Frostpunk 2 does something most city-builders never attempt. It puts you in charge of a frozen society where every law, every ration, and every faction you side with can crack the whole thing apart. It is part urban planner, part politician, part survivor, and the pressure never really lets up.
If you finished the campaign and want that same mix of resource scarcity, hard decisions, and colonies teetering on the edge, the games below scratch the same itch. Some lean into the survival math, some into the storytelling, and some into raw political chaos. All 15 are worth your time in 2026.
Quick Comparison: Top 5 Picks
| # | Game | Setting | Price | Platforms |
| 1 | Frostpunk | Frozen apocalypse | $29.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch |
| 2 | IXION | Space station | $34.99 | PC |
| 3 | Against the Storm | Dark fantasy | $29.99 | PC |
| 4 | Surviving Mars | Red planet colony | $29.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 5 | They Are Billions | Zombie apocalypse | $29.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox |
1. Frostpunk
Why it’s similar
It is the direct predecessor, so the DNA is identical: heat, hope, and hard law-making in a world buried under snow. If Frostpunk 2 hooked you, this is the obvious next stop.
What makes it unique
The original is tighter and more focused than the sequel. You manage a single generator city instead of sprawling districts, which makes every citizen and every choice feel more personal.
Key features
- Society survival built around one central heat generator
- A law book that forces brutal moral trade-offs
- Story scenarios plus an endless survival mode
- Console and Switch versions for play away from PC
Price: $29.99 Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
2. IXION
Why it’s similar
IXION is a disaster-management city-builder where you keep a fragile settlement alive under constant pressure. Swap the ice for the void of space and the tension feels very close to Frostpunk 2.
What makes it unique
You build inside a rotating space station, the Tiqqun, and balance hull integrity against population needs. The story-driven chapters give it a narrative pull most city-builders lack.
Key features
- City-building inside a damaged space ark
- Survival mechanics tied to hull breaches and power failures
- Chapter-based campaign with escalating crises
- Resource scouting across a dying solar system
Price: $34.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
3. Against the Storm
Why it’s similar
It is a survival city-builder where the environment is actively trying to kill you. You juggle competing groups with different needs, which echoes Frostpunk 2’s faction politics.
What makes it unique
The roguelite structure sets it apart. Settlements are meant to be temporary, and you carry upgrades forward across a larger world map rather than perfecting one city forever.
Key features
- Roguelite loop across multiple biomes
- Manage humans, beavers, lizards, foxes, and harpies
- Endless replayability through meta-progression
- Constant Blightstorm pressure on every settlement
Price: $29.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
4. Surviving Mars
Why it’s similar
Same core loop: drop a colony into a place that wants everyone dead, then keep the population fed, warm, and sane. The hostile-environment survival is the shared backbone.
What makes it unique
The setting is the red planet, so oxygen, water, and dome placement replace heat as your survival puzzle. It leans more optimistic sci-fi than Frostpunk’s grim tone.
Key features
- Colony management under Martian conditions
- Domes that house and protect your colonists
- Research tree that unlocks new survival tech
- Mystery events that shake up each playthrough
Price: $29.99 Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
5. They Are Billions
Why it’s similar
This is survival strategy where one bad decision ends the run. You build and defend a colony against an existential threat, and the dread of collapse is pure Frostpunk 2.
What makes it unique
It adds a defense layer Frostpunk lacks. You are not just managing resources, you are walling up against waves of infected that can wipe out hours of progress in seconds.
Key features
- Colony building mixed with tower-defense pressure
- Massive zombie swarms that test your walls
- Pausable real-time strategy for careful planning
- Campaign plus a brutal survival mode
Price: $29.99 Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
6. This War of Mine
Why it’s similar
It comes from 11 bit studios, the same studio behind Frostpunk 2, and it is built entirely around survival decisions with moral weight. The choices are smaller in scale but hit just as hard.
What makes it unique
You control civilians surviving a besieged city, not a whole society. It trades city-building for intimate, personal survival where stealing to eat can break a character for good.
Key features
- Survival from the civilian side of war
- Day-and-night cycle of scavenging and defending
- Choices with lasting psychological consequences
- A grounded, hand-drawn art style
Price: $19.99 Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Mobile
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
7. Endzone: A World Apart
Why it’s similar
Endzone is a post-apocalyptic settlement builder where survival depends on managing scarce resources and a hostile climate. The rebuild-civilization-from-scraps premise lines up neatly with Frostpunk 2.
What makes it unique
The threat here is radiation and contamination. You manage toxic rain, droughts, and irradiated soil while trying to keep your survivors healthy across generations.
Key features
- Settlement survival after a nuclear disaster
- Radiation and contamination management
- Expeditions to recover resources and survivors
- Long-term climate and drought challenges
Price: $34.99 Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
8. Surviving the Aftermath
Why it’s similar
Another post-apocalyptic colony sim about rebuilding after the world ends. You explore, gather, and protect your survivors, which mirrors the expand-or-die pressure of Frostpunk 2.
What makes it unique
It splits play between your colony and a larger world map you explore for resources and specialists. Disasters roll in regularly to keep you from getting comfortable.
Key features
- Colony survival in a ruined world
- World map exploration for loot and recruits
- Specialists with unique skills for tough tasks
- Recurring disasters that force adaptation
Price: $29.99 Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
9. Banished
Why it’s similar
Banished strips survival city-building down to the basics: food, weather, housing, and a fragile population that can starve out fast. That resource tightrope is the heart of Frostpunk 2 too.
