simulator gameplay screenshot showing a top-down perspective of a beautifully rendered cultivation sect, featuring ornate red and blue buildings, a symmetrical training area, and lush green landscapes.
Image: GSQ Games

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Think RimWorld, but everyone’s trying to become immortal kung fu wizards instead of just… surviving.

In Amazing Cultivation Simulator, you’re not just building a base—you’re managing a sect of mystical cultivators, training disciples in ancient martial arts, balancing their spiritual energy, and meticulously arranging their spaces to prevent calamitous Qi instability.

It’s got the colony sim depth of RimWorld, but layered with traditional Chinese spiritual concepts, intricate crafting, and supernatural progression systems. If you’ve ever wished RimWorld had more meditation, divine breakthroughs, and qi-powered internal organs, this wuxia sandbox offers a truly transcendent journey.

Banished

Banished gameplay screenshot depicting a winter scene of a small settlement, with timber and stone buildings, snow-dusted pine trees, and a river winding through the landscape.
Image: Shining Rock Software LLC

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Banished strips out the wild events and sci-fi antics of RimWorld—and leaves you alone in the cold with 10 villagers and no clue how to survive winter.

This is a pure, minimalist colony sim focused on resource management, population growth, and keeping your townsfolk alive (and preferably not starving). There are no raids, robots, or psychic breaks—just harsh seasons, supply chains, and the slow realization that maybe building five farms and no firewood was a bad idea.

It’s less unpredictable drama and more methodical survival, but the tension of keeping your tiny community thriving through thin margins feels right at home for RimWorld fans who enjoy the planning side of colony life.

Clanfolk

Clanfolk gameplay screenshot depicting a top-down view of a small village with a mix of residential and production buildings, surrounded by fields and a lake, rendered in a rustic art style.
Image: MinMax Games Ltd. / Hooded Horse

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

If RimWorld traded crash-landed colonists for a Scottish homestead, you’d get something like Clanfolk.

Set in the medieval Highlands, Clanfolk focuses on building up a family-run settlement from scratch. It’s not just about gathering resources—it’s about braving brutal winters, managing intergenerational relationships, and figuring out how to smoke enough fish before the snow hits. Your colonists aren’t strangers picked by chance; they’re blood relatives, with all the loyalty (and complexities) that comes with it.

It may look more serene than RimWorld, but don’t be fooled—behind the charming visuals is a survival sim that punishes poor planning and rewards careful, long-term thinking.

Dawn of Man

Dawn of Man gameplay screenshot showing an early human settlement surrounded by a wooden palisade, with thatched-roof dwellings and cultivated plots, set in a lush, mountainous landscape.
Image: Madruga Works

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

RimWorld lets you colonize a hostile planet. Dawn of Man dials the clock back a few thousand years and drops you into the Stone Age instead.

Instead of guns and drop pods, you’re managing mammoth hunts, flint tools, and the slow crawl towards building a civilization. You’ll guide a prehistoric tribe as they evolve from nomadic foragers into a full-fledged settlement—dealing with harsh weather, wild animals, and occasional raiders.

It’s slower-paced and more grounded than RimWorld, but the survival loop, tech progression, and challenge of keeping everyone alive through the winter will feel comfortingly familiar—just with fewer solar panels and more spears.

Farthest Frontier

An aerial, slightly elevated view of a bustling town in Farthest Frontier during autumn. Many houses with smoking chimneys are clustered together on dirt roads, surrounded by colorful fall trees and a glimpse of a body of water in the background.
Image: Crate Entertainment

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Survival has never looked so serene and felt so brutal at the same time.

Farthest Frontier plunges you into a lush, untamed medieval countryside, where every patch of fertile land hides a harsh truth.

You’re not dodging mechanoids here like in RimWorld—but keeping your villagers alive through disease, drought, crop failure, raiders, and the occasional bear attack still requires that familiar mix of micromanagement and long-term planning. You’ll plant crops, dig wells, craft gear, and try to keep everyone housed, fed, and emotionally intact.

