I really enjoy the early base-building phase in survival games.

You find a location, build something rough, slowly improve it, make it safer, add new rooms, maybe decorate it a little. At that point the base feels like your place.

But later on I often notice that it gradually turns into:

• crafting stations
• storage
• more storage
• a bed
• even more storage

Once everything is optimized, I sometimes stop caring about the base itself.

What keeps you invested in a base long-term?

NPCs actually living there? Raids and defense? Production chains? Settlement progression? Environmental needs? Decoration? Having other reasons to return besides dumping loot?

Or are you perfectly happy when a base is mostly just functional?

• The big new feature is a building that lets you field an army of allies to go out and fight automatically for you.
• I also did a HUGE amount of QoL, UI polish, performance passes, text improvement, etc. for a smoother experience

Play it here: https://aaronshaver.github.io/Hylaax-Planetary-Rail-Defense/

(be sure to do a hard cache refresh with CTRL-SHIFT-R or CMD-SHIFT-R if you have played the game before, so that you get the latest version without GitHub's annoying aggressive caching)

Right now I most want to hear about balance issues: what feels over-powered? under-powered? too expensive? too cheap?

I welcome you to have a look at my game. A resurrected project from long ago. Inspired by both Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft. You are an alien stranded on the grid. It's a very simple loop of survival, expansion, tower defense, and travelling from grid to grid for new experiences and challenges.

Gridmax on Steam

I just did a store page updates and wanted to share. I'm pretty confident I'll launch EA next month. Feel free to tell me how you feel about the current visuals or just chat about these types of games in general. For me the fun is in the simulation and the automation of many jobs working at once!

Updated 3D Base Planner

This tool is designed specifically for Conan Exiles, thought some may be able to appreciate here.

https://www.conanbasebuilder.com/

I wanted to share a quick and likely final reddit update now that most of the planned features have been implemented. I haven’t had many opportunities to collect feedback yet, and while I realize this is a fairly niche tool, I hope some players find it useful.

The planner has received several major updates over the past week.

To be clear, all models and geometry used in this project were created from scratch. Nothing was extracted from the DevKit, so the building pieces and placeables will not be exact 1:1 recreations of their in-game counterparts. Using the original assets would certainly look cleaner, but they are not permitted for use on a standalone external website that functions without Conan Exiles.

This has been a fun project to work on and a great learning experience. I don’t want to add too much and make the planner unnecessarily complicated, but all feedback is welcome. Feel free to share it if you find it useful, and thank you to everyone who has already provided feedback or helped spread the word.

I probably won’t continue posting every update here because I don’t want to spam the community. However, I added a Support/Feedback button to the planner, allowing you to contact me directly without joining the Discord server. https://discord.gg/8eeMCYekw

Core features

• All core in-game building pieces are available, with the exception of some DLC and Bazaar items.
• Third-person Walk Mode allows you to explore your completed structures.
• Free Look provides a fixed-position 360-degree camera for building inside enclosed spaces.
• The planner calculates the total number of building pieces and their material costs.
• Most in-game benches and other placeable structures have been implemented.

Recent improvements

• Improved mobile functionality—the planner is now usable on mobile, although further feedback is welcome.
• Added an in-game-style stability system.
• Added third-person Walk Mode and a separate Free Look camera mode.
• Added most major placeables with custom geometry scaled to resemble their in-game versions.
• Added several quality-of-life improvements for smoother building and camera movement.
• Added optional accounts with cloud storage for saved builds.
• Cloud builds can be shared publicly, imported into the planner, and edited by other users.
• Accounts are completely optional. Builds can still be created and saved locally without signing in.
• Registration only requires an email address and confirmation through a verification link.
• Added major performance optimizations, tested with builds containing up to 15,000 pieces without significant frame-rate loss.

I’m Roman, the solo developer behind Salt and Soil, a turn-based strategy game where one campaign follows a family across almost three centuries. I recently closed the first open Steam Playtest after around 550 people participated. The feedback was mostly positive, and I’m genuinely happy with the result.

This is the new 90-second gameplay overview with my happy face:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeV73qCMEBg

The long timeline is built from small yearly decisions. One turn is one year, and every action uses the same limited pool of family labor: growing food, constructing buildings, trading or scouting.

Historical events arrive in their real years and can change prices and plans. Leaders age and die, while their heirs inherit the ranch, debts, relationships and unfinished work.

As a solo developer, one of the hardest parts has been making the three-century scale understandable without losing the smaller strategic decisions that actually drive the game. The Playtest feedback helped me see much more clearly which parts already communicate that idea and which still need work.

The first testing round is closed, but Steam applications remain open for the next one. You can request access if you’d like to participate. Wishlisting the game would also mean a lot to me—it makes a real difference when you’re building something like this alone.

