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Aven Colony similar games & best alternatives

Aven Colony

PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, PlayStation 4 • 2017

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Quick resume

Build a new home for humanity in Aven Colony. Discover Aven Prime - an alien planet of deserts, tundras, and wetlands light years from earth. Build your colonies into massive, sprawling cities whilst dealing with the challenges faced when settling on a new world.

Global score

72/100

Genres

Indie, Simulator, Strategy

Similar games

    Pros

    • Engaging colony management and strategy
    • Beautiful graphics and immersive alien environments
    • Well-designed campaign with varied maps
    • Relaxing yet challenging gameplay
    • Active developer support and updates

    Cons

    • Limited building variety and customization
    • Lack of multiplayer or social features
    • Some ui and optimization issues
    • Repetitive gameplay after campaign completion
    • Story is simple and not deeply immersive

    Analysis

    Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Leadership, Survival, Violence, Strategy. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Violence, Expression, Creativity.

    How to use the graph
    Similar games map

    Each dot is a game. They are arranged from the same motivation profile as in the “Motivations” section below. Closer dots usually mean more similar reasons to play (exploration, competition, relaxation, etc.)—not that one game is “better” than another.

    • Larger dot with a light outline: the game you are viewing.
    • Colour: groups of games with comparable motivation patterns (statistical clusters).
    • Hover a dot to see the game name; click to open its page.
    • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom out and see more games.

    Why don’t the axes read like a score? This view uses t-SNE: it only keeps who is close to whom. The scales are not “good to bad” or hours played—they separate groups on the map. Read distance between dots, not the axis numbers.

    Motivations

    • Autonomy
      3

      "Players have freedom to plan colony layout, manage resources, and choose strategies for survival and expansion."

    • Competence
      4

      "Requires skillful resource management, balancing workforce, and responding to environmental challenges."

    • Competition
      -3

      "Focus is on personal colony management and campaign objectives without player-vs-player or leaderboards."

    • Continuation
      3

      "Players report long play sessions and continued engagement through campaign, challenges, and sandbox."

    • Cooperation
      -4

      "Single-player experience focused on individual colony management with no multiplayer or team play."

    • Creativity
      1

      "Some freedom in colony layout and building placement but limited building variety and no mod support."

    • Domination
      -5

      "No player domination or power over others; interactions are limited to managing own colony."

    • Escapism
      4

      "Players enjoy immersive alien environments and relaxing gameplay as an escape from real life."

    • Expectation
      -4

      "Players engage voluntarily for enjoyment; no indication of obligation or external pressure."

    • Experimenting
      2

      "Players experiment with different colony layouts and strategies to overcome map-specific challenges."

    • Exploration
      2

      "Campaign involves exploring different planets and maps with unique environmental conditions."

    • Expression
      -2

      "Limited customization and building variety restricts self-expression; focus is on function over form."

    • Fantasy
      4

      "Set on alien planets with sci-fi elements, environmental hazards, and futuristic technology."

    • Fellowship
      -5

      "No social or community features; gameplay is solitary and focused on individual colony."

    • Growth
      4

      "Players learn colony management, resource balancing, and strategic planning through gameplay."

    • Health
      -5

      "Sedentary gameplay with no physical activity or health-related mechanics."

    • Idle
      -3

      "Requires active management and attention; some waiting but generally continuous engagement."

    • Intimacy
      -5

      "No close social relationships or emotional sharing; interactions are limited to gameplay mechanics."

    • Leadership
      3

      "Players lead and manage the colony, making decisions that affect its survival and growth."

    • Progression
      3

      "Progression through unlocking buildings, technologies, and expanding colony capabilities."

    • Relaxation
      3

      "Generally calm and relaxing gameplay with occasional tension from environmental threats."

    • Sensation
      3

      "Enjoyable graphics, sound, and music provide sensory stimulation and immersion."

    • Status
      -4

      "No social recognition or status systems; achievements are personal and not publicly ranked."

    • Story
      2

      "Campaign provides narrative context and missions but story is simple and not deeply immersive."

    • Strategy
      4

      "Strong emphasis on strategic planning, resource management, and problem solving."

    • Thrill
      1

      "Some tension from environmental hazards and colony crises but overall controlled and manageable."

    • Value
      3

      "Players find good value especially when purchased on sale; content justifies price for fans."

    • Violence
      -3

      "Limited combat elements focused on defense; gameplay centers on building and management."

    • Survival
      4

      "Core gameplay involves managing threats and resources to keep colony alive and thriving."

    Where to buy

    Come talk about it on Discord!

    Last update: 29/04/2026