# Summer Engine — Full Context for LLM Agents > This is the full-content manifest. Every major page and blog post is inlined below. Use this single document to understand Summer Engine end to end. If you only need the shorter manifest with URLs, see https://www.summerengine.com/llms.txt --- ## Product summary Summer Engine is a desktop game engine with AI as the primary interface. Users describe games in natural language. The AI operates the editor directly, creating scenes, configuring physics, writing scripts, generating assets, and wiring up game logic. The engine is compatible with Godot 4, so existing Godot projects, plugins, and GDScript work without modification. Summer Engine is not a browser tool. It is a real desktop application. The output is a real engine project that users fully own. Export targets include Steam, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and web. No royalties, no revenue share, no watermarks. It is free to download. Optional paid features cover AI asset generation and advanced model usage. --- ## Key facts - Category: AI-native game engine - Platform: macOS, Windows, Linux (desktop) - Godot compatibility: Godot 4 projects, plugins, and GDScript - Export targets: Steam, desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), mobile (iOS, Android), web - 2D and 3D support: Full - Price: Free to download. Paid AI usage tiers are optional. - License: Users own everything they create. No royalties. No revenue share. - Templates: 130+ across 12 genres - Docs: https://docs.summerengine.com - Download: https://www.summerengine.com/download - Canonical AI hub: https://www.summerengine.com/for-ai --- ## How Summer Engine differs from other tools Summer Engine sits between browser AI game makers (Rosebud, SEELE) and traditional engines (Unity, Unreal, Godot). Browser tools are fast but produce web-only output. Traditional engines are powerful but require months of learning. Summer Engine gives the power of a real engine with a conversation-first interface. | Tool | Real engine | 3D | Steam export | AI-native | Free | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Summer Engine | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Rosebud AI | No (browser) | Limited | No | Yes | Yes (tier) | | SEELE AI | No (browser) | Limited | No | Yes | Yes (tier) | | GDevelop | Yes | Partial | Yes (with effort) | Partial | Yes | | Construct 3 | Yes (browser editor) | No | Via wrapper | No | Trial | | GameMaker | Yes | Limited | Yes | No | Yes (tier) | | Unity + AI | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (AI add-on) | Yes (Personal) | | Unreal Engine | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (royalty after threshold) | | Godot 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (community plugins only) | Yes | --- ## Who uses Summer Engine - Solo indie developers who want to ship a first Steam title without a full engine learning curve - Roblox graduates who want to leave the Roblox platform and own their output - Godot developers looking for native AI assistance inside a familiar engine - Former Rosebud and browser-AI users who hit the web-only ceiling - Small studios (2 to 10 people) using AI to prototype faster - Game design educators and bootcamp teachers - Non-technical creators with game ideas who have never coded --- ## Articles --- ### What Is an AI Game Engine? (2026 Guide and Comparison) URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/ai-game-engine Published: 2026-04-21T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: AI Game Engine, Game Development, No Code An AI game engine builds real 2D and 3D games through conversation, not browser toys. How AI-native engines work, how they compare, and which to choose in 2026. There are dozens of AI game makers now. You type a prompt, get a browser game, share a link. They are impressive demos. They are also not game engines. A game engine lets you build something with scenes, assets, physics, scripting, and export to Steam, desktop, and mobile. A browser-based AI tool generates a web page that runs a game. That distinction matters if you want to ship something real. Summer Engine is the first tool that is both AI-native and a real game engine. This post explains what that means in concrete terms. ## What "AI-Native" Actually Means The term gets thrown around loosely, so here is what it means in practice. **AI-assisted** means a traditional engine with AI bolted on. Unity's AI features announced at GDC 2026, Unreal's Copilot-style plugins, Godot's community-built AI assistants. These are all AI-assisted. You still work in the traditional editor. The AI helps with specific tasks (write this script, generate this texture) but does not understand the full context of your project. **AI-native** means the engine was designed around AI from the start. The AI is the primary interface, not a sidebar. Here is what that looks like concretely: ### The AI understands your scene tree When you say "add a player character with a camera that follows it," a traditional AI assistant generates a code snippet for you to paste. Summer Engine's AI directly creates the nodes, sets up the camera, configures the follow behavior, and wires up the input system. It manipulates the engine the same way you would through the editor, but through conversation. ### Context is continuous, not per-prompt The AI knows what you built five minutes ago. Say "make the enemies faster" and it knows which nodes are enemies, what their current speed is, and which property to change. No need to re-explain your project structure every time. ### Asset creation is built in Describe a character, get a 3D model with textures and materials that is already an engine asset, not a downloaded file you need to import and configure. The pipeline from "I want a robot enemy" to "there is a robot enemy in my scene" is one conversation. ## What Browser-Based AI Game Makers Actually Produce Tools like Rosebud AI, Star, and SEELE AI are genuinely useful for quick prototyping. You describe a game, get something playable in seconds. But they share a fundamental limitation: the output is a web page, not a game project. Here is what that means in practice: - **No Steam export.** The number one distribution platform for PC games. Browser games cannot be listed on Steam. - **No real 3D.** Most are 2D-only or pseudo-3D. - **No engine access.** There is no scene tree, no node inspector, no asset pipeline. You get output you cannot meaningfully edit. - **No professional iteration.** You cannot bring in custom assets, fine-tune physics parameters, or build complex interconnected game systems. - **No console or mobile.