39 Great Games Like Minecraft ... For When You Don’t Feel Like Playing Minecraft
Craving the quiet serenity of a game like Minecraft, but don’t want to actually play Minecraft? Or maybe you feel as though you’ve seen everything the game has to offer you for now and want to try something a little different. There are a ton of Minecraft-esque titles out there in the world, and some are truly excellent swaps.
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It’s hard to follow up such a beloved product, of course, but some brave developers have done impressive jobs. Some center solely on survival, while others add rather unpredictable elements into the mix, like bloodthirsty zombies and deep-space aliens. But which one should you eagerly tear into? That really depends on what you’re looking for. We’ve assembled a list of 39 games like Minecraft that are well worth exploring.
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The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time
Blasting bugs with up to four players is a recipe for video game bliss, and Deep Rock Galactic nails the fun of being a space dwarf obsessed with mining and beards. In a world flooded with games laden with microtransactions, this game bucks the trend by keeping players engaged with an extremely well-crafted gameplay loop within procedurally generated levels. The game has had a vibrant evolution with patches and updates. Deep Rock Galactic is steeped in charm, and there are few games that provide such genuine fun in the co-op space.
Forager takes the crafting gameplay that’s become so addictive, and frames that within a bite-sized adventure that’s been lovingly developed to incite joy in players. There’s enough complexity to discover, but the game delivers concepts and mechanics steadily, eventually allowing for the creation of a wholesome, satisfying space. Where the game truly shines is in its unfolding, constantly dangling a delicious carrot for players to chase. There are challenging dungeons to discover and massive bosses to topple, so expect a plentiful array of gaming in Forager.
Imagine taking care of an entire farm of adorable little RPG-inspired slimes that can be picked up with a vacuum gun and plopped about to solve puzzles. Slime Rancher is exactly what it sounds like, and it is sticky-sweet cute. It is nigh impossible to play this game without wearing a big dumb smile. Better yet, a sequel may push the slime-farming idea even further.
Tapping into the deepest fears of humanity, Raft drops players into a vast ocean and arms them with a grappling hook to pull in drifting supplies while fighting off hungry sharks. It’s a game that balances resource management with bravery in a way that few survival games achieve, doing so at the very outset and keeping players hooked with an exciting array of craftable tools. The game eventually evolves into sharing a story and visiting islands, expanding the scope beyond the initial, rocksteady idea. Live out the classic conversation starter—what would you do if stranded at sea with up to eight players?
Subnautica and its sequel Subnautica: Below Zero perfectly capture what it means to explore an alien world rife with danger. The feeling of dread and wonder when seeing a Leviathan for the first time is an unmatched moment of game design brilliance. Unlike many survival games, Subnautica keeps things moving through specific goals that move the story forward, while allowing players to explore at their own pace. It’s satisfying to know that Subnautica can be finished, with defined ways to win.
While the game is still in Early Access, Grounded sets itself apart by chasing the idea of being small and fighting off insects while exploring a typical American backyard. There is a palpable sense of danger to playing because of the setting. Getting a group of friends together and exploring a colorful world through this unique perspective can lead to exceptional gaming.
Since making a splash upon its release, the game has seen steady improvements. Grounded seems to keep things small artistically but has a trajectory of growth that will likely keep players’ attention for years to come.
One of the coolest things about games with creative systems is the wacky ways people imagine new takes on gameplay using the tools available. Some of the most fun in gaming can be found in the Forge Mode of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Whether it’s becoming a duck running through obstacle courses as snipers pick away players or a classic round of Griffball, there is a rampant sense of whimsy in community-created modes. Countless hours can be lost laughing at the absurdity of Forge maps. It’s hard not to laugh at something like Forklift Sumo, which is exactly what it sounds like.
While Fallout as a franchise has stagnated and Fallout 76 released in one of the most notoriously rough states in recent memory, players who have stuck with the game claim that there is definitely fun to be had in the apocalyptic hills of West Virginia. Players are given lots of tools to build up a base to fight off mutants, zombies, and Mothman. The unique setting and weapon design is what draws in most players, but getting the right group of friends or gathering enough for a full server can make for awesome evenings. Just be prepared for a longer period of onboarding and performance drops.
One of the most absurd franchises in gaming history, Earth Defense Force: World Brothers adds voxel visuals to the straightforward gameplay of the series. There is a ton of block-related humor in World Brothers that will have fans of the survival genre laughing through most of their playtime. The core gameplay of blasting aliens and bugs remains intact, creating a light-hearted, ridiculous loop of action that is sure to shake up game nights.
