For the die-hard Minecraft fans, you probably know why gaming enthusiasts and critics alike have termed it as one of the most influential sandbox games ever created. The game lets you live in an infinite world, where you can create simple homes, castles, and many other blocky thrills.
Minecraft ideally popularize the open-world survival-and-crafting genre, and still remains to be a top popular video game all around the world.
In fact, it was the most viewed game on YouTube in 2019, with over 100 billion view in the entire platform.
However, even for some veteran crafters and miners, spending all that time dodging creepers and digging diamonds might be getting a bit stale.
So, if you’re one of those people looking for something a bit different, or fresh, we created a list of the best 15 games like Minecraft, which you should check out and play right now!
1. Roblox
Roblox is less of a game and much more of a platform for creating games. As such, there are thousands of games created by users, which offers a ton of unique gaming experiences.
And since Roblox is a free-to-play platform, it has amassed lots of great creators, and you’ll certainly find your love on it.
Roblox lets users create just about anything they can think of – you can build a giant skyscraper and watch it blow up spectacularly, or host a disco party complete with an on-stage DJ and disco lights.
Thanks to the game’s intricate editing tools, the possibilities are endless. There’s also a huge emphasis on the social aspects of building and dismantling stuff with friends, which are easy to make considering the game has over 100 million active users.
2. Trove
This is an action MMO game where you fight off the forces of Shadow in several realms, which are rife with mines, caverns, and dungeons created by the players themselves.
You can choose from a number of classes, including Dracolyte, Ice Sage, Knight, and many others as you learn new skills and gain more power.
The resemblance to Minecraft is immediately apparent, especially from the visual point of view. However, Trove is mainly concerned about being a good MMO game than a Minecraft clone, and it provides a wide range of classes specially designed to encourage and facilitate variation in gameplay.
The game’s implementation of dungeons, loot, and bosses draws from the well of RPG tropes, which helps deviate from the conventions of its inspiration. Oh, and there are lots of stuff to collect too. Collect supplies, create your own home, and become even more powerful the more you play Trove.
3. Don’t Starve
If you’ve played Minecraft and you want to recapture that feeling you had the first time you played Minecraft, then Don’t Starve is a great choice.
As the title suggests, the game is all about survival, and if you thought Minecraft was difficult in the beginning, then this is even harder.
The main emphasis of the game is staying alive by crafting shelter and tools despite the extremely limited resources.
One outstanding feature of the game is its wonderful gothic aesthetics, which appear like a children’s book integrated with H.P. Lovecraft. The gameplay is all about surviving – not forever, but for as long as possible.
4. Terraria
Many people describe Terraria as a 2D version of Minecraft, and for a good reason. A few of their elements are similar, though the mining and building aspects have the strongest resemblance.
Just as in Minecraft, there are many trees that will have to be slaughtered on your way to building shelter when first starting out, but it’s a necessary sacrifice because there are lots of things you could run into in the world of Terraria – some of which could slay you – as you try figuring out how you can use the steadily increasing pile of resources.
However, the core gameplay is all about defeating bosses. You have to constantly upgrade your gear to defeat the over 20 bosses. So, if you’re craving a bit more action and adventure, Terraria is the game for you.
5. Stardew Valley
There’s so much to manage in Stardew Valley, which could make you forget the core aspects of the game are similar to Minecraft.
Much of the game is all about building and expanding your portfolio and farm, and fighting to survive. And just as with Minecraft, you don’t want to spend time out at night or you could regret it. While there won’t be any zombies, you might still get attacked.
Some of the elements that set it apart from Minecraft include the ability for players to know their community, which allows you to form lasting relationships.
In fact, you could even get married with another player. There are also more ways to make money other than mining diamonds, and quests to complete.
6. Craft the World
This is another game that places great emphasis on craft and exploration. You have to regularly upgrade your gear and fight off attackers at night.
Plus, you won’t just be exploring the surface; the gameplay involves exploring different levels of earth to collect supplies.
You’ll also have a pack of dwarfs ready to be at your service. You can order them to go after enemies, dig, and build different structures.
