Base-building games: about the games
Palworld is a multiplayer open-world survival and crafting game with action, adventure and RPG elements, in which players live and work alongside mysterious creatures called Pals. Pals can fight, tend crops, run factories or carry the player across land, sea and sky. Players build structures, automate production and explore dangerous areas, while facing scarce food and ruthless poachers in a harsh environment. Breeding passes parental traits on to offspring. Co-op play supports up to four players, and a dedicated server can host up to 32.
Starfield is the first new universe in over 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios. The game is set in 2330, when humanity has settled planets beyond our solar system, and players join Constellation, a group hunting rare artifacts across the galaxy. Players create their own character, explore more than 1000 planets, pilot and upgrade their ship, and build outposts. Combat involves various weapons, including in zero-gravity environments.
Fallout 4 is an open-world role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios, in which the player is the sole survivor of Vault 111 and emerges into a world reduced to ash by nuclear war. In a massive world with many locations, characters and quests, the player can join factions, form alliances, or go it alone. The character is built with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system and chosen Perks shape the playstyle; combat can be slowed with V.A.T.S. or played through real-time gunplay. Players also scavenge, craft and customize items and can build and manage settlements across the Commonwealth.
The newest entry in the OCTOPATH TRAVELER series unfolds in the realm of Orsterra and tells a story of restoration and retribution over the divine rings. Players create their own protagonist, choosing appearance, voice, motions and a favourite dish, and rebuild their home town through town building by inviting companions and allies to live there. The series’ HD-2D look returns alongside Path Actions for inviting people, fighting and obtaining items, and the Break and Boost system in command battles, where a party of up to eight can be formed from more than thirty allies.
Jurassic World Evolution 2 follows the 2018 management simulation and adds a new narrative campaign voiced by cast members from the film series. After the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, players protect and contain wild dinosaurs roaming the USA alongside Dr. Ian Malcolm and Claire Dearing. Four modes are on offer: the campaign, Sandbox, Challenge with varied locations and calamities, and levels built on ‘what-if’ scenarios from the films. Players construct customisable buildings, hire scientists and bioengineer the genomes and colours of over 75 prehistoric species, including flying and marine reptiles.
The game is set twenty-five years after nuclear war in post-nuclear America, specifically West Virginia, where the Vault Dwellers emerge from their shelters. Players can go solo or team up with others to explore a massive open world, build, complete quests, and fight. Your character is shaped with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system, and your C.A.M.P. can be placed and expanded to suit your taste. Story quests bring rival factions and choices that shape the adventure, while Appalachia hosts mysterious creatures and an investigation into a series of ritual murders.
XCOM 2 follows the 2012 strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Earth has changed: twenty years after world leaders surrendered, aliens rule and raise glittering cities that conceal a sinister agenda. The scattered remnants of XCOM, always on the run, must rebuild and ignite a global resistance. You command the Avenger, an alien supply craft converted into a mobile base, choosing where to send your team and when to strike at enemy counter-operations. Missions run from wildlands to the depths of alien bases, research and upgrades improve your gear, and five soldier classes each have their own skill tree.
The player is placed at the heart of the Jurassic franchise and builds their own Jurassic World. On the islands of the Muertes archipelago they run a park shaped by Science, Entertainment or Security interests, bioengineering dinosaurs with unique behaviours, traits and appearances. The creatures must be contained and made profitable to fund the search for lost dinosaur DNA, while espionage, breakouts and tropical storms threaten the park. Deep management tools sit alongside hands-on action on land and in the air, plus expandable islands and a narrative with iconic characters.
Farming Simulator 22 is a simulation of a modern farmer's work. Players grow crops, look after animals, manage production chains and take on seasonal challenges, while coping with the four seasons, especially winter. The farm can be built to the player's own design and expanded with production chains, and friends can run it together in crossplatform multiplayer. More than 400 machines and tools from over 100 real brands, such as Case IH, CLAAS and John Deere, are available.
Generation Zero is a stealth-action shooter in which you wage guerrilla warfare against lethal mechanical enemies. In the open world of Östertörn, inspired by the Cold War era, danger lurks on every street, in every patch of forest and deep inside every bunker. You can take on the sophisticated and deadly machines alone or together with up to three friends in seamless co-op. Experience from fighting back makes you stronger, parts scavenged from fallen enemies can be crafted into equipment, weapons and ammunition, and you build and fortify your own bases while uncovering the truth behind what really happened to the region of Östertörn.
In Kerbal Space Program the player takes charge of the space program of an alien race known as the Kerbals. From an array of parts they assemble fully functional spacecraft whose flight – or failure to fly – follows realistic aerodynamic and orbital physics. Crews are sent into orbit and beyond and must be kept alive while exploring the moons and planets of the Kerbol system, constructing bases and space stations. The game offers three modes: Science, where experiments unlock new technology; Career, covering construction, strategy, funding and upgrades; and Sandbox, where every part and technology is available. Mods made by the community are supported too.
Tribes of Midgard blends survival with action RPG and can be played by one to ten players. As an Einherjar you travel procedurally generated worlds, harvest resources, gather loot, craft weapons and grow your home base while standing against the towering Jötnar and the mightier Ancients. Survival Mode builds on 90 skills at a more relaxed pace, while the faster Saga Mode lets you choose among 8 Classes and defend your Village against the forces of Ragnarök. You can play solo or in online PvE co-op with up to 10 players, with difficulty adapting to the number of players.