Top Lists
The 10 Best Games Like Terraria
What are the best games like Terraria?
Terraria is an action-adventure sandbox game that was first released in 2011 but has since been ported to many other consoles.
This game revolves around crafting, building, and combat in a procedurally generated world filled with a variety of creatures.
While Terraria is incredibly fun, if you want something new but similar, you’ve come to the right place!
The 10 Best Games Like Terraria
To create this list, we looked at many games and considered their gameplay and themes and how they compare to Terraria.
This has allowed us to find remarkably similar games, but ones that have enough unique content to be entertaining in their own right.
So, prepare your shovels and pickaxes for our list of the 10 best games like Terraria:
10. Dig Or Die
Kicking off our list, we have Dig or Die, a 2D sandbox crafting game that crashes players on a hostile planet.
Here, you will need to scramble to build structures and defenses to survive the hostile environment and attacking monsters.
Set in a science fiction world, Dig or Die can be played solo, with multiplayer co-op, or with a custom game mode.
There is also a huge emphasis on exploration, but also strategic survival, with massive attacks occurring every night.
The main goal is to scavenge enough to build a spacecraft to leave the planet, but this is easier said than done.
Sort of like Terraria in space; there is a ton of crafting and building to be done here in between the battles with the intelligent creatures.
Of course, you can always choose to chill out in creative mode if you want an easier time and all of the crafting items for free.
On the flip side, you can also turn on hazardous mode, which adds in surprise floods, volcano eruptions, and meteor showers!
9. Stardew Valley
Along with being one of the best games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley is also a great alternative to Terraria!
This simulation RPG is well known, and if you haven’t played it yet, you’re missing out.
In this game, players inherit a run-down farm from their grandfather and are tasked with fixing it up.
However, you can totally ignore your farm instead in favor of a number of other activities.
While players can grow crops or raise animals, they can also mine, forage, fish, cook, or chill with the townsfolk and get to know them.
There are a number of NPCs to learn about, including a couple you can marry and start a family with!
Although the game has been out for seven years now, it shows no signs of slowing down as more and more players continue to enjoy it.
The best thing about Stardew Valley is that it’s so open-ended you can literally keep playing it for years, building up your virtual life.
8. Oxygen Not Included
Oxygen Not Included is a phenomenally cute and funny survival game that never gets dull.
At the beginning of a new game, players start with three colonists on an asteroid with only a few pockets of breathable air to share.
Players must take care of these colonists and keep them alive while trying to build a successful colony.
This means managing the colonist’s hunger, waste, and oxygen levels, which will require certain equipment.
To help the colony thrive, players will also need to direct the colonists to perform certain jobs, such as collecting resources or researching new technology.
Additionally, every new game takes place in a randomly generated area, so each playthrough will be different.
While the art style is adorable, this game takes survival seriously, and it can be quite challenging to keep these colonists alive!
However, it is also incredibly addicting, and once you start playing, it’s easy to become invested in building a sustainable colony!
7. Don’t Starve
This survival game was released in 2013 and has since been ported to the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4.
Like a combination of the best PS5 horror games and Terraria, this game is dark but addictive.
Don’t Starve follows a scientist named Wilson who finds himself in a dark parallel universe known as the Constant.
Here, players have to do their best to keep Wilson alive, fed, and mentally healthy for as long as possible.
This is easier said than done, though, as supernatural enemies lurk around almost every corner, and they want nothing more than to eat him.
There is also an Adventure Mode, which adds more depth to the plot and pits Wilson against an antagonist named Maxwell.
Every new game starts with a randomly generated world, and death is permanent here, so caution is highly advised.
While this game is tough, what really makes it stand out is its art style, which was highly inspired by Tim Burton.
The horror aspects of this game also harken back to the famous director, with invisible horrors that attack if you’re caught without a light source at night!
Don’t Starve is a must-play for Terraria fans who enjoy a challenge and a little bit of nightmare fuel!
6. Dragon Quest Builders 2
Up next, we have Dragon Quest Builders 2, an RPG sandbox adventure game that was released in 2019.
As opposed to the typical turn-based style of previous Dragon Quest games, this game features a hack-and-slash combat system.
It also features the ability for players to gather resources and use them to build equipment and structures.
At the beginning of the game, players will find themselves washed up on the Isle of Awakening, where they must help the residents embrace creating.
Once the inhabitants stop believing that building is wicked, many secrets come out, and the plot takes an interesting turn.
However, the entire game is about the benefits of building, and there is plenty of that to be done!
In fact, you can build some seriously impressive structures in this game, and the process functions a lot like Minecraft.
Adding to that, the graphics and character design are really well done and have a cute anime flair.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of Terraria!