While this sounds fun, you can’t ignore them. You need to cloth and feed them, otherwise they won’t be as effective. And besides keeping yourself alive, you need to also keep your dwarf army alive.
7. Terasology
This is an open source game, which you’d probably mistake for Minecraft were it not for the realistic in-game water.
It shares aesthetic elements of Minecraft, right down to the punchable cubes of dirt and blocky hands. Plus, as an open-source game, you can jump right into the development and expansion of the project, if that’s something you like to do.
Besides the building and destruction elements of Minecraft, the game boasts unique features such as players having the option to build an army of loyal minions to serve and defend your works.
8. Cube World
Cube World is set in a randomly generated world full of blocks for as far as your eyes can see, and has its roots in character progression and crafting.
It has a strong emphasis on cosmetic customization, with the ability to customize your character’s wearables and armor.
Players can build an arsenal of skills to help them trudge through the endless world. You can choose a class and a specialization for combat, which ideally turns the game from a mere exploration simulator to a great RPG adventure, complete with bosses to beat, missions, and creepy caves to explore.
9. Colony Survival
At first glance, this is a game that could easily be mistaken for Minecraft, but on a closer look, it’s actually a different beast.
Colony Survival is a unique blend of survival strategy and tower defense, where the player’s mission is to build a colony from scratch and defend it against monsters that could attack your establishment every night.
The gameplay is rife with colonists, who you can assign to different roles including farmers, guards, miners, etc., and are actually more intelligent than Minecraft’s average mumbling villager.
10. Lego Worlds
This game is heavily based on Minecraft, which by itself, takes a great deal of inspiration from Lego. You can build and destroy in plenty within Lego Worlds, where you can use the suite of available crafting tools to tear down entire environments.
There are also collectibles, a classic Lego gameplay, a campaign mode, and a theatrical narration by Peter Serafinowicz.
The game adds a “Lego” charm to a genre, which it’s actually partly responsible for creating. All this gives the game a rather infectious quality, and will easily charm its way into anyone looking for a Minecraft-like gaming experience.
11. Block Story
Block Story is a game that takes you into a wide open world where as a player, you have the ultimate control over all that goes around you.
You ideally decide where you want to go, harness power from other creatures, build any structure, and cobble up together any structures you want from the various 3D blocks available as you work to create a shelter in this incredibly colorful adventure.
There are 29 creatures to ride, and features such as RPG elements, sandbox exploration, along with plenty of options for the players to build within the vast game. In short, there’s a bit of something for everyone.
12. Eco
This game is all about developing a simulated ecosystem, complete with animals and plants all over the virtual world.
Players can collect resources, build, and even harvest crops they plant, while at the same time the clock ticks down to a meteor strike that will hit and engulf the world in flames and destroy your work.
You need to build a civilization before all this happens. While you construct shelter, look after your towns, collect supplies, hunt animals, create clothing, and research new technologies to improve the lives of your citizens.
13. Starbound
Starbound is a game that could be described as Terraria changed to a sci-fi setting. The huge difference here is that the players aren’t limited to just one location.
Rather than build a permanent base, you can have a starship for travelling between different planets and explore the universe.
The player’s class is determined by the kind of items your character has amassed, meaning your role and abilities will be a bit more rigid compared to the freeform gear system in Minecraft.
Nonetheless, since the Starbound world is procedurally generated, no two playthroughs will be the same.
14. Manic Digger
This is a free block-building sandbox game, that started as a third-party client for the classic version of Minecraft, but is currently available as a separate game.
The premise of the game is pretty familiar: craft objects and construct buildings on a destructible terrain. You have a near-unlimited number of square blocks to choose from.
The 8-bit look will be instantly recognizable, and the game allows you to build just about anything with the resources scattered all over the virtual world.
The recent night-time updates have helped spice things up, offering glorious twilight scenes.
15. Minetest
This is an open-source, near infinite world made in a sandbox game that’s not heavy on the specs. The game offers a survival multiplayer, which is one of its key highlights.
While you can easily download the game even on a 945GM Netbook, expect it to be rife with bugs. The terrain is also generated quite slowly. However, the game does offer regular patches and updates, meaning that it’s one serious project.
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