Key recommendations
- Surviving Mars offers a space-themed survival colony simulator with intense challenges and deep game mechanics.
- Oxygen Not Included offers a unique underground survival experience, focusing on science and machinery for managing colonies.
- Norland stands out as a medieval-themed survival colony simulator, featuring noble family dynamics and various conflicts for players to navigate.
Colony simulators are games that allow players to manage a group of survivors or regular residents in hopes of building them a home that will not only keep them safe, but also entertain them. While many colony simulators tend to have players focus on the basics, some colony simulators take the mechanics of the simulation genre a step further by implementing various survival mechanics.
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From defending the colony against various alien creatures to making sure there is enough oxygen available for the player's colonists to survive underground, these are by far the best survival colony simulators that players should consider trying , ranked.
8 Martian survival
Finding new strategies to survive in an alien world
- ISSUED
- March 15, 2018
- Developer(s)
- Haemimont Games, Abstract Games
starting strong Martian survival is a great example of a survival colony simulator set in space. Players usually assume that most colony simulation titles challenge the player to live on alien planets and Martian survival it is no different. As the name suggests, players are tasked with taking care of their colonists by creating various building domes, wildlife, and various recreational locations on Mars to create an environment that their inhabitants would be happy to live in.
Of course, there are problems that arise, such as a lack of resources to feed the colonists or an inability to produce enough oxygen, but these are all problems that the player can solve while discovering the alien secrets of Mars.
7 Oxygen is not included
Conquer science and machinery for an underground colony
Oxygen is not included
Simulation
Survival
management
Continuing on the theme of sci-fi colony simulators, another great survival option for players who would like to take their colonists underground instead of on the surface is Oxygen is not included. Created by the same developers who created Don't starve, Oxygen is not included is another intense survival experience that will likely have many players restarting multiple times before they can keep a colony alive.
Players will dig various tunnels to create homes for their settlers, while making sure to provide them with the various amenities needed to keep their settlers happy. Not to mention the most vital resource of all, oxygen, which players will need to learn how to produce and purify through various automations to prevent their colony from suffocating.
6 Norland
Battle conflicts as a noble family hoping to grow
Norland
- ISSUED
- July 18, 2024
- Developer
- Long trip
Although in early access, Norland has already shown great potential not only as a colony simulator that departs from the common sci-fi theme of the genre, but also as an incredible survival experience as players fight not only through epic battles of the Middle Ages, but also through various other disturbances. such as political debates and religious concerns.
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Like a noble family trying to make a name for themselves, a player will not be right if they can't keep their position in order. The family members that make up the player's house in Norland they have their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as objectives that will help the player not only take care of their kingdom, but also allow them to gain more authority.
5 Stranded: Alien Dawn
Keep a small colony alive on an alien planet
- ISSUED
- April 25, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Haemimont Games
While the player only takes care of a small group of survivors who lived after landing on an alien planet, Stranded: Alien Dawn is still praised for being one of the greatest survival titles on the planet, with features that encourage the player to take care of their little colony.
From creating a base that the player – with the help of their survivors – will fortify with various materials in hopes of keeping the planet's dangerous alien fauna as far away as possible. It's important that players don't just focus on the health and needs of their survivors Stranded: Alien Dawn but also on their happiness so that the colonists enthusiastically fulfill every task given to them.
4 RimWorld
Create all new stories of survival with a growing colony
- ISSUED
- October 17, 2018
- Developer(s)
- Ludeon Studios
RimWorld is another phenomenal survival colony simulator that has the potential to allow players to create a variety of unique stories for their colonists as well as make them go through various horrific events just from the randomly generated world they are in.
Players begin RimWorld with a small group of settlers that they will gradually expand by exploring the world. While growing may seem like a good idea, a player must first take care of the colony they currently have by building a home they will enjoy. RimWorld is another survival colony simulator where having happy settlers will see the player prosperous because once they start to get angry, fights can break out between the complicated relationships between the residents.
3 Frostpunk
See society survive harsh winter and internal strife
Calling itself the first survival game of the society, Frostpunk it goes much deeper than the usual single player survival colony simulator. In a world where there are still few colonies, the player must work hard to build up their city, not only through its buildings, but also economically and socially, as they race against the clock in hopes of be prepared before the cold gets worse.
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Shaping society in Frostpunk it's not easy, as every choice the player makes will upset the colony members, leaving many players juggling the impossible even as a more dangerous threat approaches.
2 Citadel of the Dwarves
Keep the dwarves alive in a fully generated world
Citadel of the Dwarves
Roguelike
Strategy
Simulation
- platform
- Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
- ISSUED
- August 8, 2006
Some of the greatest colony simulator titles don't have great graphics, but they still contain a lot of the intricate gameplay that makes them so exciting to play. Citadel of the Dwarves It's no different, as players take control of their dwarven colony as they mine resources and build their fortress so they can survive against hunger, dragons, and even their own madness underground.
Many modern survival colony simulators were inspired by the classic ie Citadel of the Dwarvesto create an equally unique experience for its players. Players will not only dig Citadel of the Dwarves, as this survival colony simulator also reveals dwarves discovering their culture through taverns, libraries and more.
1 Against the Storm
Rebuild the last civilizations against the toxic rain
Against the Storm
Strategy
City builder
Simulation
- ISSUED
- December 8, 2023
- Developer(s)
- Hermit Games
By far, one of the greatest survival colony simulators of recent years has to be the fantastic title known as Against the Storm. As the viceroy of the Queen, it is up to the player to save the world's last civilizations from the threat of apocalyptic rains.
Helping different humans, beavers, lizards, foxes and harpies reclaim the wilderness from the rains in hopes of rebuilding these colonies. They will approach dangers as rain is the least of the player's worries as there are also monsters lurking in these forests that will destroy the player's hard work and make them build again.
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