Games like Havendock

The Squirrel's verdictBoth involve building and managing a base you customize over hours-long sessions, with crafting and resource systems driving progress. The Last Caretaker swaps colony management for solo survival on a mobile ship-base, with combat and exploration replacing Havendock's AI-run villagers. No co-op exists here, so there's no multiplayer to lose.

Not for you if you wanted a shared multiplayer experience, since this game has no co-op mode at all.

The Squirrel's verdictA low-combat, cute-art colony sim built around expanding outward, managing resources, and watching settlements grow — median playtime runs about 23 hours. Reviews flag persistent bugs even post-1.0: buildings leave ghosts on deconstruction, villager AI breaks, and some placement issues can softlock key structures mid-run. Suits players who can absorb rough edges in exchange for a relaxed, forgiving building pace.

Not for you if persistent post-1.0 bugs around building deconstruction, villager pathing, and placement would break your experience.

The Squirrel's verdictColony-building with co-op intact: unlock crafting chains, build self-sufficient settlements, manage resource trade across a planet-scale map. Movement and carrying capacity are slower than most builders, and the world is large enough that setting up supply chains between distant settlements takes real time. Median playtime sits near 49 hours. For players who want the build-with-a-partner format at a bigger, slower scale.

Not for you if slow movement, limited carry capacity, or a sprawling world pace would frustrate rather than satisfy you.

The Squirrel's verdictA prehistoric colony sim: gather resources, construct buildings, and advance a settlement through a tech tree at around 11 hours median playtime. No enemies appear and no hard winters hit, so difficulty comes entirely from managing build pacing and resource flow rather than survival pressure. Solo only, with no co-op mode.

Not for you if combat, survival threats, or playing with a partner are part of what you want from a colony sim.

The Squirrel's verdictUnderground colony-building with a 37-hour median playtime: dig out rooms, gather resources, unlock research chains, and manage crafting progression on a solo alien-planet base. Late-game balance problems are real — miss early steps and you can hit a wall with no way through — and the developer has moved on to another project since mid-2024. Suits players who want a compact, self-contained colony sim.

Not for you if late-game balance dead-ends or an inactive developer would end your run early.

The Squirrel's verdictPlayers who accept rough onboarding in exchange for a co-op farming and building sim are the likely fit here. Spirit of the Island has co-op in its 1.0 release, but reviewers repeatedly flag a confusing tutorial, clunky menus, unresponsive staff AI, and systems that feel unfinished. Median playtime runs about 9 hours.

Not for you if a clunky tutorial, unresponsive staff AI, and unfinished-feeling systems at 1.0 would stop you early.

The Squirrel's verdictSame colony-building loop: individual villagers with traits, autonomous behavior, crafting and building progression. TFM skips multiplayer entirely (solo only) and trades Havendock's cute simplicity for an opaque UI and steep learning curve reviewers compare to Rimworld. For players who wanted Havendock's colony-sim depth without the AI complaints, minus co-op.

Not for you if you wanted a co-op experience or an intuitive UI instead of a genre veteran's learning curve.

The Squirrel's verdictPlayers who treat the building loop itself as the payoff — rather than deep systems or finished content — are the audience here. Overthrown has co-op and cute character designs, but reviewers consistently describe bare mechanics and unfinished systems for a 1.0 release. At around 5 hours median playtime, the core runs short before those systems open up.

Not for you if you expect a 1.0 label to mean complete, polished mechanics rather than a promising but thin foundation.