Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder is a colony simulator from Tinymice Entertainment where you stack modules and connect buildings with tunnels. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth your time and money.
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Review Overview
What is Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder?
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder (Stellar Settlers) is a colony simulator from Tinymice Entertainment where you build sprawling (or towering) colonies on various unique exoplanets. The game boasts a particular focus on modularity and verticality with its base-building, providing vectors of construction that were previously unutilized while easing you into the micromanagement of a space base.
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder features:
⚫︎ Extremely intuitive base-building that emphasizes verticality and creative positioning
⚫︎ Lo-fi beats to build bases and manage crew members to
⚫︎ Adorable low-poly aesthetics
⚫︎ A relaxing micromanagement experience
⚫︎ A detailed rocket-building simulator similar to Kerbal Space Program
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder's gameplay and story.
 Steam |
$9.59 |
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Simple, Intuitive Gameplay Easy-going Pace for Base-building Novices |
Story is Nonexistent Missing Some Quality-of-Life Features |
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Overall Score - 72/100
I don’t often associate rest and relaxation with colony builders because…well…micromanagement isn’t the most relaxing activity, even if I do enjoy doing it. With Stellar Settlers, however, I can just kick back, engage in some minor logistics, and watch the numbers go up without ever stressing about it (or being bored). The gameplay is just complex enough to be interesting, but you won’t lose any sleep from your inefficiency. It’s still rough around the edges story-wise, but hey, that’s standard fare for colony builders. All in all, I can see myself throwing this game on while doing actual work just to give me that dopamine that lo-fi music gives you.
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Story - 5/10
Stellar Settlers barely has any story to speak of, though that much may change as it goes through its Early Access roadmap. As it is now, though, you only have the simple premise of building a base to escape the planet, as well as a few snippets of lore from character descriptions. This game is about as barren as Mars, narrative-wise, but that’s standard fare for colony builders.
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Gameplay - 8/10
Stellar Settler’s gameplay is tight, succinct, and intuitive. The devs had a clear idea of how this game should play and stuck to it well, keeping every gameplay mechanic relevant without ever overcomplicating things. The modularity of each base addition gives the player just enough space to be creative without overwhelming them with choices. All in all, this game has a solid idea executed extremely well. Let’s see what else its full version will add.
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Visuals - 7/10
Stellar Settlers blends the usual low-poly aesthetic of relaxing indie simulators with the scientific militarism of contemporary space-age electronics—otherwise known as NASA punk. This unique look contributes to the relaxing vibes the devs were going for while guiding players to the modular nature of the game’s assets through its design language. Some people might not like it, but I certainly do.
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Audio - 7/10
You can’t go wrong with lo-fi tracks in a chill game about building a space base. The gentle beats and catchy melodies supplement the game’s look and feel extremely well, evoking an air of easy-going innovation that I enjoy immensely. The game could do with more tracks, however, as even lo-fi gets tiring to listen to when it's the same song going for hours on end.
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Value for Money - 9/10
$10 for a game like this? Sold! That is an amazing deal for the price of a burger and a drink. All this relaxing space base goodness, plus a few good lo-fi tracks to boot, and you’re not even spending a cent above $10. And if the game’s Early Access roadmap is any indication, this game’s value can only skyrocket.
Stellar Settlers Review: Low-fi Base Building to Chill and Relax To
What do you think of when somebody mentions city builders or colony simulators? Some of you might attribute those concepts to the feeling of being overwhelmed. Others among you might relish the thought of micromanagement on a grand scale. A good portion of you might be indifferent, although I’m sure you’ve heard from somewhere that these two genres are a bit hard to get into because of their inherent difficulty. Now what if I told you that there’s a relaxed colony sim out there where you can build pretty much anywhere without worrying too much?
