Life & fun · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to RimWorld

A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller.

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. RimWorld launched in 2015; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Tharsis▲66

   A turn-based space strategy game.

   2016 · store.steampowered.com · its alternatives →

2. 2
   Star Command Galaxies▲60

   The open world (galaxy?) version of a really great iOS game!

   2015 · store.steampowered.com · its alternatives →

3. 3
   SIMA 2▲204

   Google's most capable AI agent for virtual 3D worlds

   Nov 2025 · deepmind.google · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Artificial Superintelligence▲106

   Build the world’s first sentient supercomputer

   2017 · apps.apple.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   Mars Colonies▲67

   A free old-school RTS... on Mars

   2015 · newgrounds.com · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Astroneer▲98

   A game of aerospace industry and interplanetary exploration

   2015 · astroneer.space · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Run an Empire▲64

   The Real-World Territory Control Game

   2014 · kickstarter.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   Slam City Oracles▲74

   A rambunctious Katamari-meets-Grand Theft Auto physics game

   2015 · janefriedhoff.com · its alternatives →

9. 9AA
   AI agents play SimCity through a REST API▲216

   This is a weekend project that spiraled out of control. I was originally trying to get Claude to play a ROM of the SNES SimCity. I struggled with it and that led me to Micropolis (the open-sourced SimCity engine) and was able to get it to work by bolting on an API. The weekend hack turned into a headless city simulation platform where anyone can get an API key (no signup) and have their AI agent play mayor. The simulation runs the real Micropolis engine inside Cloudflare Durable Objects, one per city. Every city is public and browsable on the site. LLMs are awful at the spatial stuff, which…

   Feb 2026 · hallucinatingsplines.com · its alternatives →

10. 10
    Starbound▲67

    An extraterrestrial sandbox adventure game

    2015 · playstarbound.com · its alternatives →

11. 11
    Cat Interstellar▲62

    A story-driven science fiction game

    2015 · store.steampowered.com · its alternatives →

12. 12
    Empire of Code▲63

    A space game with a mix of strategy, tactics and coding.

    2015 · its alternatives →

13. 13
    MegaSphere▲80

    A sci-fi themed action platformer with a big shiny gun

    2015 · antonkudin.me · its alternatives →

14. 14
    Sun Dogs▲71

    An open-world text adventure in a transhumanist solar system

    2015 · store.steampowered.com · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Life in Bunker▲67

    A bunker-building survival simulator

    2016 · store.steampowered.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    Elite: Dangerous▲89

    Take control of your own starship in a cutthroat galaxy

    2015 · store.steampowered.com · its alternatives →

17. 17
    Rising World▲73

    A voxel based open-world sandbox game

    2015 · rising-world.net · its alternatives →

18. 18
    Intergalactic Road Warriors▲71

    A side scrolling combat racing game set in outer space

    2016 · intergalacticroadwarriors.com · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Starbot▲74

    A cute indie game based off of The Little Prince

    2015 · gamejolt.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Craft The World▲73

    A unique sandbox strategy game mix of DF and Terraria.

    2015 · crafttheworld.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    Headlander▲63

    A science fiction comedy game in Metroid style

    2015 · adultswim.com · its alternatives →

22. 22
    Satellite Reign▲68

    A real-time, class-based strategy game

    2015 · store.steampowered.com · its alternatives →

23. 23
    Stellaris▲68

    Grand strategy, on a universal stage

    2015 · paradoxinteractive.com · its alternatives →

24. 24
    Vanar.io▲70

    Agar.io goes interstellar!

    2015 · vanar.io · its alternatives →

Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →