Hey r/BaseBuildingGames!

I’m a solo dev, and tomorrow (May 20) I’m releasing the first public demo for my game, Project Manager SIM.

I know this sub is mostly about surviving harsh alien planets or designing massive automated factories (i love that stuff), but I wanted to share my game here because surviving a chaotic corporate IT department requires very similar skills.

I recently ran a closed playtest and implemented a ton of fixes, but getting fresh eyes on the core loop from players who love management games is incredibly important to me. Instead of a traditional god-view, you control the manager directly with WASD, physically running around the office in top-down perspective to put out fires.

In the demo:

• Plan projects, assign tasks, and manage unexpected client tickets.
• Hire your dream team (developers, QA, designers), each with unique personality traits (don't seat toxic people next to each other!).
• Upgrade your office space.
• Try to balance team burnout against approaching deadlines.
• Develop your relationships with clients and the Boss

I’m really looking for feedback on whether the WASD controls feel natural. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4454610/Project_manager_SIM/

Hi all,

I'm a big fan of automation games like Factorio and Satisfactory, colony sims like Oxygen Not Included, and engineering sims like Stationeers. I have a Computer Science background and always wanted a game where every system was actually controlled by Python code instead of by clicking buttons in a UI. So I built one.

There is just something about terraforming sensors incrementally getting to a better and better phase, Planet Crafter has always been one of my top games and I have always enjoyed incremental games too, favorite one is probably Melvor Idle.

I created a terraforming game with a deep (and sinister) story behind it, where every device/vehicle/drone/machine has to be automated/scripted to work with the planet, allowing the player to do whatever they want with them.

You do not just click to mine and smelt iron ore. You need to get a vehicle(called Pioneer), install modules to it(programmatically possible to, dynamically load/unload), program the drill module to drill the ore, program the feeders to transfer items to inventory, storage bin, warehouse, wherever you want, and program the smelters/fabricators using the storages. Everything can be fully automated with code and your end goal is to awaken the planet.

Your solar generators don't just work, they have to be adjusted to track the sun's position, via code. Everything can be managed with code, even the actual shop where you buy things with credits earned from Earth contracts.

I have released a FREE demo on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/868160/Code_Terraform

Discord: https://discord.gg/hUrK2MRn8s (I'd love to help if you are stuck)

I'd love to hear your opinions about it, thanks!

I'm a solo developer working on a game called Iron Expedition.

Take direct control of the Commander - the most powerful unit on the battlefield.

Build your base, research new technologies, produce units, and capture resource nodes to strengthen your economy.

Prepare to defend your territory - enemy forces will constantly launch attacks against your bases.

Your units can rally around you and follow your lead as you fight alongside them on the front lines.

Upgrade your mech with different weapons and abilities, and adapt your build to match your playstyle as battles become more intense.

Here's the Steam link for anyone who wants to check it out - https://store.steampowered.com/app/4446330/Iron_Expedition/

I watched a stream a while back (1-2yr) where they played a Colony Sim game where you build a colony of monsters and defend from attacking humans. It had a map and vibe like Rimworld. The player started with Goblins only IIRC. I remember the player dug underground and found Vampires to recruit, but there were also Dwarves living there that he had to fight. And then he was attacked by Human knights from another map. There was some quest / expedition system to venture out an attack other areas (like Rimworld has with an overworld map). Finally, I remember that the monsters levelled up as they fought.

I have no idea what it was called and searching for these things has turned up nothing.

Any ideas?

Edit: It was KeeperRL and this was the stream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45oAOI5eoU4

Hey, I’m a solo dev working on a small colony/base-building game called SeaColony.

The idea is simple: you start with a tiny floating platform in the middle of the ocean and slowly expand it into a colony. You manage survivors, resources, production chains, farming, and trade with passing ships.

I just put the Steam page up a few days ago, so I’m still improving the screenshots/trailer and trying to figure out what works best.

I’d be happy to hear what base-building players think about the idea.

Steam page: SeaColony on Steam

Hi everyone, I’m the solo developer of The Borderless.

The demo was released on March 20, and today I just published the first major update based on the initial player feedback.

This process reminded me once again how valuable feedback really is. A lot of the changes in this update came directly from player comments and suggestions, and I’m genuinely very grateful for all the support, bug reports, ideas, and honest criticism so far.

If you’d like to try the demo, wishlist the game, or share your feedback, I’d truly appreciate it.

Thank you so much!

Steam Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3687370/The_Borderless/

Hey,

I'm the developer of Zenith Expanse, a space colony/base-building sim about trying to keep a fragile colony alive on the edge of known space.

The demo is now out on Steam, and it is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The main reason I'm posting here is feedback. Especially on the onboarding.

I've rebuilt the onboarding three times already after playtesters told me that the early game wasn't clear enough. The current demo is my latest attempt at making the first stretch easier to understand without turning it into a giant tutorial wall.

In the demo, you can:

• start a new colony,
• scan nearby stars,
• land on alien planets,
• gather resources,
• build your first settlement,
• manage colonists, supplies, and early survival problems,
• make a few decisions that may or may not age well.

What I would love to know:

1. Is the onboarding clear enough now?
2. Do you understand what the game wants from you in the first 10-15 minutes?
3. Does the base-building / colony loop feel interesting?
4. More generally: does this seem like something you would want to keep playing?

The game is still in development, so I'm not pretending everything is final or perfectly polished. But the demo should give a real sense of what I'm trying to build: a space colony sim where planets, people, resources, and bad decisions all push against each other.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4386170/Zenith_Expanse/

Happy to answer questions, and genuinely happy to hear criticism. Especially the useful kind that hurts a little.

It's been a month and my falling sand factory game POUND SAND has come a long way in a short time. The biggest gain is performance - even huge worlds (larger than 4k by 4k) run at 60 fps most of the time, and there are still more gains possible. But I'm putting that on hold for now to focus on getting the demo ready - the amount of time it would take to mine and process an entire 4k world is many hours, and I think most players won't want to do that.

The demo should be available within the next two weeks, and the plan is to include the tutorial plus one fixed sandbox level (no level gen in the demo). Maybe disable the player upgrades but leave the pattern unlocks so the player can get the full production chain experience in the demo world if they want.

Would love feedback on the Steam page and on the game visuals, and wishlists are hugely appreciated!

Current feature list:

Huge worlds possible (4000 x 4000 and beyond), the falling sand engine is very performant and mostly optimized

Lighting engine

Lots of machines and a full production chain ending in METAL and SPICE, alternate recipes and paths

Blocks and machines you place can be deleted on a block by block basis to rearrange them however you can imagine

Tools - vacuum, mining laser, jetpack, and flashlight. And when you vacuum blocks, you can see the contents inside the player

Tech trees to unlock upgrades and new patterns

Random map generator with some interesting parameters available to adjust

UI is implemented for everything but its not pretty yet, but there is a 16 slot pattern bar with drag and drop you can use for building

Nice fluid movement system and block placement system

Sounds and music (placeholder at the moment)

Next to implement:

Tutorial (and demo)

Modifiers for maps to do things like add lakes to the surface, hit the planet with meteors to create craters before the game starts, things like that

Campaign and story

Bonus game modes such as "only uranium blocks", or "simple blocks don't yield materials so you need to hunt for more rare ones", etc

Autosave system

More optimization

Thanks for taking a look at my game!

>Been working on a hard sci-fi colony simulation game called StellarForge in Unreal Engine 5.

The goal isn’t just “space aesthetics” —

I wanted the infrastructure and logistics to feel believable.

I’m trying to make the universe feel like it keeps functioning even when the player isn’t looking at it.

Right now the simulation includes:

• Interplanetary shipping & launch windows

• Colony-wide power / oxygen / water simulation

• Resource density & industrial manufacturing

• Orbital infrastructure and transport chains

• Dynamic thermal and atmospheric systems

• Persistent colonies across multiple planets/moons

• Modular building placement & interior habitat construction

I’ve also started building optional in-universe engineering archives so players can learn things like:

- rocket propulsion

- orbital mechanics

- thermodynamics

- gas laws

- materials density

…without forcing tutorials on people who just want to build cool colonies.

