The Best Base Building Games for Beginners, Ranked

When gamers hear the term "base-building game", their minds might jump to something like Fallout 4, Age of Empires 2, or even the recent release Meet Your Maker. What this means is that many different genres of games include base-building mechanics. So beginners to base-building don't have to dive in with something as intimidating as Factorio or The Sims 4. They can start with games a little more familiar or just more forgiving.

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Tons of games across many genres feature base-building mechanics and some employ them in truly unique ways. Whether someone wants to build the gothic castle of their dreams, defend a fort against zombies, or build an exploration-focused space outpost, there's a beginner base-building game for them on this list. Don't worry—it isn't all just Terraria clones either.

10 Fortnite: Save The World

Viable Only With Friends

• Offers extremely intuitive building controls that beginners can pick up quickly
• Incorporates tower defense elements, looter shooter elements, and co-op play
• May be difficult for solo players to find team matches after a certain level

Fortnite, best known for its Battle Royale mode, has pivoted to competing with Roblox, offering tons of maker-created content, crossover events, concerts, and acting as a virtual third space. However, before all of that, there was (and still is) Save the World mode. It's a base-building, hoard-fighting whirlwind that is best played with friends in co-op. Everyone can contribute to the base, customize their characters, and help fight off the various husks. Tim Sweeney literally called it "Minecraft meets Left 4 Dead" and the building mechanics are just as seamless as Minecraft's -- even for beginners.

The combat is in the style of Left 4 Dead with unique husk types such as Pitchers, Lobbers, Huskies, and more. The big difference is that players are defending their custom-created forts and completing objectives across various maps. Players can build whatever they can imagine and use different traps to stymie would-be assailants. There are even classes to characters, too, so some can buff building health while others zip around the battlefield. There is a matchmaking system, but hardly anybody plays this mode after a certain level. That's what makes it such a shame that solo players can't pick this up (one reason for being last on this list). But if players already have Fortnite accounts and cosmetics from Battle Royale, they can use those in Save the World, too.

9 Dorfromantik

A Cozy Puzzle Builder Based On Board Games

• Utilizes hex-shaped tiles like the board game Settlers of Catan
• Can be played in a variety of Modes including one that changes monthly
• Focuses on relaxation instead of combat, resource management, or survival

Dorfromantik's full release in April 2022 and Switch release in September 2022 opened up a table-top, hex-style puzzle strategy game to gamers (mostly) everywhere. It focuses more on challenging players rather than optimization, meaning players must think differently when creating their cities and villages. Though base-building game enthusiasts will say "This isn't base-building!", the game incorporates the same kind of thinking and logic as a base-builder would. It just utilizes puzzle and strategy elements instead of traditional base-building elements.

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In keeping with its board game roots, players start with 40 random tiles to place and, while they can be rotated before placement, they cannot be moved after. Railroad and water tiles must touch existing tiles of the same type, but players can earn additional tiles by closing areas, finishing quests, and matching tiles of the same kind on all sides. But if winning the game by earning the most points isn't ideal for some players, they can indulge in the game's Creative mode. This provides infinite tiles for players to build the cozy little villages of their dreams. The available Dorfromantik game modes are:

1. Tutorial - teaches new players how to play Dorfromantik and unlocks the Windmill tile.
2. Classic - standard gameplay mode where players start with 40 tiles and fulfill quests and lay tiles until they run out
3. Creative - players have infinite tiles to create with and can discard selected tiles, too, while also benefitting from features like Generate Matching Tile and the Eyedropper control.
4. Quick - gives players 25 tiles at the start and ends after 75 tiles get placed and is very similar to Classic mode.
5. Hard - offers a more difficult experience with fewer quests and more complex tiles.
6. Monthly - players experience a new ruleset configuration each month and compete.
7. Custom - players can alter rules as they see fit

8 Timberborn

Lumberpunk Is Where It's At

• Incorporates colony sim and city-building mechanics
• Allows players to experiment with their build strategies against in-game obstacles
• Still in Early Access, so updates and changes will occur

Who doesn't love beavers? In this game world, humans have made the world inhabitable and these intrepid beavers must tackle the obstacles imposed on them and survive. That means constructing buildings, gathering resources, unlocking technologies, and weathering environmental burdens such as droughts and toxic waste. Beginners to the game might not be as intimidated by the mechanics due to the adorable denizens of their settlements.

