The closest games like Minecraft are Hytale, Vintage Story and Terraria: the first two are 3D block worlds you mine, build and survive in, and Terraria moves the same dig-and-build loop into 2D. For free options, Luanti is an open-source voxel engine with Minecraft-style games, while Roblox and LEGO Fortnite Odyssey are free-to-play. Valheim, Enshrouded and Satisfactory suit players who want survival or construction on a bigger scale.
Platforms, release dates, multiplayer modes and price models checked as of October 2026.
What makes Minecraft special
Minecraft began as Markus Persson’s project, and he founded Mojang in 2009 to develop it. A public alpha appeared on May 17, 2009, and version 1.0 followed on November 18, 2011. Microsoft bought Mojang and the Minecraft brand in November 2014 for $2.5 billion. There are two main editions: Java Edition, the original PC version that supports player-made mods, and Bedrock Edition, the cross-platform version for consoles, phones and Windows. Entertainment Weekly reported in June 2026 that sales had passed 400 million copies, the most of any video game.
Mojang’s own spin-offs are not sandboxes. Minecraft Dungeons II, an action RPG, launched on September 29, 2026, while the first Dungeons got its final content update in 2022 and Minecraft Legends stopped receiving updates in 2024.
How to choose between Minecraft alternatives
- Closest to the original. Hytale, Vintage Story, Allumeria and Luanti keep the blocky look and the mine, craft and build routine.
- Goals and bosses. Dragon Quest Builders 2 adds a story campaign, while Terraria and Valheim tie progress to boss fights.
- Group size. Enshrouded supports up to 16 players on PC, Valheim 10 and Core Keeper eight. Satisfactory officially supports four.
- Platform. Hytale, Vintage Story and Allumeria are PC only. Terraria, Roblox, Luanti and LEGO Fortnite Odyssey also run on phones.
- Budget. Luanti, Roblox and LEGO Fortnite Odyssey cost nothing to play. Everything else is a one-time purchase, though some sell optional paid extras.
Block-building sandbox games like Minecraft
1. Hytale
Hytale grew out of Minecraft itself: people from the team behind the Hypixel Minecraft server started it in 2015. Riot Games canceled it in June 2025, but Hypixel’s founders, led by Simon Collins-Laflamme, bought it back that November and had it in early access about two months later. Exploration Mode covers mining, farming, crafting and home building, and Creative Mode adds building tools. Chapter I, released on October 12, 2026, added its first handcrafted dungeon and boss fight.
Developer: Hypixel Studios. Released: Early access since January 13, 2026. Platforms: PC (Windows, Linux, and Mac with Apple Silicon) through its own launcher, not Steam. Multiplayer: Online in every mode, with community servers or your own. Price: One-time purchase, from $19.99 at launch.
2. Vintage Story
Vintage Story started as Vintagecraft, a Minecraft mod by Tyron Madlener, and became a standalone game with far harsher survival. Where Minecraft lets you craft a wooden pickaxe within minutes, here the first tools are knapped from stone and the first pots shaped from clay, and metalworking comes much later. Seasons and food that spoils make winter something to plan for, temporal storms bring a creeping horror element, and peaceful and creative world settings suit players who want less pressure.
Developer: Anego Studios. Released: 2016, still in early access. Platforms: PC (Windows, Mac, Linux), sold on its own site, the Humble Store and itch.io rather than Steam. Multiplayer: Online servers. Price: One-time purchase ($24 as of October 2026), with no microtransactions or paid DLC.
3. Allumeria
Allumeria is a one-person project that leans further into adventure than Minecraft: you work outward from a starting forest, each biome has its own dungeons and bosses, and trinkets found along the way let you glide and climb. Its look is close enough to Minecraft that it briefly lost its Steam page. In February 2026 a DMCA notice sent on Microsoft’s behalf, alleging use of Minecraft content, got the page and demo pulled, and both returned after Microsoft withdrew the claim within about a day.
Developer: Unomelon, a solo developer now publishing as Infinimelon. Released: Early access since August 28, 2026. Platforms: PC (Windows). Multiplayer: Online co-op. Price: One-time purchase, with a free demo on Steam.
