Are you looking for games like Terraria? It’s one of the most popular sandbox adventure game despite its age, being released in 2011. With its massive amount of content: from challenging boss fights, deep crafting systems, base building, and endless digging, it has become one of the most beloved indie games of all time. Countless games still do collaborations or feature Terraria as additional content.
Top 5 Games Like Terraria (2026)
I first played Terraria with my brother around 2016, and it quickly became one of my favorite games ever. We grinded through nearly everything the game had to offer, collected most weapons and armor sets, and completed a full Hardmode run (without mods). Since then, I’ve been searching for games similar to Terraria. While nothing fully replaces it, several games come close.
If you’re craving that same sandbox adventure experience, here are the best Terraria-like games I’ve personally tried.
Core Keeper
Core Keeper is a top-down sandbox adventure game developed by Pugstorm and published by Fireshine Games and bilibili. This game gave me the most similar vibe and fun to Terraria, but it also has its own charms. I absolutely love the pixelated art style of the game, which adds to the overall experience. There’s a lot more content now compared to when I first played it more than a year ago, so it’s more interesting.
You get to have “classes” such as being a fisher when creating your character, but you’re definitely not limited to just fulfilling those roles. You get points whenever you level up a specific skill, such as melee, and unlock perks for them. Other than that, it includes the basics in these sandbox adventure games like crafting and fighting bosses. However, the bosses in their current state are quite predictable with their attacks and movement so it’s not that difficult compared to Terraria. There’s pretty much content for everyone out there, such as for the grinders and collectors.
Bonus points for also having the cutest animals that you keep at your base as they produce materials, and pets who follow you around that can either deal damage and help you in battle or provide stat boosts.
Don’t Starve Together
Don’t Starve Together is another popular sandbox survival game developed by Klei Entertainment which is a lot of fun to play with friends. To be honest, I didn’t get into DST when I first played it, and dropped it after my first two sessions. However, my friends and I got back into it and it did grow on me.
There are various characters that you can choose from such as Wendy and Willow, but some are locked as DLCs but you can also unlock them by weaving. Each character has their perks, but also their downsides so there’s always a challenge. I think it’s difficult, especially with the management of different aspects such as hunger, sanity, and health, all the while fighting the monsters and getting ready for the bosses. It’s quite peaceful at first, but it gets really hectic as you progress through the seasons and the nights get longer.
While there aren’t a million items in Don’t Starve Together compared to Terraria, it’s satisfying to be able to survive. There will also be a learning curve, but once you get the hang of things, DST is a lot of fun. Again, plus points for the cute beefalos and Chester!
Necesse
Necesse is a top-down sandbox adventure game developed by Fair Games ApS. It has been around since 2019, but it was released in Early Access. However, version 1.0 was released in October 2025 with a lot more content. The latest version is 1.1 released in December 2025. I believe it’s another game that’s quite similar to Terraria, although it differs in the way that there’s more focus on the settlements and having villagers. You can automate by utilizing the villagers to do stuff for you.
As for the bosses in Necesse, I think they aren’t as challenging compared to Terraria, but it might just be from my perspective. They are still a lot of fun to fight, and the game does throw a lot more enemies at you since it’s easier to move in the top-down set up compared to the side-scrolling in Terraria.
Starbound
Starbound was one of the first sandbox adventure games that I encountered years back that seemed the most similar to Terraria. I’ve tried it multiple times throughout the years, but I wasn’t able to fully get into it. I’ve always found it difficult in the beginning with the constant annoying enemies coming at me. However, there’s a heavy focus on exploration compared to the boss fights and arena building that we’re so used to in Terraria. There’s also a good amount of items and crafting that you can do.
Again, if you are familiar and used to how Terraria was, you’ll have to shift your mindset on Starbound. It’s also better to play vanilla first before getting into the mods since some may be overwhelming.
Minecraft
Minecraft is perhaps one of the most popular in the sandbox adventure genre. I’m quite a latecomer to the game since I didn’t have friends who wanted to play with me before, but once I got into it, it’s actually really nice. You’ll have to explore the various areas and face the constant threat of enemies during the night. However, I feel limited with the weapons and armors that we can get on Minecraft compared to the other sandbox adventure games.
While Minecraft is fun on its own, I still love the side-scrolling or top-down view of the other games on this list. It’s mostly reserved as a special mention, especially if you’ve already tried all of the games I’ve previously mentioned.
Stay tuned at thesleeplessgamer.com for more curated gaming lists, honest recommendations, and deep dives into the best sandbox, survival, and indie games worth playing.
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