1
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.
Base-BuildingSpaceColony Sim
$24.99 ~47.1 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 85.8% of 11k
The Squirrel's verdictSpace Haven is built around free exploration and derelict scavenging: you travel between locations, board wrecked ships, and gather materials without a rationed warp system. Interior ship construction, life support, and crew management are all central to the loop. Reviews consistently flag the UI and controls as a slog, particularly for players coming from Rimworld. Median playtime is 47.1 hours.
Not for you if a slow, friction-heavy interface would stop you before the ship-building loop has time to open up.
2
Budget Pick Budget PickThe best game here for the least money.
Base-BuildingAutomationResource Management
$19.99 ~40.6 hr median co-op complexity: moderate 80.9% of 3k
The Squirrel's verdictAstro Colony's first-person perspective separates it from most ship-management games: you walk through structures you build, connect asteroids, and set up automation chains yourself rather than directing colonists from above. Co-op is supported. Reviews flag uneven tech progression — stairs require roughly half the tech tree — and wiring quirks, but the automation-and-expansion loop is the clear focus.
Not for you if you want colonist survival management and a top-down perspective rather than first-person building and resource automation.
3
CyberpunkOpen WorldOpen World Survival Craft
Jank Tolerant Jank TolerantRough edges and bugs — rewarding if you don't mind them.
$19.99 ~59.2 hr median no co-op complexity: heavy 80.6% of 3k
The Squirrel's verdictFirst-person inventory and salvage work defines Ostranauts: you manage your ship's systems and survival in granular detail, but the scale is one person doing manual work rather than overseeing automated colony production. Reviews describe rich atmosphere and worldbuilding alongside persistent bugs and a steep friction curve. Median playtime reaches 59.2 hours for those who stick with it.
Not for you if you want colony-scale automation and research trees rather than solo, manual salvage and inventory management.
4
Open World Survival CraftAutomationSurvival
$19.99 ~19.8 hr median no co-op 83.9% of 521
The Squirrel's verdictSpace Trash Scavenger centers on physics-based debris scavenging feeding an automated ship, with conveyor belts and tractor beams handling material flow. Progression is driven by collecting from asteroid fields rather than exploration or warp travel. Reviews flag scarce resources, a grind that doesn't ease over time, and items permanently lost to physics — median playtime sits at 19.8 hours.
Not for you if resource scarcity grind or permanent item loss from physics glitches would pull you out of the loop.
5
Sci-fiSurvivalColony Sim
$9.99 ~37.2 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 78.5% of 316
The Squirrel's verdictMercury Fallen runs the same colony-management spine as Stardeus — dig out rooms, research a tech tree, keep survivors alive — but strips away ship travel and power-routing entirely. The focus is base-building and research on an alien world. Median playtime reaches 37.2 hours. Reviews note that late-game balance issues can leave runs unresolvable, and the last substantive update was June 2024.
Not for you if late-game balance problems with no clear fix path would end your run, or you need ongoing updates.
6
SpaceSci-fiBase-Building
$19.99 ~29.2 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 75.4% of 2k
The Squirrel's verdictThe Last Starship focuses on ship construction and combat with less emphasis on research depth and exploration. It reached 1.0 release but reviews describe missing or unfinished content, limited quest progression beyond early missions, and no working endgame. Players who prioritize Stardeus's colony-sim and research layers over direct ship-building will find less of that here.
Not for you if an absent endgame or thin content past the early missions would prevent you from getting value from the playtime.
7
Space SimEconomySci-fi
$29.99 ~23.6 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 74.7% of 2k
The Squirrel's verdictStarminer is built around direct piloting with Newtonian flight physics, ship construction, and combat. Mining is a sub-system within the flight mechanics rather than a primary loop, and there are no colonists or wiring systems to manage. At 23.6 hours median, it suits players who want to fly and fight their ship rather than oversee automated production chains.
Not for you if you want colony automation, research trees, or crew management rather than hands-on piloting and combat.
How the Squirrel matches games
Not tag overlap. We compare what players actually say across hundreds of
thousands of reviews about how each game feels to play, then break
the comparison into the mechanics you can see in each card. The mark on
every bar is Stardeus's own score, so you can read where a match runs
hotter or cooler than the anchor.
Verdicts are written against a fixed editorial standard, machine-audited,
and human spot-checked. Which games make the cut is a human call. Prices
and review data refresh automatically. Full method & AI disclosure →