Just got this game for Christmas and thought it would be the perfect sort of game for a RP.

Anyone else agree?

In what system though?

Sounds like a great idea, but I'll echo evileyore here. System of choice makes all the difference for me.

I agree with NowhereMan, it's an interesting idea that I'd be interested in trying in since I love the game, got nearly 450 hours on it. I am wondering what system you'd want to use for the RP though.

Well, there are a lot of systems a GM for something like this could use. Nearly anything post-apocalyptic would work perfectly, so long as mutation isn't baked into the core system and there are some mechanics for building up rather than just existing. Apocalypse World, Gamma World (no relation), and Mutant: Year Zero would all be Right Out, but that still leaves Savage Worlds's Broken Earth, Reign (One Roll Engine game specifically designed for building communities), Other Dust (OSR post-apocalypse game with useful sandbox mechanics), and probably a few that have slipped my mind at the moment.

It would be a ton of work on a GM, though. How would you see it playing out on a tabletop differently from how it would work on the computer?

Players would be individual colonists against a GM.

"Against".  I prefer "In Cooperation With".   ;)

That's what Tynan wants you to believe.

Count me at least curious. My limited understanding of Stars Without Number offers it as another potential system.

Oh! Yeah, that Other Dust I mentioned earlier is actually an offshoot of Stars Without Number, specifically meant for playing on Terra at the same time as your stellar adventurers in Stars Without Number are rediscovering space travel. So it's post-apocalyptic SWN, using the same OSR system but different classes.