Colony Simulation review
Ludeon Studios · 2018 · Reviewed by Flavius Bobouțanu ·
A brutally challenging yet endlessly rewarding colony sim where every playthrough tells a unique story of survival, tragedy, and triumph.
Overview
A brutally challenging colony sim that transforms spreadsheets into unforgettable stories. My journey with Warhammer 40k Space Marines turned survival into a saga of genetically-enhanced warriors carving a fortress into an alien mountainside.
The Story Generator
RimWorld isn't just a game—it's a story generator that turns your failures into legends. At its core, you manage colonists who've crash-landed on a procedurally generated alien world, surviving long enough to build a spaceship and escape. But the journey from three confused survivors to a thriving colony (or a burning crater) is where RimWorld reveals its genius. The game's secret weapon is its AI Storyteller system. Rather than scripted events, RimWorld employs three distinct AI directors—Cassandra Classic, Phoebe Chillax, and Randy Random—each with different approaches to creating drama. Cassandra ramps up difficulty steadily, Phoebe gives breathing room between catastrophes, and Randy is pure chaos. No two playthroughs feel the same.
My Warhammer 40k Playthrough: Three Warriors Against a World
For this playthrough, I installed the Warhammer 40k mod—a total conversion that transforms RimWorld into the grim darkness of the far future. I started with three genetically-enhanced warriors: Aureon Valerion, a Custodian Shield-Captain; Merek Thal, a Primaris Intercessor; and Kael Vorn, a Primaris Brother-Sergeant. These weren't ordinary colonists—they were post-human warriors, each worth a dozen normal humans in combat. Landing on a hostile rimworld, we immediately scouted for defensible terrain. The decision was unanimous: build inside the mountain. What followed was months of excavation, creating chambers deep within stone where our fortress-monastery would take shape. The early days were brutal—three warriors doing the work of an entire colony while fending off raids from xenos and heretics.
The Warriors
Meet the three Space Marines who would forge a legend on this hostile rimworld. Each brought unique skills and personalities that would shape our fortress-monastery's destiny.
Aureon Valerion
Shield-Captain
Leader of the colony who prioritizes defense and order, often clashing with more reckless colonists.
Merek Thal
Intercessor
Our melee expert, Merek is fearless in close combat and serves as the colony's primary close-quarters defender against raids.
Kael Vorn
Brother-Sergeant
Stoic tactician responsible for planning the colony's defenses and leading ranged combat during raids.
Some of you might be wondering why Kael is wielding a xenotech weapon. Some would call him a heretic. I just call it survival. Survival on one of the RimWorlds is hard, even for a Primaris Space Marine.
Building the Fortress-Monastery
As our mountain stronghold grew, so did its complexity. We carved out specialized chambers: a gene-laboratory for creating new Space Marines, an armory for power armor maintenance, a reclusiam for spiritual guidance, and kill-team preparation rooms. Every chamber served a purpose in our war machine. The fortress design was critical. Mountain bases are defensible but dangerous—cave-ins, infestations, and limited escape routes. We engineered kill-zones at choke points, overlapping fields of fire, and emergency bulkheads. When raids came, they entered a meat grinder. Bolter fire echoed through stone corridors as xenos learned why you don't assault a Space Marine fortress head-on.
Gene-Forging the Emperor's Finest
The 40k mod introduces an incredibly deep gene-seed system that perfectly captures the process of creating Space Marines. This isn't simple character creation—it's bio-engineering warriors.
Gene Manipulation Table
The heart of Space Marine creation. Here you manipulate gene-seed to create aspirants, selecting from different Chapters (Blood Angels, Ultramarines, Space Wolves) each with unique genetic traits and combat bonuses.
Gene-Seed Gestator
A bio-mechanical device that slowly grows gene-seed organs. Each organ takes time to mature—progenoid glands, ossmodula, biscopea. The process is delicate; rush it and you risk mutation. Success creates a superhuman warrior.