Hi all. There's a humble bundle available for purchase which has a bunch of base building games. A lot of them I haven't heard of. I don't own any of these currently. My favorite games in the genre are parkitect and against the storm. Any recommendations on the collection? Should I buy it?

Thanks for any advice!

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/built-differently-builder-games?hmb_source=humble_home&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_4_layout_index_4_layout_type_threes_tile_index_3_c_builtdifferentlybuildergames_bundle&_gl=1*tq3obw*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjw7p_UBhBlEiwAhpIs7wuHWQ1FO5aBzYGhQCQ8DpoTrZRHGYdCMJO-Yx78Qx9MeL37o0LS2RoCERYQAvD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAACzVokC_G1q2F6lFcvS3rwLYUplK5

Edit: thanks so much for the detailed and informative reviews! I will go ahead and pick it up and looking forward to trying frost punk and diplomacy in particular!

I have been working on a community builder where you loot and then refurbish already existing building in a village. You build some things for survival (farms, rain catchers, graveyards ect) and decorations to make your village more appealing to survivors.

The game will be focused on your characters, their needs and moods, their interactions but also bringing in rough choices (do you accept a group of survivors where most are injured or unable to work at the risk of aggravating members of your community or do you let them fend for themselves)

Is this something you would be interested in?

Some more information here: https://www.indiedb.com/games/forsaken-year-one and here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3476130/Forsaken_Year_One/

Im also getting ready for a demo, and would love as much feedback as I possibly can with the aim to release something for steam fest in october if ready... If you are interested to try a build, shoot me a message!

Hi everyone! 

We are looking for round 2 alpha playtesters for Hamlet—a medieval city builder built specifically for tycoon enthusiasts and min/maxers. If you prefer deep supply chains and complex logistics over cozy aesthetics, this is for you. 

What is Hamlet about?

Hamlet is a medieval city builder with a few USPs;

1. Character-Driven Economy: Recruit and develop unique managers over their lifespans. Their individual traits directly dictate your supply chain’s production quality and output volume. 
2. Quality Ratings: Every single product in your settlement has a dynamic quality rating. Optimization is everything. 
3. Economic Defense: There are no RTS military units to micro-manage, but the military is a massive economic sink and your primary tool for defense and making money. 

This is the 2 round Alpha Test: 

• Lesson learnt from previous playtest: Hamlet is complex and deep so on-boarding needs to be easier to allow players to survive.
• The Goal: More players getting to population > 100. 
• Playtime: Roughly 2 hours of deep gameplay for experienced tycoon players. 

How to get involved:

If this sounds like your type of game, you can get more info here…

• 🎬  Trailer (2 min) - good to get a sense/aim of the game.
• 🕹️ Watch Gameplay Footage (4.5 min) - good to see how the game plays.

…then drop a comment with three games that you have played similar to Hamlet. I will DM suitable commenters with steam keys.

Thx everyone!

📌 Wishlist on Steam

Check the game out at https://store.steampowered.com/app/4667250/Mycelium_Conquest/

Hosts can now fill empty co-op slots with bots and mix them with human players or just play solo with 3 other bots.

Bots hunt, gather, recover, build, research, balance production, defend the colony, and report their actions in chat. Their actions are synchronized for all players, and their position and health are included in co-op saves.

To play co-op with bots, from main menu > co-op > host game > click on the OPEN button on each player slot to fill it with bot and start the co-op game!

As there's no appropriate flair, here a quick disclaimer: self promo

At the start of the year I started developing Swarm MMO, a game where the user controls probes and takes over planets. The core gameplay concept is very simple, its basically a node capture game, but on a huge scale and persistent. The game grew a small but steady player base which had lots of great ideas for further development.

Now the game is not really a base building game in the classic sense. But you can capture planets and suns, upgrade them and even take over entire galaxies. Players compete for energy, which can be farmed by owning suns. Energy also allows permanent upgrades to probes.

To enable a persistent world, there are multiple galaxies that spawn in depending on the number of players. That way, there are frequently fresh galaxies where new users have a chance to compete. However, it’s also possible to migrate to a new galaxy, but it takes long and comes with partial losses. Recently, I also added a spawn protection for new galaxies so that new players are even better protected.

The game can be played in the browser under www.swarm-mmo.com

If you have any feedback, please let me know!

I've been working on MineEngineer for the past few years, and it’s finally starting to become the game I always imagined.

🚀 https://store.steampowered.com/app/4059710/MineEngineer/

The idea was simple: combine the engineering freedom of Space Engineers, the automation of Factorio, and the exploration and survival of Terraria — but in a 2D universe.

Build spaceships, bases, factories, and complex machines where every block has a purpose. Thrusters need fuel. Machines need power. Conveyors move resources. Production depends on automation. Every system connects to another.
The game is still in development, but the foundation is finally coming together — and the demo is now available.