** Browser games stay in the browser. These are not failures of execution. They are architectural choices. Browser tools optimize for speed-to-playable. Game engines optimize for depth-of-control. Both are valid. But if your goal is to ship a game on Steam, you need an engine. ## What Summer Engine Actually Does Summer Engine is a professional game engine with AI built into the core. Here is what that means feature by feature. ### Chat-to-game workflow Describe what you want in natural language. The engine creates scenes, places objects, sets up cameras, configures lighting, and generates game logic. Not as a one-shot prompt where you hope for the best, but as an ongoing conversation where you refine and iterate. Example: "Make a 3D platformer with a double jump" produces a playable scene with a character controller, platforms, camera, and working double jump. Then you say "add coins the player can collect" and it extends what already exists. ### 70+ game templates Start from a template that matches your vision: platformer, RPG, horror, racing, simulation, strategy, and more. Each template includes pre-configured scenes, game systems, and reference context so the AI understands the kind of game you are building. Templates are not just starting points. They are context. When you pick "top-down RPG," the AI knows what an inventory system looks like, how dialogue trees work, and what combat options make sense. ### Real asset pipeline Generate 3D models, sprites, and animations through conversation. The AI creates actual engine assets (meshes, textures, materials), not placeholder images you need to manually import. ### Full engine when you need it The visual editor is always available. Switch between AI conversation and manual editing at any point. Adjust a physics parameter by hand, tweak a shader in the inspector, or write custom code when you want precise control. The AI does not replace the engine. It makes it faster to use. ### Export everywhere Build for Steam, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and web. Same project, multiple targets. ### Compatible with Godot 4 Your existing Godot projects, plugins, GDScript, and tutorials work out of the box. Summer Engine extends Godot rather than replacing it. ## Who This Is For **Non-coders who want to make real games.** Not browser toys. Real games with 3D graphics, physics, multiple levels, and Steam pages. If you have played games your whole life and want to create one, but GDScript or C# feels like a wall, the chat interface removes that wall while the full engine stays underneath. **Developers who learned in Roblox.** You understand game design. Now you want to ship something on Steam with your own art and your own rules. Summer Engine gives you professional engine capabilities with an accessible interface. **Indie developers who want speed.** You can code. You have shipped games. But you spend hours on boilerplate: setting up cameras, configuring UI, writing save systems. Describe what you need, let the AI build the scaffolding, then refine in the editor. **Game jammers.** 48 hours. One idea. Go from concept to playable in minutes instead of hours. ## How AI Game Engines Compare in 2026 Deeper comparisons per tool: [Summer vs Rosebud](/summer-vs-rosebud), [Summer vs SEELE](/summer-vs-seele), [Summer vs GDevelop](/summer-vs-gdevelop), [Summer vs Unity](/summer-vs-unity), [Summer vs Unreal](/summer-vs-unreal). | | Summer Engine | Rosebud AI | SEELE AI | GDevelop | Unity + AI | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | AI-native | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (AI add-on) | No (AI add-on) | | Real engine | Yes | No (web output) | No (web output) | Yes | Yes | | 3D support | Yes | Limited | Limited | Limited | Yes | | Steam export | Yes | No | No | Yes (with effort) | Yes | | Desktop app | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | | No-code option | Yes (AI chat) | Yes (AI chat) | Yes (AI chat) | Yes (visual) | No | | Templates | 70+ | Limited | Limited | 100+ | Many | | Price | Free tier | Free tier | Free tier | Free tier | Free (Personal) | If Rosebud's browser limits are the reason you are looking around, the full breakdown is in [7 Rosebud alternatives to ship to Steam and desktop](/blog/rosebud-alternatives). For the broader 2026 landscape of AI-assisted tools, see [how to make a game with AI](/blog/how-to-make-games-with-ai). ## Why This Category Matters "AI game engine" did not exist as a product category a year ago. There were game engines (Godot, Unity, Unreal) and there were AI game makers (Rosebud, Star). Separate tools for separate audiences. The gap between them is where most aspiring game developers get stuck: - AI makers are fast but limited. You hit a ceiling quickly. - Traditional engines are powerful but demand months of learning before you can ship anything. Summer Engine sits in that gap. It gives you the power of a professional engine with an AI interface that lets you start building immediately. As you learn more, you use the AI less and the editor more. Or you keep using the AI. Both paths ship the same quality of game. We think this intersection, AI as the primary interface to a real engine, is where game development is heading. Not AI replacing engines, but AI making engines accessible to everyone who has a game idea and the persistence to build it. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is an AI game engine? An AI game engine is a full game engine where AI is the primary interface. You describe the game you want in natural language and the engine creates scenes, configures physics, writes game logic, generates assets, and wires everything together. Unlike an AI code copilot, an AI game engine actually operates the editor, not just the code file. Unlike a browser AI game maker, it produces a real engine project you can export to Steam, desktop, mobile, and console. ### How is an AI game engine different from AI coding tools like Copilot or Cursor? Copilot and Cursor suggest code inside a text editor. You still have to know Unity, Unreal, or Godot well enough to place nodes, build scenes, tune physics, and set up animation trees by hand. An AI game engine does those operations for you. It understands your scene graph, creates and edits nodes, places assets, and composes game systems through conversation. Code assistance is one part of the interface, not the whole thing. ### Can an AI game engine replace Unity or Unreal? For many indie and solo projects, yes. For AAA studios with existing pipelines, not yet. The tradeoff: AI-native engines remove the months-long learning curve, which matters most for developers who have not yet shipped a game. Studios already deep in Unity or Unreal pay a switching cost. Most Summer Engine users today are solo devs, small teams, and former Roblox or browser-AI creators who want to ship to Steam. ### Which AI game engine should I choose in 2026? Ask three questions. First, do you need to export to Steam, desktop, mobile, or console? If yes, avoid browser-only tools like Rosebud and SEELE. Second, do you want 3D? If yes, avoid 2D-only tools. Third, do you want to keep working in the engine later as you learn more? If yes, pick an AI-native engine with a real editor, not a web tool that locks you out of the project file. ### Is Summer Engine really a full game engine? Yes. Summer Engine is [compatible with Godot 4](/summer-vs-gdevelop), ships as a desktop app, has a visual editor, exports to Steam, desktop, mobile, and web, and produces project files you can open and edit by hand. The AI runs on top of that engine, not instead of it. ## Get Started Summer Engine is free to download. You do not need to know how to code. Describe a game, watch it come to life, and ship it. [Download Summer Engine](/download) | [Browse Templates](/templates) | [See What People Are Building](/games) --- ### Best