Okay, with the Steam sale and other sales going right now, I am strongly considering getting a logistics/management/building sim thing. I say it that way, because I don’t know exactly what to call them - I kind of lump a number of things like Dwarf Fortress, Railroad Tycoon, Transport Tycoon, etc. into that category, where you are building cities/systems/bases/routes, what have you over time.
So there are a number of games out right now that intrigue me in this overall genre, but I really don’t want to buy a ton of them (especially since none are dirt cheap) - I’d like to make efforts to pick the best one.
So, if you had to pick the “best” (and I know how hard that is with each game having strengths and weakness) from the following list, which would it be, and why? All factors to be considered that you deem of value: presentation, UI, game depth, replayability, and other things are all important to me.
Rimworld
Factorio
Railway Empire
Oxygen Not Included
Mashinky
P.S. If there would be anything else that you think is better but not on the list, feel free to suggest it. Also acceptable would be “Wait for Anno 1800.”
So Rimworld is awesome. I’d say it’s not really a management sim but you mentioned Dwarf Fortress, and Rimworld is the closest to that I can think of and… it has a ton of mods, a ton of mods to make it harder, or easier or most complex to your heart’s desire.
I should also warn you I only played Dwarf Fortress years ago, and found it too off-putting. I heard in detail the stories though from my sister.
These are the ones I have experience with, although I only have a lot of experience with Railway Empire.
1) Railway Empire: I enjoyed this one the most of the bunch. Something about hauling goods to where they need to go, trying to be efficient - I just found it the most rewarding. It’s not perfect, but I think they made usability improvements since the last time I played months ago.
2) Factorio: Try the demo for this one. Not sure if it was kept up to date. Again, fun trying to build stuff efficiently.
3) Oxygen Not Included: I only tinkered with it and didn’t get enamored with it, but with Klei I feel like there is a good shot I’ll eventually spend significant time with it. I didn’t really play it enough to know what I’m doing.
4) Rimworld: As a pure strategy game, I liked this one the least. I found it a little dull - but I was playing on an easier difficulty. It may have been better if it were a bit harder. Based on what I’ve read from others here, if you get into filling in the details with your imagination based on some crazy stuff that happens - then it could be a winner for you. I tend not to be like that, which may explain why I’m less into it than others.
Others… Kingdoms and Castles: Probably only hold your attention for 5 hours or so, but its a pretty good 5 hours.
Big Pharma: Building good assembly lines within the confines of available space is pretty rewarding.
I’m waiting for Factorio, Oxygen Not Included and Mashinky to come out of EA… so I’ve not played them at length. But for Factorio I can say it’s really accessible and can get you hooked instantly. So yes, you should absolutely try the demo!
I found Rimworld not to be very accessible and while I’m still seeing myself play it a lot in the future… it didn’t scratch the ‘builder’s itch’ for me… ‘building’ is a minor part I think.
So here is another alternative recommendation: FortressCraft Evolved! It’s sort of Factorio in 3D and that is what I liked about it: it feels great (and first it’s also spooky) to dig deep and set up your infrastructure beneath the earth to facilite your ores…in 3D. Getting your production started, making it efficient and overcomce the increasing complexity felt very rewarding. And since it’s also a Mincecraft-like game you can modify the whole map.
It has (had?) an ugly UI. The theme isn’t very elaborated but the atmosphere is good.
I stopped playing it because I waited for a content patch… that was years ago. I should definitely start it again - thinking about it made me realize how much I enjoyed the little time (~15h) I spent with it…
We have a thread about it here and there are some… 1 or 2… real fans of it (and people that can speak of it more qualified).
Speaking of 3d Factorio, I’m looking forward to seeing how Satisfactory turns out. I really should pick up Railway Empires. I’ve had fun when I’ve played Rimworld, but I love Factorio.
Is the car assembly game that looks like Big Pharma still EA?
It’s literally impossible to best Factorio. It’s the absolute king of resource management games / logistic games. It’s pretty much feature complete, the devs are just optimizing things and adding the final touches on things at this point. Mods give it a really ridiculous depth that will easily give you 1000+ hours of game, no joke. It’s even got trains, so if you like train games you’ll like it.
Railway Empire is the only game on your list I have spent much time playing. FWIW I believe it has the best graphics of any railroad game I have seen lately. That led me to hope for an updated Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon, which it is not. As you probably noticed, the map has to be unlocked (by completing the Tutorial and it has to be done exactly the way the developers want it done). There is the usual transporting of raw materials, goods, and passengers but the player has to learn how to use the switches which are not like any switches I have ever encountered in a railroad game before, and I haven’t missed many. Also unique to Railway Empire is the warehouse and other concepts, which take some getting used to. The game is loved by many, but I would still rather play one of the earlier Railroad Tycoon games.
So, I await with great anticipation for the release next year of
Thank you for starting this thread as I am always looking for games similar to those you seek.
I love Rimworld, but it doesn’t have the production chain elements you’re talking about. For example, here is the complete path from naked with no items to wearing a leather duster.
Chop down some trees (you somehow can do this) -> build a tailoring bench (only wood is required) -> kill a handful of small animals -> butcher the animals, presumably with the same invisible tools you used to cut down the tree -> make the coat with the leather that was magically cured somehow.
In a lot of these games you would need to cure the hides for leather, make thread, etc. Not in Rimworld. This is why I love Rimworld and also why it’s the wrong choice to scratch your supply chain itch.