What makes it unique
There is no combat and no grand story, just pure settlement management. One harsh winter or a bad harvest can quietly doom your entire village.
Key features
- Isolated village survival with no outside help
- Food, firewood, and health balance every season
- No tech tree, just careful resource planning
- Deep, punishing population management
Price: $19.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Steam and GOG.
10. RimWorld
Why it’s similar
RimWorld is a colony sim built on unpredictable disasters and difficult decisions. The AI storyteller throwing crises at you feels a lot like Frostpunk 2’s habit of testing your leadership.
What makes it unique
It generates emergent, character-driven stories. Your colonists form relationships, break down under stress, and create drama no scripted campaign could match.
Key features
- AI storyteller that shapes each unique run
- Deep colonist psychology and relationships
- Huge modding community for endless content
- Survival across wildly different biomes
Price: $34.99 Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Where to Buy
Available on Steam and GOG.
11. Timberborn
Why it’s similar
Timberborn is a colony builder where survival hinges on managing scarce resources through recurring droughts. Planning ahead to outlast the dry seasons echoes Frostpunk 2’s supply pressure.
What makes it unique
You lead lumberpunk beavers, and the star mechanic is 3D water physics. Building dams and reservoirs to survive droughts gives it an identity no other builder has.
Key features
- Beaver colonies with two distinct factions
- 3D water physics, dams, and terraforming
- Vertical architecture to save space
- Recurring droughts that force forward planning
Price: $34.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
12. Oxygen Not Included
Why it’s similar
This is a colony survival sim where the environment constantly threatens to kill everyone. Managing life support systems under pressure is the same tense loop that drives Frostpunk 2.
What makes it unique
It goes deep on engineering. You manage oxygen, temperature, power, and plumbing at a granular level, turning survival into a satisfying systems puzzle.
Key features
- Space-colony survival inside an asteroid
- Complex oxygen, heat, and power systems
- Duplicants who react to stress in destructive ways
- Deep automation and engineering challenges
Price: $24.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
13. Manor Lords
Why it’s similar
Manor Lords blends settlement building with resource chains and strategic pressure. The careful balance of growth, supply, and survival will feel familiar to Frostpunk 2 players.
What makes it unique
It sets everything in a historically detailed medieval world and adds large-scale tactical battles. City management and Total War-style combat rarely share a game this cleanly.
Key features
- Gridless medieval town building
- Detailed production and supply chains
- Real-time tactical battles with your militia
- Seasonal and weather-driven survival
Price: $39.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
14. Anno 1800
Why it’s similar
Anno 1800 is a large-scale city-builder about managing production networks and a growing population. If you loved building sprawling districts in Frostpunk 2, the depth here delivers.
What makes it unique
It trades survival stakes for economic mastery. Trade routes, shipping, and multi-island logistics make it one of the most complete production sims available.
Key features
- Industrial-era city building at scale
- Deep production and trade networks
- Multiple islands to settle and connect
- Campaign, sandbox, and multiplayer modes
Price: $59.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
15. Tropico 6
Why it’s similar
Tropico 6 puts politics front and center, just like Frostpunk 2. You keep different groups happy while steering the fate of a whole society, and the balancing act is the shared thrill.
What makes it unique
It brings humor and personality. You play a scheming dictator juggling elections, factions, and foreign powers across four historical eras, with a lighter tone than Frostpunk’s grim world.
Key features
- Society and political management sandbox
- Faction and election balancing
- Four eras spanning colonial times to modern day
- Archipelago building with bridges and transport
Price: $49.99 Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
Full Comparison Table
| # | Game | Setting | Price | Platforms |
| 1 | Frostpunk | Frozen apocalypse | $29.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch |
| 2 | IXION | Space station | $34.99 | PC |
| 3 | Against the Storm | Dark fantasy | $29.99 | PC |
| 4 | Surviving Mars | Red planet colony | $29.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 5 | They Are Billions | Zombie apocalypse | $29.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 6 | This War of Mine | Besieged city | $19.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Mobile |
| 7 | Endzone: A World Apart | Nuclear wasteland | $34.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 8 | Surviving the Aftermath | Ruined world | $29.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch |
| 9 | Banished | Medieval village | $19.99 | PC |
| 10 | RimWorld | Alien frontier | $34.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 11 | Timberborn | Beaver colony | $34.99 | PC |
| 12 | Oxygen Not Included | Asteroid base | $24.99 | PC |
| 13 | Manor Lords | Medieval realm | $39.99 | PC |
| 14 | Anno 1800 | Industrial era | $59.99 | PC |
| 15 | Tropico 6 | Tropical island | $49.99 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox |
Conclusion
If it was the frozen survival and the weight of every choice that pulled you in, start with Frostpunk, then move to IXION and They Are Billions for that same knife-edge tension. Those three keep the pressure high.
If the storytelling and moral trade-offs mattered more, This War of Mine and RimWorld will stay with you long after the credits. And if you just want to build something huge and clever, Anno 1800, Manor Lords, and Tropico 6 give you room to think without a blizzard breathing down your neck. Any of the 15 will keep the Frostpunk 2 feeling alive well into 2026.
Read More Like This!
15 Games Like Sons of the Forest You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Subnautica 2 You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Enshrouded You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like The Last of Us You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like GTA 6 to Play While You Wait
15 Games Like GTA V You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Fallout 4 You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Borderlands 4 You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Resident Evil 4 You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Palworld You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Cyberpunk 2077 You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Forza Horizon 6 You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Terraria You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Bloodborne You Need to Play in 2026
15 Games Like Valheim You Need to Play in 2026