Rimworld is a 2D colony simulator game with a top-down isometric view. It is an indie game and is described as a story generator by its developer. Players would be managing the well-being and growth of a colony based in a Sci-fi setting. The primary objective of the game is to survive in a harsh and unpredictable environment, surrounded by other computer-controlled factions. You must gather resources, research new technologies, build up your base and defend it from outside threats.

Gameplay

A complex and interactive experience

Gameplay involves managing and trying to control a group of colonists. Each colonist would have their own strengths and weaknesses, giving them a place in the colony. In the default scenario, you are going to  start as a group of survivors from a crash-landed spacecraft with limited resources and equipment. 

Surviving would require strategic planning and foresight. Resources such as food, building materials and electrical components must be gathered early on in order to survive. These resources are vital in order to construct buildings, houses and defenses. Colonists each have their own specific needs and players would have to accommodate these conditions in order to maintain the mental conditions of these colonists. This can be done by building luxurious rooms, living quarters and even recreational facilities.

There are also options for colonists to venture out into the world away from your settlement in order to trade with other factions and complete certain quests. Every world has factions that you can interact with, along with simple quests and tasks that can be done in exchange for rewards.

For anyone who loves punishing games with strategy-based gameplay, rimworld is an excellent choice.

Dynamic storytelling

Nature's wrath engulfing a base

Most of the events and encounters in the game are based on RNG. This combined with the fact that each colonist has their own traits, relationships and desires turns this game into an amazing story generator. Since death is permanent with very limited ways for resurrection, Rimworld runs can end in tragic and gruesome ways, and players are encouraged not to reload previous saves as overcoming disasters and adversities can make for an amazing story.

It's clear that the developer put a lot of effort into making the colonists as interesting as possible. Colonists are given random skill sets and traits. Special traits can affect a colonist’s combat abilities, skillset and even personality, allowing each individual character to interact with the world and other colonists in unique ways. No two colonists are ever the same, making the game interesting, immersive and non repetitive.

Ultimately, the game does an amazing job at making the players care about the wellbeing of characters in the game.

Base building

Brave the harsh winter

One of the most vital aspects of colony simulator games is base building. The base building in Rimworld is a crucial part of the game’s experience.

You are tasked with building bases that are both functional and easy to defend. You must choose from different types of building materials in order to build certain structures, furniture and industrial buildings, all of which play an important role in the growth and development of the colony.

As the colony grows, you must pay close attention to the layout of the base in order to make it compact and efficient. Based on the difficulty setting, your base is going to get raided periodically. So, the buildings and walls have to be strategically laid out in order to protect the vital parts of the settlement. In addition to defenses there are many other aspects to take into consideration when designing a base, such as resource management and even power supply.

One downside of base building is that the AI pathfinding of raiders is somewhat predictable and exploitable. There are certain loopholes that can take away the challenge of base building. However, this problem is somewhat mitigated by having different types of threats such as animal attacks, robot raids and even environmental disasters like toxic fallouts.

All in all, the base building in Rimworld is a fun aspect that can serve as a creative outlet for certain players.

Customization

Pick the starting colonists

The difficulty is controlled by entities as storytellers in the game and each story teller provides a different type of challenge for the player. These entities are responsible for generating the random encounters and events in the game. Some story tellers may be more forgiving and give the player huge breaks between every negative encounter. Other story tellers might be substantially more difficult and generate difficult encounters randomly in random sequences, making the gameplay extremely unforgiving and unpredictable. The difficulty of the game is customizable, and players are given many starting scenarios to choose from. 

Players are also free to choose the starting colonists, which can greatly affect the style of play, especially during the beginning of the colony. The traits and skill set for the available colonists are randomized, and you can shuffle them as much as you want until you get something satisfactory.

There is even a scenario editor that can be used to make your own starting scenarios. You can change the number of colonists you start with or give yourself certain equipment or resources. You can even change the setting and world, altering the game. This is, however, a bit limited without the use of mods.

Threats and adversaries

Encounter many deaths and tragedies

In Rimworld, it often feels like the entire world is against you. As mentioned before, there are other factions that you can interact with. While most are friendly or neutral, some factions are hostile and will send colonists to raid your base. The difficulty of the raid depends on the overall value of everything in your base, which adds a layer of complexity into the gameplay as players have to try and balance their wealth with appropriate defenses.

There are many types of raids. The equipment that the raiders use is limited to the level of technology available for the faction that the raid is sent from. This makes every raid a very engaging event, as players would have to come up with different strategies based on the equipment that raiders use.

