The Best Survival Strategy Games on Steam

With the holidays coming up, it seems like a good idea to help people who are looking for just the right new game to enjoy. So, we are making The Best Of lists: the best games that we know in a genre! Tried and tested by ourselves!

So these are some of the Best Survival and Strategy games that have been released on Steam. All have been reviewed at one time or another on LadiesGamers. This article isn’t in any particular order, so let’s begin!

Patron

Gather and produce resources, build your fledgling village into a prosperous city and navigate the intricate social tensions before they reach boiling point.

Patron LadiesGamers

Patron is a survival city-building game set in medieval times, with a unique social system. It is the mix of strategy and city-building mechanics that make Patron a good choice for players who like to think about their strategic moves.

Patron LadiesGamers

You must keep an eye on resources, making sure you have enough food and firewood. Keep your population happy by supplying the correct goods, if you don’t, they up sticks and leave your city, or worse, they die. Our review for Patron can be found here. 

Imagine Earth

In this sci-fi strategy sim, you build up global civilizations in distant worlds. Harvest resources and produce goods to establish space trade. Form alliances or wage economic warfare to take over competing corporations. Do research to protect your colonists from disasters and avoid a climate crisis.

imagine earth LadiesGamers

Playing the role of a colony manager, you are tasked with the mission of establishing a thriving settlement on a variety of new worlds and expertly balancing the needs of the corporation with the needs of your citizens and the planets.

Imagine Earth LadiesGamers

You’ll have to harvest resources and produce goods to establish space trade. You’ll also form alliances or wage economic warfare to take over competing corporations. Complete research to protect your colonists from disasters and avoid a climate crisis! So, not a lot to do really, and no pressure. You can read our review of Imagine Earth here. 

HUMANKIND

HUMANKIND is a Historical Strategy game where you will re-write the entire narrative of humankind. A convergence of culture, history, and values allows you to create a civilization that is as unique as you are. How far will you push HUMANKIND?

HUMANKIND is a new 4x strategy game from developers Amplitude Studios. It has been compared to the Civilization franchise. In HUMANKIND you start out on a hex-based map with a tiny nomadic, Neolithic tribe. During this phase of the game, your tribe roams around gathering food and other resources.

HUANKIND LadiesGamers

They’ll hunt deer for food and run away from Mammoths if they are smart. As they roam around collecting resources and discovering natural wonders, you eventually find a lovely place to settle your first Outpost and territory, not a City as that comes later in HUMANKIND. You can read our review of HUMANKIND here. We also have a Beginners Guide for HUMANKIND that can be found here. 

Settlement Survival

In this Banished inspired city-builder, lead a group of survivors in their search for a new home. Manipulate the landscape, manage limited supplies, plant crops, hunt wildlife, gather resources, and develop trade routes to build a bustling and unique town.

Settlement Survival LadiesGamers

In Settlement Survival, you lead a group of settlers to try and establish yourselves with a new home and eventually if all goes well a city. Once you establish your settlement and have built houses, woodcutter’s, hunter’s and gatherer’s buildings it is up to you to keep your citizens alive.

Settlement Survival LadiesGamers

This can be difficult at times as there can be food shortages to contend with. Plus there is managing limited supplies to take into account, planting crops, hunting wildlife, gathering resources, and developing trade routes. You can read our Settlement Survival review here. 

Lords and Villeins

Grow dynasties of medieval families and see them evolve and interact as you build their homes, in this city-building strategy simulation. Expand your production chain and influence the daily lives of your villagers to craft a unique story of your settlement.

Lords and Villeins LadiesGamers

In this lighthearted pixel art survival city-building game, you manage peasant and noble families in a procedurally generated world. Unlike other games in this genre, you don’t look after the individual NPC instead you look after families as a whole.

Lords and Villeins LadiesGamers

You start with the basics by zoning out various areas of land, such as a fishing zone over a lake and individual zones for family homes to be built. Once you have laid out your zones you then click on each zone and assign a family to that zone. You’ll have gatherers, foresters, farmers and fishing folk who will all go about their daily duties collecting provisions and resources. You can read our Lords and Villeins review here. 

The Wandering Village

The Wandering Village is the third simulation with survival and rogue-like elements game made by Stray Fawn Studio. They also developed Niche – a genetics survival game that Yvonne reviewed on the Nintendo Switch.

The Wandering Village LadiesGamers

The Wandering Village has a unique twist over other city-builders in the genre. You are tasked with taking care of a group of people, the Nyomans. They stumble across a giant beast, Onbu, thought to be extinct and set up home on the back of the wandering giant.

The Wandering Village LadiesGamers

The game is about the survival of your people and the beast they chose to set up a home on and help. They flee from mysterious plants spreading all over the earth, emitting toxic spores.

Our review for The Wandering Village can be found here. 

Foundation

Foundation is a grid-less, sprawling medieval city building simulation with a heavy focus on organic development, monument construction and resource management.

Foundation LadiesGamers

It is a laidback medieval strategy simulation game where you play as a lord or lady who the king has given a land grant too. But, of course, with the land grant also comes some expectations, such as building a sprawling, self-sustaining settlement.

Foundation LadiesGamers

So you are tasked with setting up a village for a small group of serfs (people). In addition, Foundation has elements from old favourite sim/strategy games such as Settlers, SimCity, and Pharaoh.

Read our preview of Foundation here.

Against the Storm

Against the Storm is a dark fantasy city builder where you must rebuild civilization in the face of apocalyptic rains. As the Queen’s Viceroy, lead humans, beavers, lizards, and harpies to reclaim the wilderness and secure a future for civilization’s last survivors.

Against the Storm LadiesGamers

But the wilderness holds many hidden dangers, and never-ending storms will batter your population into submission. If your settlements should fall, then the expedition may end, but not the game. Against the Storm is a rogue-lite city builder, meaning you will carry forward the resources, upgrades, and experience of your past expeditions each time you set off for a new journey into the wild.

Our review for Against the Storm can be found here.

Civilization VI

We couldn’t have a list of the best survival and strategy games on Steam without including Civilization VI. Though Civilization VI leans more toward the strategy side of the genre than survival. Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time.

Best city building games LadiesGamers

The goal of Civilization VI is to be victorious. You have 500 turns to gain a victory and it can be a victory in various fields. You don’t have to gain a victory by battle, though it is hard to play without combat.

Civ 6 guide new frontier leaders LadiesGamers

After all, not all of my neighbours are as mild in their dealings as I am. What I like is that you can also be victorious through other routes. Explore a new land, research technology, conquer your enemies, and go head-to-head with history’s most renowned leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known. You can read our review of Civilization VI here. 

We also have Beginners Guides for Civilization VI which can be found here. 

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