Would genuinely love feedback from:

- colony sim players (fans of factorio, satisfactory, anno, farthest frontier etc)

- KSP people

- Factorio addicts

- hard sci-fi fans

- systems/logistics gremlins like me

Gameplay video below.

https://youtu.be/oSC5G1_hs64

https://discord.gg/tUFZ7Fw3s

>I'm also new to reddit 😄 so. hi 😄

>

Hey r/playtesters ,

Quick recruitment post, but the methodology might be useful to other devs here too.

We're at Flying Robot Studios in Kolkata, working on The Great Indian Safari — a wildlife reserve simulation set in India. Phase 1 asks players to build a functioning ecosystem before opening to tourists. The whole tutorial is carried by three diegetic narrative voices that never break register. No tutorial overlay, no checklists. The simulation has to teach itself.

That last part is what we're testing.

We're running a closed playtest with 8 testers. The build is 60–90 minutes, played across 2–3 sessions over two weeks, ending at a hard stop. After they finish, each tester sits for a 30-minute recorded audio interview.

We're deliberately not running a survey. For "did the simulation teach itself?", surveys force testers into our framing and we get the answers our questions imply. Interviews surface the vocabulary testers use unprompted, which is a much stronger signal.

The price of admission is the audio interview. If that's not for you, we'll have a wider beta later.

Looking for players who play sim, management, narrative, or wildlife/nature games, can fit in 2–3 short sessions, and will give honest reactions — including the uncomfortable ones.

To apply, two options — whichever is easier for you:

• DM me here on Reddit, or
• Drop a message in our Discord: https://discord.gg/qPCygjhg

In your message, tell me a few games you've enjoyed recently, when you can fit 2–3 sessions over the next two weeks, and that you're up for the audio interview. Selected testers will receive a Steam key by DM to access the playtest.

Please don't apply in the comments — keeps things cleaner for everyone, and lets you give us a fuller picture in DM than a comment would.

Picking 8 testers by 21 May. Not picked? You're first in line for the wider beta, which will be open access on Steam.

Happy to talk methodology in the comments — that part's open.

— Satyajit, Flying Robot Studios

Build a living city on rails in this steampunk fantasy train-city builder. Manage multiracial colonies with thousands of autonomous citizens, balance their needs, manage the economy, and create logistics as you explore distant regions to ensure the prosperity of your Empire.

The game is now available on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3602030/Steel_Artery_Train_City_Builder/

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iznm3GMcCBE

Hey everyone, Erik (Factory Town and Factory Town Idler) has a release date for his new game called "Factory Town 2: Paradise".

Release Date Teaser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJsjGZlwObQ

Steam Page:

Factory Town 2: Paradise on Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/3312130/Factory\_Town\_2\_Paradise/)

Gameplay:

This NEW Volcano Feeding Factory Builder Is PERFECT! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=\_qUKz3bP6Yc)

After ten years since its initial conception, our colony sim Space Haven has finally reached 1.0. This game has been a true labor of love for us, and with our small team we've put everything we've got into it.

I want to take the time to thank the kind community here at r/BaseBuildingGames. You've always been very good to us! I'm sure many of you have found our game from here, and we're very thankful for that. Thank you for being part of our journey.

For those of you not familiar with Space Haven:

Your colony is a customizable spaceship or station that you build, manage, expand, and defend while exploring the universe in search of a new home. Every resource you find is another piece of survival for your crew, including waste recycling and, in extreme cases, other humans. In space, nobody can know you put Billy in the Composter!

We've drawn inspiration from many cool things across popular space operas and jammed them into the game. If you're a fan of RimWorld, Oxygen Not Included, and other base-building games, this one could be for you.

You can read our 1.0 news on Steam here. And, it would mean the world to us if you checked out Space Haven on Steam.