5. Growtopia
Growtopia is an MMO sandbox with a simple design and premise, but best of all, it’s free to play!
Released in 2012, Growtopia allows players to farm, trade, build, and even fight other players in PvP combat.
This game has no end goal, and there is no 100% completion to be found. Instead, everything is entirely open-ended and up to players.
When joining as a new player, you start off in the Tutorial world, where you’re taught the basics of playing the game.
After this, players can create their own worlds or visit worlds created by their friends.
Every world is procedurally generated, and players can set about breaking blocks for resources and using them to build whatever they want!
The only main downside is that this game is only available on iOS, Android, and PC.
It was previously available on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One but was discontinued so devs could focus on mobile and PC versions.
Regardless, Growtopia remains one of the best online games to play with friends when you just want to relax and build.
4. Forager
Forager is an open-world adventure game with a simple design but addicting gameplay.
In this game, players make progress by gathering resources, crafting, building structures, and solving puzzles.
It combines many of the mechanics commonly seen in idle games with elements of exploration and adventure.
Exploration is particularly important as it allows players to be able to find respawning resources.
Additionally, players can do a variety of tasks, including cooking, farming, fishing, hunting, mining, and more.
Forager is considered to be one of the best games like Harvest Moon, but it also greatly resembles Terraria.
Its laid-back gameplay makes it perfect for relaxing, while its adventure elements keep you engaged for hours.
Despite being simple and straightforward, Forager is a fantastic life sim game and a great alternative for Terraria fans.
3. Craft The World
Craft the World is a unique sandbox adventure game that is sort of like a mix between Terraria and Dwarf Fortress.
Like other games on our list, this one plops players into a procedurally generated world populated by dangerous creatures.
Here you can start to gather resources and build your own fortress, tools, and weapons.
Everything is presented in 2D, like Terraria, and there are a ton of battles to take part in when you need a break from building.
The only limits here are the ones of your own imagination, as you can build as high as you like and dig down into the molten magma.
However, you will also need to contend with waves of monsters that sometimes appear from portals!
To fend them off, you’ll need your own fortress that can keep you safe from their unwavering onslaught.
Oh, and you’ll also need to keep your band of dwarves alive with food and armor, so keep that in mind!
Although you only start off with a single dwarf, as your experience level increases, you will gain more.
Craft the World gives you the opportunity to build a thriving world, and it’s really hard to stop playing once you start!
2. Starbound
This action-adventure game takes place in a 2D procedurally generated universe where players can explore to their heart’s content.
Released as an early access game in 2016, it has since been released in full for PC and Xbox.
Exploration is vital in this game, as it is the only way to obtain new weapons, armor, and items you need to stay alive.
However, unlike other games like Terraria that are open-ended, Starbound has quests and story-driven missions.
Using their spaceships, players can explore the galaxy, pick up resources, terraform worlds, and take on alien enemies.
Players also have the ability to farm, sell crops, and build structures to rent out to NPC tenants for money.
While there was some controversy surrounding Starbound, it remains an all-around entertaining game.
It is certainly a charming sandbox game that can easily keep players occupied for hours on end.
1. Minecraft
Taking our number one spot is, of course, Minecraft, the titan of the sandbox genre.
Minecraft first went public in 2009 before being fully released in 2011, after which it became the best-selling game in history.
Since its humble beginnings, Minecraft has been ported to many different consoles, with over 238 million copies sold.
This game allows players to explore a block-filled, procedurally generated world that is virtually endless.
In this world, players can mine raw materials, chop down trees, plant crops, and build elaborate houses, mansions, and fortresses.
There are also different game modes, including survival mode, creative mode, and hardcore mode.
Minecraft also has a multiplayer mode, where players can interact and work together in the same world.
Aside from building, players will also have to watch out for a variety of enemies, including spiders, skeletons, zombies, and creepers.
Creepers are especially devastating because they can explode and totally ruin the house you’d been working on for days.
Players can also download the best Minecraft mods to shake things up further and add new content to the game.
If you’re a fan of Terraria and somehow haven’t played Minecraft yet, you’re definitely missing out!
Summary
We hope you’ve enjoyed our list of the 10 best games like Terraria, as much as we did playing all of them!
Terraria has remained one of the most popular sandbox crafting games in the world, but these alternatives are just as great!
If you haven’t yet checked out any of the games listed here, we highly recommend giving them a try, especially if you love Terraria!
Here’s a quick recap of the 10 best games like Terraria:
- Minecraft
- Starbound
- Craft The World
- Forager
- Growtopia
- Dragon Quest Builders 2
- Don’t Starve
- Oxygen Not Included
- Stardew Valley
- Dig Or Die