Building the secret base of your dreams is possible thanks to many games that encourage base building and upgrading. And from the myriad of titles with build and craft as core mechanics, there are a few titles that are just too perfect to miss if you love the genre.
This list strikes at the heart of the Base Building/Survival Crafter genre to bring you some of the best of the best games that allow you to upgrade your base seamlessly. Some have more complex mechanics than others, but all of them offer an awesome experience for those who enjoy creating superstructures and incredible monuments to creativity.
8 Most Fun Base Building Games, Ranked
The base-building subgenre has grown a lot in recent years, but nothing beats the fun factor in these base builders in particular.
1 StarRupture
Surprisingly Big For an Early Access Game
StarRupture
- Released
- January 6, 2026
WHERE TO PLAY
Starting this list, we have StarRupture, a game that hit Early Access on January 6, 2026, and has steadily grown in popularity ever since. The gist of it is that players are stranded in an Alien world called Arcadia-7, located in the Ruptura System. The problem is that this world is randomly hit by powerful solar flares that incinerate all the life on the surface (players included).
The waves can come at any given time, and players have to use their wits and a fully integrated crafting and building system to create a stable refuge (or several bases) as they explore the world and uncover the truth behind ClayWood Corporation's past missions to reclaim the surface. The mechanics are quite simple to understand: Build a base, put it to work, get resources, uncover new blueprints as you investigate, and level up your reputation with various corporations to earn their trust and unlock new structures to upgrade your base.
2 Hytale
One Of The Most Anticipated Games In Years
Hytale
- Released
- January 13, 2026
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, RPG, Sandbox
Hytale went through developers' hell and back to reach the hands of its eager fans, who are already enjoying this fantasy voxel RPG where you explore, craft, and of course, build a base from scratch. With tons of materials to create blocks from and various shapes to build using upgradable Workbenches, the sky is the limit in this voxel fantasy adventure.
Players can also jump into the creative mode, and mold the world to their own taste as they uncover dark secrets and forgotten magic or build immense monuments made of the bones of their enemies. Super fun!
3 Satisfactory
The Barrier Between Relaxing And Stressing Is A Tiny-Misplaced Valve
Satisfactory
- Released
- September 10, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Simulation, Sandbox, Base Building, Open-World, Management
Satisfactory is arguably one of the best base-building games ever made, and it has a plus for its complexity and immersion, which can drive most of its players into a state of absolute relaxation or total distress when something doesn't work the way it should.
From power outages to misplaced valves that are hard to spot, players will soon learn that a tiny mistake can cost them hours of carefully planned base-building. But that's the beauty of the game: Fix, improve, upgrade, and keep that production line going!
4 Factorio
Low Poly But High On Fun
Factorio
- Released
- August 14, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Simulation, Real-Time Strategy
For those who enjoy a more base-management instead of just base-building mechanic, Factorio offers a complex and immersive experience of survival crafting on an alien planet. From surveying and identifying resources to setting a full chain of production going, there's a lot that can happen in between.
Choosing your starting zone is also really important, and players should make sure to have all the basic resources before settling in, lest they cannot get enough mats to upgrade their base later. Factorio is a complex simulation, where everything that can go wrong might go wrong at the worst possible time.
5 Minecraft
The Game That Started It All
Minecraft
- Released
- November 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
Minecraft has raised a generation of Survival Builders from the ashes of the voxel simulation genre and enthralled millions of players all around the world for years.
Its contribution to base-building, crafting, and all forms of in-game creativity is significant, so it is no wonder tons of players keep choosing it as their main game even today. Plus, it is super easy to understand, though hard to master, and available for all audiences.
6 State of Decay 2
A Great Base Building/Zombie Survival Game
State of Decay 2
- Released
- May 22, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action, Survival Horror
State of Decay 2 is one of the most complex and entertaining zombie-survival games ever made. Though a bit rough on the edges, and extremely difficult to play without failing at least a dozen times before getting the hang of it.
In this game, players will not only manage a group of survivors through the worst of the worst of a zombie apocalypse, but they will also have to send them on supply runs to get enough materials to upgrade their outposts. Surviving the horde of undead creatures ready to shred them to pieces is no easy task, and neither is getting the materials needed to create a safe shelter in a world of pure madness.
7 7 Days to Die
Survive, Craft, Upgrade Your Base, And Defend It Against The Undead
7 Days to Die
- Released
- June 28, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
7 Days to Die is an infinite source of fun if you know what you're getting into when you start the game. From its procedurally generated enormous worlds to its escalating difficulty level, the game offers a different experience in every playthrough. In this game, players incarnate a survivor in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, in a fully destructible world, filled with materials to farm, recipes to learn, and contraptions to build to create the ultimate horde-killing base.
Because every seven days, on the night of the Blood Moon, zombies get really crazy and will detect the players wherever they are, and will come for them no matter what, and that means destroying everything on their path to reaching the players. And since the game operates with blocks, every structure they damage can bring down whatever is built on top, so towers won't save players from the undead. Build smart, reinforce with better materials, and make sure there's nothing on the ground level to serve as a stepping stone, since zombies will use them to climb and flood your base.
8 Sengoku Dynasty
Survive And Thrive, Build A Fortress In Feudal Japan
Sengoku Dynasty
- Released
- August 10, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Life Simulation, Open-World
Sengoku Dynasty is a game designed for those who love hyper-realism. The game is all about establishing a thriving colony of survivors on a small island of the Feudal Japan. Outcasts, refugees, people who have lost it all to the local warlord's men, and are eager to get some payback.
So, it's all about building a thriving town, reinforcing its defenses, improving the quality of life of its inhabitants, and turning it into a rebel fortress to fight back against oppression. It's a super complex and difficult game, but one worth trying if you love Japanese History and medieval village-building simulators.
9 Bellwright
Raise The Belltowers, Call For A Rebellion Against An Evil Lord
Bellwright
- Released
- April 23, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Open-World, RPG
Bellwright puts players on the skin of a kid who survived the culling of his family by an evil lord, and returns to the lands where he was born,n now that he is an adult, ready for payback. But just upon arrival, no one will trust or accept them, so players need to build a small camp wherever they can and face the wrath of nature.
Food scarcity, the incoming winter, and the lack of a viable home will push them to improve their base. From a shoddy shelter made of twigs to a small cabin, and from there, to request the aid of others. Settling in, building a town, and turning it into a rebel fortress to fight the evil Feudal Lord. Players will also have to protect their settlements from bandit assaults, explore, teach their allies to gather, fight, and build. And then take the battle to the brigands who rule the land, raise a Belltower in the nearby town, liberate it, and protect it from the oppressors trying to take it back. It's an interesting game, with really cool mechanics.
10 Project Zomboid
The Most Complex And Realistic Zombie Survival Ever Made
Project Zomboid
- Released
- November 8, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
Project Zomboid is a merciless game, one that doesn't forgive the slightest mistake, and where a small sprain can turn into a limp at the worst possible time. Surrounded by zombies, players have to make sure they loot stealthily and take what they can get to their base.
As the game progresses and the apocalypse gets worse and worse, water and electricity will cease to run, so players have two choices: Stay in the city and build a base, or flee to nature and work their way out with a cabin in the woods. Both options have their levels of challenge, and the hyper-realism of the simulation doesn't help at all. A single scratch can turn into an infection, and a zombie bite is a death sentence and a character wipe. Permadeath is all around this game.
PEAK: All Items & What They Do
Most items in PEAK will make climbing rocks easier or cure status effects; here's a look at all the items in the game and what they do.