Discover games similar to Minecraft, and find your next adventure.
Minecraft: Java Edition is the original version of Mojang Studios' block-building sandbox, where you mine resources, craft tools and build anything from a simple shelter to sprawling cities, alone or with friends on a shared server. There's no fixed goal beyond what you set for yourself, whether that's surviving the night, exploring procedurally generated worlds, or just building for the love of it. We like it because that open-endedness means no two worlds, or two players' goals, ever look the same.
Available on PC, sold directly through minecraft.net rather than on Steam.
Showing 10 of 18 results
Brings survival, sandbox and open world to the table, with its own spin.
100%
match
Shares survival, open world and adventure with a similar overall feel.
96%
match
Built around survival, sandbox and building, much like the game you started from.
94%
match
Leans on survival, sandbox and building — the same pull that makes the original click.
91%
match
Brings building and multiplayer to the table, with its own spin.
84%
match
Shares open world, exploration and fantasy with a similar overall feel.
82%
match
Built around sandbox, simulator and fantasy, much like the game you started from.
79%
match
Leans on farming, crafting and building — the same pull that makes the original click.
77%
match
Brings sandbox, survival and open world to the table, with its own spin.
76%
match
Shares open world, exploration and adventure with a similar overall feel.
74%
match
We look for games that share something worth loving about Minecraft. The match score compares game data and is relative to the closest match in this list. Our picks below add our own perspective: why each game appeals to us, who it suits, and where it takes a different path.
Our picks, beyond the numbers
Minecraft rarely tells you what to do next, and that's the whole point. One session you're digging a mineshaft, the next you're terraforming a mountain into a castle, and the game is equally happy either way. Because the appeal is so open-ended, the games that feel most like it aren't always the ones that look like it — some share its building and crafting loop, others share its willingness to let you set your own goals.
We picked for that underlying freedom rather than for block-for-block visual similarity. A couple of these are close cousins in genre; others take the sandbox survival idea somewhere Minecraft itself doesn't go, whether that's a cozier farm or a harsher multiplayer island.
Our first choice for building and crafting in 2D
Terraria is the closest sibling here in spirit, even though it trades Minecraft's three-dimensional blocks for a 2D, side-scrolling world. Digging, fighting, exploring and building are all still the core loop, with randomly generated worlds and the same sense that you can set your own pace between combat and construction.
We'd point a Minecraft player here first because so much transfers directly: crafting progression, base building, a world worth digging into, plus online co-op and PvP if you want other people in it. It's a good match for someone who wants Minecraft's openness without needing the third dimension.
The side-scrolling perspective genuinely changes how building and exploring feel — you're working across a plane rather than through full 3D space. Go in expecting that adjustment, not a straight visual match for Minecraft.
For base-building with a clear, long-term goal
The Planet Crafter keeps Minecraft's crafting-and-building loop but gives it a single, concrete long-term project: terraforming a hostile alien planet by building machines that slowly add heat, oxygen and pressure until the world itself becomes livable.
We like it for a Minecraft player who wants that same resource-gathering and base-building satisfaction, but with a more structured, visible endpoint to work toward rather than Minecraft's fully open-ended progression. Online co-op supports a wide range of group sizes if you want to tackle the terraforming together.
Its sci-fi setting and singular terraforming goal make it a narrower, more directed experience than Minecraft's any-goal-you-want sandbox. Choose this one when you want building and crafting aimed at a specific, satisfying payoff.
For a tougher, more demanding survival sandbox
Vintage Story shares Minecraft's voxel-adjacent survival sandbox roots but is built to be noticeably less forgiving — it bills itself as an uncompromising wilderness survival game, with eldritch horror touches layered under its crafting and building systems, and settings that let you dial difficulty from creative all the way up to hardcore.
We'd recommend it to a Minecraft player who finds the base game's defaults a little too comfortable and wants the survival side of the sandbox to actually bite. Multiplayer is supported through self-hosted servers, with anti-griefing tools built in for groups who want to build together without worrying about it being torn down.
It's still in Early Access, though fully playable, and it isn't sold on Steam — you'll need to buy it directly from the developer or another storefront like Humble. Pick it for a harsher, stranger take on the formula, not for Minecraft's familiar ease of entry.
For a cozier, farming-focused building loop
Stardew Valley takes the satisfaction of building something from nothing and points it specifically at a farm: restoring an overgrown plot, raising animals, growing crops, and getting to know a town of around thirty people with their own schedules and relationships.
We like it for the Minecraft player whose favorite part is slow, steady progress on a home base rather than open-world exploration or combat. Up to eight players can farm together online, which makes it an easy group project in the same spirit as a shared Minecraft world.
Its scope is much smaller and far more structured than Minecraft's sandbox — seasons, festivals and specific skills to level all give it a defined shape Minecraft never imposes. Choose this one for a cozier, farming-centered version of the building-and-progress loop.
For survival building against other players
Rust keeps Minecraft's crafting and base-building at its core but reframes it entirely around other players: you gather resources and fortify a base specifically because someone else is going to try to raid it, with online PvP driving almost every decision you make.
We'd choose it for a Minecraft player who wants that same building satisfaction but craves real stakes — the tension of knowing your base might not survive the night is a very different motivator than Minecraft's typically low-pressure building.
The PvP focus and MMO-scale servers make it a much harsher, more adversarial experience than Minecraft's usual cooperative or solitary modes. Pick this one when competing with other players for survival is the appeal, not a peaceful building project.
For the closest sibling in genre, start with Terraria. The Planet Crafter is our pick for the same building loop aimed at a clear goal, and Vintage Story is where we'd send you for a tougher, more demanding version of survival. Stardew Valley is the choice for a cozier, farming-focused take on building something from nothing, and Rust is for players who want that same crafting loop with real stakes against other people.