Sangprimus Portum Vault
A sacred vault storing pure gene-seed from the original Legions. Protected by multiple security measures, this is the genetic legacy of the Primarchs themselves. Lose this, and your Chapter's future dies with it.
Primarch Growth Vat
A sacred and highly advanced chamber designed to nurture the embryonic developments of a Primarch. Encased in reinforced adamantium and adorned with Mechanicus blessings, this vad regulates tempretaure, nutrient infusion, and genetic stability to ensure the flawless growth of the Emperor's demigods.
Systems That Feel Human (Even for Post-Humans)
What makes RimWorld special is how it transforms cold systems into warm stories. Even genetically-enhanced supersoldiers have personalities, preferences, and breaking points. Aureon's strict adherence to the Codex Astartes clashed with Merek's aggressive combat doctrine. Kael mediated, his tactical mind finding compromise. The depth of simulation is staggering. Every body part can be injured, infected, or replaced with bionics. Space Marines might be tough, but a plasma gun to the torso still leaves scars. Relationships form based on personality compatibility and shared experiences—bonds forged in combat are unbreakable. Temperature, nutrition, beauty, room quality affect even transhuman warriors. Mental breaks are rare for Space Marines, but when a warrior breaks, it's catastrophic.
Combat: For the Emperor!
Combat in modded RimWorld is tactical and spectacular. Space Marines don't just fight—they dominate. Watching Merek charge into melee with a chainsword while Kael provides covering fire with a bolter is pure 40k fantasy realized. The power armor, the weapons, the sheer lethality—it's intoxicating. But even Space Marines can fall. Raids scaled to match our strength. Ork WAAAGH!s brought dozens of greenskins. Chaos cultists wielded dark powers. Tyranid bio-forms tested our defenses. Every battle was won through superior positioning, firepower, and the Emperor's blessing. Losing even one Marine was devastating—hundreds of hours of gene-crafting gone in seconds.
The Modding Community's Endless Possibilities
The modding community deserves special mention. RimWorld's Workshop hosts over 40,000 mods, and the Warhammer 40k conversion is among the most ambitious. It adds weapons, armor, factions, gene-systems, and even psychic powers. This mod transformed RimWorld into a completely different game while maintaining the core colony sim experience. Other total conversions offer similar depth: Star Wars mods add Jedi and lightsabers, medieval fantasy mods create kingdoms, horror mods introduce eldritch threats. RimWorld's base game is excellent, but mods unlock infinite possibilities. Want to combine multiple mods? The community provides compatibility patches. The dedication is incredible.
The Verdict
After hundreds of hours across multiple colonies and mods, I still discover new emergent scenarios. A gene-seed vault breach during a raid. A Space Marine succumbing to the Black Rage. An Ork Warboss who just wouldn't die, taking three Marines to finally bring down. These moments aren't scripted—they emerge naturally from the simulation. RimWorld is a game that respects your time by wasting it completely. 'Just one more season' turns into sunrise. Every colony tells a story worth telling, whether it's a fortress-monastery standing against impossible odds or a tragic tale of extinction. The 40k mod elevated my experience from great to unforgettable. This isn't just one of the best colony sims ever made—it's one of the best games about creating stories through gameplay. For the Emperor. For the Imperium. For the stories only RimWorld can tell. Prepare for attachment, prepare for loss, and prepare to tell tales of that one colony where everything went wrong in the best possible way.
The good and the bad
Pros
- Unparalleled emergent storytelling
- Incredibly deep simulation systems
- Massive modding community
- Endless replayability
- Three AI storytellers create unique experiences
- Satisfying colony building progression
Cons
- Steep learning curve for new players
- Can be overwhelming with all the systems
- Art style may not appeal to everyone
Gallery
Mountain fortress exterior - our stronghold carved into stone Inside the fortress-monastery showing defensive positions The kill-zone - where raiders meet their end Kael Vorn defending the outer walls during a raid Power armor maintenance bay within the fortress The reclusiam - spiritual heart of our Chapter Combat encounter - Space Marines vs Ork WAAAGH! Gene-laboratory where new warriors are forged
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