10 Games Like RimWorld You Need to Play

RimWorld does something that very few games manage. It makes you care deeply about a handful of randomly generated colonists stranded on an alien planet. Ludeon Studios built a colony sim where an AI storyteller orchestrates raids, mental breaks, plagues, and solar flares into a narrative that feels authored, even though every moment is emergent. Your pyromaniac cook will set the kitchen on fire during a siege. Your best doctor will fall in love with the prisoner you were planning to recruit. Every playthrough generates stories worth telling.

With a 98% positive rating on Steam from over 230,000 reviews, RimWorld sits in territory that most games never reach. Three DLCs (Royalty, Ideology, Biotech) and a massive modding community mean the game keeps evolving years after its 2018 launch. But eventually, you exhaust your curiosity. You want something that scratches the same itch in a different way.

Here are 10 indie colony sims and management games that capture different pieces of what makes RimWorld special. Some match its storytelling. Others push its systems further. A few take the formula in directions you did not expect.

1. Dwarf Fortress

Developer: Bay 12 Games | Released: 2022 (Steam) | Steam Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)

RimWorld would not exist without Dwarf Fortress. Tynan Sylvester has said so himself. Bay 12 Games spent over 20 years building the deepest simulation in gaming history, and the 2022 Steam release finally made it accessible with tileset graphics and a usable interface.

The depth here is unmatched. Every dwarf has a full personality model, physical attributes, preferences, and relationships. The world generates thousands of years of history before you start playing. Goblin sieges are not random events. They come from civilizations with their own rulers, grudges, and motivations. The combat system models individual body parts, armor layers, and tissue types. A dwarf can lose a finger, develop an infection, and die from it three seasons later.

Recent updates have tackled performance (the infamous “FPS death” is largely solved), added a siege overhaul, and begun dripping in the magic system fans have waited years for. If you have ever thought RimWorld’s simulation felt shallow, Dwarf Fortress will cure that permanently.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: The game that inspired RimWorld, with simulation depth that makes every other colony sim look like a spreadsheet. If you want emergent stories, nothing generates them better.

Play Dwarf Fortress on Steam

2. Oxygen Not Included

Developer: Klei Entertainment | Released: 2019 | Steam Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (97%)

If RimWorld is about storytelling through systems, Oxygen Not Included is about engineering through systems. Klei Entertainment built a colony sim where every molecule matters. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, chlorine. Every gas has weight, temperature, and pressure. Water flows realistically. Heat transfers between materials. Your base is a physics simulation disguised as a cute cartoon.

You manage a group of Duplicants (cloned colonists) inside an asteroid, digging out rooms, building life support systems, and slowly expanding outward. The early game is manageable. The mid-game is where things get wild. You need to pipe oxygen to distant rooms, manage sewage, prevent carbon dioxide from pooling in low areas, and keep your food supply from spoiling. Every system connects to every other system, and solving one problem often creates two new ones.

The Spaced Out DLC overhauls the late game with multiple planetoids and rocketry. The newer Prehistoric Planet Pack adds a fresh starting biome. Klei still ships regular updates, and the modding scene is thriving. This is the most mechanically intricate colony sim on this list.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: Interconnected survival systems that create cascading disasters and brilliant solutions. The “everything is connected” feeling, dialed up to maximum.

Play Oxygen Not Included on Steam

3. Kenshi

Developer: Lo-Fi Games | Released: 2018 | Steam Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (96%)

Kenshi is not a traditional colony sim. It is something stranger and more ambitious. Imagine RimWorld’s base building and character management transplanted into a massive open world where you control a squad of characters in real time. You can be a trader. A thief. A farmer. A slave. Or just food for the cannibals that roam the wasteland.

One person built this game over 12 years. Lo-Fi Games created a world that does not care about you. There is no tutorial, no quest log, no hand-holding. You start as a nobody with nothing. Getting beaten unconscious by bandits in the first hour is normal. Losing a limb and replacing it with a robotic prosthetic that turns you into a killing machine is also normal. The game simulates everything simultaneously. While you are building walls around your base, a faction war is raging on the other side of the map.

Kenshi sold 2.3 million copies on pure word of mouth. Kenshi 2, running on Unreal Engine 5, is in development. If you want a colony sim that also functions as a brutal open-world RPG, nothing else comes close.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: The same feeling of building from nothing in a hostile world, but with the freedom to explore a massive open map and shape your own story through action rather than menus.

