Games like RimWorld – 2018’s Best Alternatives

What is RimWorld?

RimWorld is an in-depth expansion and management game that takes place in space. The game begins with a set of crew members flying around in a space ship who then crash land on a remote planet. There are three sets of difficulty (represented by three different NPCs) that affect your home life on the planet. Upon landing on the planet you will be forced to design and create facilities like solar panels and wind turbines that will produce oxygen and energy for your colony of survivors. There are also a number of weather patterns like solar flares and storms that you will need to be wary of.

Outside of needing to survive the harsh elements you will also need to survive local natives. There are a handful of space pirates that you will eventually come into contact with. These individuals will be after your resources so you’ll need to setup turrets to defend yourself. Not every humanoid character you come across will be dangerous as there are a number of travelers around the galaxy that will just want to stop by and hang out. If you’re social enough these characters will enjoy your company and eventually join your colony, thus expanding your numbers and making you stronger.

Your colony will start to adjust to space life as long as you keep them occupied with various chores. Boredom is a unique factor in RimWorld that you must take into consideration as it greatly affects your colonies mental health. Chores include having them go out to find plants from around the planet, going on treks to mine rare minerals and even going hunting for animals. Rather than killing animals you can tame them and they will become your pet.

Keep your colony thriving, protect them from space pirates and keep them safe and soon enough you will have enough resources to return home.

Top Five Games like RimWorld – 2018 Update

#5 – Dwarf Fortress (PC)

It’s kind of hard to recommend a game that’s similar to RimWorld and not include Dwarf Fortress. It’s the original construction/management game and is considered by many to be the best. Keep in mind that Dwarf Fortress is not your typical game as it’s completely text based. Development for the game began in 2002 and after four years it was finally released. While the game is totally playable, the developers of the game have stated that it’s technically not finished and won’t be for at least another 20 years.

The game begins with the player generating a completely random world. While you can’t physically see the entire world, you still know where certain things are because they’re represented by numbers, letters or symbols. The entire map is also laid out to you and terrain is displayed by a color. Starting the game you have one of two choices of modes that you can participate in.

Adventure Mode – Adventure Mode deals with playing as a solo dwarf who is trying to survive in the world that you have created. You’re able to give your dwarf a name and gender and even spend points to improve his or her combat skills. There are various non-playing characters in the game that will give you quests to defeat random outlaws so you’re going to want to be well-equipped to stand battle.  If you happen to die in Adventure Mode then you’ll need to start over.

Fortress Mode – Fortress Mode is the main draw to Dwarf Fortress. When starting this mode, the player begins with seven dwarves and a herd of domestic animals. In order to succeed you must give your dwarves orders which they will follow, although keep in mind that not every dwarf is the same so be sure to look through their stats to find out what they’re good at. Types of skills include leatherworking, glassmaking, butchering and clothes-making. There is a lot to do in Fortress Mode but the main goal is to keep your dwarves alive and healthy and build up a base of operations.

I did mention that Dwarf Fortress has no graphics so if you’re a little confused then don’t worry. Everything you need will be explained in great detail via text so you should have no problem figuring things out.

#4 – Craft the World (PC)

Craft the World is a game I have discussed many times and I urge anyone who is interested in building/managing game to try this game out. Not only are the graphics gorgeous but the game itself is extremely satisfying and will keep you hooked for hours. Released in 2014, Craft the World is a game similar to Dwarf Fortress in that in essence you’re taking care of a group of dwarves but it takes it a step further by incorporating graphics and a whole hell of a lot more activities to partake in.

You begin the game with a single dwarf and the first thing you will be told to do is build your first base. Because you have nothing you will need to dig into the ground and make your own fort down there. During this time you’ll come across a few underground monsters which you can kill for experience. During the nighttime hours you will be visited by zombies and goblins who will attempt to kill you. You can choose to either fight them off or hide but it’s better to fight so you can gain more experience. With more experience means higher levels and the higher level you are, the more dwarves you will have access to.

Once you start building up your army you can assign more tasks. You’ll also want to feed your dwarves and make sure they have comfortable beds. To accomplish this, you just need to find materials and it’s always good to have a dwarf constantly out hunting for meat, eggs or fish.