Valheim is an evolving title that leans into Norse mythology. It creates a brutal world, begging for the bravest souls to find its secrets. Gathering a group of Vikings to tackle terrifying beasts or spending time developing one’s village is typical fare for survival games, but where Valheim stands out most is in its art direction and combat. The game has been crafted in a way that explores the genre’s tropes, making clever twists that might draw in those who have already exhausted other games in this style. Valheim is one of the best ways to inject some magic into gaming nights with friends.
Braving the Kraken-threatened seas as a pirate is the perfect framework for an open-world survival game. Sea of Thieves has continued to mold that vision through steady content releases and updates, creating one of the most enjoyable multiplayer titles available. Whether it’s barking sea shanties or fighting off skeletons for treasure, the organic nature of the gameplay keeps things interesting, even for longtime players. Fans of pirate fiction and media in particular owe it to themselves to spend some time in Sea of Thieves.
Sometimes the simple act of gathering items and trading or selling them to others can be exceptionally rewarding. For many, Runescape fits that role perfectly. While a few of the game’s older iterations are still supported, the newest version still offers the tried and true formula of improvement through repetition. Sure, there are dungeons to delve and quests to complete, but chipping away at a mining skill or fishing and cooking away your free time has always felt like the biggest appeal of Runescape.
Building a complex machine of systems is the name of the game in Satisfactory, a title that enables players to reach an extreme level of satisfaction. By mastering the way pieces connect, you can develop massive factories. Where players find the most fun though, is in creating a system unique to them—one that effectively supports the game’s main goals of gathering and processing raw materials on an alien planet. Once things are automated, seeing your results climb to astronomical heights is such a delightful dopamine hit. It also helps that the game is visually stunning, and simply living in this world is enjoyable.
While its art style represents one of the simpler examples in the genre, steady development updates have rekindled interest in Project Zomboid surprisingly well—a perfect example of how developer support can keep people engaged. The game’s difficulty and focus on extremely scarce basic resources makes for tension-filled moments and decision-making loaded with importance. Players can organically create factions, cooperate with others, or become terrifying raiders with the ultimate goal of surviving for as long as possible. Project Zomboid is deceptively simple, but offers a certain depth in its survival gameplay that is hard to find elsewhere.
Space Engineers takes the core gameplay of Minecraft, voxel-based mining and building, and expands it to space. In this game, you can build your own bases and spaceships from refined materials and journey through a solar system. The systems at work in Space Engineers are a bit complex, and it’s a game that can soak up hundreds of hours while you’re just getting the fundamentals of mining and building down. If you’ve ever thought Minecraft wasn’t “big picture” enough, then set your sights for the stars with this game.
Turn Minecraft into a 2D side-scroller, and you have Terraria. This very successful title has released on pretty much every platform available since its initial launch in 2011. In many ways, Terraria mirrors the aspects that make Minecraft so appealing while still retaining its own character and charm. The goals here are much the same. Explore a vast, randomly-generated world, build a base, mine materials, and fight enemies. There’s more emphasis on combat in Terraria, and you’ll face bosses and recruit NPCs that can help further your abilities, which might be appealing to anyone who thinks Minecraft can be too directionless and lonely.
Just as Terraria is a bit like Minecraft in 2D, Starbound is like if you changed Terraria to a sci-fi setting. The big difference here is that you’re not too attached to one location. Instead of building a permanent base, you have a starship which you can use to travel between planets and explore the cosmos. Your player class is determined by what items your character has equipped, and as such, your role and abilities are a bit more rigid than the freeform equipment system in Minecraft. Starbound also has a procedurally-generated world, so no two playthroughs are the same.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 goes beyond the original by adding new features, a whole new story, and a hub in the form of the Isle of Awakening. This game is story-driven while still allowing you the freedom to explore and create. There are a ton of NPCs in this game which can help you build and which all have their own stories and problems you must solve if you want to save the world. Square Enix came out of left field with this series, and Dragon Quest Builders 2 shows that the success of the first game was no fluke.
Space is dangerous, and few games exemplify that more than Astroneer. In this title, you have to mine for your life as you try to build a sustainable base of operations. Oxygen, energy, and resources all must be carefully managed as you continue to pierce further into the unknown. The building is streamlined, and your vehicles and buildings are 3D printed, so you might feel a bit stifled creatively. However, with so much to explore, including other planets once you craft your first rocket, you’ll probably appreciate the simplicity of the building system.
Stardew Valley is a game that lets you do a little bit of everything. The main objective is to fix up a farm bequeathed to you by your grandfather, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Your character can mine, fish, cook, craft, get married, and more. There’s also more intrigue in Stardew Valley’s world than you’d think at first glance, and solving all the mysteries takes hard work and dedication. The game even has multiplayer now, so you can farm with your friends.