The game is technically still in Early Access, too, with its fifth major update -- Badwater -- releasing in January 2024, adding the "Badwater" toxic substance that can taint the beavers. The update also included new buildings, a rework to the irrigation system, map changes, and an Antidote for the Badwater. Though definitely not the easiest introduction to base-building mechanics, Timberborn incorporates city-building and colony sim aspects some players might find compelling.

7 No Man's Sky

Explore Space With Friends, Find New Ships, & Build Bases

• A perfect game for friends across different platforms
• Allows players to build as many bases as they want to across many planets and biomes
• When not in Creative mode, building schematics and materials will cost money and take time to acquire

Though gearing up for Light No Fire, Hello Games continues to support its extensive original title No Man's Sky with regular Expedition updates. These add to an already rich galaxy full of procedurally generated planets, fauna, flora, and lore. Players acquire currencies by scanning creatures, discovering planets, completing missions, and more. But they can also construct bases on planets, build underwater bases, and customize Freighter bases.

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The game offers a very casual base-building experience with lots of focus on exploration and some gun-based combat, as well as space combat on a starship. It also offers game modes for every experience:

1. Normal - billed as a "chill exploration experience" with standard difficulty, technology, and building costs
2. Relaxed - disables Life Support and offers a less grind-y experience and reduced danger
3. Survival - ups the ante for player danger featuring aggressive enemies, loss of inventory on death, more hazards, and less frequent resources.
4. Permadeath - like Minecraft, NMS offers a mode where all progress is reset if a player dies and features the same increased dangers of Survival Mode.
5. Creative - players can "explore and create freely" in a much more risk-free environment, beginning with all construction parts and blueprints unlocked and free building and crafting.
6. Expedition - players drop into a limited-time event starting at a fixed point in the universe with a set list of objectives to achieve for rewards
7. Custom - allows players to tweak any and all difficulty settings before creating a new save.

It's the kind of game players can leave and come back to many times over the years and have a totally new experience each time.

6 Subnautica

Just Don't Let The Thalassaphobia Get To You

• One of a few underwater base-building games
• Offers an extremely immersive experience, but may not be for people who fear deep, open-water
• Single-player experience with mod support from Nexus Mods

With a successful sequel, Subnautica has cemented itself as a mainstay in the underwater base-building game genre. The only real downside is that not all players will appreciate the creative and terrifying Leviathan designs. After all, being the lone, stranded survivor on an alien planet that's mostly water is essentially a nightmare for some people.

But getting over that lets players experience the truly unique underwater Andromeda Galaxy world of 4546B. Players can build bases, craft underwater submersibles, create indoor gardens, and more. There's also a plot to the game -- a little mystery to unravel as players unlock new technologies and learn about the ocean planet. The beautiful graphics help create a totally immersive simulation experience, too; however, it is a solo-player game with no official co-op option.

5 Astroneer

Like No Man's Sky, But Smaller, Cuter, And With Mini-Games

• Features 7 beautifully rendered planets that players can fully explore from surface right down to the planet's core
• Procedural generation allows for lots of variation in player experience
• Best experienced with friends in co-op

If the Subnautica world is technically a capitalist dystopia, the world of Astroneer is much more about the mysteries of life. With the same level of narrative detail as No Man's Sky, Astroneer puts the focus on base building and exploration. Players wander around the sandbox, exploring open-world planets in third-person view on foot, by rover, via spacecraft, or through teleportation. Players can "reshape" these planets using terraforming technology and discover the secrets of life in that universe. The game uses similar procedural generation like NMS, but it features 7 planets that players can fully explore, terraform, and build across.