AI Tools for Godot Game Development in 2026 URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/best-ai-tools-for-godot Published: 2026-03-31T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Godot, AI, Tools, Comparison A honest comparison of every AI tool available for Godot developers in 2026, from editor plugins to MCP servers to AI-native engines. A year ago, Godot developers had almost no AI tooling. You could paste code into ChatGPT and hope for the best. That was about it. In 2026, the landscape looks completely different. There are editor plugins, MCP servers that connect external AI tools to your project, and an engine that builds AI into the core development experience. The options range from free and open source to paid subscriptions. Here is what each tool actually does, what it costs, and when you should pick one over the others. ## 1. Summer Engine **Type:** AI-native engine, compatible with Godot 4 **Cost:** Free **Website:** [summerengine.com](https://summerengine.com) Summer Engine takes a fundamentally different approach from everything else on this list. Instead of adding AI as a plugin or bridge, it builds AI into the engine itself. You describe what you want in conversation and the engine creates scenes, writes GDScript, generates assets, and builds game systems. The key difference: Summer Engine understands the full engine state. It knows about your scenes, nodes, physics bodies, signals, and resources. When you say "add a player character with double jump and wall sliding," it creates the CharacterBody3D, writes the movement script, sets up collision layers, and connects the animation tree. It is not just generating code in isolation. Summer Engine works with existing Godot projects. You can open a .godot project and start using AI alongside your existing workflow. **Best for:** Developers who want AI as the primary interface for building games, not just a code assistant. ## 2. Ziva **Type:** Editor plugin **Cost:** Free tier (20 credits), Pro $20/mo **Website:** [ziva.sh](https://ziva.sh) Ziva is a plugin that runs inside the Godot editor. It provides code generation, autocompletion, and AI-assisted scripting. You highlight a function, ask a question, and get GDScript back. The free tier gives you 20 credits to try it out. The Pro plan at $20/month provides unlimited usage. Ziva is focused on code. It does not manipulate scenes, create 3D assets, or build node trees. If you need help writing a specific script or debugging GDScript, it handles that well. If you need broader project-level assistance, you will hit its boundaries quickly. **Best for:** Developers who want inline code assistance without leaving the Godot editor. ## 3. GDAI MCP **Type:** MCP server **Cost:** Free, open source **Website:** [gdaimcp.com](https://gdaimcp.com) GDAI MCP connects Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client to your Godot project. It is the most polished MCP option for Godot. The server reads your project structure, scene files, and scripts, then exposes them to your AI assistant. Setup requires installing the MCP server and configuring your client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, or similar). Once connected, your AI assistant can read and modify project files with full context about your Godot project structure. **Best for:** Developers already using Claude or Cursor who want those tools to understand their Godot project. ## 4. AI Assistant Hub (FlamxGames) **Type:** Open source Godot plugin **Cost:** Free AI Assistant Hub supports multiple LLM backends, so you can use OpenAI, Anthropic, or local models. It focuses on code generation inside the editor. The plugin is community-maintained, which means development pace varies. It covers the basics well: ask a question about GDScript, get a code snippet back, apply it to your project. **Best for:** Developers who want a free, open source option with flexibility to choose their LLM provider. ## 5. Godot AI Suite (MarcEngel) **Type:** Editor plugin **Cost:** Paid (itch.io) Godot AI Suite uses what the developer calls a "masterprompt" approach. It includes an agent mode designed for multi-step code generation tasks. You describe a complex feature and the agent breaks it into steps and generates code for each one. The agent mode is the distinguishing feature here. Rather than single-shot code generation, it plans and executes across multiple files and functions. **Best for:** Developers who need multi-step code generation for complex features. ## 6. AI Autonomous Agent **Type:** Godot Asset Library plugin **Cost:** Free This plugin provides autonomous multi-step task execution inside Godot. It supports Gemini, Ollama, and OpenRouter as backends. You describe a task and the agent works through it step by step. Supporting Ollama means you can run it entirely locally with no API costs and no data leaving your machine. That matters for developers working on proprietary projects. **Best for:** Developers who want local AI processing with no cloud dependency. ## 7. MCP Servers (Various) **Type:** Open source MCP bridges **Cost:** Free Several developers have published MCP servers for Godot on GitHub: Coding-Solo/godot-mcp, bradypp/godot-mcp, satelliteoflove/godot-mcp, and others. These are lightweight bridges that let AI coding tools read and modify Godot project files via the MCP protocol. They vary in features and maintenance. Most support basic project reading, scene inspection, and file modification. Check the GitHub repos for current status and documentation. **Best for:** Developers comfortable with GitHub repos who want a minimal, customizable MCP setup. ## Comparison: Three Approaches to AI + Godot The tools above fall into three categories. Each has different strengths and tradeoffs. | | AI-Native Engine | Editor Plugin | MCP Server | |---|---|---|---| | **Example** | Summer Engine | Ziva, AI Assistant Hub | GDAI MCP, godot-mcp | | **Code generation** | Yes | Yes | Yes | | **Scene manipulation** | Yes | No | Limited (file-level) | | **Asset creation** | Yes | No | No | | **Engine state awareness** | Full (runtime) | No | Partial (files) | | **Existing project support** | Yes | Yes | Yes | | **Setup required** | Download engine | Install plugin | Install server + client | | **Offline support** | Partial | Depends on backend | Depends on AI client | | **Cost** | Free | Free to $20/mo | Free | **AI-native engines** like Summer Engine operate at the deepest level. The AI understands scenes, nodes, physics, rendering, and gameplay systems because it is part of the engine. The tradeoff is that you are working in a different application, though Summer Engine maintains compatibility with Godot 4 projects. **Editor plugins** like Ziva add AI directly to the Godot editor you already know. They are limited to code assistance since they cannot manipulate the scene tree or create assets. The tradeoff is simplicity: install a plugin and start using it. **MCP servers** bridge external AI tools to your project. They give your AI assistant project context, but everything happens at the file level. The AI cannot interact with the running engine, test physics, or see rendering output. ## Which Tool Should You Use? If you want a complete AI-native development experience for