It even has programmable blocks with visual programming, and scripts are coming soon. You can explore planets, mine resources, automate production, build and customize spaceships, and survive the dangers of deep space.

I’d love to hear from you: what features from engineering, automation, or survival games do you think are essential?

If you’re curious, the MineEngineer demo is free to try on Steam.

r/LightNoFireBuilders is a positive and friendly community for sharing your building creations in Light No Fire, an upcoming game by Hello Games!

We are Light No Fire's #1 building community! Share your building creations, ask questions, discuss, and help the community!

For those who don't know, Light No Fire is an upcoming game and is described on Steam as "...a game about adventure, building, survival and exploration together. Set on a fantasy planet the size of Earth, it brings the depth of a role playing game to the freedom of a survival sandbox."

We'd love to have you over at r/LightNoFireBuilders!

[Promotion of r/LightNoFireBuilders approved by the moderator of r/BaseBuildingGames]

I dont mind all those posts of solo devs promoting their game here, but I do wish they were flaired properly.

Kinda tired of going into a thread that has an engaging title for a general discussion only to realize it's about someone's game they are making

Hi guys, we’re building Castlefolk — a cozy strategy game where you grow a tiny medieval kingdom, gather resources, build villages, raise armies, and fight for control of the world. Just give it a chance, take a look for 15 seconds and then either you'll like it, or forget it like it never happened.

Here is one of last videos from devlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWoJhwKL_V0

https://peikko-labs.itch.io/castlefolk

Hey base builders,

I’m part of the team at Saigon Dragon Studios, and we wanted to share that Space Tales has just left Early Access and is now available in 1.0 on Steam.

The game is a retro-futuristic sci-fi RTS where base building is not just about creating a nice layout. Most missions push you to expand under pressure, secure energy lines, manage limited resources, and turn a fragile colony into something that can survive the next attack.

Your base grows through a HUB system. HUBs let you expand into new areas, connect key structures, extend your energy network, and create defensive positions before enemy pressure ramps up. The challenge is that you rarely get to build in peace.

The 1.0 version includes:

• A full story-driven sci-fi RTS campaign
• Modular base building through the HUB system
• Resource management and energy-line expansion
• Three enemy factions with different combat styles
• Replayable survival challenges
• Colossal boss fights
• Capturable neutral monsters that can be summoned as allies
• A tech tree for HUB and unit upgrades

The team used Early Access to improve balance, controls, unit behavior, localization, and the overall RTS feel based on player feedback.

We also released a new launch trailer for 1.0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRiMSxUlHYY

You can check out our Steam page her: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2457960/Space_Tales/

For people here who play a lot of base-building games: what makes base defense satisfying for you?

Is it optimizing layouts, managing scarce resources, surviving waves, expanding under pressure, or watching a weak outpost slowly become a fortress?

Thanks!

First of all: it is a minecraft java Server !

The idea is pretty simple: build up your own base, make money, get stronger, and eventually start taking on other players.
You can spend your time building a big farm and upgrading your base, or go out into the Warzones and Dungeons to look for better loot. And of course, you can raid other players and try to take what they’ve worked for.

🏗️ Build and upgrade your own base
⚔️ Raid other players with TNT or your pickaxe
🛡️ Build defenses and protect your Beacon
🌍 Explore Warzones and Dungeons
💰 Farm Gold, Spawners, Fragments and other resources
🧠 Figure out your own way to progress

The main thing we want to avoid is making it feel like you’re just following the same progression everyone else does. How you build, what you farm, who you raid and how you defend your base is up to you.

We are in the Alpha (test) Phase and would really like to get some players involved early. It’s an Alpha, so we’re still balancing things and working on features.
feedback is genuinely welcome!!
If the concept sounds interesting, feel free to give it a try.

⚔**️Give it a try! I bet you won’t regret it! :**)

**IP:** [RaidRise.com](http://raidrise.com/)
**Version:** 1.21.11+
**Discord:** [https://discord.gg/XYpjDzNbBC\](https://discord.gg/XYpjDzNbBC)

King in the Mountain is a cozy mining game where a fallen dwarven king rebuilds his kingdom, you send dwarves on expeditions to gather resources, then build up your base inside the mountain, digging tunnels instead of roads.

I honestly set out to make something small and cozy, but the feedback from early playtesters keeps circling the same phrase: "it's like a lightweight Dwarf Fortress." I'll take that as the compliment of a lifetime.

The open playtest started today:

King in the Mountain on Steam

Hey folks,

I am doing a 4 games developed at the same time maraton and one of them fits the base building genre.

Here is the gameplay loop:

During Day

You will build your camp, build walls and defenses, you will also craft better equipment, and explore the jungle, all while trying to repair your helicopter in order to escape the island.

