Colony management

Games which involve managing colonies of multiple characters. While individual colonists often have unique characteristics and unique wants and needs, players don't usually actually control individual colonists directly. Instead the player usually guides the economy and society of the colony as a whole, while the individual colonists go about things such as labor, recreation, sleeping, eating and forming relationships with other colonists independently of the player. Though the player can intervene on individual colonist's lives in differing ways (depending on the game), often by asking them to prioritise certain tasks or by prioritising tasks for the colony as a whole.

Notable examples include Dwarf Fortress, RimWorld and Oxygen Not Included.