4. Dragon Quest Builders 2
Dragon Quest Builders 2 wraps block building in a full role-playing story. In its story, a cult called the Children of Hargon has turned the islands against building, and you win each one back by building for its people. The Isle of Awakening doubles as a co-op building sandbox.
Developer: Square Enix and Koei Tecmo’s Omega Force. Released: 2018 in Japan, 2019 worldwide. Platforms: Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One. Multiplayer: Online co-op for up to four, plus local wireless play on Switch. Price: One-time purchase, with free demos on Steam and PlayStation.
Survival and crafting in bigger open worlds
5. Valheim
Valheim casts you as a fallen Viking sent to a procedurally generated Norse afterlife. Its biomes bring tougher enemies in turn, and defeating the bosses spread across them drives progress. Building is a big draw, from rough huts to grand halls. It left early access on September 9, 2026, adding the Deep North biome and launching on PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 the same day.
Developer: Iron Gate (published by Coffee Stain Publishing). Released: 2026 (early access from 2021). Platforms: PC (Windows, Mac, Linux), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch 2. Multiplayer: Online co-op for up to 10, peer-to-peer or on a dedicated server, with cross-play. Price: One-time purchase.
6. Enshrouded
Enshrouded is the pick for Minecraft builders who want more detailed visuals. Its fantasy world lies partly under a lethal fog called the Shroud, and almost any terrain can be dug out or built up, so a base can sit on a cliff or inside one. Combat plays like an action RPG, and version 1.0, released on October 15, 2026, added Sparkworks, a logic system for wiring switches, traps, puzzles and enemy encounters into a build.
Developer: Keen Games. Released: 2026 (early access from 2024). Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5; Xbox Series X|S planned for spring 2027. Multiplayer: Online co-op for up to 16 on PC (the PS5 store lists eight), with dedicated servers on PC; no cross-play at launch. Price: One-time purchase.
7. 7 Days to Die
7 Days to Die keeps Minecraft’s destructible voxel world but sets it in a zombie apocalypse. Unlike Minecraft’s floating blocks, walls here need support, so an overhang built without pillars can come down. By default a Blood Moon horde attacks every seventh night, so each in-game week goes to looting towns and reinforcing the base.
Developer: The Fun Pimps. Released: 2024 (early access from 2013). Platforms: PC (Windows, Mac, Linux), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S. Multiplayer: Online co-op and PvP, with cross-play between PC and consoles since December 2024. Price: One-time purchase.
8. Satisfactory
Satisfactory is for Minecraft players who build automated farms and sprawling machines. It is a first-person factory builder in which a single smelter grows into a production chain stacked floors high, and the puzzle is keeping every line balanced as output grows. Trains and drones later carry goods between distant sites.
Developer: Coffee Stain Studios. Released: 2024 (early access from 2019). Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S. Multiplayer: Online co-op for up to four officially, with cross-play between Steam and Epic and between the consoles, but not PC to console; dedicated servers on PC only. Price: One-time purchase.
9. No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky stretches Minecraft’s mining and base building across a procedurally generated universe of more than 18 quintillion planets. You gather resources, set up bases and fly between star systems, and since the 2025 Voyagers update you can build large starships yourself. Hello Games has released more than 40 major updates, including the free COSMOS overhaul of space in September 2026.
Developer: Hello Games. Released: 2016. Platforms: PC (Windows, Mac), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2; iPhone and iPad due at the end of October 2026 (Hello Games announced October 28; the App Store lists October 29). Multiplayer: Online co-op with cross-play; the iPhone and iPad version will launch without multiplayer. Price: One-time purchase.
2D and top-down takes
10. Terraria
Terraria is the classic choice for players who want Minecraft’s digging and building with much more combat. Its procedurally generated 2D world is packed with caves, biomes and bosses, and each boss you beat opens up better gear. Re-Logic put sales at 70 million copies in May 2026 and still updates the game without microtransactions.
Developer: Re-Logic. Released: 2011. Platforms: PC (Windows, Mac, Linux), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, iOS, Android. Multiplayer: Online co-op and PvP; cross-play announced but not yet released as of October 2026. Price: One-time purchase.
