By Nikas
Building a base in these games isn't just a pointless distraction. A lot of the time, it's your base that keeps you alive! And it's where you'll craft the things you need to progress in the game.
But that doesn't stop us from spending hours and hours fixing tiny details and decorating our base so it looks really nice, right?
In some cases, one base isn't enough, and you need to spread bases around so you can explore and enjoy the game better.
So today I'm going to talk about games with base building. I won't focus much on each game as a whole, but on how the building works, how much freedom each game gives you and, above all, what the base is for.
The game: A bit of survival with a lot of action RPG! It has custom difficulty, so it can please everyone, from people who want to play more casually to those who prefer a bigger challenge.
The building: You can start with one base, placing it wherever you think is best. As you progress, you can create new bases. The game supports co-op, and the base limit is set per world, not per player.
The base size is limited, and you can expand that limit by leveling up your “Flame Altar”.
Inside that area, everything you change is saved. For example, trees you cut down or rocks you break don't come back. They only come back outside the base area. And of course, inside it you can build and even reshape the terrain, so you can level the ground or build underground.
The game has a really interesting building mode. Besides ready-made walls, roofs and floors, the game actually lets you build with blocks, but it's not like Minecraft: they're tiny blocks, so you can add little details to your builds. On top of that, when the blocks connect, they blend in a way that makes it all look like one single piece.
The base is where you recover, escape the night creatures and can speed up the night.
Plus, of course, it has crafting stations and storage.
One interesting thing is that here you use NPCs to craft a lot of the items, so you need to build a shelter with a bed and that NPC's crafting station at your base.
But you can only have one NPC of each profession in the world, so it's a good idea to pick one base to be your main one, with room for all the NPCs (and, if possible, a REALLY roomy space to keep all your storage).
Mods: You can use mods in the game; some even unlock unlimited bases.
The game: Build factories and explore all the natural resources of the planet.
Here, the game is your base!
The building: The game unlocks machines and building parts little by little.
You start with the “heart” of your base and place it wherever you like. It already has one of the stations for making basic items, which you craft by hand, and you start moving on to machines that extract resources, conveyor belts, storage and so on.
Until you manage to fully automate an entire production line.
Some people play just making a tangle of conveyor belts and machines, but if you don't want your PC to lag like crazy, or you simply like making something prettier and more organized, you definitely can!
With some creativity you can even make really beautiful factories. And, like I said, the game is your base: you can build bases pretty much anywhere, even inside caves. And you can (and should) connect your bases with roads, train tracks, hypertubes and even zip lines.
Mods: You can use mods in the game, giving you even more creative freedom.
The game: Explore a planet that's almost entirely ocean. Some parts are a little scary, but it's totally worth it!
The building: To survive, you start with an escape pod that serves as your first base.
But later you can build your base wherever you want, underwater or above it, and you can have as many bases as you like.
Building in this game is based on modules. You don't build wall by wall, but rooms of preset sizes, which you can connect side by side or on top of each other.
Inside your bases you can refill your oxygen, hide from aggressive creatures, craft and store items and get to your vehicles.
In fact, as you progress, one of those vehicles becomes practically a mobile base!
One thing I like is that, to learn new items, you have to explore the map and scan wrecked parts until you learn how to craft them.
Mods: You can use mods in the game.
The game: A terraforming game. It doesn't have the prettiest graphics, but it's fun.
The building: Here the building system is A LOT like Subnautica. In fact, if you play Subnautica, don't play this one right after, because you'll end up comparing them, and this one is clearly much worse.
But here the buildings are modular too. You also start in an escape pod, and the base gives you oxygen, protects you from meteors and is where you make and store items. There are no enemies in this game. Besides that, bases are extremely important to progress, because we need to build power sources and machines to raise the heat, the pressure and several other things to terraform the planet.
PS: Avoid building bases in low areas (don't build near the escape pod), because many of them will fill up with water later on.
Mods: You can use mods in the game.
The game: Exploring just one planet is for the weak! Here we explore lots of solar systems, with all kinds of planets: some with extreme conditions, others really peaceful and even with gorgeous scenery, and an absurd variety of flora and fauna for you to discover and name whatever you want!
The building: You don't just pick a spot to build on, but which planet you want your first base on.
You place an item to mark your base, and the base covers an area of terrain. It's a pretty generous area, and you can build several.
