18 Best Games Like Terraria
If you're on the lookout for games like Terraria, you're seeking a grand adventure in a sandbox world that's yours to shape and conquer. The search for similar games to Terraria is a hunt for experiences that blend deep exploration, a robust crafting system, and thrilling combat. The core appeal lies in the freedom to dig into the earth to find treasure, build anything from a simple shelter to a sprawling castle, and craft an ever-expanding arsenal of weapons and armor. These are games that reward your curiosity and challenge your skills with powerful bosses, pushing you to constantly explore, gather, and create in order to survive and thrive.
The thrill of Terraria comes from its unique blend of 2D action, deep RPG progression, and base building. If you enjoy that mix of genres, you might also appreciate the compelling loop of action and management found in our list of Games Like Cult of the Lamb.
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18 Games Like Terraria
1. Starbound
Often hailed as "Terraria in space," Starbound is arguably the most direct and expansive game like Terraria. It takes the beloved 2D sandbox formula and launches it into a procedurally generated universe with countless planets to explore. You can dig, fight, build, and craft your way through alien worlds, each with unique biomes, creatures, and dungeons.
The core gameplay loop is nearly identical: you gather resources, craft progressively better gear, and take on powerful bosses. However, Starbound adds a compelling story, different playable alien races with their own lore, and your very own starship to customize and use as a mobile base.
If your dream was to take Terraria's adventure to the stars, Starbound is a must-play title that builds upon the formula in exciting and creative ways.
2. Necesse
Necesse is a fantastic top-down 2D sandbox adventure that will feel instantly familiar to any Terraria fan. You can explore a procedurally generated world, mine for ores and treasures, and fight a host of dynamic bosses to progress through different tiers of gear and content.
Where it stands out is in its focus on colony building. You can recruit settlers who will work for you, adding a compelling management layer to the classic formula. The ability to build, farm, and defend your settlement adds a unique and rewarding goal to the standard exploration and combat loop.
With full multiplayer support, Necesse is an incredible alternative that captures the spirit of adventure while adding its own strategic twist.
The unique focus on recruiting and managing settlers adds a strategic layer of colony management, a core mechanic you can find more of in our list of Games Like RimWorld.
3. Core Keeper
Core Keeper is a mining sandbox adventure that masterfully captures the feeling of underground exploration that is central to Terraria. Played from a top-down perspective, you and up to seven friends can explore a vast, procedurally generated cavern filled with ancient secrets, valuable resources, and colossal boss creatures.
The gameplay loop is pure Terraria: you mine materials, craft better tools and armor, build a base of operations, and then challenge massive bosses to unlock new progression paths. The game excels at creating a sense of mystery and rewarding exploration, making every tunnel you dig a potential path to a new discovery.
4. Minecraft: Java Edition
As the game that popularized the sandbox survival genre, Minecraft is the 3D counterpart to Terraria's 2D world. Both games are built on the same foundational pillars: explore, mine, craft, and build. You start with nothing and must punch trees to gather resources, craft tools, and build a shelter to survive the night.
While Terraria has a stronger focus on combat and a more structured boss progression, Minecraft offers unparalleled freedom in building and creativity. The loop of digging deep for diamonds to craft better gear so you can face the Ender Dragon will feel right at home for any Terraria player looking to jump into a third dimension.
5. Valheim
Valheim is a 3D survival crafting game that brilliantly captures the boss-driven progression of Terraria. Set in a vast, procedurally generated Viking afterlife, you must explore, gather resources, and build a base to survive.
The core similarity is its brilliant progression system. You must hunt down and defeat a series of powerful bosses, and each one you vanquish grants you access to new biomes, new resources, and new crafting recipes. This structured objective within a sandbox world is the exact formula that makes Terraria so addictive, making Valheim a perfect 3D evolution of that concept.
6. Enshrouded
Enshrouded is a modern 3D survival-action RPG that shares much of its DNA with Terraria's sense of adventure and progression. You explore a vast, voxel-based world, allowing you incredible freedom to build and shape your environment. The game features a deep crafting system and a robust skill tree, letting you customize your character's combat style.
Like Terraria, the world is filled with dangerous areas, hidden treasures, and powerful enemies that gate your progress. The loop of exploring, finding better materials to craft stronger gear, and then being able to venture into even more dangerous territory is a core part of the experience.
7. Portal Knights
Portal Knights blends the sandbox crafting of games like Terraria and Minecraft with the structure of an action RPG. The world is made of floating islands connected by ancient portals, which you must reactivate by fighting bosses. The game features distinct character classes, skill trees, and fast-paced third-person combat.