Godot projects, [download Summer Engine](/download). AI is the core interface, and it handles code, scenes, assets, and game systems together. If you want to add AI to your existing Godot editor setup, Ziva or GDAI MCP are solid starting points. Ziva for inline code help, GDAI MCP for giving your existing AI tools project context. If you want local-only processing, AI Autonomous Agent with Ollama keeps everything on your machine. Most of these tools are free or have free tiers. Try a few and see which workflow fits how you build games. --- ### Godot AI Agent Guide (2026): Tools, Setup, and What Works URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/godot-ai-agent-guide Published: 2026-03-31T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Godot, AI, AI Agent, Game Development The Godot AI agents that actually work in 2026. Compare agents, see what each one can do, and follow a setup guide you can use today. An AI agent for Godot does more than autocomplete your GDScript. It reads your project, understands the relationships between scenes and scripts, plans multi-step changes, and executes them. The difference between a code generator and an agent is the difference between a spell checker and a writer. One fixes what you already wrote. The other builds alongside you. ## What Is a Godot AI Agent? An AI agent for Godot is software that autonomously performs game development tasks within the engine. It can plan its approach, execute multiple steps, check results, and course-correct. Unlike a code completion tool that suggests the next line, an agent handles complete tasks: - "Build an inventory system with drag-and-drop UI" - "Fix the collision bug in level 3" - "Add particle effects to all weapons" - "Create an NPC that patrols between three waypoints and chases the player on sight" The key distinction is autonomy. A code generator waits for you to accept or reject each suggestion. An agent takes a goal, breaks it into steps, and works through them. You describe what you want. The agent figures out how to build it. This does not mean the agent works without oversight. Good agents show you what they plan to do, execute in reviewable steps, and let you redirect at any point. Think of it as delegating to a junior developer who checks in frequently, not handing control to an unsupervised script. ## How AI Agents Work with Godot Understanding the technical layer helps you evaluate which agents are actually useful and which are marketing fluff. ### Project understanding The agent reads your scene files (.tscn), scripts (.gd), resources (.tres), and project settings (project.godot). It builds a model of your game: which scenes exist, how they connect, what scripts are attached to which nodes, what signals are defined, what autoloads are registered. This is the foundation. An agent that does not understand your project structure is just a chatbot with a Godot prompt. ### Task planning When you give the agent a task, it breaks the work into steps. "Add an inventory system" becomes: 1. Create an Inventory resource script to hold item data 2. Write an InventoryManager autoload to track the player's items 3. Create the inventory UI scene with a GridContainer and item slots 4. Write the slot interaction logic (click to select, click to place) 5. Connect the UI to the manager via signals 6. Add item pickup logic to the player controller 7. Create a few test items to verify the system works The quality of this planning step separates useful agents from toys. A naive agent might dump all the code at once and hope it compiles. A good agent sequences the steps so each one builds on the last. ### Execution The agent performs each step: creating files, modifying scenes, writing scripts, updating project settings. How it executes depends on its level of integration. File-level agents write .gd and .tscn files to disk. They generate the text content of these files and save them to your project folder. This works, but it means the agent is writing Godot's internal file formats as raw text, which can produce subtle errors in node paths, resource references, or property formatting. Engine-level agents operate through the editor's own APIs. They create nodes by calling engine functions, set properties through the inspector system, and connect signals through the signal editor. The output is guaranteed to be valid because it uses the same code path as manual editing. ### Verification Good agents check their work. After writing a script, does it parse without errors? After creating a scene, are all the node paths valid? After connecting signals, do the target methods exist? This self-checking loop is what separates an agent from a macro. A macro runs a sequence of steps regardless of outcome. An agent notices when step 3 broke something and adjusts step 4 accordingly. ## The AI Agent Landscape for Godot The ecosystem is moving fast, but the current options fall into three categories. ### MCP-based agents Tools like GDAI MCP connect external AI systems (Claude, Cursor, Windsurf) to your Godot project via the Model Context Protocol. The AI operates through file-level access: it reads your project files, generates code, and writes files back. **Strengths:** You get to use frontier AI models (Claude, GPT-4) with full context about your project. Setup is straightforward. The AI can handle complex reasoning about your game architecture. **Limitations:** The AI operates at the file level. It reads and writes text. It cannot create nodes in the scene tree, inspect running game state, or manipulate engine systems directly. It also requires the editor to reload files after changes, which can disrupt your workflow. ### Plugin-based agents Tools like Ziva and the AI Autonomous Agent plugin run inside the Godot editor as addons. They provide a chat interface within the editor and can interact with some editor features through the plugin API. **Strengths:** They live inside the editor, so the workflow is tighter. No switching between windows. Some can access editor APIs that file-level tools cannot reach. **Limitations:** Godot's plugin API exposes a subset of the editor's capabilities. Plugins cannot do everything the editor itself can do. They are also constrained by the addon architecture: they run in the editor process, share its memory, and must work within the plugin sandbox. ### AI-native engines Summer Engine takes a different approach entirely. The AI agent is not a plugin or an external tool. It is the engine interface. The agent has full access to everything the editor can do because the AI is part of the editor. No plugin boundaries, no file-level limitations, no external API calls for basic operations. **Strengths:** The agent operates at the engine level. It creates scenes, manipulates nodes, configures physics, generates assets, and connects signals through the same APIs the editor uses. It can inspect running game state. It can reason about your game with full context. **Limitations:** It is a different engine (though fully compatible with Godot 4, so your projects and knowledge transfer directly). ## What Matters in a Godot AI Agent When evaluating an AI agent for game development, these are the criteria that matter in practice. ### Context depth How much of your project does