Play Kenshi on Steam

4. Against the Storm

Developer: Eremite Games | Released: 2023 | Steam Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)

Here is the problem with most city builders: you eventually “solve” them. Once you figure out the optimal layout, every new game plays the same. Against the Storm fixes this by adding roguelike elements. Each settlement is a run. You pick perks, manage random resources, and work against a timer before the Blightstorm destroys everything you built. Then you start over, stronger.

Eremite Games nailed the formula. You manage five different species (humans, beavers, lizards, harpies, and foxes) with unique needs and specializations. Buildings have random blueprints each run, forcing you to adapt your strategy. The meta-progression between runs gives you new buildings, perks, and modifiers that keep the loop fresh for hundreds of hours.

The Nightwatchers DLC added a new species, two biomes, and a pile of new buildings. Published by Hooded Horse (the same publisher behind Manor Lords), this is one of the best reviewed strategy games of the last three years. If you want the city-building satisfaction of RimWorld without the 40-hour commitment per colony, Against the Storm delivers that in focused 2-hour sessions.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: Resource management and survival pressure in bite-sized sessions. The roguelike structure means no two settlements play the same way.

Play Against the Storm on Steam

5. Timberborn

Developer: Mechanistry | Released: 2026 (1.0) | Steam Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)

Timberborn answers the question: what if beavers inherited the Earth? After humanity destroys itself, beaver civilizations rise to rebuild. You manage a colony of beavers, building vertical wooden architecture, damming rivers, managing water flow, and surviving recurring droughts that turn the map into a wasteland.

The water physics system is the star. Dams, floodgates, and irrigation channels are not cosmetic. They control the flow of an actual fluid simulation. Diverting a river to flood a dry valley and create new farmland feels genuinely creative. The drought cycles create natural tension. You spend the wet season stockpiling food and water, then white-knuckle through the dry season hoping your reserves last.

The 1.0 launch on March 12, 2026 added over 20 automation buildings (sensors, relays, timers), new maps, Steam achievements, and a visual overhaul. The game sold over one million copies during early access, and the full release polished everything. Two beaver factions with different playstyles add replay value. If you enjoy RimWorld’s resource management but want something cozier, this is the pick. For more cozy recommendations, check our best cozy indie games list.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: Satisfying resource chains and survival cycles with a unique water physics twist. The drought mechanic creates the same “everything is falling apart” tension as a RimWorld raid.

Play Timberborn on Steam

6. Going Medieval

Developer: Foxy Voxel | Released: 2026 (1.0) | Steam Reviews: Very Positive (89%)

Going Medieval is the most structurally similar game to RimWorld on this list. You manage a group of settlers in a post-plague medieval world, building shelters, farming food, crafting equipment, and defending against raids. The core loop will feel immediately familiar.

The key difference is the third dimension. While RimWorld is a flat top-down view, Going Medieval uses a voxel engine that lets you build vertically. Dig underground cellars to keep food cool. Build multi-story fortresses with archer towers. Carve out defensive positions in hillsides. The 3D terrain adds a tactical layer to base design that RimWorld’s 2D layout cannot match.

After four years in early access and over one million copies sold, the 1.0 release on March 17, 2026 added a Renown system, six unique endgame victory conditions, and a global stats overhaul. This turns what was a pure sandbox into a game with actual goals. If you enjoy RimWorld but wish it had a definitive sense of progression, Going Medieval’s 1.0 addresses that directly.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: The closest structural match to RimWorld’s colony management, with 3D building and a medieval setting. Fresh 1.0 release means this is the best it has ever been.

Play Going Medieval on Steam

7. Songs of Syx

Developer: Gamatron AB | Released: 2020 (Early Access) | Steam Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)

Most colony sims cap out at a few dozen characters. Songs of Syx thinks bigger. Much bigger. This is a fantasy city-state simulator where your settlements can grow to house thousands of citizens across multiple races. The scale is staggering.

One developer (Jake, working under the studio name Gamatron AB) built this entire game. And despite being a solo project, the simulation is remarkably deep. Citizens have needs, moods, and cultural preferences. Production chains are complex. Military units need training, equipment, and morale. The world map lets you expand, trade, and wage war against other kingdoms. It plays like a blend of RimWorld, Dwarf Fortress, and a 4X strategy game.

Songs of Syx is still in early access, but the content already dwarfs most finished games. Regular updates continue to add features, and the Riders of Doom update enhanced enemy AI and expanded the late-game military systems. At $11.99, the price is remarkably low for the amount of game here.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: RimWorld’s systems scaled up to civilization level. If you have ever wished your colony could grow into a kingdom, this is the game.

