Banished similar games & best alternatives

Banished

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2014

Should you play it?

In this city-building strategy game, you control a group of exiled travelers who decide to restart their lives in a new land. They have only the clothes on their backs and a cart filled with supplies from their homeland. The townspeople of Banished are your primary resource.

What works
  • Challenging and deep resource management
  • Immersive and relaxing atmosphere
  • Random map generation
  • Active modding community
  • Long play sessions and replayability
Things to keep in mind
  • Limited building variety
  • No multiplayer or social features
  • Lack of narrative or campaign
  • Performance issues at large population
  • Some repetitiveness after extended play

What to play next

Similar games, hidden gems, and fresh directions from this game.

Top picks

Games that feel the closest overall

  • Settlement Survival

  • Farthest Frontier

  • Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up

  • Oxygen

  • Endzone - A World Apart

  • Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic

  • Airport CEO

  • SimCity™ 3000 Unlimited

  • Project Hospital
Hidden Gems

Less popular games with surprisingly high similarity

  • Arcade Tycoon ™ : Simulation Game

  • Outlanders

  • Pax Augusta
If you liked…

Recommendations by what you enjoyed most

  • Strategy

    Computer Tycoon
  • Survival

    Distrust: Polar Survival
  • Autonomy

    Havendock

Similarity map

Explore nearby similar games and see why they’re close.

How to use the graph
Similarity map

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

  • Purple star: this page’s game — everything on the map is relative to it.
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot for a screenshot preview, score, and top score gaps; click to compare in the panel on the right.
  • 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 (hidden on purpose).

Banished: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Fantasy, Story, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Survival, Leadership, Thrill.

Why this game works

A motivational profile of the game, with the closest similar game for each player motivation.

  • Autonomy

    Game with the same Autonomy vibe

    4

    "Players have significant control over their actions and decisions, including resource management, building placement, and settler task assignments, with some freedom to progress at their own pace."

    Capsule for Havendock Havendock

    "Players have full control over settlement development, resource management, and labor assignments, with freedom to build and expand in any order."

  • Competence

    Game with the same Competence vibe

    4

    "The game offers challenging resource management, survival mechanics, and strategic planning that require skill and adaptation."

    Capsule for Oxygen Oxygen

    "The game is challenging with complex resource balancing and survival mechanics requiring skillful management and strategic planning."

  • Competition

    Game with the same Competition vibe

    -4

    "Focus is on individual city building and survival without player-vs-player or leaderboard competition."

    Capsule for Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder

    "Focuses on individual city building and survival without player-vs-player or ranked competition."

  • Continuation

    Game with the same Continuation vibe

    3

    "Many players report long play sessions and addiction, though some find it repetitive after extended play."

    Capsule for Sheltered Sheltered

    "Many players report long sessions and habitual play, though some find the game repetitive after extended play."

  • Cooperation

    Game with the same Cooperation vibe

    -5

    "Entirely single-player experience with no multiplayer or cooperative gameplay."

    Capsule for The Last of Us™ Part I The Last of Us™ Part I

    "Entirely single-player experience with no multiplayer or cooperative gameplay."

  • Creativity

    Game with the same Creativity vibe

    3

    "Players customize settlements, assign skills, and develop strategies, though within predefined game mechanics and limited building slots."

    Capsule for Evolution of Ages: Settlements Evolution of Ages: Settlements

    "Players design and customize their settlement layout and resource strategies, though building types are limited."

  • Domination

    Game with the same Domination vibe

    -5

    "No social dominance or power over other players; interactions are with game environment only."

    Capsule for The Baby In Yellow The Baby In Yellow

    "No player dominance or power over others; interactions are with environment and resource management only."

  • Escapism

    Game with the same Escapism vibe

    4

    "Players use the game as a relaxing, immersive escape with satisfying mechanics and a laid-back atmosphere."

    Capsule for Car Dealer Simulator: Prologue - Early Days Car Dealer Simulator: Prologue - Early Days

    "Players use the game as a relaxing escape with immersive atmosphere and slow-paced survival gameplay."

  • Expectation

    Game with the same Expectation vibe

    -4

    "Players engage voluntarily out of interest and enjoyment, not due to obligation or external pressure."

    Capsule for Resident Evil 2 Resident Evil 2

    "Players engage voluntarily out of interest and enjoyment, not due to obligation or external pressure."

  • Experimenting

    Game with the same Experimenting vibe

    3

    "Players try different strategies, research paths, and settlement layouts to optimize survival and efficiency."

    Capsule for Oxygen Oxygen

    "Players experiment with different strategies, resource allocations, and modded content to optimize settlements."