the agent understand? Does it only see the current file, or does it understand the relationships between scenes, scripts, resources, and settings? An agent that knows your player scene uses a CharacterBody3D with a specific collision shape will give better physics advice than one that only reads the current script. ### Action range Can the agent only write code, or can it manipulate scenes, create assets, configure project settings, and set up input maps? The wider the action range, the more tasks you can delegate. An agent that writes great GDScript but cannot create a scene is only solving half the problem. ### Reliability Does the agent produce code that compiles on the first try? Do its scene modifications result in valid .tscn files? Does it handle edge cases, like circular dependencies, missing resources, or platform-specific code? Reliability matters more than speed. An agent that gets it right in 30 seconds saves more time than one that produces broken output in 5 seconds and requires 10 minutes of debugging. ### Speed How long does a multi-step task take? Building an inventory system might involve 10 or more individual operations. If each one takes 30 seconds, you are waiting 5 minutes. If each takes 2 seconds, the whole system is done in under a minute. For iterative workflows where you test and refine frequently, agent speed directly affects your creative flow. ### Cost Free, subscription, or pay-per-use? For hobby developers, cost matters. For professionals, cost-per-hour-saved matters more. An agent that costs $20/month but saves 10 hours of work is a bargain. An agent that costs $200/month and saves 11 hours might not be. ## Building a Game with an AI Agent The best way to understand AI agents is to see the workflow in action. Here is what building a game with an agent actually looks like. ### Starting from a concept You describe your game: "A 2D roguelike where you play as a librarian defending a library from monsters using enchanted books as weapons. Top-down view, pixel art style, procedurally generated floors." The agent creates the initial project structure: a main scene with a TileMap for the floor, a player scene with a CharacterBody2D, a basic camera setup, and placeholder sprites. It sets up the project settings (resolution, input map, physics layers) based on the game type. You now have something you can run. It does not look like much, but the foundations are correct. ### Iterating through conversation You play-test and say: "The player needs to throw books as projectiles. Each book type should have different damage and effects. Fire books explode on impact, ice books slow enemies, lightning books chain between nearby targets." The agent creates a Book resource with properties for damage, effect type, speed, and sprite. It writes a projectile scene with movement, collision detection, and effect triggering. It implements the three book types with their specific behaviors. It modifies the player controller to handle aiming and throwing. You test again. "The fire explosion radius is too big and the ice slow does not last long enough." The agent adjusts the specific values. No need to hunt through code for the right variables. ### Handling the hard parts "Add procedural floor generation with rooms connected by corridors. Each floor should be harder than the last." This is where agents prove their value. Procedural generation involves multiple interconnected systems: room placement, corridor generation, enemy spawning, difficulty scaling, tile placement. Writing this from scratch takes hours even for experienced developers. The agent plans the system, implements it in stages, and lets you test between stages. Room generation first, then corridors, then enemy placement, then difficulty scaling. Each stage is a checkpoint where you can redirect. ### Creative direction stays with you The agent does not make creative decisions. It does not decide that your game should have a specific art style or that enemies should behave a certain way. It implements your vision. You say "make the enemies swarm" and the agent writes flocking behavior. You say "make them ambush" and the agent writes patrol-and-charge behavior. The creative choices are yours. The implementation is the agent's. This is the workflow that matters: you think about design, the agent handles construction. Not "the AI makes the game for you" but "the AI builds what you describe." ## Where This Is Heading AI agents for Godot are still young. The current tools have real limitations: context windows fill up on large projects, complex multi-system changes can produce subtle bugs, and creative tasks like level design still need heavy human guidance. But the gap between "code suggestion tool" and "development partner" is closing fast. Six months ago, AI agents for Godot could generate simple scripts. Today, they can plan and execute multi-file changes across scenes and scripts. The trajectory is clear. The biggest shift is not in what agents can do, but in what they understand. Early tools treated Godot projects as collections of text files. Current agents understand scenes, nodes, signals, and resources as interconnected systems. Next-generation agents will understand game mechanics, player experience, and design patterns. If you want to experience what a native AI agent feels like inside a Godot-compatible engine, [Summer Engine](/godot-ai-agent) is the place to start. The agent operates at the engine level with full access to every system, so you spend your time on game design instead of implementation details. For the broader category, see [what an AI game engine is and how the options compare](/blog/ai-game-engine). [Download Summer Engine](/download) and try the AI agent workflow with your next project. --- ### The Complete Guide to Godot MCP Servers in 2026 URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/godot-mcp-servers-guide Published: 2026-03-31T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Godot, AI, MCP, Guide Learn what MCP servers do for Godot, compare every option available, and set up AI-powered project assistance in minutes. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that lets AI models connect to external tools and data sources. For Godot developers, this means your AI coding assistant can directly read and modify your Godot project. Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and other MCP-compatible tools can inspect your scene files, read your scripts, understand your project structure, and make targeted changes. If you have been copy-pasting code into ChatGPT and manually applying the results, MCP eliminates that friction. Here is how it works, what options exist, and which setup makes sense for your workflow. ## What MCP Does for Godot Without MCP, your AI assistant sees only what you paste into it. It has no idea what nodes are in your scene, what signals you have connected, what your project settings look like, or how your scripts relate to each other. You end up doing a lot of manual context-setting: "I have a CharacterBody3D with these children, and a script that does this..." With MCP, the AI assistant connects directly to your project. It can: - **Read your project structure**: Every folder, scene, script, and resource file. - **Inspect scene trees**: See the node hierarchy, exported properties, and signal connections. - **Read and modify scripts**: Open any GDScript file, understand its context within the project, and write changes. - **Check project settings**: Input mappings, autoloads, rendering configuration. The practical difference is significant. Instead of describing your project to the AI, you say "look at my player scene and fix the jump physics." The AI reads the scene, finds the script, understands the node setup, and makes the change. Think of it this way: without MCP, your AI is a code assistant. With MCP, it becomes a project assistant. ## Available MCP Servers for Godot ### GDAI MCP **Website:** [gdaimcp.com](https://gdaimcp.com) **GitHub:** Open source GDAI MCP is the most polished option right now. It provides a proper website with documentation, clear setup instructions, and active development. Features include project structure reading, scene file parsing, script access and modification, and code generation with project context. It connects to Claude Desktop or any MCP-compatible client. The documentation covers setup for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other clients. If you are new to MCP, this is the easiest place to start because the onboarding is well thought out. ### Coding-Solo/godot-mcp **GitHub:** [github.com/Coding-Solo/godot-mcp](https://github.com/Coding-Solo/godot-mcp) An open source MCP server that connects via stdio. It provides basic project reading and file manipulation. The feature set is more minimal than GDAI MCP, but the codebase is clean and easy to extend if you want to add custom tools. This is a good choice if you want something lightweight that you can understand and modify. ### bradypp/godot-mcp **GitHub:** [github.com/bradypp/godot-mcp](https://github.com/bradypp/godot-mcp) Another open source option with scene tree reading and script generation. Community maintained with periodic updates. Similar capabilities to Coding-Solo's version, with some differences in how it parses scene files and exposes project data. ### satelliteoflove/godot-mcp **GitHub:** [github.com/satelliteoflove/godot-mcp](https://github.com/satelliteoflove/godot-mcp) A different take on the Godot MCP concept. Check the README for its current feature set, as these community projects evolve at different rates. ## How to Set Up Godot MCP (Quick Start) The exact steps vary by server and client, but the general process is the same for all of them. **Step 1: Install the MCP server** Most Godot MCP servers are Node.js or Python packages. Clone the repo and install dependencies: ```bash git clone https://github.com/example/godot-mcp cd godot-mcp npm install ``` **Step 2: Configure your MCP client** In Claude Desktop, open Settings and navigate to the MCP section. Add a new server entry pointing to the installed package: ```json { "mcpServers": { "godot": { "command": "node", "args": ["/path/to/godot-mcp/index.js"], "env": { "GODOT_PROJECT_PATH": "/path/to/your/godot/project" } } } } ``` For Cursor, the configuration lives in your project's `.cursor/mcp.json` file. The format is similar. **Step 3: Connect and test** Open your MCP client and ask something about your project: "What scenes are in this project?" or "Show me the player script." If the server is connected properly, the AI will read your project and respond with actual data from your files. **Step 4: Start working** Now you can ask the AI to make changes with full project context: - "Add an enemy spawner to the main scene" - "The player's dash ability has a bug where it clips through walls. Fix it." - "Refactor the inventory system to use a Resource instead of a Dictionary" The AI reads the relevant files, understands the context, and generates changes that fit your existing code. ## The Limitation of MCP for Games MCP is a file-level integration. This is important to understand. Your AI assistant can read and write files in your Godot project. It can parse .tscn files to understand scene structure. It can read and modify .gd scripts. What it cannot do is interact with the running engine. An MCP server cannot hit the play button and watch your game run. It cannot see the rendering output. It cannot test whether a physics interaction feels right. It cannot observe framerate, detect visual glitches, or verify that a particle effect looks correct. It cannot step through a debugger or inspect runtime variable values. This is the fundamental gap between a file-level bridge and an engine-level integration. MCP gives AI access to your project's source files. An AI-native engine like Summer Engine operates at the engine level, where the AI understands scenes, physics, rendering, and gameplay as the engine runs. It can create nodes, adjust properties, and test behavior within the live engine context. For code-level tasks (writing scripts, refactoring, fixing bugs, generating boilerplate), MCP works well. For tasks that require understanding how the game actually plays, you need deeper integration. ## When MCP Makes Sense MCP is the right choice when: - You are already using Claude, Cursor, or another MCP-compatible tool and want it to understand your Godot project - Your workflow is primarily code-focused and you need better context for script writing - You want to keep working in the standard Godot editor - You prefer open source tools that you can inspect and modify MCP is less ideal when: - You need AI to create and manipulate scenes, not just read them - You want AI-generated assets (3D models, textures, animations) - You need the AI to understand runtime behavior and physics - You want a conversational workflow where you describe what to build and the engine creates it ## Going Beyond MCP MCP is a smart bridge that makes existing AI tools project-aware. For many Godot developers, that is exactly what they need. For deeper integration where the AI understands the engine itself, Summer Engine takes a different approach. Instead of bridging external AI tools to Godot, it builds AI directly into the engine core. The result is an AI that can create scenes, write code, generate assets, and understand game systems as a unified workflow. And it is compatible with Godot 4, so your existing projects work with it. You can explore the [Godot AI integration page](/godot-ai) to learn more, or [download Summer Engine](/download) to try it. --- ### How to Build AI NPCs with Memory and Personality in Godot 4 URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/how-to-build-ai-npcs-in-godot Published: 2026-03-31T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Godot, AI, NPCs, Tutorial Learn how to create NPCs that remember players, stay in character, and react dynamically using AI in Godot 4. NPCs in most games are state machines. They patrol a path, detect the player, switch to attack mode, and loop back. That works for enemies, but it falls apart for characters that are supposed to feel alive. A shopkeeper who says the same three lines no matter what you have done in the game. A quest giver who does not acknowledge that you saved their village last week. A companion who forgets every conversation the moment it ends. AI changes what is possible here. Not by replacing game design with chatbots, but by adding