First Feudal

A top-down view of a detailed medieval settlement in First Feudal, showing a collection of multi-room buildings with open interiors, various workshops, farm plots, and paths connecting them, all nestled between rocky terrain and a body of water.
Image: Harpoon Games / Gamirror Games

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer & Multiplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Most colony sims are lonely affairs—but First Feudal lets you bring a friend along for the medieval challenge. This rare online co-op city-builder lets you and a buddy manage a scrappy village, assign jobs, train guards, and fend off bandits together, one timber wall at a time.

It’s got the RimWorld spirit of managing people, priorities, and potential disasters—just with more hay roofs and fewer aliens. You’ll upgrade tech, expand your estate, and deal with classic settler woes like food shortages and unhappy villagers.

If you’ve ever wished RimWorld let you co-manage a kingdom with a friend, First Feudal might be your couch-crusader dream come true.

Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation

A top-down view of a fortified, post-apocalyptic base in Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation. The settlement features wooden walls, various constructed buildings, several fenced-off agricultural plots, and scattered survivors moving around on dirt and stone paths.
Image: Suncrash

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Take RimWorld’s colony management, crank up the stakes, and drop it into a world crawling with demons. Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation swaps sci-fi for supernatural, tasking you with leading a group of survivors through an occult apocalypse—complete with base-building, research, and desperate last stands.

You’ll farm, craft, train fighters, and even dabble in magic to survive waves of hellspawn. The day-night cycle adds tension, and resource scarcity means every decision matters—do you research firearms or ritual magic? Fortify your walls or risk a scavenging run?

If RimWorld’s your jam but you’ve always wanted a bit more doom and gloom with a side of brimstone, Judgment delivers that colony-sim survival flavor with an apocalyptic twist.

Kenshi

A dynamic screenshot from Kenshi showing two characters engaged in combat on a barren, light-colored landscape. One character, a female with a ponytail, is barefoot and wielding a large cleaver, poised to strike. Her opponent is heavily armored with spikes and a large, wide blade.
Image: Lo-Fi Games

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

If RimWorld gave you too much control, Kenshi flips the script: here, the world doesn’t care if you live or die—and honestly, it’s probably rooting for the latter.

This open-world sandbox RPG drops you into a vast, brutal desert with no main quest, no chosen-one status, and a whole lot of opportunity to fail upward. You’ll recruit a ragtag crew, build a base, mine resources, and try not to get eaten by cannibals or enslaved by tech cultists. Everyone starts as a nobody—survival is earned, not given.

While it leans more RPG than colony sim, Kenshi scratches that same “build from nothing” itch as RimWorld, just with more amputations, existential dread, and swords the size of your torso.

Necesse

A top-down screenshot of a thriving Necesse settlement. The image shows various organized plots of land with different crops, a small pond where a character is fishing, a structured building, and numerous trees and fences, all set on a green and grey tiled landscape.
Image: Fair Games ApS

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer & Multiplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Got that RimWorld itch but also a hankering for more direct action and a top-down view? Necesse is here to scratch it, delivering a surprisingly engaging sandbox adventure that’s a blast solo or with friends.

You’ll mine, craft, and explore procedurally generated islands while building up a cozy little settlement that slowly turns into a thriving town. Villagers can be recruited and assigned tasks, from farming to defending your turf. There’s also dungeon crawling, boss fights, and gear progression—all wrapped in a smoother-than-expected multiplayer experience.

It’s not as morally fraught or story-driven as RimWorld, but if you’ve ever wanted something that splits the difference between Terraria and a colony sim, Necesse could the sweet spot you’ve been searching for.

Norland

A top-down screenshot of a medieval settlement in Norland, featuring a large windmill, several farm plots with characters working, and a character inside a building to the left, indicating detailed management gameplay.
Image: Long Jaunt / Hooded Horse

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): Multiplayer

Who knew medieval times were such a hit with colony sim architects? It’s like developers collectively realized that peasants, plague, and power struggles make for just as much compelling gameplay as alien raids and resource scarcity.

Norland is when RimWorld traded its space-age setting for medieval politics, where running a noble family is just as important as running your kingdom.

You’re not just building walls and harvesting wheat here. You’re managing siblings with clashing personalities, navigating assassination plots, keeping peasants from revolting, and deciding whether your guards should resolve disputes or cause them. Every citizen has their own goals, loyalties, and grudges, and things can spiral hilariously (or horrifically) fast.

