Unearth Your Next Colony: The Best Towns Alternatives
Are you a fan of Towns, the unique settlement management game where you run a town catering to heroes exploring a dungeon? Its blend of RPG and strategic elements, allowing you to craft weapons, trade goods, set traps, and manage a thriving community above a dangerous dungeon, offers a distinct gameplay experience. However, if you're looking to explore similar concepts, expand your city-building horizons, or simply find a fresh take on the genre, there are numerous excellent Towns alternatives available that offer compelling gameplay and unique twists on the colony simulation and dungeon management themes.
Top Towns Alternatives
Whether you're seeking deeper simulation, more robust combat, or a different setting for your next settlement, these games provide fantastic alternatives to Towns, each bringing its own strengths to the table.
Dwarf Fortress
Often considered the progenitor of many simulation games, Dwarf Fortress is a single-player fantasy simulator offering both fortress and adventure modes. It's a free game available on Mac, Windows, and Linux, boasting features like battle simulation, infinite hierarchical depth, and deep survival mechanics. If you love the intricate management and emergent storytelling of Towns, Dwarf Fortress takes it to an extreme level.
RimWorld
RimWorld is a colony simulation game that follows three survivors building a settlement on a frontier world. This commercial game, available on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Steam, excels in its single-player, open-world base building, and extensive modding capabilities. While set in space, its focus on individual colonists, their needs, and complex emergent narratives makes it a strong contender for those who enjoy the character-driven aspects of Towns.
Banished
Banished is a city-building strategy game where you guide exiled travelers restarting their lives in a new land. Available commercially on Windows, Wine, and Steam, it emphasizes logistics, production chains, and medieval survival. While it lacks the dungeon-diving element of Towns, its deep focus on managing resources and ensuring your settlement's survival against harsh elements makes it an excellent choice for strategy fans.
Dungeon Keeper 2
If you prefer to be on the other side of the dungeon, Dungeon Keeper 2 lets you build your own underground kingdom and attract devilish creatures. This commercial Windows title is a classic RTS game that flips the script, allowing you to manage a dark lair instead of a peaceful town. It shares Towns' emphasis on managing a distinct population and its resources, albeit for nefarious purposes.
Prison Architect
Prison Architect challenges you to build and manage a maximum security prison. This commercial game is available on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android Tablet, iPad, and Steam. While its theme is different from Towns, the core gameplay loop of building infrastructure, managing inmates (heroes in a different light), and reacting to events offers a similar strategic depth and management challenge.
Evil Genius
Evil Genius allows you to build a secret base, gain notoriety, and repel forces of justice. This commercial Windows game combines RTS with tower defense elements. Like Towns, it involves constructing and managing a base of operations, though here you're trying to hide your nefarious deeds from agents rather than cater to heroes.
Deep Sea Tycoon
Deep Sea Tycoon is a commercial Windows game where you build an underwater city in 3D. While it doesn't feature the dungeon-delving heroes, its core gameplay loop revolves around managing resources and expanding a unique settlement, making it a compelling option for those who enjoy the city-building aspect of Towns in a novel setting.
Planetbase
Planetbase tasks you with guiding space settlers to establish an outpost on a remote planet. This commercial game is available on Windows and Steam and focuses on survival, growing food, collecting energy, and manufacturing. Its strong emphasis on survival and resource management in a harsh environment makes it a great alternative for players who enjoyed the challenge of keeping their Towns settlement alive.
Gnomoria
Gnomoria is a sandbox village management game where you lead gnomes to thrive into a bustling kingdom. This commercial game for Windows and Steam features a graphical component, isometric view, and real-time single-player gameplay. Its focus on managing a small group of fantasy creatures and building a thriving community makes it a very similar experience to Towns, with its own unique charm.
A Game of Dwarves
A Game of Dwarves puts you in control of a community of dwarves on a quest to reclaim stolen land. This commercial Windows game offers real-time single-player gaming. With its subterranean focus and management of a dwarf colony, it presents a compelling parallel to Towns' themes of managing a settlement near a dangerous underground world.
Each of these alternatives offers a unique take on colony management, city-building, or dungeon-adjacent gameplay. Whether you prioritize deep simulation, engaging narratives, or a specific fantasy setting, you're sure to find a game that fulfills your desire for a compelling experience beyond Towns. Explore their features and discover the perfect new challenge for your strategic mind!