11. Starbound
Starbound takes a Terraria-style 2D sandbox into space. With Earth destroyed, you start adrift in a damaged starship and travel to procedurally generated planets to mine, build and fight. Development has slowed: its last major content update came in 2019, though an Xbox version arrived in October 2024.
Developer: Chucklefish. Released: 2016 (early access from 2013). Platforms: PC (Windows, Mac, Linux), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S. Multiplayer: Online drop-in co-op, for up to four on Xbox. Price: One-time purchase.
12. Core Keeper
Core Keeper turns Minecraft’s caves into the whole map. Seen from above, you dig outward through new biomes, building a base, farming, fishing and automating resource gathering between fights with giant bosses. It also turns up, with cozier farming picks, among these games like Stardew Valley.
Developer: Pugstorm (published by Fireshine Games). Released: 2024 (early access from 2022). Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2. Multiplayer: Online co-op for up to eight (four on the original Switch), with dedicated servers on PC. Price: One-time purchase.
Free games like Minecraft
13. Luanti
Luanti, called Minetest until October 2024, is the free and open-source option. Perttu Ahola started it in 2010 to explore Minecraft’s mechanics, and it is now an engine for community-made games. One of the most downloaded, VoxeLibre (formerly MineClone2), says it is inspired by Minecraft, with survival, mining, farming and building, and thousands of mods can be installed from inside the game.
Developer: The Luanti team. Released: 2010. Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, Android. Multiplayer: Local play with friends and online servers. Price: Free and open source.
14. Roblox
Roblox is less a single game than a platform of millions of user-made games, which suits Minecraft players who mostly enjoy server minigames or making their own in Roblox Studio. Playing costs nothing, but avatar items and some games cost Robux, a virtual currency bought with real money.
Developer: Roblox Corporation. Released: 2006. Platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Xbox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Meta Quest. Multiplayer: Online only. Price: Free-to-play, with optional Robux purchases.
15. LEGO Fortnite Odyssey
LEGO Fortnite Odyssey is the survival-crafting mode inside Fortnite, made by Epic Games with the LEGO Group. You collect materials, craft tools and assemble buildings from LEGO pieces in an open world, with hunger, hostile creatures and death each optional. It launched as LEGO Fortnite in December 2023 and took the Odyssey name a year later, and in August 2026 Epic announced a faster Quick Build system.
Developer: Epic Games. Released: 2023. Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2, iOS (US App Store), Android. Multiplayer: Online, up to eight players per world. Price: Free-to-play as part of Fortnite, with in-game purchases.
Frequently asked questions
What is the closest game to Minecraft?
Hytale is the closest overall: a block-built 3D sandbox with mining, crafting, a creative mode and community servers, from the team behind the Hypixel Minecraft server. Vintage Story is closest for tougher survival, and Luanti’s VoxeLibre is the closest free option.
Are there free games like Minecraft?
Yes. The best games like Minecraft for free are Luanti, which is free and open source and runs the Minecraft-inspired VoxeLibre, plus Roblox and LEGO Fortnite Odyssey, which are free-to-play with optional purchases. Allumeria and Dragon Quest Builders 2 also have free demos on Steam.
Is Hytale out?
Yes, in early access. Hytale launched on January 13, 2026 for PC through its own launcher rather than Steam, after Riot Games canceled it in June 2025 and Hypixel’s founders bought it back that November. As of October 2026 there is no console version.
Which games are like Minecraft with better graphics?
Enshrouded is the strongest match, pairing reshapeable terrain and free-form building with a far more detailed fantasy world. Valheim offers Minecraft-style survival and base building in a moody Norse setting, and No Man’s Sky does the same across an entire universe.
What games like Minecraft are on Switch?
Terraria, Core Keeper, Dragon Quest Builders 2, No Man’s Sky and LEGO Fortnite Odyssey are all on the original Switch. Switch 2 adds Valheim, which arrived with its 1.0 release, plus Switch 2 editions of Core Keeper and No Man’s Sky, and LEGO Fortnite Odyssey runs on Switch 2 as well.
Lead photo: Natural cubic crystals of pyrite set in rock. Photo: Teravolt, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
