Polygon’s coverage of The Last Variable, the DLC that’s basically a second campaign for The Alters, made it clear: 11 bit’s clone-management survival game has built a sticky audience. Most of those players have already finished the base game and want something to chew on between runs. Here are seven alternatives that capture the same solo-pressure, crew-management, survive-the-next-cycle loop, plus a couple that change the genre enough to feel new.
What to look for in a survival management game
Before the picks, name the trade-off you actually care about.
- Solo character vs colony scale. The Alters has one named protagonist (and his clones). Some games here go full colony management.
- Narrative pressure vs sandbox freedom. Frostpunk and This War of Mine push hard story beats. RimWorld and Astroneer let you write your own.
- Real-time vs paused planning. The Alters is mostly real-time with breathing room. Some alternatives are tick-paused; others are pure real-time.
- Story arc vs infinite mode. A few have proper endings, others run forever.
- Steam Deck comfort. All seven run on Deck; only a couple feel built for it.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Scale | Free demo | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frostpunk | Narrative crisis management | City | No | $29.99 |
| RimWorld | Deep colony storytelling | Colony | No | $34.99 |
| Subnautica | Solo survival exploration | Single character | No | $29.99 |
| This War of Mine | Moral weight survival | Small group | No | $19.99 |
| Oxygen Not Included | Systems-deep colony | Colony | No | $24.99 |
| Surviving Mars | Sci-fi city-builder | Colony | No | $29.99 |
| Astroneer | Friendlier space survival | Solo or co-op | No | $29.99 |
The alternatives
Frostpunk — Best narrative crisis management
Frostpunk is the cold survival city-builder where moral choices and physics-of-cold ledgers grind against each other. The eight-hour story scenarios pressure-test the same “do I sacrifice one for many” decisions The Alters puts you through with the clones.
Where it falls short: Endless mode is much weaker than the scenarios. Once you’ve solved a scenario, replays feel similar. The 2024 sequel, Frostpunk 2, exists but plays differently enough that it’s a separate recommendation.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $29.99 base, often $7 on sale; full DLC bundle around $50
- vs The Alters: city scale instead of solo, similar moral weight
Migrating from The Alters: Start with A New Home for the cleanest tutorial scenario. Don’t overbuild early; the cold curve will catch you.
Download: Frostpunk on Steam
Bottom line: Pick this when you want the same heavy-decision pressure scaled up to a whole city.
RimWorld — Best colony storytelling
RimWorld is the colony sim that writes its own stories. Three pawns crash on a procedural rim planet, recruit prisoners, build a base, fend off raiders, and accidentally generate the kind of “I had to kick out my doctor for cannibalism” anecdotes The Alters’ clone-conflict scenes echo at solo scale.
Where it falls short: UI is dense and looks like a 90s spreadsheet. Modding is essentially required to fix late-game pacing. Ideology and Biotech DLCs aren’t optional for the full experience.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $34.99 base, $20 on rare sales; full DLC bundle pushes past $100
- vs The Alters: bigger crew, deeper sim, no story arc
Migrating from The Alters: Use Cassandra storyteller on Strive to Survive for the first run. Build for indoors heating before you do anything else.
Download: RimWorld on Steam
Bottom line: Pick this when you want the deepest crew-management sim and you don’t mind learning a UI from 2018.
Subnautica — Best solo survival exploration
Subnautica is the closest “one human, one base, hostile world” comparison on this list. You crash on an alien ocean planet, build progressively deeper bases, and learn the food chain without a story holding your hand. The Alters’ base-as-character feel transfers directly.
Where it falls short: Combat is intentionally weak; you mostly run. Inventory management gets tedious in mid-game. Performance on huge bases can sag.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $29.99 base, often $9 on sale; Below Zero expansion sold separately
- vs The Alters: more exploration, less management, no clones
Migrating from The Alters: Don’t sleep on the scanner; it’s the equivalent of the workshop. Build modular bases close to scanned biomes; teleporting is rare.
Download: Subnautica on Steam
Bottom line: Pick this when you want the solo survival arc with the best sense of place in the genre.
This War of Mine — Best moral weight survival
This War of Mine drops you into the role of civilians surviving a siege. You manage a house of strangers, scavenge at night, and make decisions that reshape who lives, who breaks, and who stays. The Alters’ “should I have made this clone?” dilemma is the closest cousin in the genre.
Where it falls short: Tone is unrelentingly bleak; it’s not casual survival. Final Cut adds content but doesn’t change the difficulty curve. Limited replay across runs.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $19.99 base for Final Cut edition, often $3 on sale
- vs The Alters: shorter, sadder, no clones — just consequences
Migrating from The Alters: Run Pavle’s group first; he’s the cleanest scavenger. Don’t trade away every weapon early; the late raids will test you.