layers of memory, personality, and dynamic response on top of traditional NPC systems. ## What AI NPCs Actually Are An AI NPC is not a chatbot pasted into a game world. That is the most common misconception, and it leads to NPCs that feel disconnected from the game they exist in. A well-built AI NPC combines language models with game systems. It has: - **A personality prompt** that defines how it speaks, what it cares about, and how it reacts to different situations. A gruff blacksmith talks differently than a nervous apprentice. - **A memory system** that tracks interactions with the player. What was said, what was traded, what quests were given and completed. - **Goals and motivations** that influence behavior. A merchant wants to make money. A guard wants to protect the town. A thief wants to avoid getting caught. - **Game world awareness** so it can reference actual events, items, locations, and other characters. "I heard you cleared the bandits from the eastern road" only works if the NPC can query the game state. The result is a character that stays consistent, remembers context, and responds to the player in ways that feel natural and grounded in the game world. ## The Three Layers of an AI NPC Every AI NPC can be broken down into three distinct layers. You can implement all three, or start with just one or two. ### Layer 1: Behavior This is traditional game AI. Patrol routes, reaction triggers, combat logic, daily schedules. A behavior tree or state machine handles the NPC's physical actions in the world. This layer runs locally with no internet connection needed. It is deterministic and predictable. The blacksmith stands at the forge during the day and goes home at night. The guard patrols the walls. The merchant opens the shop at dawn. In Godot 4, you would typically implement this with an AnimationTree for state transitions, Area3D nodes for detection zones, and a script that manages the state machine or behavior tree. ```gdscript enum State { IDLE, WORKING, SLEEPING, TALKING } var current_state: State = State.IDLE var schedule: Dictionary = { 6: State.WORKING, 20: State.IDLE, 22: State.SLEEPING } ``` This layer is the foundation. Even if you add AI conversation and memory, the behavior layer keeps the NPC grounded in the game world with consistent, reliable actions. ### Layer 2: Conversation This is where LLMs come in. Instead of selecting from pre-written dialogue lines, the NPC generates responses based on its personality, the current context, and the conversation history. The personality prompt is the most important piece. It defines the character's voice, knowledge, and boundaries: ``` You are Tormund, a blacksmith in the village of Ashford. You are gruff but fair. You take pride in your craft. You charge reasonable prices and give discounts to repeat customers. You have a side quest: you need rare ore from the northern mines to forge a legendary blade. You will ask trusted customers for help. You know about: village gossip, weapon quality, mining locations. You do not know about: magic, politics, events outside Ashford. ``` The conversation layer needs an AI model. This can be a cloud API (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) or a local model running through Ollama. Local models have higher latency but zero ongoing cost and complete privacy. A key design decision: the NPC's responses must be bounded. An unconstrained chatbot will hallucinate locations that do not exist, reference items the game does not have, or break character entirely. The personality prompt, combined with a system that injects current game state, keeps responses grounded. ### Layer 3: Memory Memory is what separates a convincing AI NPC from a novelty. Without memory, every conversation starts fresh. The NPC has no idea who the player is or what happened before. A memory system tracks: - **Interaction history**: What the player said, what the NPC responded, and when it happened. - **Relationship state**: Does the NPC trust the player? Are they friendly, neutral, or hostile? - **Key events**: The player completed a quest for this NPC. The player stole from their shop. The player saved their child from danger. - **Shared knowledge**: Information the player revealed. "I am looking for the lost temple" becomes something the NPC can reference later. Memory storage can be simple. A JSON file or a SQLite database works fine for most games. The critical part is how memories are retrieved and injected into the conversation context. ```gdscript var memories: Array[Dictionary] = [] func add_memory(event: String, importance: float) -> void: memories.append({ "event": event, "importance": importance, "timestamp": Time.get_unix_time_from_system(), }) func get_relevant_memories(context: String, limit: int = 5) -> Array: # Sort by importance and recency, return top memories var sorted = memories.duplicate() sorted.sort_custom(func(a, b): return a.importance * _recency_weight(a.timestamp) > \ b.importance * _recency_weight(b.timestamp) ) return sorted.slice(0, limit) ``` When the player talks to the NPC, relevant memories get pulled and included in the prompt. "The player helped you find rare ore three days ago. You are grateful and offered a discount." The LLM uses this context to generate a response that acknowledges the shared history. Memory persists across sessions. When the player loads their save, the NPC still remembers everything. This is what makes AI NPCs feel genuinely different from scripted ones. ## Building AI NPCs in Summer Engine Summer Engine makes this process conversational. Instead of wiring up each layer manually, you describe the NPC you want: "Add a blacksmith NPC named Tormund. He is gruff but fair, charges reasonable prices, and has a side quest about finding rare ore in the northern mines. He remembers past transactions and gives discounts to repeat customers." The engine creates: - The NPC node with a CharacterBody3D, collision shape, and mesh - A behavior tree with daily schedule (works at forge during day, goes home at night) - A conversation system with personality prompt based on your description - A memory store that tracks player interactions and transaction history - A shop interface with pricing logic that factors in relationship status You can refine any of these components through conversation. "Make Tormund more suspicious of strangers" adjusts the personality prompt and initial relationship state. "Add a combat reaction so he fights back if attacked" extends the behavior tree. Because Summer Engine is compatible with Godot 4, the generated systems use standard Godot nodes and GDScript. You can inspect and modify everything the engine creates. The AI NPC is not a black box; it is a collection of nodes, scripts, and resources that you own. ## AI NPCs vs Scripted NPCs Both approaches have legitimate uses. The right choice depends on your game. **Scripted NPCs:** - Completely predictable. You control every word they say. - Work offline with zero runtime cost. - Easier to test and QA since behavior is deterministic. - Scale well. A hundred scripted NPCs cost the same as one. - Limited by the content you write. Players exhaust dialogue quickly. **AI NPCs:** - Dynamic and responsive. Every conversation is unique. - Remember context across interactions. - Can handle unexpected player input gracefully. - Higher runtime cost (API calls or local model inference). - Harder to test since responses vary. - Risk of breaking character or generating inappropriate content without proper guardrails. **The hybrid approach works best for most games.