On the right hand side of your screen you will constantly see a timer counting down from 45 minutes. Every 45 minutes the game turns into a tower defense-type game and a bunch of zombies and goblins will spawn out of a portal. It’s your job to fight them off as, depending on the difficulty setting you’re on, they will kill you. It’s always best to make sure your dwarves are fully healed before the timer runs out.

Other than that, you just need to keep your dwarves alive and healthy. After leveling up you’ll gain access to more skills and building blocks. Over time you’ll be able to replace your dirt home into a nice wooden or brick house. Be patient with the game and you’ll have no problem building up a huge dwarf army.

#3 – Civilization V (PC)

Civilization V is the type of game where you start playing and then all of a sudden its ten hours later and you’re late for work. Released in 2010, Civilization V is part of a long series of historical video games that has you managing several cities at the same time. Each turn the player is allowed to perform tasks that range from managing your workers to attacking barbarians. When you end your turn, the remaining countries and city-states will take their turns and it’ll be your turn again. Between turns, several years will have passed so by the time you’re finished the game you’ll easily have played a few thousand years.

You begin the game by choosing a country to represent and go to work. The first thing you’ll want to do is start exploring so that you can get the lay of the land. You’ll be able to purchase workers who will be able to do various tasks for you like acquiring iron, food, set up trade posts, build railroads for quicker travel and grow farms. You’ll also be able to hire settlers who will purchase more countries for you, build an army to overthrow your enemies, explore vast oceans to travel to faraway lands and educate your people by purchasing new buildings, including libraries, observatories and lots more!

The best thing about Civilization V is how historic the game actually is. It has a library filled with historical figures, quotes from popular scholars and includes lots of familiar faces of rulers throughout history.  Because of this, you’ll really want to keep an eye out for which country you feel like ruling over. Each country is assigned their own perks which always make historical sense.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to run your own country, then you will absolutely want to give Civilization V a shot. I personally bought it around a month ago and the first night I played I spent seven straight hours in front of my computer because I was having so much fun.

#2 – Prison Architect (PC)

Prison Architect plays exactly how you’d expect a game titled “Prison Architect” would. Released in 2015, Prison Architect has gone on to become one of the best-selling construction/management games of all time with close to two million copies being sold. The game itself was announced in 2011 and an alpha version was made available the following year. Demand was so strong for this game that upon release of the alpha version, Prison Architect sold nearly 10,000 copies in the first month.

You play as a prison architect who has complete control over a prison. You begin the game by constructing various prison cells and other facilities. Inside the cells are oddly plain so as the prisons main architect it’s also your job to also decorate the area which is a nice touch to keep the game unique. Next you’ll need to start hiring various workers that will manage your inmates. It’s important to have a good ratio of guards and workers as over time your prison population will grow. It’s also your job to keep the workers content and prevent them from being repeat-offenders. There are a few ways to accomplish this but the easiest way is to maintain several reform programs that will help reduce crime within your games universe.

Prison Architect is one of the newer construction/management games out there and it shows with how much depth there is within the game. You’d think a game revolved around running a prison would be dull but in actuality it’s a great game and definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of RimWorld. While the game is currently only on Steam it has been announced by the developers that Prison Architect will be ported over to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 sometime this summer.

#1 – Out There: Omega Edition (PC)

Topping our list of the “Top 5 Games like RimWorld” is Out There: Omega Edition. This roguelike space exploration and management game is by far one of the most in-depth games you will ever play.

You begin the game being lost in space, millions of lightyears away from home. It’s your job to travel from star to star in hopes of getting closer to Earth. You travel along in a space ship and while it does have futuristic technology which enables you to quickly jump to new planets, it’s not invincible. Along the way you’ll come into contact with other planets, stars and gas giants and you must take advantage of them by harnessing their technology. You’ll be able to dig into these planets or launch probes to gather the elements required to keep your ship from being destroyed, running out of oxygen or going low on fuel.

Out There: Omega Edition isn’t your typical construction/management game in that you’re advancing through the game with a group of people. Rather, you’re on a solo journey which I believe makes the game a lot more strategic. You have one job and that’s keeping one person alive and if you fail then you must start all over.

Continuing on your journey you’ll run into a lot of space monsters, new technology and even lost civilizations. You keep track of your surroundings by logging entries into a journal that also shows how much time has passed. Out There; Omega Edition really is a great game that shows in-depth what being alone can do to your psyche. There’s a lot of exploring involved but the overall gameplay is keeping your unit alive.