25 Best Base-Building Games For Tinkerers

If you love turning a blank plot into something complex and efficient, this list is for you. These games reward planning, experimentation, and lots of tweaking until your systems hum. You will find everything from survival sandboxes to colony management and automation heavy builders. Each pick notes who made it and what you can actually do once you roll up your sleeves. Grab your blueprints and start laying foundations.

‘Minecraft’

Mojang Studios gives you block based freedom to design anything from compact starter huts to sprawling redstone powered factories. You gather resources, craft stations, and wire contraptions with rails, pistons, and observers to automate farms. Villager trading halls and iron golems add steady supply lines once your town is organized. Redstone clocks and hopper networks let you build sorting systems that keep storage running smoothly.

‘Factorio’

Wube Software built a pure automation playground where your base grows from hand fed assemblers to kilometer long production lines. You mine ores, refine plates, and route materials on belts or through logistic robots while balancing power and pollution. Defenses matter as alien biters respond to your factory’s emissions, so walls, turrets, and oil based ammo become part of the layout. Late game modules and beacons push throughput as you optimize every junction for rocket launches.

‘Satisfactory’

Coffee Stain Studios blends first person exploration with massive conveyor sculptures across an alien world. You place miners, splitters, and mergers to shape clean bus lines then stack factories vertically with hypertube access. Power management evolves from biomass to coal, oil, and nuclear, forcing careful grid expansion. Trains and drones tie distant outposts together so your megabase feeds a central space elevator with advanced parts.

‘RimWorld’

Ludeon Studios focuses on a colony that starts with nothing and becomes a self sustaining settlement through careful room design and work priorities. You zone bedrooms, workshops, and sterile hospitals then link production chains for meals, medicine, and apparel. Temperature control with vents and heaters makes biomes survivable while killbox defenses and traps protect against raids. The research tree unlocks power options and automated turrets that change how your base functions.

‘Oxygen Not Included’

Klei Entertainment challenges you to build a sealed asteroid colony where every pipe, vent, and wire matters. You route gases with pumps and filters, plumb lavatories and farms, and prevent heat creep with insulated tiles. Dupes need breathable oxygen and stable temperatures, so electrolyzers, cooling loops, and radiant piping become core systems. Automation sensors and logic gates let you tune machinery to conserve power and resources.

‘Dwarf Fortress’

Bay 12 Games delivers deep simulation where your mountainhome expands through mining, workshops, and intricate stockpile rules. You channel water and magma to power forges or create traps while managing dwarven needs and moods. Crafting chains turn raw stone and wood into furniture, mechanisms, and ornate goods for trade. Noble mandates and sieges force redesigns of corridors, bridges, and killzones to keep the fortress thriving.

‘Cities: Skylines’

Colossal Order turns base building into city building with zoning that dictates how neighborhoods grow around your infrastructure. You lay roads, power, and water networks, then tune traffic with roundabouts, one way streets, and public transit. District policies and specialized industry create supply chains that feed commercial demand. Landscaping and service coverage shape land value so your budget stays balanced as the map fills in.

‘Subnautica’

Unknown Worlds Entertainment lets you establish undersea habitats with modular rooms, corridors, and power options like solar and bioreactors. You fabricate storage, grow food, and farm resources on the seabed while reinforcing bases to handle depth pressure. Seamoth and Cyclops docking turns your shelter into a working marina for expeditions. Upgrades and scanner rooms help locate rare materials that expand your building options.

‘Valheim’

Iron Gate Studio supports Viking themed bases that use structural integrity and weather exposure to guide your designs. You raise palisades, craft workbenches, and expand with stone or iron reinforced halls as you progress through biomes. Portals link distant outposts so you can ferry gear and return quickly after explorations. Beehives, fermenters, and smelters add production lines that benefit from efficient yard layouts.

‘7 Days to Die’

The Fun Pimps combine survival crafting with tower defense where your base must withstand blood moon hordes. You pour concrete, set rebar, and shape chokepoints that funnel zombies into traps and dart turrets. Power grids with generators and relays keep doors, lights, and defenses active during night attacks. Progression unlocks workstations that streamline ammo, medical, and food production inside fortified bunkers.

‘Space Engineers’

Keen Software House offers voxel based construction of stations and ships with conveyors, refineries, and programmable blocks. Hydrogen and ion thrusters enable mobile bases while solar panels and reactors power heavy industry. Conveyor networks feed assemblers and welders so you can mass produce components. Rotors and pistons let you create cranes, hangars, and docking bays that feel truly mechanical.

