Best Strategy Games Focused On Base Building

Summary

Building in strategy games is about survival, logistics, and foresight, creating a functional and resilient digital society.
Games like Planetbase, Evil Genius 2, and Oxygen Not Included make base-building the core strategy.
Titles like Factorio, Dwarf Fortress, and StarCraft 2 elevate base-building into intricate, challenging, and rewarding experiences.

Crafting is imagining: There’s an inherent, primal satisfaction in transforming a wild landscape into a thriving settlement that generates resources, accommodates a burgeoning community, and stands firm against unexpected threats like alien invasions or medieval sieges. Strategy games emphasizing base construction aren’t merely about arranging walls and positioning barracks. Instead, they encourage the cultivation of vision, as players navigate the delicate dance between disorder and structure, ultimately striving for their digital society to run seamlessly like a finely tuned mechanism… or collapse in chaos when vital aspects, such as oxygen supply, are overlooked.

These games aren’t merely strategy titles with a building feature; instead, they fundamentally make the process of base construction an integral part of their strategy. Whether it’s carefully placing conveyor belts, navigating through the treacherous terrain of hellish asteroids, or managing worker drones in a foreboding volcano lair, these games recognize that the base serves as the very battlefield itself.

Planetbase

Basically Space Factorio, But With Death Around Every Corner

Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One
Released: October 16, 2015
Developer(s): Madruga Works
Genre(s): Strategy, Simulation

Planetbase can be described as the challenge that arises when players are tasked with breathing life into an initially lifeless planet. The game’s base-building mechanics are primarily focused on ensuring survival, and it leaves no doubt about the hostile nature of space. As players are stranded on barren planetary landscapes with a small group of colonists, they must engage in a continuous struggle to construct airtight habitats, control oxygen levels, produce energy, and prevent starvation.

In the game named Planetbase, there’s an intriguing, almost puzzle-like sequence that requires careful consideration when arranging domes, power systems, and supply networks. The strategy should balance expansion with disaster prevention, as sandstorms can disable solar panels, meteor strikes can cause damage to oxygenated chambers, and a single break in the chain may lead to rapid collapse of the entire system. Although it’s a simpler simulation compared to some others, the challenge of requiring players to think ahead ten moves makes each established colony feel like an incredible achievement.

Evil Genius 2: World Domination

Build A Lair So Elaborate It Would Make Dr. No Jealous

This game doesn’t conceal its objectives: Evil Genius 2: World Domination is a heartfelt tribute to Bond villains and 60s spy paraphernalia. Beneath the playful appearance, it offers a robust foundation for base management games. It immerses players in the role of a world-endangering mastermind who needs to construct an underground lair, complete with traps, minions, research labs, and ultimately, implement plans to conquer the world.

The delight in playing Evil Genius 2 arises from the meticulous detail it offers in lair construction. Players are given the opportunity to create deceptive walls to fool agents, design corridors adorned with lasers, and automate the capture, interrogation, and elimination of intruders. Despite its absurdity, it’s also ingeniously complex. Every room serves a specific function. Whether it’s for research, power generation, or concealing illicit activities, maintaining seamless operation while concealing one’s criminal empire from prying governments is an intricate dance. The base isn’t just aesthetically pleasing; it functions as a tool, a weapon, and a playground of ingeniously devious design.

Stronghold Crusader

Sand, Steel, And Siege Warfare

The game titled “Stronghold Crusader” may not boast the most polished user interface or state-of-the-art engine, but it stands out as one of the most authentic base-building real-time strategy (RTS) experiences available. Situated during the Crusades, the focus is primarily on constructing castles. These aren’t just virtual structures; they’re operational fortresses designed to withstand assaults from enemy armies. Each strategic choice, such as determining the location for the granary or the number of archers stationed on the walls, can determine whether you achieve a triumphant defense or suffer a devastating defeat.

The uniqueness of Stronghold Crusader lies in its meticulous representation of medieval administrative aspects such as food supply, religious morale, taxation, and population management – all crucial elements when managing a fortress. However, once the siege commences, the stronghold itself transforms into the primary focus of gameplay. Trenches, kill holes, hot oil, and flaming tar are not mere gimmicks; they are vital for defense during an attack, and each castle design becomes a strategic puzzle. It’s less about constructing for beauty and more about building to withstand an assault.

Oxygen Not Included

Micromanagement In The Best Kind Of Hell

Oxygen Not Included doesn’t mince words; it throws players into an asteroid with some colonists (let’s call them ‘dupes’) who aren’t cut out for this kind of work. The message is simple: Survive. This sets off a whirlwind of activities involving pipework, gas control, temperature maintenance, and the occasional catastrophic event that can spread throughout the base like an illness. Each shovel stroke and machine construction impacts the intricate balance of heat, air, and water.

One unique aspect of Oxygen Not Included is the intricate interdependence of its various systems. For instance, if you want to keep your food storage cool, remember that the cooling system may end up heating something else instead. If you decide to expand mining operations, make sure you’ve correctly routed oxygen lines or your miners could suffocate. The game’s infrastructure serves as the foundation for strategy and growth, evolving and self-regulating in a way that often leads to failure in gradual yet sudden bursts. Achieving success feels like solving a complex puzzle, such as mastering a Rubik’s Cube with pieces that occasionally explode.

