Banished similar games & best alternatives
Banished
2014
Related articles
Quick resume
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.
Global score
90/100
Genres
Indie, Simulator, Strategy, Real Time Strategy (RTS)
Similar games
Pros
- Challenging and deep resource management
- Immersive and relaxing atmosphere
- Random map generation
- Active modding community
- Long play sessions and replayability
Cons
- Limited building variety
- No multiplayer or social features
- Lack of narrative or campaign
- Performance issues at large population
- Some repetitiveness after extended play
Motivations
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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."
Havendock
"Players have full control over settlement development, resource management, and labor assignments, with freedom to build and expand in any order."
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Competence
Game with the same Competence vibe
4"The game challenges players with complex resource management, survival mechanics, and strategic planning, rewarding skillful play and learning."
Help Will Come Tomorrow
"The game is challenging with complex resource balancing and survival mechanics requiring skillful management and strategic planning."
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Competition
Game with the same Competition vibe
-4"Focus is on individual city building and survival without player-vs-player or leaderboard competition."
Roman Triumph: Survival City Builder
"Focuses on individual city building and survival without player-vs-player or ranked competition."
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Continuation
Game with the same Continuation vibe
3"Many players report long play sessions and addiction, though some find it repetitive after extended play."
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."
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."
Evolution of Ages: Settlements
"Players design and customize their settlement layout and resource strategies, though building types are limited."
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Domination
Game with the same Domination vibe
-5"No social dominance or power over other players; interactions are with game environment only."
The Baby In Yellow
"No player dominance or power over others; interactions are with environment and resource management only."
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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."
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."
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 experiment with resource management, expeditions, and settlement layouts, though late game can become routine."
Endzone - A World Apart
"Players experiment with different strategies, resource allocations, and modded content to optimize settlements."
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Exploration
Game with the same Exploration vibe
2"Randomly generated maps and changing battle areas provide some exploration, though limited to a few environments."
QuiVr
"Random map generation offers some exploration and discovery of new terrain each playthrough."
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Expression
Game with the same Expression vibe
2"Limited avatar customization but players express themselves through strategic choices and modding capabilities."
Civilization IV®: Warlords
"Limited avatar or character customization, but players express themselves through settlement design and layout."
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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."
Patron
"Set in a realistic medieval-like survival scenario without fantasy or mythical elements."
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Fellowship
Game with the same Fellowship vibe
-5"No social or community features; strictly single-player experience."
Prototype 2
"No social or community features; strictly single-player experience."
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Growth
Game with the same Growth vibe
4"Players learn to manage resources, upgrade equipment, and improve survival skills over repeated playthroughs."
Deadly 30
"Players learn and improve resource management and survival skills over repeated playthroughs."
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Health
Game with the same Health vibe
-5"Sedentary gameplay with no physical activity or health-related mechanics."
Terror At Oakheart
"Sedentary gameplay with no physical activity or health-related mechanics."
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Idle
Game with the same Idle vibe
-4"Requires constant attention and active management of resources and threats; not suitable for idle play."
Don't Starve
"Requires constant attention to resource and population management; not suitable for idle play."
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Intimacy
Game with the same Intimacy vibe
-5"No social interaction or relationship building."
Lumberjacked
"No social interaction or relationship building beyond managing villagers as resources."
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Leadership
Game with the same Leadership vibe
3"Players lead and manage villagers, assigning jobs and directing settlement growth."
Medieval Dynasty
"Players lead and manage their settlement and assign roles to villagers, guiding development."
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Progression
Game with the same Progression vibe
3"Players unlock new buildings and technologies, grow cities, and advance through population milestones."
Plan B: Terraform
"Players progress by growing population, expanding settlement, and acquiring resources and buildings."
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Relaxation
Game with the same Relaxation vibe
3"Many players find the game relaxing and immersive despite some challenging elements."
Project Hospital
"Many players find the game relaxing and immersive despite its difficulty and challenge."
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Sensation
Game with the same Sensation vibe
2"Pleasant visuals and soothing audio provide moderate sensory stimulation"
ISLANDERS
"Pleasant visuals and audio create a soothing atmosphere but sensory stimulation is moderate."
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Status
Game with the same Status vibe
-5"No social recognition or status systems; achievements are personal and offline."
Far Cry 3 - Blood Dragon
"No social recognition or status systems; achievements are personal and offline."
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Story
Game with the same Story vibe
-4"No narrative or plot; gameplay is context-free and focused on sandbox building."
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."
Computer Tycoon
"Heavy emphasis on strategic resource management, planning, and problem solving."
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Thrill
Game with the same Thrill vibe
2"Some suspense from disasters and survival threats, but overall controlled environment."
Surviving Mars
"Some suspense from disasters and survival challenges, but overall a controlled environment."
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Value
Game with the same Value vibe
4"Players report high value for time and money invested, especially with mod support."
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."
Flotsam
"No combat or destruction; focus on constructive building and survival."
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Survival
Game with the same Survival vibe
5"Core gameplay revolves around managing threats, resources, and staying alive in harsh conditions."
Distrust: Polar Survival
"Core gameplay revolves around managing threats like starvation, cold, disease, and disasters."
Analysis
Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Fantasy, Violence, Story, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Survival, Leadership, Thrill.
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.
Last update: 30/04/2026