The new direction of The Settlers has disappointed many fans. That’s why we’ve picked out a few exciting alternatives for you to play now!
After a long period of complete radio silence, The Settlers reported back at the beginning of 2022. But at the same time, the game was hardly recognisable. While originally there was still talk of a complex building game with many commodity chains and even different victory conditions, the selection of resources and buildings was extremely downsized in the new version.
This is now causing deep disappointment among old Settlers fans and it takes a lot of good will to have long-term fun with the Closed Beta. You can read all about the problems in detail in our big preview:
Finally played The Settlers: Not a good Settlers, not a good game
But how does the Settlers fan deal with this now? Despair? Hope that everything will get better? Or would it be better to look for alternatives? This article is intended for the latter category. Here you will find seven current construction games that old Settlers fans might enjoy.
Table of Contents
Patron
(Release: 10 August 2021 – Price: 20 Euro – Early Access: No – Developer: Overseer Games)
This is what it’s all about: First up is Patron, a very typical build-up game for the last few years: Basically, you get a slightly more extensive and therefore less merciless Banished. With a handful of citizens you start a new settlement in the middle of nowhere and first have to secure the basics: Roofs over your head, firewood in the fireplace and a full larder. Otherwise, when winter comes, our citizens will die like flies.
We’ve seen this before in some games, and Patron is not groundbreakingly original – but it’s a nice little city-building game that delivers exactly this classic medieval building in its purest form. What sets it apart from Banished is that it offers a little more of everything: There are significantly more buildings and production chains and even a rather extensive research tree, in which we research fresh buildings and improvements.
In addition, Patron expands the society mechanics: There are different estates like peasants and nobles, who all have to be kept happy in different areas like faith and security.
Suitable for whom? Patron, as I said, is not a revolution, but if you just want to settle in the Middle Ages for a bit, Patron should deliver exactly what you’re looking for. And there’s even a free demo you can use to see for yourself. The game is officially released and no longer in Early Access, but it still has a few rough edges, especially in performance and interface.
However, the developer is working diligently on it and is constantly releasing new patches with improvements such as more control options.
Kingdoms Reborn
(Release: November 2020 – Price: 19 Euro – Early Access: Yes – Developer: Earthshine)
This is what it’s all about: Kingdoms Reborn might satisfy the desire for a more unusual Banished. Just check out this absurdly huge world map in the trailer. In Kingdoms Reborn you colonise huge procedurally generated open worlds, and if you want even in multiplayer with up to eight players.
You choose a tiny piece of land as your starting point, and then you’re off. The actual gameplay is again very reminiscent of Banished: Winter, food, firewood, death – you know the game by now. Kingdoms Reborn, however, tightens the thumbscrews quite a bit more than Patron.
Kingdoms Reborn not only offers more challenge, but also a few other special features. The first is a card system: we can’t just build buildings freely, but have to buy buildings from a randomly sorted card hand that renews itself regularly. Which somehow … takes some getting used to, but actually presents us with some interesting considerations at the very beginning. However, we soon reach the point where we can actually have everything and the system no longer plays a major role.
The epoch system is more interesting: in the research tree we climb through the ages, first from the Dark Ages to the Middle Ages. This changes the look of our buildings and unlocks new options; in the Middle Ages, for example, we make a big leap from hunters and gatherers to more agriculture. But it goes even further: we then research into the Enlightenment and even the Industrial Age. So somehow there’s a hint of Civilization or Empire Earth – you hardly ever see that in construction games.
Suitable for whom? Kingdoms Reborn is still in Early Access and you can tell that it’s not finished yet: The AI opponents are rather inactive and the interface seems a bit unwieldy in places. The balancing of the map system, for example, is not yet fully developed. But Kingdoms Reborn offers an overall package like no other game of its kind, with a few special features. So you should be prepared to overlook a few rough edges.
Foundation
(Release: 1 February 2019 – Price: 30 Euro – Early Access: Yes – Developer: Polymorph Games)
What it’s about: If you’re not at all in the mood for games in the Banished tradition and just want to build comfortably without winter constantly approaching, then take a look at Foundation. Here, relaxed city-building is on the agenda: we do have to pay attention to efficient production chains and ensure that enough money comes into the coffers, but we can do it all without time pressure or great danger.
This is more about building our village into the medieval town of our dreams. Foundation wants to score points with Schön- und Kreativbauern above all with two special features: First, we place our buildings completely without a grid and can rotate them freely. Secondly, we assemble the most important buildings, such as the town hall and the church, from individual components, which we can then join together as we please.
Some of them, like the towers, we can even pull up at will and thus have a lot of freedom as to how our buildings will look in the end. In order to be able to concentrate on this, we don’t have to place every single residential building by hand: We draw different zones on the map, for example residential areas. There, the citizens then automatically build their houses as close as possible to their workplaces.
Our inhabitants have different needs, such as food and luxury, which triggers the classic building motivation spiral to keep building new production chains and expanding further. Foundation feels, on balance, like an interesting mix of Settlers and Anno 1404 with some clever ideas all its own.
Suitable for whom? The game has been in Early Access since the first of February 2019, but if you’ve tried it before, it’s worth a second look: June 2021 sees the release of a patch with a completely new interface that has made the game a lot more enjoyable. There is no final release date yet, but according to the developers, Foundation could remain in Early Access for quite a while.
It currently contains about 60 percent of the planned content. Until the release, more buildings and more narrative content will be added, among other things.
