Colony Simulation
Ongoing coverage on Colony Simulation.
Latest coverage
Nights of Nil Makes Every Island a 10-Night Fight
Glass City Games announced Nights of Nil, an action-strategy colony sim where players reclaim a necromancer-held archipelago island by island. The game is set to launch on Steam in Q1 2027, with a free demo available now. Players manage settlements, gather resources, and defend against nightly monster attacks, with each island requiring a 10-night survival period.
In Dungeon Settlers, you build a colony on top of a teeming RPG labyrinth in a trim take on Rimworld
Dungeon Settlers is an early access title that blends Rimworld-style colony simulation with party-based dungeon crawling. Players build a colony on the surface while sending teams into procedurally generated dungeons for resources, facing challenges like swarms of rats and stone golems. The game features a complex interface and has faced criticism for its use of generative AI in localization.
Salt and Soil: A Frontier Family Sim – Beta Sign Up | Alpha Beta Gamer
Salt and Soil: A Frontier Family Sim is a minimalist roguelite colony simulation that spans nearly three centuries of American frontier life, allowing players to guide a family through survival, growth, conflict, and legacy. The game focuses on managing resources, navigating personal consequences, and dealing with intergenerational grudges and dilemmas. Beta sign-ups are currently open for the game.
RimWorld Hits A New Low Price, But You’ll Only Have 24 Hours To Grab It
RimWorld is currently available at a 29% discount on Fanatical for a limited 24-hour period, marking its deepest discount to date. The article highlights the game's chaotic AI storytelling and engaging simulation mechanics, noting that this sale also extends to its expansions, Anomaly and Odyssey.
Green Again – Beta Sign Up | Alpha Beta Gamer
Green Again, a relaxing farming and colony simulation game, is opening beta sign-ups. Players will manage tiny plant people, farm crops, build settlements, and defend against rogue robots in a colorful, hand-drawn world. The game features procedurally generated maps, terraforming tools to restore the environment, and random events to keep gameplay dynamic.
In cosmic roguelike The Carcass, you build a colony inside the corpse of a god that's slowly becoming aware of you
The Carcass is a new text-based roguelike from Turkish developer PiqFocus Interactive, where players build a colony inside the decaying corpse of a space god. The game features ASCII graphics with CRT glow, resource harvesting, research into various arts, and multiple endings. It is described as being similar to games like Caves of Qud and Dwarf Fortress and is available on PC with a demo currently playable.
Coming Out in gaming this week — August 10, 2026
This week's gaming releases include a variety of genres and platforms. Highlights include the roguelike pinball deckbuilder Cult of PiN, the remastered RPG The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and the action-adventure survival game Grounded 2. Other notable titles launching include the retro spy FPS Agent 64: Spies Never Die and the arcade sports game Pro Jank Footy.
The challenges of developing the colony sim, from Dungeon Keeper to Dwarf Fortress and beyond
This article analyzes the development challenges inherent in the colony simulation genre, tracing its evolution from Dungeon Keeper to modern titles like Dwarf Fortress, RimWorld, and Maia. It highlights how simulating autonomous AI characters and managing complex interlocking systems, while ensuring effective player communication, are key difficulties developers face. The piece also touches on the genre's unique ability to generate emergent narratives through AI interactions.
Medieval town-building sim Noble Legacy ramps up the realism with a transformative survival update
The medieval colony simulation game Noble Legacy has received a major Survival Update, adding realistic elements such as hunger, warmth, energy, and hygiene management. This update, described as one of the largest since its early access launch, also expands the game world and introduces new survival mechanics that require players to start a new save in Kingdom Mode. Developer Studio 369 is also offering the Alaunt War Dog companion DLC for free to existing owners for a limited time.
Cozy colony-building sandbox for PC on Steam, planned for Early Access in February 2027.
Luminids, a cozy colony-building sandbox game, is planned for Early Access on PC via Steam in February 2027. Players guide tiny beings called Luminids to gather, build, and grow, with the ability to switch between an overhead planning view and a first-person perspective within the settlement. The game emphasizes a calm, no-combat experience focused on wellness and stillness.
MMOs You’ve Never Heard Of: Runeward Online, Polity, and Misa Online
This article highlights lesser-known multiplayer online games, including Runeward Online, a blend of RPG and bullet hell shooter from FatHatCat. Polity, a colony sim MMO, has received a significant update after a period of stalled development. Misa Online, an indie MMORPG from Misa Games, is selling pre-alpha access with promises of PvE and PvP content.
Nine-year-old colony-builder MMO SEED hits early access July 21
The nine-year-old MMO colony-building simulator SEED will launch into Early Access on July 21st for $29.99. A new gameplay trailer showcases the multiplayer aspects of building colonies within a shared world, highlighting the game's continued ambition despite its long development period.
Before Darkness Falls is an Aliens: Dark Descent-style tactics game from former Frostpunk devs, and I did enjoy dying in its depths
Before Darkness Falls is a tactical survival game from Maverick Souls Studio, featuring developers who previously worked on Dying Light 2 and Frostpunk 2. The game presents a grim industrial compound setting where players manage resources and lead squads into dangerous sectors to combat monstrous creatures, drawing comparisons to Aliens: Dark Descent.
Star Trek: Outposts Unknown's demo introduces an upbeat settlement builder, though my crew of clocking-out ship slackers wouldn't last a day in RimWorld
The demo for Star Trek: Outposts Unknown offers a cheerful take on the settlement builder genre, where players assist an alien civilization rather than merely surviving. Unlike typical colony sims, the game features a Starfleet mothership providing support and a place for crew to rest, though managing resources and crew morale remains crucial. The preview notes that while the game is more relaxed, it still requires strategic planning to avoid idle periods and ensure progress.
These are our eight favorite games from the PC Gaming Show
The PC Gaming Show highlighted a diverse range of upcoming PC titles, with several games standing out to the PCGamesN team. Notable mentions include the PS1-aesthetic mystery fishing game About Fishing, the Studio Ghibli-inspired adventure Into the Wind, and the turn-based deckbuilder 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces.
SpaceSlog launches its first major update since its early access launch!
Produno Games Studios has released Alpha 13, the first major update for their spaceship building colony sim, SpaceSlog, since its Steam early access launch. This update focuses on quality-of-life improvements, balance adjustments, and bug fixes, introducing new items like a refinery and electric cooker, alongside numerous gameplay enhancements and optimizations.
Check out all the Frosty Games Fest 2026 reveals and premieres
Frosty Games Fest 2026 showcased a variety of upcoming and recently released games from Australia and New Zealand. The event featured premieres, announcements, and updates on locally developed titles, including "A Pocket Full of Slagford," "Cloudlings," "Cooking For MA!," and "Echo Zero."
Frosty Feature - Cute colony sim from Queensland, Cloudlings, revealed
Cloudlings, a new colony sim developed by Queensland-based team Middlespace, was revealed at Frosty Games Fest. Co-founders Harry Stitt and Ben Fowler discussed the game's inspirations, which originated from a 2024 Game Jam. The game features procedural generation, resource gathering, and survival crafting elements, with players controlling islands that can merge, customize, and interact with others.
After six years, gloriously detailed intergalactic city builder Space Haven is finally finished, and going cheap
After six years in early access, the detailed intergalactic city builder Space Haven has officially launched version 1.0. Developed by Bugbyte, the game combines elements of city-building, colony simulation, and space combat, featuring intricate ship construction and crew management. A 40% launch discount is available on Steam until May 27.
Steampunk colony sim Steel Artery is here, and it's "emergent chaos" aboard a giant train
The steampunk colony simulation game Steel Artery has been released on Steam, developed by SoulAge23. This 'train city builder' features autonomous citizens, complex production chains, and emergent chaos, drawing comparisons to Rimworld and Oxygen Not Included. The game is available with a launch discount until May 22.