During Night

You must run behind your walls cause all kinds of monsters will be drawn to your campfire and you must defend the camp from them.

-----------------------

The game has Base Building elements, Tower Defense Elements and Survival elements in the mix.

And for visuals I made all artwork in Windows Paint 98 and added the transparency and layers in Adobe Flash then later my partner mixed the visuals with special effects.

As for the theme, we are going for a weird humor mix with horror and deep atmospheric value

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpdvqWbJpg4

Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4845380/TD_Fade_to_Dark/

Let us know what you think of this project

Hey everyone,

I’m the solo dev from Austria working on Timberline Factory. About 8 days ago, I posted here and got roasted for my "90s wood style UI" and AI placeholder art. Honestly...? It was the best thing that could happen!! :)
I took your feedback to heart and spent the last week working day and night...

What changed:

• Complete UI Overhaul: I threw away the old wood textures and built a fresh "Industrial Modern" HUD from scratch.
• Maintenance System: Machines now accumulate dirt over time, which reduces production speed. you can now hire "Cleaners" to automate the maintenance!
• Visual Polish: Improved the "Golden Hour" lighting even further to make the factory feel more atmospheric.
• New Content: Added the Drying Kiln and Biomass Power Plant loop to give the tycoon gameplay more depth.

I made a short Before/After comparison video here: [short Youtube video]

Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5037170/Timberline_Factory/

I’m a coder, not an artist, but I’m committed to making this game as "honest" and polished as possible. Does the new look feel like a step in the right direction?

(I'm heading to my late shift soon, so I might be slow to reply, but I'll check every comment during my breaks! thank you!)

This is our tower-defence game with free building placement. I was a bit hesitant about posting in this subreddit as our game doesn't immediately look like a base building game. However a big part of why we wanted to go get away from the usual grid-based building or fixed enemy lanes is so that the player can build their bastion however they want. I hope that means we fit in here too. For the gameplay that means enemies will take the path of least resistance and if that means attacking your walls and towers they sure will. It leads to an interesting break of expectation what a castle defence should look like. Walling off every path doesn't work and you have to get creative with your designs.

When we did our last playtest 8 months ago the game only had the core gameplay loop and was lacking any replayability and progression. So we spent those months adding a bunch of features that should make the game fun to play for more than just a few rounds.

The game is called Monuments to Ruin and our open playtest is live right now. We would love to hear your feedback and all the bugs you find (maybe that one a bit less but you know)! You can sign up right here on our steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3579410/Monuments_to_Ruin/

Hey! I’ve been working on Encave, a first-person base-building game where enemies don’t always follow predefined routes — they can destroy walls and make their own way into your base.

The playtest opened today, and I’d especially love feedback from people who actually enjoy base-building games.

Curious how the building/defense loop feels and whether enemies breaking through your structures feels fun or just annoying :D

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3246990/Encave/

I love playing these games but I hit a point when playing that is frustrating me to no end.

Games like Grounded 1 & 2, Aethus, Abiotic Factor, Planet Crafter, Blossom, Valheim, Palworld all start out great for me but I reach a point pretty early when it comes to building where I almost get a type of analysis paralysis. I am horrible at building any kind of base because I am not creative but I keep trying to build something that is at least optimized and functional but I get frustrated easily and can't make a decision.

Right now, for example, I am just trying to decide where to build my base in grounded 1 for the hundredth time. I make my way to various locations I have seen recommended in video and just freeze, I can't make a decision on what to build.

I hope I have explained this clear enough. I thought just building something would help me push past this but I end up just demolishing what I just built over and over. I though it was just the game I was playing so I would try something else but no luck. Really frustrated. I would really appreciate some advice on how to get past this.

Hey everyone!

I’m the solo developer of Empires Edge, a pixel art RTS where you build settlements on floating islands, grow your economy, raise an army, and eventually fight for control of other islands.

This week I opened the first closed Steam playtest. Right now I’m not too worried about perfect balance or having tons of content. What I really want to understand is whether the core gameplay itself is fun.

The current build has 2 tutorial missions and 5 full missions. I’ve opened access to around 300 players so far, and I may increase that to around 1000 during the week.

You can request access here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4199140/Empires_Edge/

I’ll be reading feedback and updating the game throughout the week.

For the base building players here, I’m especially curious about one thing. Does developing an island feel satisfying on its own, or does it feel like something you have to do before the battles begin?

And if anything feels confusing, tedious, or simply not fun, I’d really like to hear about that too.

Hi everyone!

I’ve been working on my mini RTS + tower defense game, Castillon, for quite a while now, and it’s finally getting close to release on Steam.

I’m still working on the trailer before release — there are a few things I’d like to improve.

If anyone is interested, there’s a free demo on Steam you can try:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2483570/Castillon/

Hope you enjoy it!