29 Games Like Minecraft: Explore New Worlds in 2025
More than a decade after its official release, Minecraft remains an unshakable titan in the gaming world. Mojang's masterpiece defined a genre, sold hundreds of millions of copies, and became a global cultural phenomenon that continues to capture the imagination of players young and old. Its blend of limitless creativity, survival challenges, and serene exploration is a recipe for success that few have managed to replicate.
But what happens when you’ve built your dream castle, defeated the Ender Dragon for the tenth time, or simply crave a new world with a different flavor? The search for games that scratch that same itch can be daunting. Thankfully, the genre Minecraft pioneered has blossomed, giving rise to a host of incredible titles that take the core ideas of crafting, building, and surviving in exciting new directions. Whether you want a more intense survival experience, a deeper story, or a different setting to unleash your creativity, this is our definitive list of the 29 best games like Minecraft to explore in 2025.
The Best Survival-Focused Sandbox Games
These titles take the survival aspect of Minecraft and turn it up a notch, challenging you to overcome harsh environments, terrifying creatures, and complex crafting systems.
1. Valheim
This Viking-themed survival epic exploded in popularity for good reason. You are a fallen Viking warrior tasked with proving your worth to Odin by conquering a vast, procedurally generated purgatory. It combines tense survival mechanics with brutal combat and a rewarding progression system, all wrapped in a unique and beautiful low-poly art style.
2. Ark: Survival Evolved
If you ever wished Minecraft’s creepers were replaced with towering T-Rexes you could tame and ride, Ark is your game. This is a hardcore survival experience where you must hunt, harvest, craft, and build shelters to survive a hostile island teeming with prehistoric creatures.
3. Terraria
Often called "2D Minecraft," this description only scratches the surface. Terraria is a massive sandbox adventure with a heavy emphasis on combat and exploration. The world is filled with secrets to uncover, a huge variety of monsters to battle, and an incredible number of weapons, armor, and accessories to craft as you challenge epic bosses.
4. 7 Days to Die
Blending survival-crafting with tower defense and horror, this game pits you against hordes of zombies. By day, you’ll scavenge, craft, and fortify your base. By night—and especially every seventh night—you’ll be forced to defend your creation against a relentless, destructive wave of the undead.
5. The Forest
For those who want a truly terrifying survival experience, The Forest delivers. After a plane crash, you find yourself stranded in a dense forest inhabited by a society of cannibalistic mutants. You must build, explore, and survive while uncovering a deep, disturbing story about the island’s mysteries.
6. Subnautica
This game trades forests and caves for a breathtaking and terrifying alien ocean. After crash-landing on a water world, you must manage your oxygen supply while gathering resources to craft tools, submersibles, and underwater habitats. It’s a game of stunning beauty, profound isolation, and deep-sea horror.
7. Don't Starve Together
With its charming and spooky Tim Burton-esque art style, this is a challenging wilderness survival game. You must gather resources, craft items, and fend off strange creatures to survive a hostile, randomly generated world where every decision matters. It’s best played with friends, as the name implies.
8. Grounded
Imagine the movie "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" as a survival game. You play as a shrunken teenager trying to survive the perils of a suburban backyard. Spiders are colossal monsters, and a simple dewdrop is a vital source of water. It’s a creative and fun twist on the genre.
9. Rust
Rust is a multiplayer-only survival game that is notoriously unforgiving. The biggest threat isn't the wildlife; it's other players. You start with nothing and must gather, build, and fight to protect your loot from being stolen by others looking to do the same.
10. Vintage Story
For players who feel Minecraft's survival is too easy, Vintage Story offers a complex and deeply rewarding alternative. It focuses on realism, with detailed crafting processes like knapping stone tools, forming pottery, and managing food decay. It's a challenging and immersive sandbox experience.
11. Eco
This unique sandbox game gives players a shared goal: build a civilization and advance technology to stop a meteor from destroying the world, all without polluting the planet and destroying the ecosystem in the process. It's a fascinating simulation of society, economy, and environmental science.
Top Creative and Building Games
If your favorite part of Minecraft is simply building magnificent structures without the constant threat of a creeper blowing up your hard work, these games are for you.
12. Dragon Quest Builders 2
This title is a perfect fusion of a block-building sandbox and a charming Japanese RPG. It gives you the freedom to build amazing towns and structures but guides you with a heartwarming story and quests from villagers. It’s structured creativity at its finest.
13. LEGO Worlds
The ultimate digital LEGO set, this game lets you build anything you can imagine, brick by brick, in a massive, procedurally generated world. You can explore, discover treasures, and use powerful tools to shape the landscape and create entire towns.
14. Stardew Valley
While primarily a farming simulator, Stardew Valley shares Minecraft's DNA of turning a wild, overgrown piece of land into a personalized, thriving home. You design your farm, build relationships with townsfolk, and explore caves for resources, offering a similarly relaxing and creative loop.
