About
On Steam, 98% of 211,003 player reviews are positive (Overwhelmingly Positive). 31,408 people are playing it on Steam right now, with a peak of 45,326 in the last 30 days. It is Verified on Steam Deck.
A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Generates stories by simulating psychology, ecology, gunplay, melee combat, climate, biomes, diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, art, medicine, trade, and more.
Story
RimWorld follows three survivors from a crashed space liner as they build a colony on a frontier world at the rim of known space. Inspired by the space western vibe of Firefly, the deep simulation of Dwarf Fortress, and the epic scale of Dune and Warhammer 40,000. Manage colonists' moods, needs, thoughts, individual wounds, and illnesses. Engage in deeply-simulated small-team gunplay. Fashion structures, weapons, and apparel from metal, wood, stone, cloth, or exotic, futuristic materials. Fight pirate raiders, hostile tribes, rampaging animals and ancient killing machines. Discover a new generated world each time you play. Build colonies in biomes ranging from desert to jungle to tundra, each with unique flora and fauna. Manage and develop colonists with unique backstories, traits, and skills. Learn to play easily with the help of an intelligent and unobtrusive AI tutor.
What is happening now
RimWorld is a strategy and simulation game where players manage the survival and development of a colony, balancing resource management, character relationships, and external threats. Since its 2016 release, it has become a touchstone for colony sim design, influencing numerous subsequent titles in the genre. Recent coverage reflects RimWorld's continued cultural footprint. Trailblazers: Into The March, a roguelite colony sim currently in development, cites RimWorld alongside influences like Moebius and Darkest Dungeon, tasking players with guiding a mobile settlement through a fungal-infested world. Separately, SEED, an ambitious MMO hybrid that blends The Sims' social systems with RimWorld's colony management, launched into Early Access with the premise of players collaborating in a persistent, shared world to construct functioning societies. Both projects underscore how thoroughly RimWorld has shaped the broader strategy and simulation landscape.
Games like RimWorld
same kind of game, other series
Media
Releases
Earliest full release on each platform; regional dates can differ.
PC and Steam Deck
Steam store pageSteam Deck: Verified works great out of the box
Requirements and Deck status as listed on Steam, checked Oct 30, 2026.
RimWorld player count
concurrent players on SteamPlayers counted on Steam every one to six hours; the daily peak is the highest count of the day.