Best Games Like Against The Storm

Highlights

• Against the Storm is a unique dark fantasy strategy game that combines city-building and colony-sim mechanics with a rogue-lite structure.
• Fans of the game may also enjoy Terraformers and These Doomed Isles for similar experiences in terms of gameplay or themes.
• Each of these games offers its own unique twist, such as Terraformers‘ turn-based nature or Ratropolis‘ combination of deck-building and base-defense.

The city-building and colony-sim genres, while full of complexity, have become somewhat tired over the years, arguably due to the sheer number of games that fit the description. However, in December 2023, Against the Storm came out of Early Access. This dark fantasy strategy game tasks players with leading a variety of fantastical races amid apocalyptic weather conditions.

What’s unique about Against the Storm is that it takes the cornerstone mechanics of city-builders and colony-sims and puts them in a rogue-lite structure; instead of building one giant settlement, players make their way through several runs, building countless settlements. The game’s visual style borrows from old-school strategy games like Warcraft, with a distinctive, painterly cartoon style. Against the Storm is a truly unique game, and there have yet to be any games that build on its ideas, but these examples offer similar experiences.

6 Terraformers – A Turn-Based Colony Simulator

Steam User Rating: 87%

This turn-based colony simulator also features rogue-like elements, primarily in its structure. Terraformers feels very similar to a board game, with a heavy focus on management and strategy, but its procedural generation and clean user-interface take full advantage of its digital format.

Fans of Against the Storm will likely enjoy the colony management gameplay of Terraformers, and the game’s procedural generation also helps to make the game feel more like a rogue-like. However, the turn-based nature of Terraformers, as well as its relatively static graphical style, may turn some fans of Against the Storm away.

5 Endzone: A World Apart – City-Building Against Hostile Weather

Steam User Rating: 77%

This post-apocalyptic city-builder features traditional city-building gameplay set in a harsh world. Endzone’s environments are hostile, with radiation, sandstorms, and even toxic rain. This focus on building a city in a harsh environment with survival elements is likely to appeal to fans of Against the Storm.

Success in Endzone usually boils down to how well players can plan ahead, as the game will frequently throw droughts and raids at the player that require preparation to survive. This gameplay, while not identical to Against the Storm, offers a similar experience. However, Endzone still lacks the addictive, well-crafted rogue-lite loop of Against the Storm, and it could be argued that Endzone’s gameplay and graphical style aren’t as polished.

4 Frostpunk – Managing A Society In A Frozen Wasteland

Steam User Rating: 92%

This society management game, from the team behind This War of Mine, tasks players with building up a city around a giant hearth while managing its denizens. Frostpunk features dark themes, and its harsh environments and realities often force the player into making tough decisions.

Fans of Against the Storm might enjoy Frostpunk for its dark, apocalyptic themes, as well as its focus on trial-and-error city-building. Although Frostpunk is more about resource management and survival than it is about city-building, its unique gameplay may also appeal to fans of Against the Storm.

3 Ratropolis – A Combination Of Deck-Building And Base-Defense

Steam User Rating: 88%

This unique rogue-lite deck-builder features city-building and base-defense elements similar to games such as Kingdom and Thronefall, allowing players to construct buildings to strengthen the defense of their city. Ratropolis is a fast-paced game, tasking players with surviving thirty waves of relentless enemies, but its city-building elements are fairly limited in comparison to Against the Storm.

For fans of Against the Storm, Ratropolis is among the few games that offer a combination of city-building and rogue-lite gameplay. However, unlike Against the Storm, Ratropolis focuses more on its base-defense and deck-building mechanics than its city-building elements. Despite this, fans of Against the Storm may also enjoy the novel gameplay on offer here.

2 These Doomed Isles – A God-Game Deck-Builder

Steam User Rating: 78%

This rogue-lite city-builder God game tasks players with playing a variety of cards to build island settlements. The game features three playable Gods, each with their own unique cards and abilities, allowing for runs that feel different every time.

Similar to Against the Storm, These Doomed Isles features a solid and enjoyably repetitive run-based gameplay loop, tasking players with both building and defending their settlement. However, These Doomed Isles also manages to be unique with its God-game mechanics and deck-building elements.

1 dotAGE – A Turn-Based Survival City-Builder

Steam User Rating: 96%

Taking heavy inspiration from board games, dotAGE features strategic worker-placement gameplay that tasks players with assigning their workers to a variety of tasks in order to run a successful settlement. Unlike Against the Storm, dotAGE is turn-based. However, its combination of rogue-lite structure, city-building gameplay, and survival elements make it a very similar experience.

dotAGE tasks players with preparing and organizing their settlement to defend against catastrophic events, such as earthquakes and disease. These events keep players on their toes by constantly giving them something to worry about. While dotAGE has its own unique look and feel, it manages to provide a well-crafted and similar experience to that of Against the Storm.