Predy Media ＞ Colony sim ＞ Game page
Game pageColony Survival Features and Reception
Who It Suits
Colonists do the mining and processing while you lay out the colony, its workplaces, and the routes between them.
Recruiting and researching quickly raise Threat. Growing food and ammunition production and staffing guards first changes how prepared you are for the nightly attacks.
What makes it fun
Watch your town get to work
Assign colonists to jobs and they begin mining and crafting. You can watch production take shape inside the town you built.
Build your defenses into the town
Walls and stairs can shape the route nighttime attackers take past your guards. Long detours may not work as expected, so watching where enemies actually go is part of building your defenses.
Growth changes the night
Recruiting colonists expands production and calls for stronger preparations against nighttime attacks. Do you put workers into mining and crafting, or stock food and ammo and reinforce your defenses? Growth changes what you need to plan for.
Game details
As of Oct 29, 2026- Steam Deck
- Verified
- Release date
- Jun 16, 2017
- Developer
- Pipliz
- Languages
- Japanese (Full audio), English (Full audio), Simplified Chinese (Full audio), Korean (Full audio) ／ 10 languages total
A typical run
Plant a Banner, prepare food and beds, then recruit colonists.
Assign farming, mining, processing, Science, and guard jobs to connect the workplaces.
Give colonists short routes to work, then use walls and stairs to steer monsters toward guarded ground.
When the nightly attack starts, see whether food and ammunition will last until morning.
As Science advances, choose between buying special resources and placing Outposts near their sources.
Core systems
Dynamic 3D Pathfinding
Colonists and monsters can use bridges, stairs, and tunnels built by the player to find a route.
Keep the trip to work short while directing enemies toward guards. Before placing a structure, consider where each group will walk.
Science
Submitting resources and research goods unlocks jobs, blocks, weapons, and transport.
You can stockpile food and ammunition before unlocking the next job. Certain Science raises Threat.
Threat Level
Threat Level affects the strength and scale of monsters drawn to the colony. Colonists, Science, and certain placed blocks affect it.
If you recruit workers and expand production, add guards and supplies as well. Night attacks can outpace defenses when growth runs ahead of them.
Outposts
Outposts let the colony work in regions with special resources.
Buy what you lack at the market, or produce it near its source and defend that site.
Blueprints
The Scanner Tool saves a selected structure as a reusable Blueprint.
You can place walls and facilities again, but each site still has to fit the terrain and leave colonists a route through.
Co-op
Friends can share a colony or run separate settlements that exchange items and Science.
Split building, production, and defense within one colony, or take charge of separate settlements.
What sets it apart
Colonists assigned to workplaces repeat the mining and processing. You provide the jobs and the workers.
A building's shape changes travel time to work and the route enemies take at night.
Enemy pressure is tied to more than elapsed days. Recruiting colonists and advancing Science can raise Threat.
Learning curve and difficulty
When staffing a workplace, look at its output and how long colonists spend getting there. A longer trip can blunt the benefit of adding workers.
Push food, ammunition, or research goods alone and another stage may run short of materials or labor.
At high Threat, suitable weapons are only part of the defense. Production and stockpiles must keep ammunition available until morning.
Game Settings can remove monsters or let them spawn during the day. You can focus on building or spend more of the day defending.
Builds and playstyles
Lockstep Expansion
Increase food and weapon production, workplaces, and guard numbers gradually. Growth is slower, but defenses can keep pace as Threat rises.
Peaceful Builder
Disable monsters and work on town layouts and terrain. Blueprints let you place a structure you like elsewhere.
Kill-Corridor Defense
Use walls and elevation to narrow the enemy route past guards and traps. If you extend it far, check whether monsters follow the intended path.
Co-op Specialization
Divide building and defense duties in one colony, or run separate settlements and exchange resources and Science.
What longtime players say
Returning to the game gives players a chance to try systems changed by updates. One review points to building with Blueprints.
They value leaving mining and processing to colonists while they plan workplace layouts and build.
Late colonies demand further food, ammunition, and research production. Larger settlements can also bring performance concerns.
They keep building or expand into other regions, setting their own goals after progressing through research.
What players like
Players enjoy shaping towns and forts to their taste, then watching them grow into working settlements.
Disabling monsters or growing slowly at low Threat suits those who want to build and watch colonists work at an easy pace.
Friends enjoy building a settlement together and defending it at night in Co-op.
Assigning jobs sets production in motion, from mining to processing. Watching that happen is part of the appeal.
Before nightfall, players prepare food and ammunition, place guards, and shape enemy routes. They enjoy that preparation for an attack.
After time away, returning players find building features and the feel of play changed by updates. Exploring those changes gives them a reason to return.
Common complaints
The price feels high to players who would rather wait for a sale.
Controls and explanations can be hard to grasp at the start. Parts of the display are difficult to read as well.
Late colonies require more food, ammunition, resources, and research goods, making further production a chore. Recovering after a defense fails can feel burdensome too.
Updating weapons brings little change in the enemies they face, so defense can feel repetitive. Another complaint is that walls can make it too easy.
Who it’s for
It suits players who want colonists to mine and process materials while they plan workplaces and routes across different heights.
Players who like building towns and forts can use walls and elevation to guide enemies toward guarded ground.
Game Settings suit those who want peaceful building on one occasion and higher Threat with nightly preparation on another.
Who might not enjoy it
Players who want each new enemy type to demand a different defense may find the encounters repetitive.
It may frustrate players who want to learn the controls immediately or avoid scaling up food and ammunition production late in the game.
FAQ
- Is the game available in English?
- Yes. Steam lists English interface, audio, and subtitle support.
- Does Co-op require everyone to share a colony?
- No. Friends can share a colony or build separate settlements and trade items and Science.
- Can combat pressure be adjusted?
- Yes. Game Settings can disable monsters or allow them to spawn during the day.
- Are mods and extra community content supported?
- Yes. The game supports Steam Workshop and mods, and the developer describes it as built with extensive modding in mind.
- Is this the finished release?
- No. Steam lists it as an Early Access game, so its content and systems may still change.
These impressions are based on 100 Steam reviews sorted by “Most Helpful.” They do not represent the views of all buyers.
Image: Colony Survival on Steam