Building in Astroneer feels very seamless and features tons of customization and decoration options for bases, characters, and vehicles. It's a cute and cozy sci-fi adventure that is best experienced with friends. Players can even host Rocket League-type matches in Astroneer. The only thing to be wary of in the game is oxygen levels as players explore planets and gather resources.

4 Minecraft

A Mainstay When It Comes To Base Building

• Great for younger gamers just starting out and families and accommodates a wide variety of gamer styles
• Mods available for both editions with a wider array available on the Javascript Edition
• Crossplay is possible with Bedrock Edition.

For many young gamers, Minecraft might have been the first game they saw and/or played. Many streamers opt for the game when they want a peaceful experience or to play a game with friends. Players can join random servers or host their own with custom rulesets and modes to accommodate hardcore survivalists and creative builders alike. As far as base-building games for beginners go, Minecraft definitely ranks very high on the list. Players can even create custom maps for various gameplay experiences.

The only downsides include its simplistic, blocky animation style and potential exposure to inappropriate content for minors if they join a server that is not for minors. If a family is playing together, parents may want to double-check public online spaces before sharing them with their kids. For non-minors, there's much less to worry about in this regard -- especially if playing on an individually hosted server. An additional nicety is that the Bedrock Edition allows for cross-platform play; the Javascript edition is PC only.

3 Spiritfarer

Construct Your Boat & Befriend Some Spirits

• Features a more linear story than other popular base-building games
• Has a cozy aesthetic and cute animation style
• Marks a great entry into base-building for gamers who want a smaller-scale base

Before anyone says that Spiritfarer isn't a base-building game, take a look at the cute Indie title once again. Players fill the role of Stella who ferries Spirits on her boat, getting them food, completing tasks for them, and building additions to her boat. For fans of cozy games like Stardew Valley or the aptly named Cozy Grove, this game offers a fun, Miyakazi-esque entry into base-building mechanics.

Unlike Minecraft, there is a very linear storyline in Spiritfarer meaning that players can play the game over and over again and build unique boats each time. The game's story also features characters like Charon and Hades, acting as a meditation on the afterlife and what it feels like to move on.

2 Grounded

Best Played With Friends

• From the creators of Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds
• Features base building, as well as crafting, combat, and narrative elements
• Offers cross-platform play and the unique Shared World co-op mode

Though billed much more as a survival game, Grounded offers a really fun and easy entrance to base-building for fans of other game types. In the same vein as Fortnite: Save the World, players can focus on multiple mechanics other than building. This lets them learn the ropes while still doing something else in games that they're familiar with and may enjoy more. Veteran game studio Obsidian also brings its signature writing charm to the game's narrative and characters. Players should keep in mind that the game slowly increases game difficulty as players explore more of the backyard, gather resources, and craft things.

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Players can create their bases to suit story needs or to serve a more creative function. Do keep in mind that enemies can invade player's bases, lending the game world a real sense of being alive. It also has an arachnophobia mode to dictate how intimidating the spiders are. But perhaps the best part: the game allows for crossplay and the host doesn't need to be online for other players to play in co-op using a Shared World. For base-building beginners who want more of a story component with cross-platform co-op, there's no better title to start with than Grounded.

1 V Rising

Vampires, A Gothic Aesthetic, And Easy Building

• The full game release allows players to join or host servers with rulesets they find favorable.
• Allows players to build multi-tier castles in various locations
• Allows players to recycle building materials when tearing down constructs

For total building newbies, the top-down vampire base-building game V Rising could not be a better first experience. The combat feels similar to Diablo while the building is very fluid and intuitive, as opposed to the building in Fallout 4. It isn't an afterthought or something that got tacked on; the base-building in V Rising is just as much a part of the game as taking down V Blood bosses. Players can even build multi-tier castles!

PvP can get intense quickly, so new players should either find a beginner-friendly server or opt for a PvE session instead. They can tweak all kinds of stats, from damage numbers to how fast their castle heart decays. This lets them hone their building skills until they have the perfect castle. The additional cosmetic packs offer more customization options, too, including the Castlevania-themed expansion that actually added Simon Belmont to the game.

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