It’s a social experiment disguised as a city builder, with all the unpredictable drama and emergent storytelling RimWorld fans live for.

Odd Realm

A screenshot of Odd Realm, displaying a top-down view of a varied landscape with green hills, dark rocky caverns, and blue water, showing signs of player excavation and small figures moving across the terrain.
Image: Unknown Origin Games Inc

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Odd Realm feels like RimWorld wandered into a fantasy realm and brought its love of emergent storytelling with it.

Instead of colonists on a distant planet, you’re guiding humans, dwarves, orcs, or other fantasy races as they carve out a home in procedurally generated worlds. Seasons change, disasters strike, and your citizens each come with their own needs and quirks—sound familiar? But here, you might be building underwater fortresses, mountain holds, or desert outposts while dealing with skeleton invasions or ancient ruins.

It’s RimWorld with a fantasy hat, and while it’s still in active development, there’s already a ton for colony sim fans to sink their teeth into.

Prison Architect

A top-down screenshot of a large, complex prison layout in Prison Architect. The facility features numerous cell blocks, communal areas like a yard and showers, a kitchen, workshops, and various utility rooms, with tiny prisoner and guard figures moving throughout the stylized environment.
Image: Introversion Software / Double Eleven / Paradox Interactive

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer & Multiplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

If RimWorld is about building a colony to survive, Prison Architect is about building a prison to maintain order—and watching everything unravel when it doesn’t.

You’ll design cells, manage staff, and deal with escape attempts, riots, and the occasional existential crisis over ethical prison layouts. There’s still that same systems-driven gameplay: assign jobs, control routines, and micromanage resources—just swap colonists with inmates and throw in a moral dilemma or two.

It may be more concrete walls than crashlanded domes, but the layers of simulation, unpredictable scenarios, and player-created narratives feel right at home for RimWorld fans.

Rise to Ruins

A top-down view of a large, bustling village in Rise to Ruins. The sprawling settlement features numerous stone and timber buildings, intricate pathways, various fortifications, and agricultural fields, all set within a lush green landscape with some darker areas.
Image: Raymond Doerr / SixtyGig Games

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Rise to Ruins feels like what would happen if RimWorld let you play god—literally. Part city-builder, part god game, it gives you control over a struggling village on the edge of monstrous wilderness. Build defenses by day, fend off undead hordes by night, and occasionally hurl a divine lightning bolt or two just for good measure.

There’s resource micromanagement, villagers’ needs, and base-building challenges, but also a heavier emphasis on survival against the odds. It’s pixelated, punishing, and full of surprises.

For players who enjoy watching their colonies crumble just as much as thrive, Rise to Ruins lives up to its name.

Settlement Survival

An overhead view of a well-organized medieval town in Settlement Survival. The settlement features tightly packed rows of houses with red roofs, various small farm plots, and structures built over a blue river with boats docked, suggesting a prosperous and planned community.
Image: Team17 / Gleamer Studio

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, Android

Settlement Survival wears its Banished inspiration proudly but carves out its own space with vibrant visuals, a flexible development system, and deeper resource chains. You’ll guide a group of exiles as they establish a new settlement, balancing food, health, happiness, and the ever-looming threat of harsh seasons.

While it doesn’t lean into RimWorld’s event-driven storytelling or colonist drama, it shares that satisfying loop of expansion, optimization, and “oh no, winter is coming and I forgot to build a clinic.” It’s more relaxed on the chaos front, but still offers a thoughtful, systems-driven colony sim experience.

If you enjoy the town-building side of RimWorld without all the fires, fights, and flesh-eating squirrels, Settlement Survival might be your speed.

Songs of Syx

A top-down screenshot of a dense, highly detailed city in Songs of Syx. The image shows numerous buildings, bustling streets filled with tiny citizens, and organized production areas, highlighting the large-scale city-building aspect of the game.
Image: Gamatron AB

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Songs of Syx scales everything up—way up. While RimWorld focuses on dozens of colonists, this city-builder-slash-empire-sim lets you grow a humble village into a sprawling, multi-species metropolis with thousands of citizens. It blends colony sim fundamentals with grand strategy and complex socio-political systems.

