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Squirrel's Pick Squirrel's PickThe best game on this page. If you only try one, try this. Closest Match Closest MatchThe most similar game to the anchor, by what players say.
Colony SimCity BuilderSurvival
$14.99 ~107.5 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 75.1% of 4k
The Squirrel's verdictSame colony-management loop: recruit dwarf-like workers, dig into a mountain, manage crafting chains as your base sprawls and performance strains under its weight. Gnomoria released in 2016 and reviews describe it as similarly unfinished, with persistent bugs never addressed. Median playtime past 100 hours suggests the core loop holds up despite that.
Not for you if you were hoping the abandonment problems from Hammerting would be fixed here instead of repeated.
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AutomationBase-BuildingResource Management
$7.49 ~69.4 hr median co-op complexity: moderate 64.8% of 3k
The Squirrel's verdictTechtonica is a first-person underground factory-automation game with co-op support, released at 1.0 in 2024 after jumping from version 0.5. The first half earns solid marks from reviewers; the second half is structured around time-gated progression that reviewers describe as gutting the momentum built early on. Median playtime reaches 69.4 hours. Development has since stopped, per developer statements.
Not for you if you expect the pacing of the first half to carry through — reviewers are consistent that the back half stalls behind time gates.
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AdventureCraftingAutomation
$15.99 ~22.9 hr median co-op complexity: moderate 62.3% of 681
The Squirrel's verdictA factory-building salvage game with co-op, JUNKPUNK tasks players with automating resource extraction and base construction in a post-apocalyptic setting. At 62.3% positive and $15.99, reception is mixed: some reviewers log 40-plus hours and praise the design, others call controls and mechanical explanations a persistent barrier. Median playtime sits at 22.9 hours.
Not for you if you need clear control schemes and well-explained systems — multiple reviewers cite controls as a fundamental frustration.
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AdventureMedievalDwarf
$9.99 ~5.5 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 62.2% of 555
The Squirrel's verdictPlayers who want a tribe-management sim with deity mechanics standing in for crafting trees will find the early loop familiar. Life is Hard released in 2021 after six years in early access and reviews describe it as abandoned at that point, with an unintuitive, sometimes unresponsive UI and unfinished systems that become apparent quickly. At a median 5.5 hours and $9.99, the loop runs short before those problems compound.
Not for you if you need a functional, supported interface — reviews consistently flag the UI as a core obstacle.
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Colony SimBase-BuildingSurvival
$24.99 ~31 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 60.4% of 389
The Squirrel's verdictEmbark shares Hammerting's underground colony management: digging, ore extraction, base-building strata by strata, and balancing worker needs. Reviews describe it as buggy and unfinished, closer to Stonehearth or a rough Rimworld hybrid than a polished sim. No co-op. Median playtime sits around 31 hours, suggesting the mid-to-late game runs thinner than the setup promises.
Not for you if you want stable performance and finished systems rather than another mixed-rated colony sim with acknowledged bugs and AI quirks.
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Base-BuildingSpaceSurvival
Free ~20.2 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 50.4% of 1k
The Squirrel's verdictStarship Theory replaces dwarves and mountain tunnels with a spaceship crew managing resources and structure in a side-scrolling format. The core loop — assign workers, build out, manage chains — maps closely to Hammerting's. Development history is turbulent: the solo developer went on extended hiatus, reviews split hard, and the game sits at 50.4% positive. It is free, and median playtime lands around 20 hours.
Not for you if you want confirmed active development — review history shows prolonged gaps in updates and unresolved content gaps.
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City Builder
$14.99 ~9.4 hr median no co-op complexity: light 39.9% of 198
The Squirrel's verdictCommunity Inc shares Hammerting's colony-management core: assign villagers to professions, manage crafting chains, expand a settlement with limited tools and unclear interfaces. Reviews describe thin building options, easy overpowered states, and unfinished features shown but non-functional. At $14.99 with median playtime under 10 hours, this suits players wanting a shorter, shallower version of the same loop.
Not for you if you want deep crafting variety or long-term progression, since reviews describe limited buildable content and shallow late-game systems.
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City BuilderCraftingRPG
$4.99 ~39.3 hr median no co-op complexity: light 27% of 3k
The Squirrel's verdictBoth are dwarf-scale colony builders that shipped incomplete: mining, base management, and RPG-lite systems layered onto a sim that stalls once the colony grows. Towns predates Hammerting by years and never left that state, at $4.99 with Mostly Negative reviews. Fits players who want the genre's early-game loop and already accept unfinished systems.
Not for you if you need a finished endgame rather than another abandoned colony sim with the same early-game-only appeal.