After a rough launch, persistent updates by developer Hello Games have turned No Man’s Sky into one of the premier exploration games of this generation. There is (literally) no end to the number of star systems to explore, and you can build bases, have your own freighter, and solve a galaxy-spanning mystery. There’s so much to do in No Man’s Sky, and it got even bigger with the recent Beyond update that added full multiplayer to the game so you and your friends can trek through the stars.
Roblox is less of a game and more of a game creation platform. As such, there are thousands of player-created games which offer tons of different experiences. Since it’s a free-to-play platform, it has attracted a ton of great creators, and there’s a bit of something for everyone in the Roblox catalog. Roblox is a great platform to find some entertaining experiences and is a wonderful starting point for anyone wanting to take the building beyond the game and get started in the world of game development.
What if Minecraft had dinosaurs and everything (and everyone) wanted to kill you? Ark: Survival Evolved answers that question with a punishing multiplayer game that strands players on an island full of prehistoric animals with no resources other than their wits to survive. The base-building, crafting, and resource management is intense in Ark, and it’s often a frantic race for new players to obtain defensive items and shelter before they’re picked off by animals or other players. The action is more intense here than in Minecraft, but it still captures the building and exploration elements people love.
Many a Minecraft player knows the fear of huddling in a hastily built shelter in the side of a mountain while skeletons and spiders skitter around outside. Don’t Starve is like a whole game developed on that experience. The act of getting food and shelter is a constant struggle in this game, and fear of the dark plays a central role as the biggest dangers surface when the sun goes down. Death is a constant companion in Don’t Starve, and it’s not if you’ll survive, but how long you’ll survive that counts.
This voxel-based RPG is all about exploration, and it takes place in a massive procedurally-generated world. You can opt for one of four different classes: Warrior, Ranger, Rogue, or Mage to jump in and start making the fantasy world yours. You can craft weapons and other gear, take on quests, assist residents of the world, and fight off massive scads of bloodthirsty monsters. Earn gold, collect magic artifacts, and even discover magical items to help you along the way. There’s a lot going on in CubeWorld, which makes it a very close Minecraft analogue.
Legos themselves are made of bricks, and as such, the whole of Lego Worlds is made out of Lego bricks. That means you can pick them up, toss them, break structures, and manipulate at your will. Think of Lego Worlds as one massive Lego toy box, because that’s exactly what it is. Drop in prebuilt structures, create your own, and let your imagination run wild. This way you don’t have to worry about accidentally stepping on a few bricks left strewn about the floor. Double ouch.
You’ve no doubt heard of Fortnite by now, but you might not have tried the game mode that started it all. The free-to-play game’s Save the World mode isn’t a battle royale game at all, but a fun sandbox mode that’s all about building whatever your heart desires. Spawn weapons where you want them, collect Loot Llamas, and build incredible structures to share with your friends. The sky’s the limit—and by playing you’ll no doubt get some valuable Fortnite experience, too.
Trove is an action MMO where you’re forced to fight off the forces of Shadow throughout several realms rife with dungeons and items created by the players themselves. Choose from several classes, including the Ice Sage, Dracolyte, Knight, and more as you learn new abilities and gain more power. Travel throughout various fully destructible realms, ride on dragons, and conquer dragons solo or with friends. Oh yeah, there’s plenty of stuff to collect, too. Create your home, collect supplies, and become more powerful the more you play and eventually make the game world feel more like yours.
Your main objective in Rust is to ensure you survive, which is basically your objective in Minecraft. It’s just a lot more of an austere atmosphere in Rust, where you have to fight hunger, thirst, and even the cold as you battle against the elements. Other players are out to get you too, and you can even kill them to eat their meat, weirdly enough. Or, and hear us out on this, you can create alliances with them as well to make a town. Either way, this is a more adult version of the core survival components of Minecraft, even though it’s grittier than that game could ever hope to be.
Another expansive sandbox strategy game, Craft the World takes elements of games like Terraria and Dwarf Fortress to create a unique twist on the creative survival game. This time around, you explore another randomly-generated world with a tribe of dwarves at your beck and call to dig, attack enemies, and erect structures. Each level of earth in-game has new places to explore, and you’ll have to keep your wits about you as you collect supplies to craft, keep your dwarves clothed and fed, and primed for building creation and battle. It’s truly different from the other games in the pile, and it might take some getting used to, but it’s well worth getting acclimated for the challenge alone.
This adorable sandbox game is comprised of tiny pixels characters along with their colorful world. Travel across 12 different procedurally-generated planets rife with plenty of environments to explore as you tame and hang out with creatures, build a home, and gather supplies required for daily living. You can work alongside friends to farm exotic plants, grow flowers and other crops, and even collect items to display in your home. There’s even a fun Electronics system involved that lets you make your own fun contraptions, much like Minecraft’s Redstone offerings. There’s a ton to do here, and it should delight, specifically if you enjoy pixel art.
