Meeple Station vs Salem
Meeple Station
Meeple Station is a space-themed, sandbox simulation game that focuses a lot on exploration, trading and team management. In this game, you’ll need to build your starter space station and then venture out into the galaxy to find a place to set up shop, so to speak. Mine nearby resources and refine them into valuable bars and other alloys, and trade the resources you have with passing spaceships for resources that you don’t. Don’t forget to assign your meeples with tasks that suit their respective personalities, and give them everything they need to be content despite being cooped up in a tightly-packed space station.The game doesn't have a multiplayer mode (yet), but I can see the potential of having the game mode added in the future where players will be able to trade with each other and even raid other player’s stations to plunder resources. It’ll probably be somewhat similar to Minecraft’s multiplayer mode.
Overall, Meeple Station is definitely an early access game with plenty of potential. Despite the bugs and game issues, it is a rather fun sandbox game to play where you can build your own space station, explore the galaxy, mine and trade for resources, and manage your team of adorable meeples. If you’re interested, Meeple Station is currently available for purchase on Steam. Check it out!
Salem
Salem is an old-school and somewhat obscure (but fun) sandbox MMORPG that unlike Wurm Online has a stronger emphasis on its in-depth crafting system and survival aspect rather than building.Similar to Wurm Online though, Salem is not a voxel-based game, but you are still able to mold the game environment through resource gathering, mining and digging in a way that reminds me of the currently-shelved MMORPG, EverQuest Next: Landmark. Of course, although not exactly the focus of the game, you can still build your homestead and the process is quite similar to Wurm Online except that it occurs at a much higher speed.
Not to mention, the game world in Salem is simply humongous to the point where it feels like an actual world. Salem also borrowed some features from ArcheAge where open-world PvP is the norm, so you'll need to be vigilant at all times, but players who kill and steal for no reason will be labelled as criminals and can be punished.
However, as good as it is despite being an indie MMO and all, Salem does have its fair share of flaws due to its low development budget. So, we'd recommend you to take a look at Salem without carrying along any high expectations. It's a pretty good MMORPG like Minecraft, but if you're expecting a Minecraft clone, you may end up disappointing yourself.