  • Exploration

    Game with the same Exploration vibe

    2

    "Randomly generated maps and changing battle areas provide some exploration, though limited to a few environments."

    Capsule for QuiVr QuiVr

    "Random map generation offers some exploration and discovery of new terrain each playthrough."

  • Expression

    Game with the same Expression vibe

    2

    "Some customization of settlements and character roles, but limited avatar personalization."

    Capsule for First Feudal First Feudal

    "Limited avatar or character customization, but players express themselves through settlement design and layout."

  • Fantasy

    Game with the same Fantasy vibe

    -3

    "Game is set in a medieval realistic setting with plausible mechanics, lacking strong fantasy or mythical elements."

    Capsule for Patron Patron

    "Set in a realistic medieval-like survival scenario without fantasy or mythical elements."

  • Fellowship

    Game with the same Fellowship vibe

    -5

    "No social or community features; strictly single-player experience."

    Capsule for Prototype 2 Prototype 2

    "No social or community features; strictly single-player experience."

  • Growth

    Game with the same Growth vibe

    4

    "Players learn to manage resources, upgrade equipment, and improve survival skills over repeated playthroughs."

    Capsule for Deadly 30 Deadly 30

    "Players learn and improve resource management and survival skills over repeated playthroughs."

  • Health

    Game with the same Health vibe

    -5

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

    Capsule for Okami HD Okami HD

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

  • Idle

    Game with the same Idle vibe

    -4

    "Requires constant attention and active management of resources and threats; not suitable for idle play."

    Capsule for Don't Starve Don't Starve

    "Requires constant attention to resource and population management; not suitable for idle play."

  • Intimacy

    Game with the same Intimacy vibe

    -5

    "No social interaction or relationship building."

    Capsule for Masterplan Tycoon Masterplan Tycoon

    "No social interaction or relationship building beyond managing villagers as resources."

  • Leadership

    Game with the same Leadership vibe

    3

    "Players lead and manage villagers, assigning jobs and directing settlement growth."

    Capsule for Medieval Dynasty Medieval Dynasty

    "Players lead and manage their settlement and assign roles to villagers, guiding development."

  • Progression

    Game with the same Progression vibe

    3

    "Players unlock new buildings and technologies, grow cities, and advance through population milestones."

    Capsule for Plan B: Terraform Plan B: Terraform

    "Players progress by growing population, expanding settlement, and acquiring resources and buildings."

  • Relaxation

    Game with the same Relaxation vibe

    3

    "Many players find the game relaxing and immersive despite some challenging elements."

    Capsule for Project Hospital Project Hospital

    "Many players find the game relaxing and immersive despite its difficulty and challenge."

  • Sensation

    Game with the same Sensation vibe

    2

    "Pleasant visuals and soothing audio provide moderate sensory stimulation"

    Capsule for ISLANDERS ISLANDERS

    "Pleasant visuals and audio create a soothing atmosphere but sensory stimulation is moderate."

  • Status

    Game with the same Status vibe

    -5

    "No social recognition or status systems; achievements are personal and offline."

    Capsule for Far Cry 3 - Blood Dragon Far Cry 3 - Blood Dragon

    "No social recognition or status systems; achievements are personal and offline."

  • Story

    Game with the same Story vibe

    -4

    "No narrative or plot; gameplay is context-free and focused on sandbox building."

    Capsule for Garden Galaxy Garden Galaxy

    "No narrative or campaign; sandbox gameplay focused on survival and city building."

  • Strategy

    Game with the same Strategy vibe

    5

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

    Capsule for Computer Tycoon Computer Tycoon

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

  • Thrill

    Game with the same Thrill vibe

    2

    "Some suspense from disasters and survival threats, but overall controlled environment."

    Capsule for Surviving Mars Surviving Mars

    "Some suspense from disasters and survival challenges, but overall a controlled environment."

  • Value

    Game with the same Value vibe

    4

    "Players report high value for time and money invested, especially with mod support."

    Capsule for Farming Simulator 15 Farming Simulator 15

    "Players report high value for money due to long playtime and mod support."

  • Violence

    Game with the same Violence vibe

    -5

    "No combat or destruction; focus on building and survival."

    Capsule for Flotsam Flotsam

    "No combat or destruction; focus on constructive building and survival."

  • Survival

    Game with the same Survival vibe

    5

    "Core gameplay revolves around managing threats, resources, and staying alive in harsh conditions."

    Capsule for Distrust: Polar Survival Distrust: Polar Survival

    "Core gameplay revolves around managing threats like starvation, cold, disease, and disasters."

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Last update: 01/06/2026