Eco is all about creating a simulated ecosystem rife with plants and animals all over the world. You need to build, collect resources, and harvest the crops you plant all the while time ticks down to a meteor strike that will engulf the world in flames and destroy all your handiwork. You’ve got to build up a civilization before this happens as you construct buildings, watch over towns, hunt animals, collect supplies, create clothing, and even work to research new tech to improve your citizens’ lives. Think you’ll be able to get the job done? Only way to find out is to play.
At first glance, Unturned looks like another friendly take on Minecraft, but play for a while and you’ll realize how sinister things really are. You play a survivor of some gross, zombie-infested ruins after society has long been exterminated—mostly. You and a few other survivors must work together to try and rebuild, all the while trying to eliminate zombies and keep them away. They won’t make survival easy for you either. You have to collect fruits and vegetables, hunt animals, fish for food, tend crops, and create shelters so you’ve got somewhere to go when the weather turns nasty. Do all of this while zombies are breathing down your neck. Not so peaceful now, huh?
Minecraft isn’t based on voxels, but don’t count those awesome little things out. That’s what Terasology uses, as it was actually born from a Minecraft-esque tech demo. It’s a hackable, modular game with tons of blocks to build with, creatures to explore, and survival as one of your most important goals. It’s a wide-open area rife with fun areas to check out with friends or solo, and it’s getting larger each day as developers continue working on it.
Block Story transports you to a wide open world where you have the ultimate control over everything that goes on around you. Decide where to go, what to build, harness the power of other creatures, and cobble together structures out of various 3D blocks as you work to carve out a home in this colorful adventure. With 29 creatures to ride, sandbox exploration, RPG elements, and plenty of options for players to build with, it’s a vast, expansive game that has a little something for everyone.
If you love sandbox play on Earth, just think about how fun it is in space. Starmade lets you create your own alliances with other spaceship owners as you work together to dominate various galaxies in partnership. You can also opt to just collect resources from throughout the galaxy to become one of the most powerful entities out there. It’s really up to you, what you do, but you have to protect yourself, collect resources, and build your own customizable ships as well as trade with others to make a living. With quadrillions of galaxies and a procedurally-generated infinite universe, you’ll never run out of real estate to explore.
Infiniminer has a lot in common with Minecraft in terms of aesthetics, but its core components are a bit different. This first-person adventure is all about competitive mining and takes place in a procedurally-generated world of blocks that you can build with and explore. It’s a fairly old game, but it’s still very much an exciting game if you’re into games like Minecraft, as it offers many of the same thrills, with endearing graphics and plenty to do and see.
One moment you’re on a plane, and the next you’re the lone survivor of said plane’s crash. You’re all alone on a bizarre island covered in forests as far as the eye can see. Your goal? Stay alive by avoiding a society of cannibalistic enemies who want nothing more than to have you for dinner. Like Minecraft, you’ll be forced to build your own dwelling, protect yourself against enemies, collect supplies, and eke out some semblance of a life as you avoid the forest-dwellers while waiting for rescue.
Blockstorm may not be a survival game, but it’s set in a similar universe to Minecraft, in that everything is crafted out of blocks you can destroy. Everything within the game that you see can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, and that’s part of what makes it so much fun. The voxel-based game editor lets you fully customize your game and share it with others, and you can edit every single facet of your character. Then destroy it all and start over if you’d like! It’s all about showing off what you come up with instead of staying alive, but sometimes that’s what you need—to flex your creative muscles.
39 Great Games Like Minecraft ... For When You Don’t Feel Like Playing Minecraft
Craving the quiet serenity of a game like Minecraft, but don’t want to actually play Minecraft? Or maybe you feel as though you’ve seen everything the game has to offer you for now and want to try something a little different. There are a ton of Minecraft-esque titles out there in the world, and some are truly excellent swaps.
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It’s hard to follow up such a beloved product, of course, but some brave developers have done impressive jobs. Some center solely on survival, while others add rather unpredictable elements into the mix, like bloodthirsty zombies and deep-space aliens. But which one should you eagerly tear into? That really depends on what you’re looking for. We’ve assembled a list of 39 games like Minecraft that are well worth exploring.
?? More Pop Mech-Approved Video Games:
The 40 Best PlayStation 4 Games
The 30 Best Nintendo Switch Games
The 25 Best Horror Games
The 25 Best VR Games
The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time
Love Minecraft, but want to try something a little different? Try these 39 great games that are similar to the classic, but stand out in their own awesome ways.
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