Games like Ecosystem
by Tom Johnson
SPORE™ and The Sapling play most like Ecosystem. Of the 15 closest games below, most share its sandbox, god game and colony sim; 3 came out in the last year and 7 are free or under $10. The best known is SPORE™, with 66,962 Steam reviews.
View on Steam · -60% $7.99 →
Ranked by how similar the games actually are, not by sales. Released and Price are remembered for next time.
Closest matches
SPORE™
Dec 19, 2008 · Maxis™
Both: God Game · Sandbox · Colony Sim
Be the architect of your own universe with Spore, an exciting single-player adventure. From Single Cell to Galactic God, evolve your creature in a universe of your own creations.
God GameOpen WorldSandboxColony SimSimulationExplorationSpaceCasualScienceCute👍 66,962The Sapling
Dec 12, 2019 · Wessel Stoop
Both: Life Sim · Sandbox · God Game
The Sapling is a simulation game where you design your own plants, animals, algae and fungi, and put them in a world together. Or you turn on random mutations, and see what evolution does to your ecosystem!
Life SimSandboxGod GameScienceNatureArtificial IntelligenceSimulationProcedural GenerationDinosaursAliens👍 1,933Planetary Life
Aug 15, 2025 · Sotenbox
Both: God Game · Sandbox · Nature
Manipulate climate, add plants and evolve creatures in this planet and life sandbox simulation game. From cells to civilizations, spread life throughout the whole planet. Or just enjoy watching your creation burn!
Early AccessGod GameSandboxSimulationScienceStrategyNatureEducationProcedural GenerationLife Sim👍 922WorldBox - God Simulator
Dec 2, 2021 · Maxim Karpenko
Both: Sandbox · God Game · Colony Sim
WorldBox is the ULTIMATE god simulator and sandbox game. A petri dish for your fantasy civilizations. Create your own world or destroy it using many powers. Watch civilizations grow, form kingdoms, colonize new lands, sail to far continents, wars to ignite, empires to fall and towns to burn!
SandboxGod GameSimulationPixel GraphicsColony SimDestructionLife SimBuildingArtificial IntelligenceFantasy👍 51,238Gridworld
Dec 24, 2015 · DopplerFrog
Both: Sandbox · Colony Sim · God Game
Gridworld is an artificial life and evolution simulator. Watch creatures evolve through natural selection as they learn to find food, avoid danger, and compete with other creatures for survival.
SimulationSandboxArtificial IntelligenceScienceProcedural GenerationManagementColony SimGod GameLevel EditorPixel Graphics👍 238Creatura
Mar 31, 2021 · Koksny.com
Both: Sandbox · Underwater · Life Sim
Seed, Breed, Create. From single cell organisms to complex ecosystems. Evolve every part of your own unique aquarium / terrarium by applying scientifically accurate principles of natural and artificial selection, in Creatura - ultimate Virtual Evolution Vivarium Simulator.
SimulationScienceCasualIndieSandboxUnderwaterLife SimCreature Collector3DNature👍 214Timberborn
Mar 12 · Mechanistry
Both: Colony Sim · Sandbox · Automation
Humans are long gone. In a world struck by droughts and toxic waste, will your lumberpunk beavers do any better? A sandbox city-building game featuring ingenious animals, vertical architecture, water physics, and terraforming. Contains high amounts of wood.
City BuilderColony SimVoxelSandboxAutomationBuildingNatureManagementBase BuildingSurvival👍 38,914Species: Artificial Life, Real Evolution
Sep 28, 2018 · Quasar
Both: Sandbox · God Game
Play with evolution! Species: ALRE is a scientifically-grounded, emergent simulation of natural selection. Creatures evolve and speciate in response to in-game mutation and selection forces, allowing you to experience and tinker with evolution in real-time.
SimulationSandboxEarly AccessGod GameScienceExperimentalIndieReal-Time with PauseSingleplayerRelaxing👍 972Whomers Ate My Lawn!
Apr 6, 2025 · Dreaming Saints
Both: Colony Sim · God Game · Life Sim
Grow a living pixel ecosystem from a single egg into a colony of 1,000+ Whomers. Dig and restore terrain, move food and obstacles, breed specialized creatures, and watch predators, golems, bushes, and eggs reshape your 64×64 lawn.
CasualSimulationStrategyColony SimGod GameLife SimPoint & ClickPuzzleIncrementalCreature CollectorReus 2
May 28, 2024 · Abbey Games
Both: God Game · Colony Sim · Sandbox
Shape worlds with your godly titans. Make symbiotic ecosystems and inspire humanity with your creations. Their achievements unlock new possibilities. Make different planets for different human spirits, and fill the universe with life!
God GamePuzzleColony SimCity BuilderBase BuildingManagementStrategyResource ManagementSandboxNature👍 2,151Substrate: Emergence
8 days ago · Petri Dish Games LLC
Both: Colony Sim · Sandbox · God Game
Grow colonies of fluorescent cells that mutate, swarm, and devour each other in a petri dish arena. Propagate a unique biology of your own as you compete against rival labs in a detailed artificial life simulation.
Early AccessExplorationCreature CollectorRogueliteColony SimSandboxGod GameRTSStrategySimulationFlotsam
Dec 4, 2025 · Pajama Llama Games
Both: Colony Sim · Sandbox · Automation
Sail, scavenge, and rescue survivors in a vibrant floating city-builder. Captain your drifters across the endless garbage sea to uncover soaked ruins, rusting factories, and stories from the old world.
Base BuildingColony SimSandboxCity BuilderResource ManagementAutomationSurvivalOpen WorldFarming SimReal-Time with Pause👍 4,323Autonauts
Oct 17, 2019 · Denki
Both: Automation · Colony Sim · Sandbox
In Autonauts you must build, create, and automate. Start by establishing a colony, crafting bots and teaching them via Scratch-style programming to build an ever evolving autonomous paradise of agriculture, industry and enlightenment.
AutomationProgrammingSimulationIndieCasualBase BuildingColony SimCraftingCuteSandbox👍 3,596Fish Game
Oct 26, 2023 · A Shell in the Pit Games, Creative Ink Games
Both: Sandbox · Fishing · Underwater
Fish Game is a detailed and highly “sofishticated” freshwater aquarium simulator, lovingly crafted *by* enthusiasts *for* enthusiasts! Featuring fish with personalities and dynamic relationships, water quality modeling, and so much more! Made with support from our friends at Smarter Every Day!
Immersive SimCreature CollectorSandboxBuildingIdlerAuto BattlerFishingEducationUnderwaterLife Sim👍 596
Also worth a look
Share some of the same DNA, but further from the original.
Oxygen Not Included
Jul 30, 2019 · Klei Entertainment
Both: Colony Sim · Sandbox
Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.
Colony SimBase BuildingSurvivalResource ManagementBuildingSingleplayerManagement2DSandboxSimulation👍 135,475RimWorld
Oct 17, 2018 · Ludeon Studios
Both: Colony Sim · Sandbox
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.
Colony SimBase BuildingSurvivalStrategyManagementSandboxSingleplayerModdableSimulationSci-fi👍 209,183The Universim
Jan 22, 2024 · Crytivo
Both: Colony Sim · God Game · Sandbox
Jump straight into managing your own planets as you guide a civilization through the ages. Build the ultimate empire in The Universim, a new breed of God Game in development by Crytivo.
City BuilderColony SimGod GameSandboxBuildingSurvivalManagementSpaceStrategySimulation👍 8,471
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