The Crust Games Like the Crust — Wiki & Guide
Games Like the Crust explained: Similar lunar colony and automation sims worth playing. Facts sourced from official pages, wiki and community discussions.
If you like The Crust — building an automated lunar factory while answering to Earth's contracts — the closest matches split into three flavors: automation-first games, survival colony sims, and story-driven space builders. Steam's own "similar items" recommendations for The Crust, plus comparisons made by reviewers who cover the genre, line up like this.
What players of The Crust are pointed to
| Game | Price (Sep 16, 2026) | Why it matches |
|---|---|---|
| Factorio | $35.00 | The automation benchmark. A Steam reviewer on The Crust puts it plainly: "If you want the deepest automation puzzle: Factorio" — but notes The Crust trades that depth for an outward-facing economy loop |
| Oxygen Not Included | $24.99 | Colony sim with life-support plumbing (oxygen, food, mood) — the systems The Crust's colonist layer echoes; one full Let's Play creator tags his Crust videos with #oxygennotincluded #factorio #spacegame |
| RimWorld | $34.99 (−20% → $27.99) | The story-generator colony sim — people management and emergent narrative over factory math |
| IXION | $34.99 | Narrative space-colony management — closest to The Crust's "story campaign with deadlines" feel |
| Space Haven | $24.99 | Ship-colony sim with needs, oxygen and a crew to keep alive |
| Captain of Industry | $34.99 | Factory chains on an island — belts, mining and logistics like The Crust's underground plant |
| Timberborn | $34.99 (−30% → $24.49) | Colony builder with vertical logistics and an economy to optimize |
| Manor Lords | $39.99 | Slower-paced city builder — trade and town growth without factory depth |
| Corsair Cove | $39.99 | Steam-tagged similar; economy-driven settlement builder |
Two more from Steam's "More like this" module on the store page: Sandustry ($14.99) and Steel Artery: Train City Builder ($14.99) — the latter is also The Crust's bundle partner in the Builder's Frontier pack. Upcoming releases Steam attaches to the page include Transport Fever 3 and Planet Zoo 2, which share audiences rather than mechanics.
The two comparisons reviewers keep making
- Surviving Mars — Pravus's 1.0 revisit describes The Crust as "a blend of a survival base builder, a little bit reminiscent of Surviving Mars, combined with several automation mechanics, a little bit like a Factorio Light." If Surviving Mars was your game, this is the nearest setting match (Moon instead of Mars, plus a real economy layer).
- Dyson Sphere Program — Z1 Gaming's demo first look: "it's not Dyson Sphere Program but it looks similar in the way that... you hook up machines and belts and run things."
How to choose
- Want deeper factory puzzles than The Crust? Factorio, then Captain of Industry.
- Want more colony/people drama? RimWorld, Oxygen Not Included, Space Haven.
- Want the same mix — story + economy + moderate automation? Nothing on the list copies The Crust's "build because there's an invoice" loop exactly; IXION and Surviving Mars come closest in spirit.
Before you switch games, remember The Crust just hit 1.0 — the reviews picture is still settling and patches are landing weekly (updates hub).