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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 SimBase-BuildingSurvival
$24.99 ~166.9 hr median no co-op complexity: heavy 96.7% of 142k
The Squirrel's verdictSame interlocking-systems core as Stationeers: power, atmosphere, temperature, and plumbing all feed each other, and mismanaging one cascades into the rest. ONI trades direct first-person control for colony management of Duplicants, replacing Stationeers' click-heavy interface with base-building and scheduling. Steam rating sits at 96.7% positive, median playtime 166.9 hours.
Not for you if you specifically want direct hands-on control of a single character rather than managing a colony of AI-driven workers.
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Base-BuildingSpaceColony Sim
$24.99 ~47.1 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 85.8% of 11k
The Squirrel's verdictSpace Haven puts you in charge of a crew aboard a ship you design tile by tile, managing power, atmosphere, food, and hull integrity as interdependent systems. You direct colonists to perform tasks rather than acting in first person. Reviews praise the building and systems depth but consistently flag the UI and tutorial as slow and poorly explained. Median playtime is 47.1 hours; Steam rating is Very Positive at 85.8%.
Not for you if you want direct single-character control over every action, or you find colony-direction and unclear tutorials consistently frustrating.
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ExplorationColony SimBase-Building
Strong Mods Strong ModsA deep, active modding scene extends it past its base content.
$29.99 ~53.8 hr median no co-op complexity: heavy 87% of 2k
The Squirrel's verdictStardeus is built around automating a ship colony: robots and colonists carry out tasks you assign, handling manufacturing, life support, and repairs without requiring you to click every action yourself. Power, atmosphere, and production chains all interact and can cascade into failure. Players who found Stationeers' manual interface tedious but valued its systemic depth are the likely fit. Steam rating is Very Positive at 87.0%; median playtime is 53.8 hours.
Not for you if you want to personally perform every construction and survival action rather than issuing orders through an automation layer.
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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 shares the automation-chain core: connect extractors to smelters to factories to warehouses, same first-person building loop as Stationeers. It drops the deep atmospherics/temperature interplay and dual-hand inventory friction for a lighter survival layer (oxygen only) and adds co-op. Median playtime sits at 40.6 hours, Very Positive rating.
Not for you if you came to Stationeers for the interlocking atmospherics and power-temperature simulation, since Astro Colony's survival layer is just oxygen management.
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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 verdictOstranauts puts you in the role of a spacer buying, salvaging, and repairing derelict ships while managing hull integrity, atmosphere, and power as tightly coupled systems. Inventory management is deliberate and cumbersome by design, similar to Stationeers' two-hand approach. Reviews split sharply between freeform depth and a broken, unfinished state. Median playtime is 59.2 hours; Steam rating is Very Positive at 80.6%.
Not for you if you want a polished, stable experience — reviewers repeatedly describe the game as jank-filled and broken in its current state.
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Sci-fiSurvivalColony Sim
$9.99 ~37.2 hr median no co-op complexity: moderate 78.5% of 316
The Squirrel's verdictMercury Fallen shares Stationeers' loop: land on an alien world, dig out a base, gather resources, and research tech to keep survivors alive. It trades Stationeers' punishing two-hand inventory and specialized-tool fiddliness for simpler, more approachable controls. Reviews report the systems are shallower, though, with late-game balance and content thinning out fast.
Not for you if you want Stationeers' deep, punishing systemic complexity to hold up through the late game instead of thinning out after early research.
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Colony SimBase-BuildingCity Builder
Strong Mods Strong ModsA deep, active modding scene extends it past its base content.
$34.99 ~36.2 hr median no co-op complexity: heavy 76.5% of 841
The Squirrel's verdictSolargene is a colony management simulator centered on building placement, support structures, and closed-loop life support with realistic orbital and atmospheric simulation. Every construction element must be physically supported, and life support, power, and crew needs feed into each other without abstraction. Reviews describe the tutorial as thin and the onboarding as steep, requiring significant trial and error before systems become legible. Median playtime is 36.2 hours; Steam rating is Mostly Positive at 76.5%.
Not for you if you prefer a hands-on single-character experience over directing colonists through a colony-management interface.
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AutomationSpaceBase-Building
$19.99 ~34.6 hr median no co-op complexity: heavy 76.9% of 458
The Squirrel's verdictPlayers who want the systems-thinking of Stationeers but structured around defined goals will find Final Upgrade a closer fit than open-ended base survival. The core is a logistics puzzle: expand a factory, manage resource chains, and work toward clear objectives rather than keeping a life-support base running indefinitely. There is no hands-and-tools interface to fight, and progress has a visible endpoint. Steam rating is Mostly Positive at 76.9%; median playtime is 34.6 hours.
Not for you if you want the physical survival loop — life support, atmosphere, and direct tool use — rather than logistics puzzles with defined goals.