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Squirrel's Pick Squirrel's PickThe best game on this page. If you only try one, try this.
City BuilderColony SimBase-Building
Strong Mods Strong ModsA deep, active modding scene extends it past its base content.
$24.99 ~64 hr median no co-op complexity: heavy 94.5% of 9k
The Squirrel's verdictBoth start with a handful of colonists managing individual needs and defenses, but Songs of Syx scales outward into thousands of citizens, industries, trade routes, and empire-level conquest rather than staying at homestead size. If Going Medieval's small-scale 3D building appealed but you wanted the colony to grow into a civilization, this delivers that scale.
Not for you if you want Going Medieval's intimate, hands-on control over each named pawn rather than managing populations in the thousands.
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Budget Pick Budget PickThe best game here for the least money.
Colony SimBase-BuildingGrand Strategy
$14.99 ~39.3 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 81.7% of 10k
The Squirrel's verdictNorland shares the colony-building and base-defense loop but adds the family/dynasty system Going Medieval reviewers say it lacks: lords, marriages, inheritance, and a global political map with a Crusader Kings bent. Time moves fast (two in-game days per year), pushing generational play over slow individual pawn development. Fits players who wanted lineage baked into their medieval sim.
Not for you if you want emergent, unscripted storytelling and slower per-colonist progression rather than accelerated generational turnover and scripted political events.
3
Colony SimCraftingMedieval
$24.99 ~44.6 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 83% of 1k
The Squirrel's verdictNoble Fates layers direct third-person pawn control onto a Rimworld-style colony sim with z-levels and voxel construction — you can manually harvest, explore, and fight rather than directing everything from overhead. It also adds dialog-driven relationship micromanagement that Going Medieval skips entirely. The 44.6-hour median and 83% positive rating reflect a game with responsive developers and a committed playerbase.
Not for you if you find fill-in-the-blank dialog trees tedious, or need combat and defense AI that works without intervention.
4
City BuilderColony SimResource Management
$18.99 ~14 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 80.7% of 429
The Squirrel's verdictBoth are settlement builders with individual villagers and resource management, but Settlements Rising drops the 3D construction and combat that define Going Medieval in favor of a calmer, no-combat town-building loop closer to Banished or Farthest Frontier. Reviewers note more control over villager behavior but nothing structurally new versus that genre lineage.
Not for you if you came to Going Medieval for base defense, melee combat, or the 3D building system, none of which this game has.
5
Colony SimCraftingBase-Building
$14.99 ~32.9 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 79.8% of 425
The Squirrel's verdictSame colony-sim spine: job assignment, 3D building, settlers who need food and sleep managed by hand. Grim Realms leans harder into that survival-management loop but ships rougher: pathing quirks (settlers refusing low ledges without ladders), unclear tutorial, and performance strain as colonies grow. Suits players who want the Going Medieval loop with less building polish and more troubleshooting.
Not for you if you need a smooth tutorial and stable performance rather than figuring out unexplained mechanics through trial and error.
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Colony SimBase-BuildingSurvival
Strong Mods Strong ModsA deep, active modding scene extends it past its base content.
$14.99 ~30.9 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 78.2% of 211
The Squirrel's verdictBoth are colony sims built on pawn management, base construction, and survival against raiders, with Going Medieval's 3D layered building traded for a post-apocalyptic tribe setup with expeditions and a Z-layer system. Combat AI and UI are rougher here, and at $14.99 with a 30.9-hour median, this reads as a leaner, less polished take on the same loop.
Not for you if you need responsive combat AI and a clean UI rather than the workaround-heavy systems Going Medieval fans already tolerate.
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Closest Match Closest MatchThe most similar game to the anchor, by what players say.
Colony SimBase-BuildingResource Management
$19.99 ~19.4 hr median co-op complexity: moderate 76.4% of 635
The Squirrel's verdictFirst Feudal shares Going Medieval's colony-sim core: manage settlers, construct a medieval base, balance food and production. Where Going Medieval offers polished 3D building tools, First Feudal leans on manual pawn inventory management and unclear tool-upkeep systems that reviewers had to dig around to learn. It adds co-op play. Median playtime runs 19.4 hours.
Not for you if you expect clear tutorials rather than trial-and-error discovery of core systems like inventory assignment and tool upkeep.
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Colony SimBase-BuildingSurvival
$24.99 ~31 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 60.4% of 389
The Squirrel's verdictVoxel terrain with geological strata and an ore-mining system underneath the base-building separates Embark from Going Medieval's above-ground construction focus. Pawns, needs management, stockpiles, and 3D building are all present, but the defining pull is digging down through layered rock to extract resources rather than fortifying against siege raids. Median playtime sits at 31 hours; Steam rating is Mixed at 60.4% positive.
Not for you if you want stable, polished mechanics rather than a buggy colony-builder still working out core systems.