Grab RimWorld for cheaper than ever, and get its excellent expansions at a great price, too

RimWorld is a strange, beautiful gem of a game. Masquerading as a colony simulation experience, as you survive a daunting alien world, it's also arguably a story generator. For every haunting night that you barely see the next day, you'll also have a situation where your elderly colonist gets instantly wiped out by a meteor that decided to land exactly where he was. Or perhaps you slap a T. rex into learning its place in the world. Either way, it's an absolutely chaotic experience that rarely goes on offer, especially its DLC, yet they're all cheaper than ever with Fanatical's latest sale.

Each playthrough of RimWorld sees you send off a group of colonists, each with their own specialities, down to an alien planet. Different terrains bring various challenges, from the brutal cold of the poles to the parched deserts of the equator, and the background of each of your chosen few directly affects how they act and interact with each other - or with the world. That sounds simple enough, but the artificial intelligence of the storyteller is always willing to throw in a twist that might ruin all your plans, or might even save your skin.

It's a complex game that finds a balance between a survival simulator and a story generator. One of my first playthroughs saw the simple-minded 'Dave' endlessly chased by a rabies-infested rat, and despite my attempts at sending the other colonists to fight it off and save Dave, they were too drunk to do so. Dave died so his companions could have their lucky hour of fun, and in all honesty, they deserved it after a day of hard work.

RimWorld manages to become endlessly replayable, thanks to its intelligent storytelling approach. No playthrough is the same, and everything constantly feels different, making your experiences your own. One look at various communities from the RimWorld subreddit to the community forums on Steam highlights how different it can truly be, and you can also adjust the difficulty to make it more focused on stories over colony management, although the latter is still a core component of the game.

RimWorld rarely sees discounts, and if so, not by much. The largest discount off the typical price on Steam has been 20%, and some DLCs haven't even seen a drop in price. However, you can grab RimWorld for $25.54 / £20.79 at Fanatical, and add DLCs like Odyssey or Royalty to your library at 13% and 23% off, respectively. These discounts are available until Sunday, February 22, 2026, so I'd suggest buying the base game, getting used to it, and grabbing some DLC before the sale ends.

Considering the sheer amount of reviews with hundreds of hours of playtime, you'll definitely get your money's worth out of RimWorld. Honestly, it's underpriced for the sheer amount of fun it can truly be, but I'd recommend taking it easy on your first playthrough - it can be a nightmare to learn.