You’ll manage everything from sewage and supply chains to crime, class tensions, and military conquests. And yes, it’s all driven by emergent systems that can collapse spectacularly if you’re not paying attention.

If RimWorld’s drama felt too small in scope, Songs of Syx answers with a bigger sandbox and more levers to pull—just don’t forget to build bathrooms.

Survivalist: Invisible Strain

A third-person perspective screenshot from Survivalist: Invisible Strain showing a character sitting by a small campfire in a snowy, desolate forest at night, next to a derelict building. The game's UI with character stats and a map is visible on the right.
Image: Bob / Ginormocorp Holdings Ltd

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer & Multiplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

If RimWorld zoomed in and let you walk in your colonists’ shoes, you might get something like Survivalist: Invisible Strain. This hybrid of RPG and survival sim puts you in direct control of a single survivor, but still lets you build communities, manage resources, and recruit others to your cause.

It’s all about emergent storytelling in a post-apocalyptic world—where diplomacy, infection, betrayal, and player choice shape every encounter. You’re not just issuing commands from above; you’re in the mud, bartering for bullets, and trying not to get killed by raiders.

It’s raw, tense, and surprisingly deep. RimWorld fans who’ve ever wished they could be the colonist instead of the storyteller will feel right at home here—assuming they survive the first winter.

Timberborn

An aerial view of an extensive beaver settlement in Timberborn, showcasing a complex system of wooden buildings, water management structures like dams and canals, and cultivated fields, all thriving amidst a verdant landscape with interconnected waterways.
Image: Mechanistry

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

Forget human drama and psychic breaks; Timberborn takes RimWorld’s deep colony management and brilliantly re-imagines it for a world ruled by highly organized, eco-conscious beavers.

You’re not managing fragile humans on a distant planet—you’re guiding beaver factions through cycles of drought and abundance. It’s all about smart resource planning, vertical construction, and keeping your adorable wood-chomping citizens happy and hydrated. Think dams, water wheels, irrigation systems—and lots of logs.

There’s no combat, but the challenge comes from engineering survival in a world where nature is both ally and threat. If your favorite part of RimWorld is optimizing logistics and watching your colony thrive (without the constant threat of psychic breaks), Timberborn is a surprisingly compelling—and oddly wholesome — alternative.

Games with Overlapping Mechanics (Less Direct Sim)

Against the Storm

An isometric view of a fantasy settlement in Against the Storm, with a distinctive, detailed art style. The image shows several unique buildings, including a hearth, workshops, and houses, all surrounded by intricate ground textures and fantastical flora.
Image: Eremite Games / Hooded Horse

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

City-building meets roguelike—and the rain never stops.

In Against the Storm, you’re rebuilding civilization one storm-battered outpost at a time for an immortal queen. Each settlement is a run with randomized resources, unpredictable weather, and a rotating cast of species—humans, lizards, harpies, and beavers—each with their own needs and quirks. Sound familiar?

Like RimWorld, it’s all about adapting on the fly and making tough calls under pressure. But instead of one big colony, you’re managing a network of smaller ones across a dangerous world map. There’s no combat, but the push-pull between growth, morale, and survival will feel familiar for RimWorld fans.

Surviving Mars

An expansive, futuristic view of multiple large, transparent domes on the red Martian surface in Surviving Mars. Inside the domes, lush green environments and advanced, modern buildings are visible, contrasting with the vast, rocky, orange landscape and distant mountains.
Image: Haemimont Games / Abstraction / Paradox Interactive

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

If your RimWorld colonists traded their crash pods for spaceships and their biomes for Martian dust, you’d be playing Surviving Mars.

This city-builder tasks you with building a self-sustaining colony on the Red Planet—complete with oxygen shortages, dust storms, and colonists who might spiral into existential crisis if the hydroponics fail. It’s more structured than RimWorld, with tech trees and domes instead of freeform base-building, but the core loop of resource balancing, crisis management, and keeping your people alive against the odds feels all too familiar.

If you love RimWorld’s unpredictability but want a more polished, sci-fi city-builder with a sleek visual style, this one’s a solid leap into the final frontier.