15. Roblox
Less a single game and more a massive platform of user-created games, Roblox provides limitless tools for creation. Many of its most popular experiences are sandbox and survival games heavily inspired by Minecraft, but you can also build and share your very own creations with the world.
16. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
This charming life simulator gives you an entire deserted island to shape and decorate. You can craft furniture, design your home, and even terraform the landscape by building cliffs and redirecting rivers. It's a low-stress, highly creative game about building your own personal paradise.
17. Satisfactory
For the engineering-minded builder, Satisfactory is a first-person game about building massive, complex, and automated factories on an alien planet. It's all about optimizing production lines and creating a perfectly efficient system, much like building a complex Redstone contraption in Minecraft.
18. Scrap Mechanic
This is a multiplayer sandbox game that puts a massive emphasis on engineering and creativity. Players can build incredible vehicles, intricate machines, and moving houses using a powerful set of building parts and a user-friendly connection tool.
Epic Sandbox Games for Adventurers
These games capture Minecraft’s sense of boundless exploration, inviting you to discover vast and wondrous worlds full of secrets.
19. No Man's Sky
After a rocky launch, No Man's Sky has become one of the greatest exploration games ever made. You can explore a near-infinite, procedurally generated universe of unique planets. You’ll gather resources, build bases, trade with alien species, and chart the cosmos in a game that truly captures the feeling of endless discovery.
20. Starbound
Taking the 2D sandbox formula of Terraria to space, Starbound lets you explore an entire universe of planets. Each world has its own unique creatures, dungeons, and resources. You can build a base on a quiet forest moon, become a galactic bounty hunter, or uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations.
21. Astroneer
In this vibrant space sandbox, you play as an astronaut exploring and reshaping distant worlds. The unique terrain tool lets you dig, build, and sculpt the planet with ease. It's a chill, exploration-focused experience best enjoyed with friends as you build bases and uncover cosmic mysteries.
22. Deep Rock Galactic
A cooperative FPS with a twist, this game sends you and up to three friends on missions as dwarven space miners. You’ll explore procedurally generated, fully destructible cave systems to mine for valuable minerals while fending off hordes of alien bugs. It's a perfect mix of combat, exploration, and teamwork.
23. Hytale
From a team of developers with roots in the Minecraft community, Hytale is one of the most anticipated sandbox games. It promises a deep adventure mode with rich lore, powerful creative tools for building and scripting, and a variety of minigames, aiming to be a true evolution of the block-based genre.
24. Slime Rancher 2
A delightful and relaxing first-person adventure, Slime Rancher 2 tasks you with exploring a vibrant alien island, collecting adorable slimes, and building a sprawling conservatory. It's a game driven by exploration, resource management, and pure, colorful joy.
The Best 2D Games Like Minecraft
These games prove you don't need a third dimension to deliver a deep sandbox experience filled with crafting, building, and adventure.
25. Core Keeper
Mine, build, fight, craft, and farm in this 1-8 player mining sandbox adventure. Set in an ancient cavern of creatures and relics, you'll need to power up the ancient Core to survive. It combines the mining and base-building of Minecraft with the top-down combat of a classic ARPG.
26. Forager
Forager is an incredibly addictive 2D open-world game that blends mechanics from sandbox, idle, and exploration games. You start on a tiny island and slowly expand your territory, unlocking new skills, resources, and abilities at a frantic and satisfying pace.
27. Junk Jack
A charming 2D sandbox experience, Junk Jack encourages you to explore diverse planets, each with its own unique creatures, resources, and secrets. You can craft hundreds of items, build a cozy home, and farm exotic plants in this relaxing and content-rich adventure.
28. Necesse
This top-down sandbox action-adventure game can be played solo or with friends. Fight, mine, craft, and build a settlement to house villagers who will work for you. It's a fantastic blend of Terraria's adventure and RimWorld's colony simulation.
29. Creativerse
A free-to-play sandbox adventure with a distinct, vibrant art style. Explore a massive world, collect rare resources, and craft powerful tools to tame vicious creatures. Its building system is intuitive and powerful, allowing for incredibly detailed and complex creations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the closest game to Minecraft?
Terraria is often considered very close in spirit, offering a similar loop of mining, crafting, building, and fighting bosses, but in a 2D perspective with more emphasis on combat. For a 3D experience, Dragon Quest Builders 2 captures the creative building joy within a story-driven RPG framework.
Are there any good free games like Minecraft?
Yes! Roblox is a massive free-to-play platform with millions of user-created games, many of which are sandbox-style. Creativerse is another excellent free-to-play option that offers a deep building and exploration experience.
What is a good sandbox game for younger kids?
LEGO Worlds is a fantastic choice, as it brings the familiar and safe world of LEGO into a digital sandbox. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is another excellent, non-violent option focused on creativity, collection, and building a friendly community.