Best Isometric RPGs With Base Building

Summary

• RPGs draw from tabletop games in building immersive worlds with complex player choices.
• Top RPGs integrate base-building elements, reflecting TTRPG dynamics for player immersion.
• Games like Wasteland 3 and Kenshi offer engaging base-building mechanics for players to explore.

RPGs as an exploration of the video game medium began with quite a difficult challenge – transferring the imagination and wonder of tabletop games into something with comparable quality on the PC. The best RPGs of today carry on this legacy still, with worlds of imagination to explore in a multitude of ways, but a video game can never truly offer the same breadth of options as a Dungeon Master improvising consequences to the individual actions of their players.

The best RPGs thus take some smaller elements of what makes TTRPGs so compelling, and expand upon them, making them a foundational part of the gameplay overall. Some games reflect the variety of options a game of imagination can host with evil routes and alternate storylines, while some give players a place to call their own, and plenty of ways to build upon that place. These isometric RPGs, whether classics of the genre or new smash hits, all have base-building elements that feel in-depth and immersive.

8 Wasteland 3

Ranger Headquarters Are Defined By The Player

An excellent title for fans of the Fallout series, Wasteland 3 is a worthy successor to two incredible post-apocalyptic RPGs that continue the legacy of classic roleplaying games and their dedication to player choice. One of the first things subject to the player’s decisions and playstyle in this game is Ranger HQ.

It’s here that the player must rebuild their faction, the Rangers, from the ground up, recruiting fighters to join their tight-knit squadron and making key choices about the role the headquarters serves. Beyond simply refurbishing and expanding the base with features like med bays and mess halls, players will have to decide if their base is a walled-off fortress or a beacon for the many displaced wanderers in the area.

7 Dragon Age: Awakening

Managing An Arling Is No Easy Task

Some of the Dragon Age series’ most iconic characters arose from this game-length DLC, fit with an entirely new section of Ferelden to explore. This DLC unfortunately has some issues with save imports, as technological restrictions at the time meant players couldn’t import their world state if their warden made the Ultimate Sacrifice in the base game.

Expanding the Arling of Amaranthine and Vigil’s Keep is not as open-ended as other entries on this list – with players needing to manage their limited resources across a handful of linear upgrade choices, but BioWare did a fantastic job making each upgrade to the new Warden base feel like it had a tangible, meaningful impact on the settlement overall.

6 Neverwinter Nights 2

Lightweight But Engaging Base-Building

This game features Obsidian’s character writing and world-building at its peak, providing an exploration of the Forgotten Realms and Sword Coast with enough vitality to rival games like Baldur’s Gate 3, albeit with some outdated design features.

One feature that, in contrast, was quite ahead of its time, was the implementation of a base-building mechanic tied to the story. Players are able to build up their keep over the course of the story and make changes to it based on their alignment.

5 Project Zomboid

An Excellent Survival RPG With Great Base Building

Players looking for an immersive zombie survival title would be hard-pressed to find something more in-depth or well-realized than Project Zomboid. This game has some incredibly in-depth base-building mechanics.

Just about any location can be fortified and used as a potential outpost, though players making their base somewhere secluded will have a much easier time than those trying to make a base in the middle of a dense urban center filled with undead.

4 Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Build An immersive Fantasy City

CRPGs have always been about taking that incredible tabletop roleplaying experience and transferring it into the digital space, and the Pathfinder games do an excellent job taking the TTRPG system of the same name and building an incredible video game around it.

Players can lay out a city to their own tastes and design in Kingmaker, and it makes for a great experience that helps the player feel like they’re having a tangible impact on the world and the narrative.

3 Pillars Of Eternity

Caed Nua Is An Idyllic Fortress

The upcoming Avowed title has players more excited than ever for Obsidian’s hit CRPGs set in the same universe, Pillars of Eternity. These games do exceptional things for the fantasy scene, providing a level of worldbuilding that few other titles can match.

Early in the story, players will happen upon Caed Nua, serving a twofold purpose of being a pretty hefty DPS check for new characters, while also, after clearing it as a dungeon, appearing as a fort for players to manage and build to their liking throughout the game.

2 Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader

Manage A Host Of Colonies

Utilizing Extractiums and claiming colonies for your dynasty, Rogue Trader takes an incredibly interesting page out of the 4X handbook and lets players settle resource refineries and expansive colonies across a myriad of worlds in the Koronus Expanse.

This is a great micro look at the 40k Universe, which is often only seen on the macro level, and is an excellent way for players to immerse themselves not only in the grim darkness of the future but in the excellent story that Rogue Trader offers both 40k fans and the blessedly uninitiated.

1 Kenshi

Excellent, Highly Engaging Base Management

When it comes to synthesizing isometric RPG gameplay with base-building elements, Kenshi takes the cake as the most expansive and engaging title of them all. This surreal, brutal game is tough on beginners, but that challenge is a vital part of the appeal.

Managing anything from a small brewery in the swamps to a sprawling fortress out in the desert is a possibility in this game – or even keeping to yourself in a house within one of the towns that dot the landscape of this ruined world.