Aven Colony

A futuristic cityscape on an alien world in Aven Colony. The image shows sleek, modern buildings with flowing architectural lines, situated on platforms over vibrant blue water, surrounded by towering, jagged mountains and a large planetary body in the sky. Several flying vehicles are also visible.
Image: Mothership Entertainment LLC / Team17 Digital Ltd

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

If you love the resource juggling of RimWorld but crave a more polished, visually stunning take on colony management on an alien planet, Aven Colony is ready to rocket you into a new challenge.

Aven Colony puts you in charge of humanity’s first extrasolar settlement, balancing colony growth, alien hazards, and the basic needs of your citizens. It’s a more guided experience than RimWorld, with clear objectives and a city-building structure, but there’s still that tense push-pull between expansion and survival.

You’ll manage food, water, power, morale—and occasionally fend off toxic spores or giant space worms. It’s less storytelling sandbox, more sci-fi SimCity—but if you enjoy the resource-juggling side of RimWorld, Aven Colony offers a more polished and atmospheric version of it.

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

A top-down screenshot of Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead, showing the interior of a large building with red lines indicating pathways, a white car, various objects representing shelves and furniture, and a small character. A detailed text-based UI on the right displays game information, stats, and messages.
Image: CleverRaven / KorGgenT

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, iOS, Android

For the ultimate test of survival mechanics beyond what RimWorld offers, look no further than Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead–where the visuals take a backseat to pure, unadulterated complexity.

This roguelike drops you into a post-disaster wasteland filled with zombies, mutants, radiation, and utter unpredictability. There’s no colony to manage—just you, your backpack, and the slow, strategic process of not dying. But the systems run deep: detailed crafting, vehicle building, base construction, and countless ways to adapt to your crumbling world.

It’s more solo nightmare than story generator, but for fans of RimWorld’s hardcore survival aspects and emergent complexity, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is a rabbit hole worth falling into.

Dune: Spice Wars

An aerial view of a desert landscape from Dune: Spice Wars, depicting various military units and structures extending from a large circular base, all set against a vast orange, rocky terrain with distant mountains.
Image: Shiro Games / Funcom

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer & Multiplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X|S

If RimWorld is a colony sim with survival storytelling, Dune: Spice Wars is what happens when you throw that same survival instinct into the cutthroat desert politics of Arrakis.

Part 4X strategy, part real-time survival, Spice Wars tasks you with managing a faction on a world where water is more valuable than gold, and a poorly placed harvester might get swallowed whole. You’ll juggle diplomacy, espionage, resource control, and military might—all while trying to keep your people alive in a hostile wasteland.

It’s not a direct cousin to RimWorld, but if you liked the feeling of managing scarce resources under constant pressure—just replace your colonists with political operatives and sandworms—this one scratches a similar strategic itch.

Dyson Sphere Program

A futuristic, wide shot from Dyson Sphere Program showing a massive industrial complex built on a planetary surface, with numerous large structures, interconnected energy beams, and factory components. A sun and other celestial bodies are visible in the dark cosmic background.
Image: Youthcat Studio / Gamirror Games

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

For players who’ve automated every last corner of their RimWorld base and wondered, ‘What’s next?’, Dyson Sphere Program answers with a resounding ‘Build a factory around a star!’

This game ditches the survival narrative for galaxy-scale automation. You’ll manage an ever-expanding web of conveyor belts, miners, and assemblers to create a Dyson Sphere—a theoretical structure that captures a star’s energy.

It’s all about optimization, scaling production, and solving increasingly complex logistical puzzles. There’s no combat or colonist drama, but the meticulous resource planning and build-from-nothing vibe will feel familiar to RimWorld fans who love the base-building and automation side of things.

Factorio

An overhead view of a vast, complex factory in Factorio, filled with an intricate network of conveyor belts carrying various resources, automated assembly machines, pipes, and rail tracks, all indicating a highly efficient and sprawling industrial operation.
Image: Wube Software LTD.

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer & Multiplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch

Imagine RimWorld’s meticulous base-building, but instead of worrying about colonist moods, your main concern is debugging a planet-sized spaghetti monster of conveyor belts. That’s the wonderfully obsessive world of Factorio.

This game is all about building sprawling factories from scratch, automating everything from mining ores to assembling complex machinery, and defending your empire from relentless alien attacks. It’s like a giant, ever-expanding puzzle where every conveyor belt and inserter needs to be perfectly placed.