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder is exactly that—a chill-as-heck colony sim that focuses on vertical building, creative positioning, and low-stakes resource management. It’s all about positioning and passive income in this game, so there’s no need to fuss over the little things. That’s not to say that it’s boring either, because it’s just the right amount of stress to keep you playing without ever making your blood pressure rise. I’m getting ahead of myself, though. Let’s talk about Stellar Settler’s basic premise before I continue gushing about how relaxing and fun it is.
First up is its gameplay, which is easily its most defining feature. Stellar Settlers is a colony simulator that emphasizes the verticality of its structures, encouraging you to build tall instead of wide, like most colony simulators. Buildings fall into one of two categories, modules and tunnels. Modules are major pieces of architecture that function for the betterment of your colony. Some modules generate resources, while others deal with lodging, crew morale, or colony safety. Tunnels connect modules in various ways, and that’s all they do. The challenge in this game is making do with what little land you’re given because these modules are usually stackable.
To add more variety to the mix, tunnels must connect new modules to existing ones for them to function. It’s not that simple, however, as each module has its own unique connection point somewhere in its hex-based design, which means that you can’t just connect them willy-nilly. Apart from crew bonuses and random events, that’s pretty much it. Simple, right?
It’s basically a connecting puzzle game with resource management at this point, which I think is a creative way to go about it. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems, but similarly, nothing is more difficult than it should be. You’ll only ever have to think about how these things connect, as the resource-collecting/gathering portion of the gameplay loop is usually just a matter of letting time pass. Random events could mess up your system, so it isn’t just a glorified idle game. Crew members can also affect the productivity of a module, so there’s room for min-maxing if you’re up for it. The bottom line is that this game treads between accessibility for newbies and variety for veterans.
But what are you building towards anyway? All this stacking and resource generation has to be for something, right? Well, you’ll eventually earn enough of the game’s four main resources to build a launch pad and unlock the option to build a rocket. The gameplay diverges a little from what you’ve been doing up to this point, but you’ll get the hang of it. I won’t spoil too much of what you need to build and how you’re going to build it, so let’s just say that it’s physics-based and reminiscent of Kerbal Space Program.
As for its visuals and audio, you won’t get much complaint from me. I’m a fan of ASTRONEER, so the low-poly space-age NASA punk design the game is going for is right up my alley. I appreciate the hex-based design of the modules very much because that kind of shape language contributes to the "stackability" of the modules. The music is great too, as I am a fan of lo-fi and trance music, and the soundtrack seems to mix both. My only nitpick is that the music could be more varied, as the same track does play on repeat for each of the five planets.
Story-wise, this game has…nothing. It’s a colony sim, so one could argue that the story is whatever you make it to be, but I prefer a little bit of backstory with my colonies. You can pick up bits and pieces of narratives from the crew descriptions—maybe even infer their backstories from their unique bonuses—but it isn’t substantial enough to be considered a narrative. But hey, that’s Early Access for you. I’m sure the devs are already hard at work coming up with some space-age tales to give the crew some razzle-dazzle down the line.
And that’s the build limit for Stellar Settlers. It’s a game with a simple premise that’s implemented in a way that’s both creative and easy to grasp. Though its Early Access limitations are still showing, this is a solid enough foundation to build a game off of. I’ve already enjoyed as much as I can with such an early build, and I can’t wait to experience the finished game when it finally comes out.
Pros of Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder
| Things Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Got Right |
|---|
|
Simple, Intuitive Gameplay Easy-going Pace for Base-building Novices |
Simple, Intuitive Gameplay
Colony simulation doesn’t get any simpler than this, I assure you. Stellar Settlers is a great game to get into the colony simulator genre because it has easy-to-understand mechanics executed creatively. What I mean by that is that the devs took a simple concept and managed to create an entertaining and varied experience with it. Base buildings and colony simulators are usually hard to get into because of all the things you need to keep track of. In Stellar Settlers, it’s mostly just space and simple math that you need to worry about, relieving the pressure of paper-thin margins of error that you’d expect from something like Cities: Skylines.
