Want to play something else like Minecraft?
In Minecraft, you can build AND craft. What isn’t there to love about one of the most popular games of all time?
Minecraft allows you to channel your creativity perfectly in a randomly generated 3D world. While it’s available on many formats, the PC version allows for mods that consoles don’t allow. That means you can expand the game in ways you probably can’t even imagine. Heck, you haven’t played Minecraft until you have reached the moon!
But if you’ve played Minecraft until the cows come home, you might be looking for something new. Similar, but different. Thankfully, there are plenty of PC games like Minecraft out there. We’ve rounded up seven of the best games like Minecraft right here, so click on through and find the next game for you to sink hours into.
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Terraria
At a quick glance, you could dismiss Terraria as a “2D Minecraft” but that would be doing a disservice to its unique gameplay and feel. Terraria is less about creating your own little world and more about exploring the one you are in. There is an emphasis on exploration, and even though the worlds are procedurally generated, there’s never a shortage of things to find, collect, or fight.
Terraria’s focus on exploration gives way to plenty of interesting mechanics; you’ll meet various NPCs and hunt monsters for rare loot. In fact, the combat in Terraria takes a central role; mechanics are deep, and fights are reminiscent of classic boss fights from the 90s. Of course, mining and crafting mechanics remain at the heart of Terraria, however. At certain points in the game you will feel like you’re in a Metroidvania game; at other times, you’ll be relaxing while creating your perfect house. If you’re looking for one of the best games like Minecraft on PC, but one that offer a slightly different twist, Terraria is the obvious choice.
Lego Worlds
LEGO Worlds is essentially Minecraft made out of LEGO. What more could you want from a game?
Adding on to Traveller’s Tales’ ever-popular LEGO game franchise, LEGO Worlds moved away from storytelling and platform game mechanics. Instead, it’s a sandbox that allows players to get creative with LEGO in a digital space. Spread over multiple worlds, players can explore, collect pieces of LEGO and help NPCs out on various missions. But most importantly, players can build. LEGO is basically IRL Minecraft, so it only makes sense that a game like LEGO Worlds would come along in the first place.
The game has a little more structure to it than Minecraft, but it still offers the same open sandbox play. If you’re looking for one of the best games like Minecraft on PC, and you also happen to be a fan of LEGO, then LEGO Worlds is surely a must-have in your collection.
Read our review of LEGO Worlds
Roblox
Roblox is more of a platform than a game: it allows its players to create its own games from scratch, and other users can go in and play them. With over 150 million monthly active users, it’s one of the biggest games on the planet. That’s a lot of players.
Rather than building a world, though, Roblox allows you to create an entire game. The tools on offer are wide, allowing you to create any type of game you want. It doesn’t have to be a sandbox survival game; how about a platform game? Or maybe a shooter? Or even a racing game? Like all the best games like Minecraft, your only limit in Roblox is your imagination.
The game’s aesthetic will look familiar, too; Roblox has also opted for a blocky visual, which will make players of Minecraft feel instantly at home. It’s also free to play, although there is an in-game currency available that allows access to additional features and items. So it’s not entirely like Minecraft, but it shares enough in common that we feel it’s worth recommending as one of the best games like Minecraft on PC.
Play Roblox for free on Windows
The Sims 4
If building the perfect house is your favourite part of Minecraft, then you might as well be playing the granddaddy of home-building games: The Sims 4. While The Sims‘ gameplay is very different to Minecraft, there are a lot of similarities when it comes to the creative side of things. If Minecraft‘s creative mode is where you spend most of your time, then building a house in The Sims 4 will be right up your street.
The Sims 4 boasts various tools and hundreds of options to help you design your dream house. Like Minecraft, you can spend the whole time in build mode; and providing you use a few sneaky cheats to get them sim bucks, only your imagination is the limit. It doesn’t have to be a mansion; it could be a secret cult base, a restaurant, a haunted house – or a mix of all of them. If building is your favourite part of the game, then The Sims is without a doubt one of the best games like Minecraft on PC.
Colony Survival
More than any other title on this list of best games like Minecraft, Colony Survival is most likely to be mistaken for a Minecraft clone. But you shouldn’t dismiss it straight away; Colony Survival has enough going on to make it worthwhile in its own right. Sure, its world can at times feel like the Mega Bloks to Minecraft’s LEGO, but its gameplay really stands out. Colony Survival is essentially a tower defence game in a Minecraft-like world.
Everything that you craft, mine and gather is done by your colonists. All you have to do is manage them effectively, giving them jobs and keeping them safe. Bring on the horde of zombies that come each night. It’s up to you to recruit slingers and crossbowmen to repel them and build the walls to keep the rest of your people safe. It’s weird to play a tower defence game from a first-person perspective, but it is certainly a fun challenge.
Colony Survival is currently in Early Access on Steam, and it’s frequently being updated.
Don’t Starve
Not many people play the basic survival mode in Minecraft anymore. But the hardcore challenge is something that can be nerve-wrackingly difficult, yet still fill you with a sense of satisfaction that creative mode just can’t give you. That expertly-built redstone contraption seems much more impressive when you spent the first two weeks in a mud hut.
If you still enjoy Minecraft‘s survival mode, then you may well enjoy Don’t Starve. This game is pure crafting and survival. Each night will make you as tense as an England fan during a penalty shoot-out – providing you even make it as far as night time. This gothic masterpiece has you explore, harvest and craft to survive, but unlike Minecraft you will never feel safe; walls are hard to come by and even with them you could always starve! Don’t Starve is one of the best games like Minecraft on PC if you prefer the game’s survival elements.
Factorio
Factorio is for those red-stone wizards out there; those of you who have modded Minecraft into a self-crafting logistical wonderland. If you love building big bulky machines that are programmed to function in the most efficient way possible, then Factorio is one of the best games like Minecraft on PC. It even has a hostile world for you to manoeuvre as you build your crazy contraptions.
It is, as the name suggests, a factory crafter, with all the conveyor belts, grabbing arms and headaches you would expect from that description. However, the fact that you start with nearly nothing, in a totally unexplored world, and the fact you need to mine resources and craft new and exciting bits and bobs to upgrade your free flowing factory, makes Factorio an easy switch from modded Minecraft. It’s certainly worth playing if you’ve got something of a mechanical disposition.
