Games like Per Aspera

The Squirrel's verdictPlan B: Terraform shares planetary-scale terraforming viewed from orbit and logistics chains feeding cities, with the world visibly changing as you progress. The terraforming itself happens mostly automatically rather than through active management. Production chains are simpler than Per Aspera's, distribution runs through a train-and-depot system that offers limited manual control, and there is no narrative or story layer.

Not for you if you came for Per Aspera's story and dilemmas rather than its logistics, or you want granular control over how goods move between facilities.

The Squirrel's verdictPlanetbase shares the extraterrestrial colony-building and resource logistics of Per Aspera, but focuses on a single base rather than planet-wide terraforming. There is no AI story or visual novel layer. Colonists here prioritize construction tasks over basic survival needs like water, demanding close attention to keep the colony from collapsing. Fits players who wanted Per Aspera's logistics with tighter base-level stakes.

Not for you if you want Per Aspera's planet-scale terraforming and story, or expect colonists to handle their own survival priorities without micromanagement.

The Squirrel's verdictTerraformers uses a card-based building selection system and roguelike meta-progression to structure its Mars terraforming runs — a format Per Aspera never uses. You work toward a defined end state each run rather than managing an open-ended macro colony, and there's no visual novel story or AI narrator. Suits players who want the same Mars setting with repeatable, structured sessions.

Not for you if you want continuous open-world colony building rather than run-based card-driven sessions, or expect full control over terraforming completion rather than a luck-influenced end game.

The Squirrel's verdictBoth put you terraforming Mars around resource logistics: build housing, feed workers, manage water and power chains. Farlanders is turn-based and tile-based, trading Per Aspera's real-time planet-scale sprawl and thin narrative for grid puzzle-solving where terrain placement matters more than base size. Suits players who wanted Per Aspera's colonization loop with tighter, more deliberate turns.

Not for you if you want real-time control over a full planet rather than turn-based puzzle-solving on discrete tiles, or map randomness bothers you.

The Squirrel's verdictReshaping Mars is built around surveying terrain, extracting metal, energy, and water, and expanding a base footprint — the same broad loop as Per Aspera. It removes the logistics-and-transport layer, the story dilemmas, and the AI narrator entirely, leaving straightforward resource-building and expansion. Playtime averages around 27 hours. Fits players who wanted Per Aspera's colonization fantasy stripped of narrative and supply-chain complexity.

Not for you if you valued Per Aspera's story and dialogue, or want depth beyond placing a small set of building types repeatedly across the map.

The Squirrel's verdictCompeting corporations racing for the same planetary resources are Imagine Earth's defining feature — you extract materials, hit population and production targets, and manage industrial growth, but rival companies and pollution-triggered disasters create pressure that Per Aspera's solo AI narrative never does. There's no story layer here, just economic and environmental competition across a globe.

Not for you if you came for Per Aspera's AI-consciousness story and terraforming narrative rather than corporate competition and pollution mechanics.

The Squirrel's verdictBoth are logistics-driven planetary colonization builders where you chain production through belts and conveyors rather than manage individual colonists directly. The Crust trades Per Aspera's terraforming scale and visual-novel dialogue for underground base-building, drones, and timed story quests. Players who wanted deeper production chains in Per Aspera get more of that here, though drone priority failures and save instability at large base sizes are documented issues.

Not for you if you want reliable drone priority handling, stable saves at scale, or a fully bug-resolved experience rather than an ongoing early-access-style development.

The Squirrel's verdictMercury Fallen keeps Per Aspera's resource-chain logistics, research trees, and colony management on a hostile alien world, but trades planet-wide terraforming for a single dug-out base with survivors and robot helpers. There's no AI-consciousness story here, just building and researching. Fits players who wanted more of Per Aspera's systems and less of its narrative layer.

Not for you if you want the terraforming spectacle and narrative dilemmas of Per Aspera, or need robust late-game objectives beyond resource gathering and base expansion.