The core gameplay of gathering resources, crafting gear and potions, and building a base is very similar. If you enjoy Terraria's combat and progression but want a more RPG-focused experience in a vibrant, block-based 3D world, Portal Knights is an excellent choice.
8. Dragon Quest Builders 2
This title is a masterful blend of a block-based sandbox and a story-driven JRPG. Dragon Quest Builders 2 tasks you with rebuilding a world destroyed by a malevolent cult. The core gameplay involves exploring large islands, gathering a huge variety of materials, and using them to craft items and construct entire towns for NPCs.
While more guided by its charming story, the fundamental loop of gathering, crafting, and building is incredibly deep and satisfying. The combat is simple but fun, and seeing the towns you build come to life is a reward in itself, making it a great fit for players who love the creative side of Terraria.
9. Don't Starve Together
Don't Starve Together is a 2D survival crafting game with a unique and challenging twist. Set in a gothic, whimsical world, the game's primary focus is on pure survival against the elements, hunger, and your own sanity. You must explore the world to find resources, craft tools and structures, and prepare for harsh seasonal changes.
While it has powerful bosses to fight, the core challenge comes from the world itself. It's a fantastic game like Terraria for players who love the crafting and exploration but want a much more intense and demanding survival experience. Playing with friends in co-op is a chaotic and unforgettable adventure.
10. Dragon Quest Builders
The first game in the series, Dragon Quest Builders, established the brilliant mix of sandbox building and RPG action. It is more structured than Terraria, with a story that guides you through rebuilding the world of Alefgard, but the core mechanics are very similar. You'll spend your time exploring, mining for materials, and crafting everything from swords to entire castles.
11. Don't Starve
This is the single-player version of the title above. Don't Starve offers the same brutal and charming survival experience, forcing you to use your wits to craft, hunt, and fight your way through a hostile world. It's a perfect choice for players who want to test their survival skills alone against the unforgiving, procedurally generated wilderness.
12. Crashlands
Crashlands is a story-driven action RPG with a massive emphasis on crafting. After crash-landing on an alien planet, you must explore a huge world, tame wild creatures, and craft your way to survival. The game features a "self-managing" inventory that removes a lot of tedious busywork, keeping the focus on adventure.
While it lacks the mining and world-shaping of Terraria, its progression is entirely driven by crafting. The loop of fighting monsters for their parts to craft better gear so you can fight even stronger monsters is very much in the spirit of Terraria's combat and preparation loop.
13. Stardew Valley
While primarily a farming and life simulation game, Stardew Valley shares some key elements with Terraria. The game features a mine with procedurally generated floors, where you'll dig for ores and fight monsters in a system that is simple yet reminiscent of early-game Terraria caving.
You use the materials you find to craft new tools and equipment. While the combat and RPG elements are much lighter and not the main focus, players who enjoy the peaceful aspects of Terraria—building a home, hoarding resources, and seeing gradual progress—will find a lot to love here.
If the calmer aspects of mining, farming, and building a home appeal to you most, you'll find even more great options in our list of Games Like Palia.
14. Noita
Noita is a magical action roguelike set in a world where every pixel is physically simulated. This means you can destroy and manipulate the environment with your crafted wands in incredible and chaotic ways. The feeling of digging your own path through the earth with an acid spell is very similar to the freedom of a Terraria pickaxe.
However, it is a roguelike with permadeath, not a sandbox RPG. You don't build a base or craft armor. It's recommended for players who are fascinated by Terraria's destructible world and want to see that concept pushed to its chaotic, simulated extreme.
15. Icarus
Icarus is a session-based survival game with a sci-fi twist. You and your friends drop from a space station onto a terraformed planet to complete missions within a time limit. The core gameplay is a loop of gathering resources, crafting tools and shelter, and surviving the harsh environment.
While it features deep crafting and survival mechanics, its session-based structure is a major departure from Terraria's persistent world. It’s for players who enjoy the challenge of starting fresh and the thrill of a high-stakes, time-sensitive mission.
16. Raft
Raft is a 3D survival crafting game set almost entirely on the open ocean. You start on a tiny 2x2 raft and must use your hook to fish debris from the water to expand your floating home. You'll explore islands, dive for resources, and defend yourself from a persistent shark.
The game shares the core survival crafting DNA of gathering resources to build and upgrade your base and gear. However, the unique, constantly moving setting offers a very different experience from the static, diggable world of Terraria.
