15 – RimWorld
Everyone and their grandmother should know about RimWorld by now. It’s a sci-fi colony management game where you guide a group of survivors stranded on a remote planet through their… misadventures. You’ll be responsible for their needs, assign tasks, and construct shelters to protect them from harsh environmental conditions and hostile creatures. The game is based on the idea that things will inevitably go wrong, and you can only stave disaster for a while longer before everything goes bust.
RimWorld boasts a vibrant modding community, offering a vast array of user-generated content, easily available through Steam Workshop. Customize your gameplay experience with mods that introduce new features, expand the game’s mechanics, or create unique scenarios. Engage with the community and share your stories about how everything went wrong. It’s very much a game in the vein of Dwarf Fortress.
The reason it isn’t higher on the list is because of its low discount.
14 – Parkitect
Parkitect offers a nostalgic and charming experience of managing a theme park but without all the quirks of having to deal with outdated controls and UI. It’s a more simple approach to the genre than Planet Coaster, and it looks way more charming. Expect to design and build thrilling roller coasters, craft intricate landscapes, and create attractions to entertain your guests. Hire staff, manage finances, and fine-tune the park’s operations to provide a magical experience for visitors of all ages, and all that stuff. If you’re really into coasters, then Planet Coaster is a much more apt game for you. If, however, you’re just dipping your toes and want a game that you can pick up, start building your coasters, and just have your park running in half an hour, Parkitect is your best option.
But don’t be fooled by its charming aesthetics, it also packs quite the attention to detail and its coaster-building system is still based on true-to-life physics, and you have ample choice when crafting intricate coaster designs.
13 – Dirt Rally 2.0
It’s always difficult to pick between Dirt and Dirt 2.0, so I’ve decided on the latter mainly because of its insane value for the asking price of less than 5 dollars. Developed by Codemasters, the Dirt series took rally racing to new heights with its realistic physics, detailed environments, and over 50 of the most powerful off-road cars ever built. From the iconic B series to the vehicles of today. It has tracks from all over the globe: New Zealand, Spain the USA and so many others.
Personally, what had me gripped to my wheel was its inclusion of the historical series, where you’re tasked with driving a selection of vehicles to the podium, from the 60s to today. The contrast between each generation is so strong it gives you a stronger appreciation for the effort placed by the developing team behind each car. It’s really just fantastic.
It also has a lot of optional DLC content that adds so much more to the base game it’s really worth picking it up on sale, especially if you have an interest in rally, and a wheel and pedals to match. For less than 10 dollars you can pick the whole thing, and won’t need another rally game for the next decade.
12 – Frostpunk
Ah, Frostpunk! The game that has the balls of asking its players the tough decisions Anno 1800 is too afraid to ask. Why shouldn’t kids work in the mines? Do you really to eat that much? Do your people really need eight hours of sleep? Given your current predicament, do your people really need basic care? Why can’t they just eat dead bodies? In all honesty, Frsokpunk is a more accurate representation of how the industrial revolution tackled the issue than most games can ever aspire to be.
The game is set in a frozen, post-apocalyptic world. As the leader of a small group of survivors, you must manage resources, make difficult decisions (like some mentioned above), and balance hope and despair. Build and expand a steam-powered city, establish laws, and face moral dilemmas to ensure the survival of your society in the face of extreme cold.
Venture beyond the boundaries of your city and explore the frozen wasteland. Uncover hidden resources, encounter other survivors, and make crucial discoveries that may alter the fate of your society. Expand your knowledge, adapt your strategies, and uncover the mysteries of the frozen world. It’s a fascinating approach to city building and one worth engaging with if you’re into a challenge.
11 – UBOAT
UBOAT is yet another game that started up extremely shaky when it first came out, and it has now been developed to be a somewhat realistic, but extremely immersive World War II submarine simulation game that plunges players into the challenges of commanding several key aspects of a German U-boat.
Instead of having you control the U-boat, the game takes a more survivalist approach to the genre, by having you act up as the commander, managing the ship’s crew in order to get the most out of the machine. This means not only ordering them around the U-boat systems but also making sure they’re well-fed, motivated, and well-rested. In fact, the game describes itself by having its primary theme being the “life of German sailors”.
The game excels by giving you every possible degree of freedom it can, allowing you to chart your own courses, stalk your pretty, and engage in battles if you want when you want. Despite its multiple systems at play it rarely gets overwhelming, but it’s worth putting the sub through its paces on the tutorial before jumping into the Atlantic Ocean.
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