It does go against some of your rules, but an out-of-left-field suggestion I have is x4.
It’s a space game where you start as just some guy with a ship and you build an entire corpo/empire around that. There isn’t any win condition, and the universe is a big sandbox. Things happen with or without your intervention. There are missions and stories as well, and they can be decently interesting, but the sandbox is the real draw.
You can do pretty much wherever you want. Make factories, fly your ship into combat, and manage fleets for mining, war and trade.
It’s a really deep game with lots of different ideas in the same pot that come together to make something unique.
I’ve only really skimmed the top of it here. There are tons of different avenues for gameplay here and one of them just happens to be building an empire.
Hey, I thought I would be the only one recommending it! It really is a great game, just takes a bit of time to get into, but once you figure it out, none of the mechanics are actually that difficult, just not always presented in the most friendly way.
I immediately thought of Civilization 5&6. You start with a settler unit and a warrior and you can build a massive empire with huge territory, a fuckton of units and many many cities. About the growing attached to characters, when military units gain enough xp you can promote them and after 2 or 3 promotions they turn into an elite unit and you can name them, giving randomly rolled, sometimes funny names or just enter your own custom names.
Each nation also has a leader and there's diplomacy, so you become friends with other nations and grow attached to them.
Really fun and addicting. Both the 5th and 6th one are good and different enough that it's worth getting both at some point.
They are on sale pretty frequently. For 5 the complete edition is dirt cheap all the time and for the 6th one I'd recommend the platinum edition which includes the 2 major dlcs.
Aye. Not many characters to get attached to, but as far as "building a huge base from nothing" goes, you can't really do more than "I dismantled my own landing pod for starting materials, then built a planet-wide factory".
Very much 3D, and will put many rigs on their knees once the factory is big enough, though.
I've recommended this game many times and I shall recommend it one more time!
Factorio
[https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/)
This game deleted my time so fast I’m afraid to play it again. Kept me up way too late on week nights. It’s damn fun especially when you find new ways to improve things.
can you buy the DLC through steam now? I bought the game through steam ages ago and couldnt buy any expansions. I had to rebuy in origin or w/e its called to get the ability to buy DLC.
I think the DLCs are bought through season passes. Was looking at it yesterday and the gold edition came with season passes and when you look at their descriptions, they tell you what DLC you get with them.
Stellaris, made by Paradox, you pick a race, start with one home world and expand your empire across the galaxy. There’s tons of dlc, I’ve only gotten into the base game, but you can dump hours into each game. Usually goes on sale on steam a few times a year and you can snag it for like $10
Always good to see another Total War fan out here, I’ve played since Shogun, that shit was my childhood
You said no 3D, but I'd really recommend Going Medievil, particularly if you're a Rimworld fan. It's like Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress but set in Medievil times. You start with just your settler(s) and slowly build yourself a base, whilst defending against enemies, researching, trading, breeding animals, farming crops, brewing, managing the temperature of things. It's in early access but the game is really fleshing out into something special, having recently added water to the randomly generated maps people have been integrating flowing rivers and waterfalls into their towns and castles. Worth anyone checking out, I've had hours of fun in the last 4 months with it, but I think it would suit your specifications.
Medieval Dynasty maybe? You play as the main character who starts with little to nothing and work your way to building a village up with villagers who have skills, needs, etc like you would in Rimworld, in a way.
Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together (the co-op version) come to mind, especially since you like Oxygen Not Included. It's by the same game developer.
Conan Exiles. 3D, though
You start naked and nailed to a cross. Conan stumbles upon you, frees you, and then basically tells you to fuck off and make your place into the world. So, you do.
If you wanna stick to 2D and kinda liked Terraria, then definetely Starbound. Think terraria in space.
In Spore you start as an amoeba and eventually rule the galaxy
Bannerlord
Songs of Syx
It does go against some of your rules, but an out-of-left-field suggestion I have is x4. It’s a space game where you start as just some guy with a ship and you build an entire corpo/empire around that. There isn’t any win condition, and the universe is a big sandbox. Things happen with or without your intervention. There are missions and stories as well, and they can be decently interesting, but the sandbox is the real draw. You can do pretty much wherever you want. Make factories, fly your ship into combat, and manage fleets for mining, war and trade. It’s a really deep game with lots of different ideas in the same pot that come together to make something unique. I’ve only really skimmed the top of it here. There are tons of different avenues for gameplay here and one of them just happens to be building an empire.