There are other threats as well, such as attacks from robots referred to as mechanoids. These raids are especially challenging for new players. Other threats can involve groups of mad animals, environmental disasters or even the climate.

Every threat and encounter feels different, which makes the game tense and exciting to play

Downloadable content

An overview of the cannibalist ideology

As of the date on which this article is written, there are currently 3 DLCs available for this game (It is likely that more will be added soon). These include the Royalty DLC, Ideology DLC, and Biotech DLC

The First DLC is the Royalty DLC which adds some extra content to the game. It introduces and expands on psychic powers that colonists can achieve. This adds plenty of new psychic skills and abilities for colonists which are mostly combat oriented. This DLC also adds the honor system, which allows a colonist to gain ranks and royal titles, which can be used to grant special permits and upgrades for the colony. Despite all these contents, there are some players who feel like the content in this DLC is a bit lackluster.

The second DLC is the Ideology DLC which is arguably the most game changing DLC in the pack. It allows players to make tailor made ideologies that the colonists can follow, which opens up avenues for so many possibilities. For example, players may be able to play as a cannibal tribe who feasts on invaders. Or perhaps a highly technologically advanced tribe with research boosts and high-tech equipment. This DLC allows for immersive roleplay, and completely changes how the game is played. For fans of the base game, this DLC is a must buy.

The third and latest DLC is the Biotech DLC. Right next to Ideology, this is possibly the second most popular DLC. It allows the player to genetically modify colonists and introduces new races and new gameplay mechanics. Moreover, it also introduced children and schooling into the game, giving the players an extra challenge; taking care of babies and children. You can also create modified  mechanoids(A type of enemy robot in the game) in this DLC to serve the colony.

Mods

A popular mod known as EDB prepare carefully which allows players to change the stats for starting colonists

Rimworld has an extremely active modding community. There are thousands of mods available for Rimworld, which can be used to change all aspects of gameplay. The popular mods are constantly being updated, and new mods are being added almost every day.

Mods can be accessed via the steam workshop. The game has built in mod support, so downloading and applying these mods is quite easy. 

With such a vast quantity of mods, you are now free to enjoy the game however you like. There are quality of life mods that add simple things which do not affect the gameplay very much. In contrast to that there are content mods adding new weapons, armor, items, buildings, resources…etc. There are even huge mods that completely overhaul the gameplay, adding new mechanics and features. 

The accessibility of mods turns Rimworld into an exciting, sandbox experience perfect for creative players and fans of the base game who are looking for some new content.

Community and Support

Rimworld planets are ripe with many factions and settlements

Rimworld has a dedicated community of players and modders who are a large part of the game’s overall success. On the Ludeon Studio’s website there is an official forum where players can discuss gameplay strategies, exchange ideas and report bugs. There are also other communities spread across Reddit and Discord where players can share their experiences

The developers of Rimworld, Ludeon Studios, are still dedicated and actively releasing game patches and updates. These address bug fixes and new features. They are also periodically releasing DLCs every year, with new DLC packs being released almost every year. The developers are attentive to the community, and respond to feedback and criticism regarding the game, implementing and altering features of the game based on these interactions

Replayability

Build however you like

The replay value of rimworld is remarkable and is one of the best aspects of the game. The story of the game is open-ended and you are free to make up your own goals and objectives, and play the game however you like. The dynamic gameplay mechanics combined with the AI storyteller mechanics make every playthrough a unique experience.

The world is procedurally generated, along with the available resources, terrain, wildlife, factions and even the colonists and their traits. Even though each AI storyteller has their own style, the events that they generate are also randomized. This randomization helps in making sure that no two playthroughs are ever alike. In combination with the DLCs and the mods, Rimworld can be played a countless number of times without feeling repetitive, with each game having their own challenges and playstyle.

Overall Fun factor – 96/100

What do you think? Can you survive?

All in all, Rimworld is a complex strategy game with deep and immersive gameplay mechanics designed to keep the player engaged over multiple playthroughs. 

The colony management system of rimworld is detailed and intricate, with a lot of care given in order to make the player invested in the progress of their base. The challenges and threats thrown at the player have a wide variety and can range from raids to simply keeping the colonists happy. There is a fine balance between difficulty and satisfaction. The art style is simplistic, but also charming and unique. The most important feature of this game is the exceptional replayability. It is a highly customizable experience thanks to the DLCs and an active modding community. 

This game is an amazing choice for anyone who enjoys strategy-based games and I really recommend trying it out for anyone who is interested.