Play Songs of Syx on Steam

8. Norland

Developer: Long Jaunt | Released: 2024 (Early Access) | Steam Reviews: Very Positive (82%)

Norland gets called “medieval RimWorld” constantly, and the comparison is earned. You lead a noble family in a medieval kingdom, managing peasants, knights, and clergy while navigating political intrigue, religious conflict, and the occasional bandit raid. Characters have personalities, form relationships, develop grudges, and make decisions that surprise you.

The emergent storytelling here is the main draw. A jealous lord might poison his brother to inherit the throne. A peasant uprising can overthrow your entire power structure if you neglect the working class. The game generates multi-stage conflicts involving violence, political maneuvering, and religious manipulation. It is Crusader Kings meets RimWorld, and that combination works better than it has any right to.

Published by Hooded Horse, Norland’s 2026 roadmap focuses on three pillars: city progression, combat variety, and deeper story generation. Spring and summer 2026 updates will overhaul weapons, armor, and character systems. The game is actively evolving. If you love RimWorld’s character-driven drama but want it wrapped in medieval politics, Norland delivers.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: The most character-driven colony sim after RimWorld itself. Political intrigue and emergent family drama replace alien raids and mechanoids.

Play Norland on Steam

9. Amazing Cultivation Simulator

Developer: GSQ Games | Released: 2019 | Steam Reviews: Very Positive (85%)

This is the wildcard. Amazing Cultivation Simulator takes RimWorld’s colony management and wraps it in Chinese xianxia mythology. You rebuild a sect of cultivators, managing disciples who train in mystical martial arts, craft magical artifacts, and attempt to ascend toward immortality. The base management plays like a familiar colony sim. The cultivation system is something entirely unique.

Each disciple follows a cultivation path with elemental affinities, body refinement stages, and tribulations. The Feng Shui system means room layout affects spiritual energy flow. Your sect’s reputation attracts stronger disciples or hostile rival sects. The depth is extraordinary, and the learning curve reflects that. This is not a game that explains itself well. Community guides and the wiki are essential for the first dozen hours.

If you have played hundreds of hours of RimWorld and want something genuinely different that still scratches the colony sim itch, Amazing Cultivation Simulator offers a perspective you will not find anywhere else in the genre. The xianxia setting, the cultivation mechanics, and the sheer weirdness of ascending your favorite disciple to godhood make it memorable.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: Colony sim mechanics fused with a deep RPG character progression system. Nothing else in the genre feels like this.

Play Amazing Cultivation Simulator on Steam

10. Farthest Frontier

Developer: Crate Entertainment | Released: 2025 (1.0) | Steam Reviews: Very Positive (87%)

Farthest Frontier comes from the studio behind Grim Dawn, and that action RPG pedigree shows in the combat and world detail. You build a medieval frontier town from nothing, managing agriculture, trade, disease, wildlife, and raiders. The survival layer is thicker than most city builders. Crops can fail from disease, soil depletes without rotation, and wild animals attack your livestock.

The farming system deserves special mention. It models soil fertility, crop rotation, composting, and field management in a way that makes agriculture feel like a real minigame rather than a “place farm, get food” abstraction. The diseases and ailments that afflict your villagers (dysentery, plague, frostbite) add survival stakes that city builders typically lack.

The 1.0 release in October 2025 polished the experience significantly after three years in early access. If you enjoy the survival and resource management aspects of RimWorld but want a more traditional city-building camera and progression, Farthest Frontier fills that niche well. For more city builders worth your time, check out our best indie city builders 2026 list.

Why RimWorld fans will love it: Deep survival mechanics in a city-building package. The farming and disease systems add the kind of detail that RimWorld players appreciate.

Play Farthest Frontier on Steam

What to Play First

If you loved RimWorld for its emergent storytelling, start with Dwarf Fortress or Norland. Both generate the kind of unexpected character-driven narratives that make you alt-tab to Reddit and share what just happened.

If you loved it for the systems depth, Oxygen Not Included and Songs of Syx are the picks. ONI’s interconnected physics simulation is the most mechanically complex game on this list. Songs of Syx scales those systems to civilization level.

If you want the closest structural match, Going Medieval replicates RimWorld’s colony loop in 3D with a medieval setting. Against the Storm offers a faster, roguelike-flavored version.

If you want something genuinely different, Kenshi turns the colony sim into an open-world RPG, and Amazing Cultivation Simulator wraps it in Chinese mythology.

And if you just want something relaxing, Timberborn’s beaver civilizations and water physics offer a cozier take on the genre.

For more recommendations, check out our best indie games of 2026 so far, the best co-op indie games on Steam, or our Games Like Hades list if action roguelikes are more your speed.