Factorio

Engineering Catharsis In Its Purest Form

In simpler terms, the game Factorio comes very close to making engineering a spiritual experience within the gaming world. Unlike games focused on survival or narrative, it’s all about maximizing the inefficient and optimizing complex systems. Upon arriving on an alien planet, players begin extracting iron and copper, soon finding themselves submerged in conveyor belts, inserters, smelting lines, and expansive factory networks that resemble an intricate industrial cycle with factories feeding into each other like a self-repeating serpent from industry.

The main focus here is our base structure. Every bit of the map contributes to a larger strategic challenge as players strive to streamline resource distribution, fortify against alien assaults, and explore progressively bizarre technologies. There’s no prescribed storyline or objectives; instead, it’s all about competing against inefficiency. The gaming community has fully adopted this approach, with many players dedicating numerous hours to fine-tuning their base designs, even down to individual tiles. It’s intricate, technical, and incredibly rewarding for those whose minds find joy in a flawlessly synchronized production line.

RimWorld

When Base Building Meets Human Chaos

Constructing a base in RimWorld resembles attempting to erect a sandcastle amidst a stormy weather, all while your settlers bicker over missing belongings – specifically someone’s trousers. This is a colony simulation game that intertwines emergent storytelling into each of its mechanics. Players find themselves in charge of creating a habitable space within a strange, extraterrestrial environment, fraught with raiders, diseases, and colonists who might experience emotional distress if the communal dining area isn’t satisfactorily decorated.

In this game, while the narrative often steals the limelight, the construction of bases is equally significant. It’s not just about creating aesthetically pleasing structures; it’s about building ones that operate effectively, even amidst social conflicts and unexpected disasters. This involves designing defensive layouts to control enemy advance, arranging living spaces like bedrooms at a safe distance from work zones to prevent overexertion, and setting up refrigeration systems to maintain food supplies during hot spells. The goal is to build bases that function smoothly rather than just looking good. Furthermore, every colonist has unique requirements, talents, and idiosyncrasies, so the base should adapt to accommodate them, not the other way around.

Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition

The Definition Of What A Good RTS Economy Looks Like

Regardless of the numerous strategy games that enter and exit the scene, “Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition” continues to stand out as the benchmark for real-time strategy (RTS) games with a focus on base building. The economic cycle flows effortlessly: cut down trees for wood, mine gold, farm for food, and the competition to expand your town center, progress through different eras, strengthen your base, and prepare for battle is just as captivating today as it was in 1999.

The standout feature of the base-building aspect in this game lies in its crisp organization. Each structure serves a distinct function within a tech tree, fostering strategic advancement. Walls serve more than just an aesthetic purpose; they offer valuable time during initial raids. Strategically positioning lumber camps and farms significantly impacts resource distribution. Players who excel at efficient building placement maintain a competitive edge. While it may not be flashy, the base-building in Age of Empires II demonstrates exceptional, well-balanced design, which explains its enduring popularity in competitive play.

Dwarf Fortress

Losing Is Fun, And So Is Digging Into Madness

In a nutshell, Dwarf Fortress offers more than just basic construction; it allows players to delve into the intricate details of an underground civilization’s rise and decline, from minor toe injuries to overturned goblets. This game is renowned for its complexity and challenging nature, but once you conquer the steep learning curve, it becomes one of the most immersive base-building experiences in video game history. Each mountainous tile you excavate represents a decision, and each room layout poses a risk.

In this game, the dwarves construct farms, workshops, dining areas, magma forges, and more, yet they can also succumb to depression, have outbursts, and even establish cults. Crafting a thriving fortress necessitates grasping not only logistics but also psychology. Players must channel water to wells without inundating the fortress, stockpile food at a safe distance from miasma, and design traps capable of repelling goblin invasions while accommodating dwarven artwork and feasts. It’s as much about simulation as it is strategy, and it encourages an intense focus.

StarCraft 2

Where Base Building Becomes A Razor-Sharp Science

In StarCraft 2, the base serves not only as the center of one’s army, but it essentially governs the entire game. At the highest echelons, matches are often determined in the early minutes due to a player’s efficient base structure, timing for expansion, and streamlined production process. It’s a mesmerizing spectacle of SCVs gathering resources, pylons providing power to buildings, and the Zerg creep creeping across the map like an intelligent contagion.

In various approaches, each race in StarCraft 2 constructs bases distinctly. Terrans fortify their bases with depots and bunkers, forming defensive walls. The Zerg, on the other hand, spread their hive mind organically through creep and morphing structures. Protoss employ a unique touch with psionic flair, summoning buildings from thin air. Competitively, the precision needed in placement is immense – even moving a building by just one tile can cost crucial seconds in a game where such time differences can determine the winner. Outside of esports, StarCraft 2’s base-building missions and cooperative modes provide intricate layers of strategic planning, highlighting why it continues to set standards for real-time strategy (RTS) design.

2025-08-15 09:44