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These games like Fallout Shelter are some of the best outlets to plug into when you need a distraction or have the itch for some chaotic management. While Bethesda's pocket survival sim is undoubtedly one of the best Steam games and best iPhone games around right now, we understand why you might be looking for something a little different other than the wasteland.
So, we've set out to find the top colony management and best survival games to play right now. Our list includes titles fit for longer sit-down gaming sessions and more mobile affairs. After all, Fallout Shelter can be played and enjoyed on phones, PC, and consoles, so its alternatives should be a varied bunch as well. No matter your platform or apocalyptic setting of choice, there's something here for you to add to your Wishlist.
10. This War of Mine
Developer: 11-Bit Studios
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
Many games tell the stories of the soldiers charging through towns. These power fantasies arm us with the most powerful guns to beat our best kill/death ratios and blast through buildings without pause. Meanwhile, This War of Mine is the story of the people who live in those buildings - the innocent civilians who are trapped in the exposed air between two gun barrels, trying to survive in the rubble.
You join a group of survivors seeking shelter in a bombed-out house and must spend each night scouring dangerous parts of town for supplies so that in the day, you can feed your group, perform repairs, and treat the sick. It's made in collaboration with War Child, too, so you learn the stories of real refugees.
Read our This War of Mine: The Little Ones review
9. Sheltered
Developer: Unicube
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Android, iOS
Sheltered is shameless. Squint and it's Fallout Shelter with a fake mustache and glasses – though here you're in charge of a four-person family unit trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic bunker. The game systems are strikingly similar: build better utilities, upgrade your existing equipment, and maintain living standards while venturing out into the wilds.
The main difference between Sheltered and Fallout Shelter is how you pay for it; Bethesda's mobile game is free to play but supported by microtransactions. Sheltered, on the other hand, asks for around a fiver straight up and then won't bother you for any payments again. So, if you want the experience of Fallout Shelter without the in-game cash flow, Sheltered might be for you.
8. Rimworld
Developer: Ludeon Studios
Platform(s): PC
Inspired by Joss Whedon's Firefly, Rimworld is the story of three survivors building a colony at the edge of the universe. It takes all the charm of the space western TV series and builds on it for an experience that will satisfy the most discerning management sim players.
The best simulation games acknowledge that life doesn't always go to plan, and Rimworld consistently throws spanners that'll keep you on your toes. Your characters' needs often exist in conflict to the mission objective, which makes them more well-rounded. Unexpected events throw disasters at your door that can't always be averted. Combine this with a rich sci-fi world and plenty of secrets to uncover, and Rimworld is a much deeper alternative to Fallout Shelter.
7. Project HighRise
Developer: SomaSim
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, Android
Swap an underground bunker for a skyscraper and you have Project HighRise - basically Fallout Shelter but 80m tall. It's a modern reimagining of SimTower and tasks you with building a full high-rise building, populating it, and keeping its community happy by providing amenities like restaurants.
You can either enjoy free rein in sandbox mode or take on Project HighRise's 10 objective-based scenarios, which provide satisfying bursts of serotonin after each completion. Speaking of gratification, make sure to pause and lay down plots for several offices, stores, and restaurants in one go, then hit fast-forward. Watching the construction workers swarm in to do your bidding is itch-scratchingly good.
Check out our list of the best city building games ever made
6. Frostpunk 2
Developer: 11 Bit Studios
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5
This is the follow-up to 11 Bit Studios' massive hit Frostpunk, and it expands on everything that we loved about the original. Just as Fallout Shelter is ultimately about survival in a harsh world, Frostpunk 2 sees you having to manage your resources and work to keep your colonies alive amid the freezing and desolate winter.
The first game was a lot more intimate than Frostpunk 2, so if you loved Fallout Shelter's focus on managing the single vault, we recommend sticking with that entry in the series. However, if you love expanding bases, enjoy struggling to keep your citizens happy, and want a more robust challenge that also plays with politics and moral choices, Frostpunk 2 is the best of the best.
Read our Frostpunk 2 review
5. State of Decay 2
Developer: Undead Labs
Platform(s): Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC
This zombie survival sim centers on emergent storytelling. A run-of-the-mill search for supplies can quickly go south, and the ensuing panic and tragedy (or narrow avoidance of one) will quickly pull you from your slump at the back of the sofa to the edge of your seat: feet planted, shoulders hunched, controller clutched with white-knuckles.
In State Of Decay 2, you play a band of survivors eking out a living in a town overrun by blood plague - a special kind of undead sickness that cough drops ain't gonna cure. If you enjoyed the light combat element of Fallout Shelter, this is a richer experience of exploration in a wasteland.
Read our State of Decay 2 review
4. Rebuild
Developer: Northway Games
Platform(s): Android, PC
What do you do after society collapses? You rebuild. In this post-apocalyptic strategy game you and a team of survivors are trapped in a city encircled by zombies. Your job is to keep everyone alive, expand your territory, and manage resources, which becomes trickier as you go deeper into the game and new areas open up.
A bigger area means more supplies, but it also means more to guard. Rebuild will judge your attempts, too, awarding you a score based on the decisions you make and keeping reports of your progress across a story with several endings. Sure, this is fairly far removed from the vault management systems of Fallout Shelter, but Rebuild offers a greater challenge.
3. The Sims 4
Developer: Maxis
Platform(s): PC, PS4, and Xbox One
The core loop of Fallout Shelter is thus: Expand the vault with things its inhabitants need, make it more homely, and everyone has lots of babies. Happily, the core loop of The Sims is: Build nice houses filled with things your Sims need, make their dwellings more homely, and they'll have lots of Woohoo.
What really sets The Sims apart, though, is the level of detail and customization - this is the ultimate life simulator, and you can do pretty much anything. If you enjoyed the management aspects of The Vaults but want a game where you've got greater freedom to create characters and storylines, The Sims 4 is a must-play.
2. Dungeon Inc.
Developer: PikPok
Platform(s): Android, iOS
"Gold Production Manager" is a pretty impressive title for a LinkedIn profile, and boy, does it make for a fun game idea, too. As head honcho of a megacorporation, it's your job to maximize profits, which you can do by expanding the Dungeon, Inc. office space, hiring more monsters as employees, and defending against hero audits.
The game is basically an idle clicker, so you juggle your time between managing your affairs and tapping the screen to generate cash, but unlike some games in the genre, this never gets old. It's pretty different in presentation to Fallout Shelter, but for another game with compelling management mechanics, you can't go too far wrong here.
1. Oxygen Not Included
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Platform(s): PC
Oxygen Not Included has a lot in common with Fallout Shelter. There are adorable but highly fragile colonists that you need to keep alive. You expand your colony by placing rooms, each serving a different function that you need to keep things moving and your sprites breathing, and finally, both can end up in total destruction very easily.
Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony sim where a crew must try to survive and adapt after being trapped in a giant alien space rock. As the name suggests, the biggest resource you'll need to sort out is finding a consistent oxygen supply, as that tends to be the greatest killer in the game. However, much like Fallout Shelter, a lot of things can go wrong, and half the fun is constantly dealing with a crisis. If you are a PC gamer, Oxygen Not Included is hands down the best game like Fallout Shelter to play right now.
A lot of these games are also part of our best offline Android games, which always ensure you can game anywhere. Or, if you love the wasteland, check out our list of the best Fallout games and everything you need to know about Fallout 5.