The game lets you fully reshape the terrain.
Structures depend on specific points to unlock, so building a nice base right from the start is almost impossible. Settle for a shoebox at first, because that's what's on the menu!
You can build both with walls, floors and roofs and with some modules that snap together. The game lets you overlap one structure with another. That opens up more possibilities for the more creative folks. I still haven't played enough to have a decent base, but I hope to get there one day.
Bases here are a support point. You can have several scattered around with portals in them, so you can easily travel from one system to another. In them you can produce some materials, grow plants to farm materials you'd otherwise have to travel to distant planets to find, store items and do some research to unlock more crafting materials.
On top of that, there are freighters, which work as a mobile base, and, in a recent update, you can find spots in space that let you build a base off-planet.
Mods: Even though it's a multiplayer game, you can use mods in it.
The game: Exploration and survival with trees that can roll over you and kill you, enemy raids and bosses to fight.
The building: Here you really need your base to survive: to sleep, cook, craft materials and tools and store items.
The game's big difference is that building here has physics. You need to build a structure that holds up your build. If a part holding up another one breaks, your build can collapse!
The game also lets you reshape the terrain.
What put me off were the creature raids that destroyed our base. I played when early access came out, so I'm not sure, but I think there's an option to turn raids off now.
Mods: You can use mods in the game.
The game: Exploration, with dungeons and a little farm. It's a pretty short game compared to others in this style.
The building: For me, building is one of the best parts of this game.
You build with walls, foundations, roofs and so on. And you can decorate a bit to make your house more charming.
Your base is for storing items, sleeping and making the night end faster, farming and crafting materials and tools.
The game also has monster raids that can destroy your base, but you can turn them off if you want (of course I turned them off).
Mods: You can use mods in the game.
The game: A free multiplayer game, with a bit of survival and lots of monsters to fill with bullets. Third-person gameplay, and now first-person too.
The building: If you play on the public world, you can only have 1 base, but you can move it. If you play on a private server, the server owner sets your base limit.
You're pretty free to choose where to build your base. You just can't build too close to some of the game's structures or inside another player's base.
The base starts small, and you can level it up to expand the land, but if someone builds a base too close to yours, you won't be able to expand and you'll have to find a new spot for a bigger base.
Once Human has one of my favorite building systems. You can build houses and even other kinds of buildings, depending on your creativity.
There's lots of furniture and decorations, and also paint for walls, floors and ceilings.
The game's only problem is that, since it's free, a lot of the furniture, decorations and paints cost real money. The good part is that many of them come in fixed-price bundles or with the season pass, so you're not completely at the mercy of the gacha.
Mods: The game doesn't allow mods.
The game: That little game I won't even name so I don't get sued by Nintendo, only with guns and slave labor.
The building: I played when early access came out, so my opinion is outdated, but Palworld's building system had a serious problem for me: the roofs! I've never seen it so hard to fit a roof. I hope they've fixed that by now.
Other than that, base building followed the usual floor, wall, roof and so on.
Bases are your production center and resting area, not just for the players, but also for your Pal. (Singular on purpose: it's a pun in Portuguese.)
By sleeping, you can skip the night and recover health, and your Pals recover sanity and get some rest.
You can have more than one base.
It works as a production and organization center, as well as a support point for your adventures. You can build other bases in different places, for the location or for the resources nearby. The challenge, for me, is resisting the urge to make everything bigger every time I find something new to build.
Mods: You can use mods in the game.
The game: Start on a small raft adrift in the ocean, fish trash out of the sea and survive hunger, thirst and the shark.
The building: Your raft is your base.
Expand the raft, build walls and roofs, and you can even have more than 1 floor.
I think this is the game that best fits the title “My Base, My Life”, because your life depends entirely on your base, and it's where you'll spend more than 90% of your time in the game.
You'll simply use your base for everything!
Mods: You can use mods in the game.
Bonus: Haven't really played them yet, but they look good
From the little I tried, the idea in this game is to find a spot to create your own village, get villagers to live there and make your village prosper.
I'm really curious to see what progressing in the game is like, but people speak very highly of it.
Another one I opened quickly to test, because the plan for this one is to play it with someone else.
But, from the little I played, you need to explore Moria, restore some structures and set up bases as you go. And, from what I understood, you can start your base using an existing structure or from scratch.
Published on October 28, 2026.