Becastled
(Release: 8 February 2021 – Price: 12 Euro – Early Access: Yes – Developer: Mana Potion Studios)
This is what it’s all about: But maybe you’re not the laid-back type. Maybe you’re dying to defend your structures with stone and steel. Ok, then Becastled is probably a bit too cute for you – but it’s still a cool game!
Construction is much simpler here than in Patron or Foundation, but defensive structures become more important: we raise walls and man them with guns and soldiers, because when night falls, the game regularly sends enemy hordes after us. But all of this is trimmed more for amusement than for the depth of a Stronghold.
Yes, there are various different types of troops and defences, there are different resources, there is population satisfaction and food consumption – but everything is a touch less complex than in the “big” genre colleagues.
But that doesn’t mean that Becastled isn’t fun, on the contrary: So the next time you get the urge to quickly build a castle – as it can happen to all of us – and you don’t have time to play through the entire Stronghold campaign, Becastled might be just the thing for you.
Suitable for whom? It’s still in Early Access, but it’s already going really well. Mainly there is still a lack of content, but after a few hours you will have had your fill. For the final release, the developers want to add a campaign, heroes and magic, among other things.
The next major update, however, will first focus on city building. Just right, because that’s where things are still lacking – we will continue to follow Becastled with interest! And if you’d like to get started straight away,
Kingdoms and Castles
(Release: 20 July 2017 – Price: 10 Euro – Early Access: No – Developer: Lion Shield)
What’s it all about? The castles and towns in Kingdoms and Castles are really humming with settlers ready to work, devoting their entire day to the honourable goal of expanding your kingdom. On the streets, ordinary people swarm from house to house, carrying goods back and forth and erecting new buildings. If that doesn’t sound like a settler, what does!
Yet Kingdoms and Castles is more on the relaxed side. You don’t have to worry about major conflicts in this cute building game. In principle, there are only two major threats, and those are mean Vikings and flying dragons. You can keep them in check with defence systems or soldiers.
So you don’t have to constantly worry that one of these dangers will destroy the little town you have so painstakingly built up. The cities themselves are designed in a reduced block look, but they still exude a lot of atmosphere. Only the surrounding countryside would benefit from a little more detail.
In addition to Settlers, Kingdoms and Castles also has minor influences from Anno. For example, at some point the inhabitants will want luxuries such as a tavern or churches, but these only cover a certain area.
Suitable for whom? All in all, Kingdoms and Castles is primarily aimed at people who are looking for a relaxed activity for the end of the day and don’t want to fumble their way through the complex procedures of some of the larger building competitors. It’s hard to really fail here, it’s all about building. The game was released back in 2017 but is still expanding. As before, the scope isn’t huge, but that’s why this building tip only costs a reasonable 10 euros.
Northgard
This is what it’s all about: In the old Settlers parts, we usually led historical factions that are indeed famous for their epoch-making buildings to this day. Romans, Egyptians or Mayans have accomplished amazing things. But Vikings have also participated here and there in the settler-typical clash of civilisations. With Northgard, you basically get a Settlers alternative that is fully dedicated to this Nordic people. Albeit in a world thoroughly steeped in mythology.
And since these days the Vikings are generally less known for their building skills and more for their raiding, Northgard offers an experience that leans more towards RTS than building game. But while you explore the surrounding countryside and take violent action against rivals, you certainly need to build a strong economy. For your village should be able to survive the harsh winters.
In doing so, Northgard is not as unforgiving as, say, Banished, but it does offer a motivating challenge. In order to grow, our northerners have to claim neighbouring districts. Either by raising the necessary goods or by conquering them. But watch out! The world is teeming with supernatural dangers and who wants to accidentally fall into the broth of a dragon?
Suitable for whom? Northgard is suitable for you if you like building strategy, but also need another incentive. For example, exciting multiplayer battles. In addition, Northgard also offers an extensive single-player campaign and has received some interesting DLCS and free updates since its release.
The Colonists
(Release: 24 October 2018 – Price: 23 Euro – Early Access: No – Developer: Codebyfire)
What’s it all about? Finally, we recommend a very unusual game that at first glance you wouldn’t associate with The Settlers. For in this world we do not visit an ancient or medieval setting. How could it be, after all, there are little robots everywhere, which cannot be denied a certain resemblance to Disney’s favourite Wall-E. But don’t let that fool you.
But don’t let that fool you! Without a doubt, the heart of the Settlers beats in the chest of The Colonists. The name already hints at this, because the difference between settlers and colonists is not that great. The robots, by the way, live surprisingly human lives and although, according to the story, they actually colonise other planets, the sometimes snowy, sometimes lush green landscapes actually seem very earthly.
Once they have arrived at a suitable spot, the white Knuffel bots do the same things that human settlers would do first. Wood is collected and stone is cut. The robots then use this to build new production facilities and their own little houses. And yes, the robots even collect food. So fish are caught and later fields are planted where cows cavort.
The robots need the food for their energy supply. How does that work? I have no idea! We’re not robotics experts. It seems to work somehow. By the way, the better the food, the more energy is generated. That’s important so that the robots can later supply advanced businesses like a bakery.
Suitable for whom? Don’t let the cuddly look fool you. The Colonists does have an economic system with depth. In general, The Colonists, with its focus on transporting goods, is one of the most settler alternatives in this entire list. And this despite the fact that robots instead of humans are working here. But seriously, even the brave settlers with their irrepressible work ethic are more machine than man anyway.
And with that, we’re done – seven tips that should have something for every building taste! Write to us and tell us which game you found the most interesting! Also, a big thank you to the diligent readers who have already listed exciting additions to this list in the comments! If you can think of any more, please let us know!
