Space Colony (2003)

Space Colony: Steam Edition is a remaster of the real-time base builder and strategy game from Firefly Studios, creators of the Stronghold series. In Space Colony you colonize to survive, designing intergalactic bases that keep your crew productive, happy and defended against hostile alien threats.

Storyline

Space Colony is a strategy game with two basic levels of management. On one level you have to manage a futuristic base, while on the other you have to manage the relationships between the crew members who inhabit the base. It clearly draws inspiration from Maxis' popular life-simulator The Sims (just take a look at the box cover), as well as from management games like RollerCoaster Tycoon, SimGolf, and FireFly's own Stronghold series. Though it has no multiplayer, the game does offer a great deal of content in the form of a comprehensive single-player campaign, a series of skirmish missions, and an open-ended sandbox mode. Plus, there's a map editor you can use to create your own levels. While Space Colony offers a great deal of breadth, and a surprising amount of depth, it never really capitalizes on either of these strengths to become an incredibly compelling or incredibly enjoyable game.