While it’s more focused on industrial automation than survival storytelling, Factorio shares that addictive loop of resource management, problem-solving, and constant growth that RimWorld players know and love.

KeeperRL

A top-down screenshot of the dungeon management game, KeeperRL. The image shows a complex base with various rooms like a dormitory, training room, and library, along with small pixelated creatures moving throughout. A sidebar on the right displays game information and options.
Image: Electric Succubi

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

What do you get when you mix RimWorld’s meticulous management with the dark fantasy thrills of a dungeon crawler? You get KeeperRL.

Here, you’ll build and manage an underground lair, recruit monsters, craft traps, and fend off invading heroes looking to steal your treasure. It uniquely blends base-building with rogue-like dungeon crawling, letting you switch between overseeing your realm and diving into turn-based tactical battles.

If you love RimWorld’s management challenges but want to flip the script and play as the bad guy defending your fortress, KeeperRL offers a wickedly fun twist.

Land of the Vikings

An aerial view of a sprawling Viking village in Land of the Vikings, nestled in a valley with snow-capped mountains in the background. The settlement features numerous thatched-roof longhouses, organized farm fields, and small character models, all rendered in a realistic art style.
Image: Laps Games / Iceberg Interactive

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

If RimWorld’s colony management calls to your inner strategist, imagine wielding that power to forge a legendary Viking settlement.

In Land of the Vikings, you’ll guide a fierce Norse clan, balancing vital farming, daring raids, and sheer survival against the brutal Nordic elements. Build your village from the ground up, keep your people content and well-fed, and brace for unpredictable invasions and unforgiving winters.

If you like RimWorld’s mix of base-building and survival but want a Norse-flavored saga with plenty of grit and glory, Land of the Vikings might be right up your alley.

Manor Lords

An overhead view of an early medieval settlement in Manor Lords, surrounded by dense forests. The village consists of several small wooden buildings, some tents, a fenced-in pasture with sheep, and dirt roads winding through fields and trees.
Image: Slavic Magic / Hooded Horse

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

What if RimWorld’s deep colony management collided with realistic medieval city-building and real-time tactical battles? That’s the ambitious vision of Manor Lords.

Here, you’ll plan your village’s layout, juggle resources, and oversee your populace, from their daily chores to their muster for war. Unlike many colony sims, it blends large-scale city management with tactical real-time battles.

If you’re into RimWorld’s deep management but want a more grounded, historically inspired challenge, Manor Lords offers a fresh take with plenty of medieval grit.

Northgard

An isometric view of a developing Viking settlement in Northgard, surrounded by large, grey rock formations and scattered trees. Several wooden buildings are visible, along with small character units. The game's UI with resources and objectives is displayed around the edges.
Image: Shiro Games

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer & Multiplayer
  • Platform(s): PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Android, iOS

For those who’ve mastered RimWorld’s challenging colony management, Northgard offers a fresh, fiercely competitive frontier.

This strategy game has you leading a Viking clan to settle new lands, gather resources, and fend off rivals—and, of course, survive harsh winters. While it leans more into real-time strategy than pure colony sim, its mix of exploration, resource management, and survival challenges will resonate with RimWorld fans.

If you like managing your little community while facing unpredictable threats, Northgard is a compelling, icy challenge.

Satisfactory

A screenshot from Satisfactory, showing a player character in a futuristic suit overlooking a massive, complex factory built within a lush, alien landscape. The factory features numerous automated machines, conveyor belts, and pipes, with smoke rising from some structures.
Image: Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing

  • Mode(s): Singleplayer & Multiplayer
  • Platform(s): PC

RimWorld is all about survival and storytelling. Satisfactory? It’s about building a massive factory empire with conveyor belts as far as the eye can see.

This first-person automation sim drops you on an alien planet with one goal: optimize everything. You’ll mine resources, automate production lines, and scale up until your creations look like sci-fi spaghetti. There’s less colony drama here, but the systems-thinking, progression, and satisfaction of watching your machine empire hum along scratches a similar itch—especially if you loved the logistics side of RimWorld.

It’s less social management, more industrial madness—but just as dangerously addicting.

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