Download: This War of Mine on Steam
Bottom line: Pick this when you want the moral weight of The Alters in a smaller, harsher package.
Oxygen Not Included — Best systems-deep colony
Oxygen Not Included is Klei’s underground colony sim where every gas, liquid, and temperature gradient matters. Your duplicants need oxygen, food, sleep, and bathrooms, and watching a base’s airflow break because one duplicant exhaled wrong is its own kind of comedy.
Where it falls short: Steep difficulty curve. The Spaced Out DLC reshapes the late game in ways some players reject. Real-time tick rate slows hard on big bases.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $24.99 base, $15 on sale; Spaced Out DLC adds $12.99
- vs The Alters: more systems, more colony, less story
Migrating from The Alters: Don’t dig down too fast; you’ll vent heat into your kitchen. Pick the Forest start for the gentlest learning curve.
Download: Oxygen Not Included on Steam
Bottom line: Pick this when you want a colony sim where the physics is the puzzle and the duplicants are the joke.
Surviving Mars — Best sci-fi city-builder
Surviving Mars is Haemimont’s Mars colony sim where domes, drones, and supply chains carry your colonists through dust storms and meteor strikes. The mystery scenarios add narrative arcs that mirror The Alters’ single-character pressure at colony scale.
Where it falls short: Mid-game can stall once domes are self-sustaining. The 2024 Below and Beyond DLC reshaped a chunk of late game; pre-DLC mods often break.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $29.99 base, often $7.50 on sale; Green Planet DLC adds terraforming
- vs The Alters: city scale on the same red planet vibe
Migrating from The Alters: Pick the IMM mission sponsor for the cleanest economy. Build oxygen redundancy before water; the leaks will kill you faster than thirst.
Download: Surviving Mars on Steam
Bottom line: Pick this when you want the same Mars-shaped survival pressure scaled to a city-builder.
Astroneer — Best friendly space survival
Astroneer is the least punishing pick on this list. It’s space survival with terrain deformation, vehicle crafting, and friendly low-stakes exploration across seven planets. The Alters’ production-chain feel translates here in a more relaxed form, and the co-op mode lets you bring friends.
Where it falls short: Combat is non-existent; survival is mostly inventory and oxygen management. Late-game grinding for blueprints can drag. Some achievements need very specific resource hunts.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $29.99 base, often $11 on sale; Glitchwalkers DLC adds an alt campaign
- vs The Alters: friendlier, prettier, co-op-ready
Migrating from The Alters: Set up an oxygen tether trail before you go exploring. The Terrarium-shaped rover is the equivalent of your habitat — build it early.
Download: Astroneer on Steam
Bottom line: Pick this when you want the gentle end of space survival, ideally with a friend.
How to choose
Pick Frostpunk if you want the moral weight of The Alters scaled up to a city; the scenarios are the strongest narrative survival arcs on PC. Pick RimWorld when you want the deepest crew-management sim and you’ll accept the spreadsheet UI. Pick Subnautica if you want one character, one ocean, and the best sense of place in the genre. Pick This War of Mine for the bleakest, shortest, most thematically aligned alternative. Pick Oxygen Not Included when you want survival as physics puzzle and duplicants as comedy. Pick Surviving Mars for a Mars city-builder with mystery arcs. Pick Astroneer when you want the friendliest space survival and you have someone to play with.
Stay on The Alters if you haven’t tried The Last Variable DLC yet; the new campaign adds a fresh moral structure and a meaningful different ending tree.
FAQ
Is there a game like The Alters?
Frostpunk and This War of Mine are the closest matches by 11 bit studios themselves; the studio’s whole catalog explores moral-decision survival. Subnautica is the closest in solo-character feel. RimWorld is the deepest crew-management cousin.
Does The Alters have multiplayer?
No. The Alters is single-player only. If you want a similar pressure-cooker with friends, Astroneer is the only co-op pick on this list, with a much friendlier difficulty.
What’s the cheapest alternative to The Alters?
This War of Mine at $19.99 base, often $3 on Steam sales. It’s the bleakest match thematically and the shortest commitment.
Is The Alters on Game Pass or PS Plus?
The Alters launched on PC Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra at release in 2025 and remained on both services through the Last Variable DLC update. Subscription availability changes; check the active catalog before buying.
What other 11 bit studios games are like The Alters?
Frostpunk and This War of Mine are 11 bit’s other narrative-survival hits. Both share the studio’s signature moral-weight pacing. Frostpunk 2 (2024) is the most recent and pushes the political-management angle even harder.