‘Empyrion Galactic Survival’

Eleon Game Studios lets you build planetary bases and starships with modular blocks that integrate constructors, grow plots, and turret defenses. You manage fuel, oxygen, and CPU limits that shape how compact or expansive designs can be. Hover vessels and capital ships serve as mobile factories when outfitted with the right devices. Factions and POIs encourage forward bases that project reach across the star system.

‘No Man’s Sky’

Hello Games supports base building on countless planets with snapping parts, power routing, and teleporters for fast travel. You automate resource extraction with miners and supply pipelines that feed refiners. Specialists placed in terminals unlock blueprints and missions that expand production chains. Shared bases and bytebeat tools add creativity for farms, trade hubs, and decorative projects.

‘Frostpunk’

11 bit studios centers your city around a generator where heat zones and coal consumption drive every decision. You arrange tents, medical posts, and cookhouses within warmth ranges while extending steam hubs to reach production. Laws and research unlock automatons and advanced kilns that reshape labor and fuel use. Efficient street placement and gathering posts keep resources flowing during storms.

‘They Are Billions’

Numantian Games blends real time strategy with base defense on a zombie infested map. You place tents, mills, and quarries to fuel growth then wall districts and set chokepoints with traps and ballistae. Energy and worker limits push smart expansion as you clear terrain for housing and industry. Late game executors and stone towers anchor final lines that keep colonies intact.

‘Planetbase’

Madruga Works focuses on offworld colonies where airlocks, oxygen generators, and water extractors form the core. You chain bioplastic and metal production to build more modules while keeping storage domes stocked. Wind and solar power need batteries, so placement and capacity planning matter. Landing permissions and trade refine your economy as you scale from outpost to thriving base.

‘Surviving Mars’

Haemimont Games has you lay domes, life support, and passageways while juggling power and maintenance. You mine concrete and metals, refine fuel, and automate drones to keep everything repaired. Research unlocks spires, farms, and advanced extractors that boost population and output. Dust storms and cold waves push redundancy in grids and depots so your colony stays operational.

‘Timberborn’

Mechanistry builds a beaver run settlement where water management defines success. You stack vertical housing and route power with shafts while building levees and floodgates to shape rivers. Drought cycles require storage planning with deep tanks and irrigated land. Districts split production so hauling distances stay efficient as your wooden city climbs skyward.

‘Ark: Survival Evolved’

Studio Wildcard lets you fortify beaches and cliffs with thatch to metal structures and plant species defenses. You tame creatures that become part of your logistics, from hauling ore to guarding perimeter walls. Electrical grids power refrigerators, turrets, and industrial forges that speed crafting. Raiding threats on servers drive creative base footprints with honeycombs and hidden respawn points.

‘Terraria’

Re Logic supports 2D bases that evolve from wooden cottages to complex towns tied to NPC happiness. You wire traps, teleporters, and logic sensors to automate arenas and farms. Biome specific blocks and pylons shape travel networks across your world. Crafting stations and storage systems benefit from organized wings that keep progression smooth.

‘The Forest’

Endnight Games emphasizes survival compounds built from logs, traps, and defensive walls. You place drying racks, gardens, and water collectors to sustain expeditions into caves. Effigies and clever chokepoints help repel hostile mutants at night. Upgrades like rock walls and tree platforms add vertical layers to your stronghold.

‘Grounded’

Obsidian Entertainment shrinks the backyard into a base building sandbox with sturdy clover roofs and mushroom brick walls. You craft zip lines and bounce webs that turn your camp into a fast travel hub. Resource routes from grinders and ovens support late game armor and weapons. Mixers and defense events encourage thoughtful turret and wall placement.

‘Conan Exiles’

Funcom offers tiered building sets from sandstone to reinforced structures that resist siege damage. You set up crafting benches, enslave thralls for faster production, and place altars for faction perks. Temperature gear and shelter bonuses guide where you settle across harsh biomes. Purges and raiders test your defenses so trap filled corridors and elevated keeps earn their keep.

‘Dyson Sphere Program’

Youthcat Studio tasks you with planetary scale factories that feed a star harvesting megastructure. You blueprint smelting lines, belt balancers, and interstellar logistics that shuttle parts between worlds. Power scales from wind to fusion and ray receivers as you expand. The mall concept centralizes component crafting so new builds snap together quickly.

‘Raft’

Redbeet Interactive lets you expand a floating base tile by tile while desalinating water and growing crops. You smelt scrap into metal, craft engines, and add receivers to hunt story locations. Net collectors automate debris intake so your deck becomes a mobile workshop. Reinforced foundations and clever layout protect against sharks and keep production tidy.

Share your favorite base setups and clever building tricks in the comments so other tinkerers can learn from your layouts.