Easy-going Pace for Base-building Novices
Yep, you can take your time with this one. There is no reason for you to blitz through tech trees or anything of the sort in Stellar Settlers—you can just build at your own pace. It’s mostly because no budget or time limit is pushing you to that brink, but it’s also because the modules themselves are mostly hands-off. You’d only ever have to pitch in when crew morale gets low or modules break, which could both be automated away when you unlock later research.
Some might not like the easy-going pace this game adopts, but that’s the whole point of it. The game describes itself as a "chill space base/city builder" and there’s nothing more chill than laying out a plan and letting it unfold before you. Not many colony sims would let you relax like this, much more encourage it.
Cons of Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder
| Things That Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Can Improve |
|---|
|
Story is Nonexistent Missing Some Quality-of-Life Features |
Story is Nonexistent
This game technically has a story, although you’d be forgiven if you thought that it didn’t. It’s a very straightforward experience, and none of it is strictly tied to the gameplay. You’re not building a space base for any other reason apart from the obvious: survival. You won’t find out how your crew got stranded on this planet, how they can build these structures, or what else they’re capable of, at least for now while the game is still in Early Access.
I can’t blame the game too much for this lapse, though, since compelling narratives are few and far between in the colony sim and city builder genres. Still, it’s not impossible, and I think the vastness of space is a good setting for a story.
Missing Some Quality-of-Life Features
Simplicity has its downsides, and this is one of them. The game doesn’t have enough moving parts to warrant the same amount of quality-of-life features that other colony sims require. That being said, I’d still like a couple of them to be implemented.
Net gain and loss indicators for the resources would be a great place to start, followed by the ability to instantly switch out assigned crew members instead of having to unassign one before being able to assign them to another module. It might be a stretch, but a clearer way to distinguish between modules would be nice.
Is Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Worth It?
This Game is A Steal!
Stellar Settlers goes for just under $10 on Steam, which is a limited price available to its Early Access Build. I imagine it’ll cost around $20 or so when it’s fully released, but that’ll be a game far along its development roadmap already, so the increased price is justifiable. Both this early build and the projected final build are well worth their cost, in my opinion, as the game itself is fun as heck and relaxing to boot. I’d even go as far as to say that it’s a steal for how much it costs at the moment, but it’ll be less so when the game’s finished. I’d grab it now if I were you.
| Platform | Price |
|---|---|
| Steam |
$9.59 |
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder FAQ
Is Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Still in Early Access?
Yes, Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder is still in Early Access. The game's developers have shared their Early Access roadmap for the game's development on their social media profiles, hinting at a full release within a year of the game's Early Access release.
How Do You Build a Good Rocket in Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder?
The endgame of Stellar Settlers involves the creation and launch of a rocket to escape the exoplanet you're stuck on. You will build the rocket piece by piece and can launch it whenever you're ready. Making an unbalanced rocket may cause it to crash, however, which might damage your base in the process. To create a balanced rocket capable of finishing the game, keep the following tips in mind:
⚫︎ Have at least one fuel tank for every booster attached to your rocket.
⚫︎ Try to keep symmetry with your design so the rocket doesn't list to one side or the other mid-flight.
⚫︎ Use Large or Small Structures to guide the rest of your additional rocket parts and keep them symmetrical.
⚫︎ Take stock of your rocket's weight by noting every added part's weight. Not having enough boosters might cripple your rocket.
⚫︎ As a rule of thumb, you want 1 Booster for every 2 weight your rocket has.
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Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Product Information
 |
|
| Title | STELLAR SETTLERS: SPACE BASE BUILDER |
|---|---|
| Release Date | March 11, 2024 |
| Developer | Tinymice Entertainment |
| Publisher | Rogue Duck, Tinymice Entertainment |
| Supported Platforms | PC(Steam) |
| Genre | City Builder, Base Building |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | N/A |
| Official Website | Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder Website |
