Biggest Upcoming Open World Factory Survival Games

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Survival games have become incredibly popular lately, and a particularly engaging type focuses on building massive factories. There’s a unique appeal in carefully creating sprawling, complex systems of production lines and connections to achieve progress and stay alive. Games like Satisfactory have really changed the game, letting players build on a huge scale in open worlds while still offering plenty of depth to keep them playing for a long time. Another popular title, StarRupture, takes this even further by adding more combat – players build enormous industrial complexes and then defend them from endless waves of alien enemies.

Even though it’s still in early access, the game has quickly become popular, with players especially enjoying its focus on exploration and a more strategic, defensive style of play. Several other promising games are in development, aiming to expand on these ideas with features like space travel and roguelike elements, while still keeping the satisfying core of automated building. Like the first game, many of these will launch as early access titles, meaning they’re still being developed and won’t be fully finished for a while. However, this is a good thing! It lets players join the development process, offering feedback and helping to shape the game alongside the creators – a process that mirrors the careful construction of bases within the game itself.

Pax Autocratica

Shaping An Entire Colony In An Alien World

Details:

  • Roguelike loop alongside large-scale base building
  • Tyrannical rule over a whole civilisation

Okay, so I’ve been playing Pax Autocratica, and it’s seriously become one of my favorite base builders of the year. It’s got this cool mix of fast-paced, roguelike runs with the deep, long-term planning you get in a proper base sim. Basically, you’re trying to build up a massive production line, dig up rarer and rarer materials, and grow from a tiny outpost into a huge colony where you are in charge. You start with just a few machines, but things quickly snowball into these enormous structures. It really makes you think about how to optimize everything and automate all your processes if you want to keep progressing – it’s super addictive!

This game isn’t just a typical factory builder focused on logistics. It adds a first-person shooter element with roguelike features, letting players go on resource-gathering expeditions. Before heading out, players can choose buffs that change how they fight and interact with enemies. Successfully defeating aliens and robots allows them to return and expand their base with new buildings and technologies, ultimately aiming for dominance. The game shares similarities with StarRupture, but uniquely blends replayable shooter combat with base-building progression.

Horizon Journey

Braving The Harshness Of Mars

Details:

  • Building a colony from the ground up
  • Interconnected systems within the modular building system

Horizon Journey offers a glimpse into what life might be like on Mars in the next century. Players aim to colonize the planet, building bases wherever they want and collecting resources to transform the landscape. The game features highly customizable base construction, allowing players to design both the functionality and appearance of their colony. As the colony grows and new technologies become available, players will need to create increasingly complex production systems to support it.

The game world isn’t barren; players will discover abandoned mining facilities and crumbling buildings packed with essential minerals and resources needed to advance. However, the planet is harsh, forcing players to find creative ways to withstand dangerous weather – from radioactive areas to sandstorms – each posing unique challenges. Even after building a secure base, danger lurks nearby, and previously safe locations can quickly become deadly.

AETHUS

Uncovering A Corporate Conspiracy

Details:

  • Story-driven survival gameplay
  • Dynamic mining output is full of automation options

I’m really into this game called AETHUS. It starts out as a pretty chill mining game – you land on this dead planet and your job is to build up a mining operation. But it quickly gets way more interesting because you start uncovering a big conspiracy! There are tons of different minerals to find, and each one does something unique. As you refine them and build better stuff, the world just opens up. The base building is awesome too – it’s all modular, so I can make my base look exactly how I want it and set up automated resource networks. That frees me up to focus on figuring out what this corporation is really up to!

Honestly, a lot of open-world survival games are all about crazy action or just fighting to survive, but this game is different. It really focuses on telling a story, which gives me a real reason to explore and figure out what’s going on. Plus, it’s cool that I can customize how hard it is. I can boost my health and air if I want a more chill experience, or make things super difficult if I’m feeling brave. There are tons of survival games out there where you make the story, but AETHUS is trying to give us a genuinely interesting one right from the start, and I think it could really change things up.

SpaceCraft

Planetary Exploration Meets Factory Automation

Details:

  • Seamless exploration from planet to space
  • Cooperative trading and building

SpaceCraft blends the best parts of Satisfactory and No Man’s Sky, offering a truly limitless experience. Unlike games that confine you to one planet, SpaceCraft lets you explore a massive galaxy, mine resources, and build bases wherever you like. While it shares the factory-building core of games like Satisfactory – letting you create huge, automated production lines – SpaceCraft adds exciting space combat and exploration. You won’t be limited by a single planet’s resources; instead, you’ll venture into space to connect worlds with cargo networks. Plan your routes, set destinations, and then let automation handle the rest.

I’m really excited about this game, SpaceCraft! It’s not just empty space out there – you’ll run into Space Pirates constantly hunting for ships to raid, so combat is a big part of it. It’s not just blasting away though; you have to scan for them first, then really strategize when you engage. But it’s not just about fighting. The coolest part is that the universe feels alive! You can trade with other players and even help each other build up your home bases. Honestly, if you’re like me and love exploring space and building things, SpaceCraft sounds like it could be my new favorite game!

Cosminers

Forcing Back The Local Wildlife

Details:

  • Day/night gameplay cycle
  • Multiple gameplay styles from automation to full combat focus

Cosminers is a cooperative sci-fi game where you and your friends build bases on randomly created planets. As night falls, you’ll have to defend those bases from waves of alien creatures. The game lets you play however you want – you can focus on automating resource gathering, building up strong defenses, or finding a balance between the two. There’s no single ‘right’ way to play, giving you a lot of freedom to choose your strategy.

When players take on tougher jobs, their colonies will transform into sprawling, high-tech fortresses filled with robots and turrets – turning what started as a simple settlement into a complex and imposing base. In combat, players have a variety of weapons and tools to help them win, but they’ll need to use everything they’ve got to survive as increasingly dangerous enemies appear.

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2026-01-18 16:07