17. RuneScape: Dragonwilds
RuneScape Dragonwilds is a masterfully crafted survival game that will feel deeply rewarding for any Terraria fan who loves a challenge. It brilliantly blends the quirky, magical, and medieval feel of the RuneScape universe with a modern survival crafting experience. Whether you're a series veteran or a newcomer, the game offers a rich and satisfying adventure that stands on its own.
The experience is a true survival adventure where progress is hard-won and feels incredibly rewarding. The early hours are described as "brutal in the best way," forcing you to learn the world's dangers as you struggle against hunger, thirst, and deadly creatures. The game doesn't hold your hand, making every small victory—from establishing a camp to crafting your first good set of gear—a meaningful achievement.
Where Dragonwilds truly shines is in its sense of adventure and combat. The world feels alive, constantly rewarding curiosity with meaningful quests, random events, and hidden vaults. The combat is dangerous and engaging, culminating in genuinely excellent, coordination-based boss fights that require strategy and teamwork, not just brute force. It's a fantastic shared adventure that's perfect for co-op, where every challenge overcome feels like a legendary tale in the making.
18. The Alters
The Alters is a unique sci-fi survival game with a strong psychological and base-management focus. You play as a worker who must create alternate versions of himself to survive on a desolate planet. The gameplay is less about sandbox exploration and more about managing the different needs and personalities of your "alters" to keep your base running.
While it is a survival game, its core mechanics are very different from the dig-craft-fight loop of Terraria, focusing instead on strategy and character interaction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What game is most similar to Terraria?
The game that is overwhelmingly considered the most similar to Terraria is Starbound. It's often called "Terraria in space" for good reason. It features the same 2D perspective and a nearly identical core gameplay loop of digging, crafting, fighting, and exploring. Other fantastic alternatives that capture the same spirit but from a top-down perspective are Core Keeper and Necesse, both of which focus heavily on underground exploration, crafting, and fighting bosses to progress.
What style of game is Terraria?
Terraria is a unique blend of several genres, but it is primarily a 2D sandbox action-adventure game. It combines the world-shaping, crafting, and building of a sandbox game like Minecraft with the combat, boss progression, and loot systems of an action-RPG. It also has strong exploration elements, often compared to "Metroidvania" games, where acquiring new items or defeating bosses grants you access to new areas and challenges.
What is better, Terraria or Starbound?
This is a classic debate, and the answer comes down to personal preference, as they excel in different areas. Terraria is often praised for having more depth in its content, with a tighter focus, more complex boss fights, and an incredibly vast arsenal of weapons and accessories. Starbound, on the other hand, offers more breadth, with a whole universe of planets to explore, a structured story campaign, playable alien races, and more emphasis on building and colonization. If you want a deep, combat-focused adventure on one world, choose Terraria. If you want a vast, exploration-focused journey across a universe, choose Starbound.
Is Terraria 2 confirmed?
No, Terraria 2 is not officially confirmed. The developers at Re-Logic have talked about the possibility for many years, but they have never formally announced its development. After releasing several "final" updates for the original game, their official stance is that they are working on a new game, but they have not confirmed if that game is Terraria 2 or something entirely different. For now, the original Terraria is considered a complete experience.
How many hours does it take to 100% Terraria?
The time it takes to "beat" or complete Terraria varies wildly. A first playthrough just to defeat the final boss could take anywhere from 50 to 80 hours. However, achieving 100% completion by getting all achievements is a much bigger task, often taking 150 to 200+ hours. This is due to the time-consuming nature of certain tasks, such as completing all the fishing quests, farming for extremely rare item drops, and purifying the entire world.
Is Terraria just 2D Minecraft?
This is a common misconception. While both games share the core sandbox mechanics of mining, crafting, and building, their focus is very different. Minecraft is primarily a creative building game with simpler survival elements. Terraria, on the other hand, is much more focused on combat, adventure, and RPG-style progression. Its main gameplay loop revolves around fighting a long series of challenging bosses, collecting a massive variety of loot, and customizing your character with complex gear setups, making it a much more structured action game.
Is Terraria good for multiplayer?
Yes, Terraria has a fantastic multiplayer experience and is considered by many to be even better when played with friends. Players can team up to explore the world, build elaborate bases, and, most importantly, take on the game's difficult bosses together. The game scales boss health based on the number of players, ensuring the challenge remains. Friends can also specialize in different "classes" (Melee, Ranged, Mage, Summoner), making co-op play strategic and incredibly fun.
About the Author
Miguel (austernotus) is a game developer and pixel artist who believes the best recommendations come from understanding a game's core systems. With a background that spans from high-level MMO PVP (2100+ in WoW) to professional SEO, his analysis goes beyond the surface to find the games you'll actually love.