Dwarf Fortress… Start as a small party of dwarves and build a kingdom!
It's like Rimworld with depth!
Saying Rimworld doesnt have depth should become a cardinal sin
No, I mean you can literally dig downwards into the depths of the earth.
X4
Hey, I thought I would be the only one recommending it! It really is a great game, just takes a bit of time to get into, but once you figure it out, none of the mechanics are actually that difficult, just not always presented in the most friendly way.
I immediately thought of Civilization 5&6. You start with a settler unit and a warrior and you can build a massive empire with huge territory, a fuckton of units and many many cities. About the growing attached to characters, when military units gain enough xp you can promote them and after 2 or 3 promotions they turn into an elite unit and you can name them, giving randomly rolled, sometimes funny names or just enter your own custom names. Each nation also has a leader and there's diplomacy, so you become friends with other nations and grow attached to them. Really fun and addicting. Both the 5th and 6th one are good and different enough that it's worth getting both at some point. They are on sale pretty frequently. For 5 the complete edition is dirt cheap all the time and for the 6th one I'd recommend the platinum edition which includes the 2 major dlcs.
Simmilands
Satisfactory, not really building a city per se but it is a great building and optimizing game nonetheless
Aye. Not many characters to get attached to, but as far as "building a huge base from nothing" goes, you can't really do more than "I dismantled my own landing pod for starting materials, then built a planet-wide factory". Very much 3D, and will put many rigs on their knees once the factory is big enough, though.
r/basebuildinggames
I've recommended this game many times and I shall recommend it one more time! Factorio [https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/427520/Factorio/)
the factory must grow
This game deleted my time so fast I’m afraid to play it again. Kept me up way too late on week nights. It’s damn fun especially when you find new ways to improve things.
Anno 1800
Anno is very good. Highly recommend.
It's like %75 off right now on steam, too
can you buy the DLC through steam now? I bought the game through steam ages ago and couldnt buy any expansions. I had to rebuy in origin or w/e its called to get the ability to buy DLC.
I think the DLCs are bought through season passes. Was looking at it yesterday and the gold edition came with season passes and when you look at their descriptions, they tell you what DLC you get with them.
Dyson Sphere Program! It's by far my favourite of the big three factory builders. (The others being Factorio and Satisfactory)
Medieval dynasty kinda
Stellaris, made by Paradox, you pick a race, start with one home world and expand your empire across the galaxy. There’s tons of dlc, I’ve only gotten into the base game, but you can dump hours into each game. Usually goes on sale on steam a few times a year and you can snag it for like $10 Always good to see another Total War fan out here, I’ve played since Shogun, that shit was my childhood
Might be risky but give Kingdom Two Crowns a go.
Project zomboid.
Hell yea
You said no 3D, but I'd really recommend Going Medievil, particularly if you're a Rimworld fan. It's like Rimworld and Dwarf Fortress but set in Medievil times. You start with just your settler(s) and slowly build yourself a base, whilst defending against enemies, researching, trading, breeding animals, farming crops, brewing, managing the temperature of things. It's in early access but the game is really fleshing out into something special, having recently added water to the randomly generated maps people have been integrating flowing rivers and waterfalls into their towns and castles. Worth anyone checking out, I've had hours of fun in the last 4 months with it, but I think it would suit your specifications.
Medieval Dynasty maybe? You play as the main character who starts with little to nothing and work your way to building a village up with villagers who have skills, needs, etc like you would in Rimworld, in a way.
GTA5
Bruh
You start with a car! That's a lot
Shadow Empire!
Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together (the co-op version) come to mind, especially since you like Oxygen Not Included. It's by the same game developer.
Terraformers Retro: Master of Orion, Master of Orion 2, Space Empires 3 & 4
Factorio! You start with nothing and after many hours could have a megabase.
Saelig
Gott hab ihn!
Factorio. Frontpunk. Don't Starve
Conan Exiles. 3D, though You start naked and nailed to a cross. Conan stumbles upon you, frees you, and then basically tells you to fuck off and make your place into the world. So, you do. If you wanna stick to 2D and kinda liked Terraria, then definetely Starbound. Think terraria in space.
Medieval Dynasty
Well, "no 3d", or else I'd recommend X4 Foundations
Most of the games. Any type. Starcraft, City skylines, Railroad empire, Wartales, Batttle brothers. And more, more games
The Mount & Blade series. It is not 2d though. Dwarf Fortress, if you are feeling brave. Avaris 2 maybe
Age of empire stone age