Games With Deep Base-Building Freedom

Updated July 6, 2026, by Mark Sammut: We’ve added a few more great base-building games: Subnautica and RimWorld.

Many open-world survival games include some form of base building, allowing players to craft resources, fend off foes, and have somewhere to sleep or shelter from the environment. Other games, however, take base building much further, giving players near-unlimited customization, hundreds of building pieces, and perhaps even structural integrity to consider.

The following games are, therefore, those with the deepest base-building mechanics, where players have plenty of creative freedom. The focus is very much on bases, even though other games have great building mechanics that allow players to create factories, for example.

Click on the game with the higher OpenCritic rating.

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Minecraft

A Sandbox With Limitless Building Potential

Minecraft is a game that needs no introduction, and with its block-based nature, it is a sandbox with almost complete freedom to build anything. Never mind bases, which are comparatively simple, but entire cities, historical or fantasy, can be recreated in this game, sometimes with huge teams of dedicated players working on them.

The only limitations in Minecraft are creativity and time, and if players do feel limited in other ways, there are always mods for Minecraft to help out.

Valheim

Build Longhouses & Castles To Withstand Forrest Attacks

Valheim is a randomly generated survival game with a Norse mythology backdrop, and building bases is easily one of the most popular pastimes after exploring the different biomes. First bases in Valheim will start out as simple longhouses to sleep in and cook some food, but as players unlock new crafting technology and resources in more dangerous biomes, bases will need to become bigger.

As the forest creatures occasionally attack, bases must also have functional defenses, which becomes easier when stone is available. Every building must touch the ground, and the taller players build, the more support they must have in place to ensure stability. Otherwise, players can be incredibly creative, building large castles, bridges, ports, or sprawling bases with everything a warrior needs to survive. Best of all, it’s easy to build with friends.

Conan Exiles

Build The Most Beautiful Bases

Conan Exiles is an online survival game set in the world of Conan the Barbarian​​​​. One standout feature of the title is the beautiful base designs that players can create, utilizing a few varying architectural styles.

For example, players can build villas, townhouses, castles, Japanese palaces, or even pyramids, all of which require different techniques. If done correctly, these can look fairly realistic, and yet will still be functional as bases for survival and crafting. If players want to stray away from realistic designs, they are also free to do so and can let their imagination run wild.

Project Zomboid

Base Building Is As In-Depth As Everything Else In This Game

Project Zomboid is not for the faint-hearted, as it’s extremely difficult to survive, and in fact, players are expected to die. However, if players are able to make it past the first few days, they can eventually build their own base, although doing so may depend on skills such as carpentry, which must be leveled up.

While the bases that players build might not look so fancy compared with those in other games, the amount of tools and materials needed makes the experience incredibly deep. Players must also think about running water, electricity, and much more when constructing their base, and the only limitations are resources and avoiding being bitten while building. An ingenious layout will also funnel zombies into traps while leaving players plenty of ways out if things get messy.

RimWorld

Build A Complex Home For Your Colony

When we think of “base-building” games, visions of 3D worlds tend to dominate the mind, but we would be amiss to not explore other dimensions. RimWorld arguably represents the peak of top-down base-building, offering a level of depth and nuance that can be downright overwhelming for those who don’t enjoy getting lost in the micro.

At a glance, you might mistake RimWorld for a relatively simple grid-based builder, but its minimal aesthetic hides mechanics that can keep somebody busy for weeks, months, and years. Like most of these types of games, you aren’t simply crafting a cozy home, but rather a safe place for the colony. A single poorly placed wall could trigger serious repercussions that put your people’s lives at risk.

No Man’s Sky

Build Futuristic Bases On Over 18 Quintillion Planets

No Man’s Sky is a game where almost anything is possible, with over 18 quintillion planets to explore. All of these planets can also be built on, and as players unlock new architectural styles and modules, bases can become increasingly more complex. There are barely any restrictions, and with the ability to terraform planets, almost anything can be built.

Furthermore, players can also design their own Corvette spaceships in No Man’s Sky, and with how big these are, they are practically portable bases capable of traveling between galaxies. If freedom is what you’re looking for, this is the game.

Enshrouded

Cozy Medieval Fantasy Building

Enshrouded is a medieval fantasy survival game with some of the best base-building on the market. Using stone and thatch or tiles, players can make cozy cottages, farms, townhouses, churches, and of course, castles.

While the main structures can be impressive, it is perhaps decoration where Enshrouded excels in beauty, especially with moss-covered buildings, with the results often being cozy and quaint. Players don’t have to aim for realism; however, with the ability to build almost anything, such as recreating fantasy buildings.

Subnautica

Underwater worlds are extremely hard to come by, and Subnautica’s existence probably doesn’t help matters. Why? Well, Unknown Worlds executed its concept of exploring an ocean-based planet to such perfection that imitators must be genuine masterpieces to exist alongside it. Heck, even Below Zero didn’t quite manage to capture its predecessor’s brilliance, and Subnautica 2 has a ways to go before it leaves early access.

Base-building typically involves a degree of compromise due to limited resources or skills, but Subnautica pushes these constraints further by tying them to ocean depth, architecture, and physics. The Habitat Builder lets you piece together rooms and corridors, but each addition threatens the base’s structural integrity. As you dive deeper, the water pressure increases, so you cannot simply reuse the designs that worked when you were closer to the surface.

Dune: Awakening

Survive Arrakis In Style

Bases are essential in Dune: Awakening to protect against the sandstorms on Arrakis and to keep your items safely away from other players. They must be big enough to store vehicles such as Sandbikes and Ornithopters, as well as plenty of water and the machines that turn blood into water. The Sci-Fi architecture allows players to go wild and create visually impressive bases that stand out in the desert.

With other players occupying the same servers, base building can also be fairly competitive in Dune: Awakening, with everyone wanting theirs to look the best. This also means that friends can work together, and clans will often have huge sprawling bases.