What is the ultimate base building game?

[rusty_shackleford]

Gentlemen.

I like to build things.
I like to defend things I build.
I like to establish trade with other people who like to build things.


Some games claim to do these things, but one game must be the best at it.
Which is it?

No hard requirements as long as it involves building a base. From building it piece by piece like in voxel-based games to NWN2's castle management.

[MadPreacher]

D&D Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator...

[Tweed]

D&D Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator...

As much as I like that game it's really not that great, plus you have to set the little triangle thingy for every single parcel of land and that gets old fast. You also don't trade with anyone.

Gentlemen.

I like to build things.
I like to defend things I build.
I like to establish trade with other people who like to build things.


Some games claim to do these things, but one game must be the best at it.
Which is it?

No hard requirements as long as it involves building a base. From building it piece by piece like in voxel-based games to NWN2's castle management.

You can build things in Kenshi, you can defend them in Kenshi, you can establish trade with other people in Kenshi, but they don't build things. You can however kidnap people, kill rulers, and build machines that slowly peel the flesh and limbs from their bodies. You can also build in the Holy Nations where they hate women and minorities and come visit you every few days for a bible study, praise Okran! You can also install mods to build more things and have more impact on the world.

You can build things in Rimworld, defend the things in Rimworld, and trade with other people who also build things in Rimworld. You can also install mods that sexualize the pawns because people will sexualize anything.

You can build things in Dwarf Fortress, defend the things in Dwarf Fortess, and trade with dwarves, disgusting elves, and on occasion with some other races depending on how the history of the world generates. You can also devise ways of getting rid of the ***** and gay dwarves that come to your fortress. Or mod them out completely.

You can build things in Factorio, defend the things in Factorio, but the local natives aren't interested in trading and all they build are nests so they can kill you for polluting the environment.

[Nemesis]

Dwarf Fortress
Rimworld

[The_Mask]

If you like RPG elements in it, it's probably Kenshi. If you don't, it's definitely Dwarf Fortress.

[maidenhaver]

Age of Empires II. I never traded, though.

[Klerik]

Silent Hunter 3

[Gregz]

It's Kenshi.

Fallout 4 and 76 have pretty sophisticated basebuilding mechanics if you like programmable electronics, automating things, etc.

[J1M]

Anno 1404 (building and trade)
Settlers 7 (no grid, but conquer/defend territory)

[Acrux]

I think I unconsciously compare every base building game to Majesty. It's at the top for me.

I think Rimworld requires too many mods to be good. Kenshi just seems off. No thanks to Dwarf Fortress, I don't think losing is fun.

Going Medieval looks like it has potential.

[Ranselknulf]

Bread Earth Theory
19 reviews
Recommended
75.4 hrs on record (1.8 hrs at review time)
Posted: November 26, 2022
Reduced the population of Tokyo down to 7 with SSBNs. Anime is permanently gone 10/10 game, would recommend

[maidenhaver]

Those 7 survivors were in eva units.

[madbringer]

I think Rimworld requires too many mods to be good.

Rimworld vanilla is good enough, most the mods add is variety and cosmetic changes, and it is very mod friendly where you can experiment on a single save. Honestly, it probably is the best base builder out there.

[Acrux]

There's a Rimworld clone focused on medieval time period that's supposed to release this summer. It has a demo for the next couple of weeks. (Haven't tried it.)

[Acrux]

Also, MicroTown got an update over the weekend that adds technology tiers. I picked this up about a year ago; it's similar to Settlers games, but a smaller scale and slightly more casual.

[Emphyrio]

Factorio.

Riftbreaker.

[gerey]

Stronghold and Stronghold: Crusaders are obvious contenders, the Impressions Games "quadrology" (Caesar 3, Pharaoh, Zeus, Emperor), though they're more focused on the city building/managment than combat and/or defense.

There's Warzone 2100, which is freeware - spans three acts, and in each act you have a main base that you slowly build up throughout the campaign, and sometimes have to defend against enemy attacks.

Knights and Merchants is akin to older Settlers games, fun game, though probably suffering from being old and with an antiquated interface.

[StudiedAsleep]

Ark SE

[Oyster Sauce]

Chopping down trees and stockpiling lumber > actually building bases.
Valheim still has my favorite tree chopping. You can try to fell a tree so it smashes into another on the way down to save you some time. Logging incidents are lethal and I've seen many friendly fire deaths playing with friends.
Sons of The Forest is alright too. We had a small compound near a lake which had a river flowing into it from high up on a mountain. I'd chop trees so they'd land in the river and flow down to the lake where there were posts set up to catch them. Had to make a few shonky looking ramps at shallow/rocky parts of the river to keep things moving smoothly, but it was very satisfying when it worked out. Unfortunately, the game starts deleting logs when too many are floating in the same spot.

[rusty_shackleford]

manually building the base piece by piece is some autistic minecraft ****

[WaterMage]

I loved 7d2d. How you can make lots of cool traps and headshot endless horde of zombies with desert eagle.

[Irenaeus]

My brother is playing the beaver base building game.


I've been meaning to try Farthest Frontier because it has an intriguing farming system.

[asf]

pharaoh

[Oyster Sauce]

I loved 7d2d. How you can make lots of cool traps and headshot endless horde of zombies with desert eagle.

This is the most intricate/detailed one I've played. The pre-built skyscrapers are really impressive. Fond memories of barricading a trailer park with a friend.
Also worth noting that it's been in Early Access for over a decade.

[Acrux]

Norland is releasing in a couple of days and both Scarlet Seeker and Splattercat have impressions videos. I tried the demo around a year or so ago; it seemed okay. Not sure what's new in it now.

[asf]

another rimworld clone

[Acrux]

It's similar. But you only control the ruling family, not all of the villagers, in sort of a Crusader King's vibe. I remember you gained technology through knowledge, but if a character died, so did that knowledge. There's a lot more to diplomacy/rivalry as well. And buildings were prefabricated.

[Magick]

There's Warzone 2100, which is freeware - spans three acts, and in each act you have a main base that you slowly build up throughout the campaign, and sometimes have to defend against enemy attacks.

This one is fun!
I love how your base persists, and in each "level" more and more of the same map unlocks, with you unlocking more tech etc. too.
You have to keep moving around your defences etc. but it's nice to not have to start from scratch each time.

I also like how configurable the units are. It's up to you what type of armour, turret and traction each unit has.
Want an autocannon light hovercraft? Or a heavy flamethrower tracked tank? Or a light machinegun wheeled light armour scout? or a VTOL heavy machinegun flyer? Up to you!

[StudiedAsleep]

ark ascended

[Vickers]

There's Warzone 2100, which is freeware - spans three acts, and in each act you have a main base that you slowly build up throughout the campaign, and sometimes have to defend against enemy attacks.

This one is fun!
I love how your base persists, and in each "level" more and more of the same map unlocks, with you unlocking more tech etc. too.
You have to keep moving around your defences etc. but it's nice to not have to start from scratch each time.

I also like how configurable the units are. It's up to you what type of armour, turret and traction each unit has.
Want an autocannon light hovercraft? Or a heavy flamethrower tracked tank? Or a light machinegun wheeled light armour scout? or a VTOL heavy machinegun flyer? Up to you!

Reminds me of M.A.X. Way ahead of it's time and would probably still be played if it had more than 'Trivially Easy' and 'Hopelessly Futile' modes. And if M.A.X 2 hadn't **** the bed. Hmm, I wonder if Hopelessly Futile is still that futile 30 years of power-autism later, thanks for reminding me about it.