** Use scripted behavior for the base layer: patrol routes, combat logic, daily schedules, and critical story moments. Use AI for the conversation and memory layers, where dynamic responses add the most value. A quest-critical NPC might have scripted dialogue for key story beats but AI-powered responses for everything else. The player always gets the information they need to progress, while also having the freedom to ask questions and build a relationship with the character. ## Getting Started The [RPG templates](/templates/rpg) in Summer Engine come with AI NPC systems ready to customize. Describe the characters you want and the engine builds them with personality, memory, and game world awareness. If you want to explore AI NPC generation, check out the [AI NPC generator](/ai-npc-generator) or [download Summer Engine](/download) to build your first AI-powered characters. --- ### Why AI Plugins for Godot Are Not Enough (And What AI-Native Means) URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/why-ai-plugins-for-godot-arent-enough Published: 2026-03-31T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Godot, AI, Game Development, Plugins AI plugins for Godot help with code generation, but they cannot manipulate scenes, inspect running games, or create assets at the engine level. Here is what AI-native actually means. The Godot ecosystem has more AI tools than ever. MCP servers, editor plugins, code generators. They all share the same fundamental limitation: they are bolted onto the engine from the outside. They can read your files and write code, but they cannot see your game running, understand your scene hierarchy, or manipulate engine systems directly. That gap matters more than it seems. It is the line between AI assistance and [a true AI game engine](/blog/ai-game-engine). ## What Plugins Can Do To be clear, AI plugins for Godot are useful. They speed up code writing. They help with boilerplate. They can generate GDScript from natural language prompts. Some, like Ziva or AI Assistant Hub, can read your project files and make contextual suggestions. Various MCP servers connect Claude, Cursor, or other AI tools directly to your Godot project. For solo developers, even basic code generation saves hours. Writing signal connection boilerplate, setting up state machines, generating export variables with proper types. These are real productivity gains, and the plugins that provide them are worth using. Nobody is arguing that AI plugins are bad. The question is whether they are sufficient. ## What Plugins Cannot Do This is where the argument lives. No matter how sophisticated the AI model behind a plugin is, there are hard limits on what a plugin can accomplish. ### Plugins cannot manipulate scenes at the engine level AI plugins generate text. They write GDScript, produce .tscn snippets, or create configuration files. But they do not create nodes, set transforms, configure physics bodies, or wire signals through the actual engine API. The difference is subtle but important: generating a .tscn file and hoping the editor parses it correctly is not the same as calling `add_child()` through the engine itself. When a plugin generates a scene file with an error in the node path, you get a broken scene. When the engine itself creates the node, the path is correct by definition. ### Plugins cannot see your game running AI plugins work with static files. They read your .gd scripts and .tscn scenes as text. They do not have access to the live game state. When you say "the character clips through walls," a plugin reads your code and guesses at the problem. It might suggest changing collision layers or adjusting the character controller's margin. An AI system integrated at the engine level can inspect the collision layers directly, check the physics settings on the specific body, examine the shape extents, and identify whether the issue is a missing collision layer, an undersized shape, or a physics tick rate problem. Static analysis of code catches some bugs. Runtime awareness catches the rest. ### Plugins cannot generate assets inside the engine An AI plugin can call an external API to generate an image or 3D model. It can download the result and place it in your project folder. But it cannot create a StandardMaterial3D, configure its roughness and metallic values, set up UV mapping, or adjust import settings through the engine's own systems. The gap between "here is a .glb file in your project folder" and "here is a fully configured mesh with materials, collision shapes, and LOD settings ready to use" is significant. The first requires manual setup. The second is ready to play. ### Plugins add friction Each AI plugin has its own setup process: install the addon, configure API keys, choose a model, learn the interface. Updates come on the plugin's schedule, not the engine's. Authentication tokens expire. Model versions change behavior. The AI is always one layer removed from the work. You talk to the plugin, the plugin talks to the model, the model generates text, the plugin writes it to disk, and the engine reads it. Every layer is a place where context gets lost. ## What AI-Native Means In Summer Engine, AI is not an addon. It is how you interact with the engine. The AI has the same access as the engine editor itself. It creates scenes by calling the same APIs the editor uses. It configures physics through the inspector, not by editing text files. It understands the difference between a RigidBody3D and a CharacterBody3D because it operates at the engine level, not the file level. AI-native means three things in practice: **The AI operates through the engine, not around it.** When the AI creates a node, it uses the engine's scene tree API. When it sets a property, it uses the inspector system. There is no intermediate text generation step that could introduce formatting errors or invalid references. **The AI sees what the engine sees.** It has access to the running scene tree, the current physics state, the loaded resources. It does not reconstruct your game from file contents. It reads the actual state. **The AI and the editor are the same tool.** You do not switch between "editor mode" and "AI mode." Conversation and manual editing coexist. The AI's changes appear in the inspector and scene tree immediately, just like your own edits. ## The Practical Difference Abstract architecture discussions are less useful than concrete examples. Here is what the difference looks like in practice. **"Add a door that opens when the player has the blue key."** A plugin generates a GDScript file with an `_on_body_entered` function that checks for a key variable. You still need to create the door node, position it, add the AnimationPlayer, create the key item, set up the interaction area, and connect the signals yourself. Summer Engine creates the door node with a StaticBody3D and collision shape, adds an AnimationPlayer with open/close animations, creates the key as a pickable Area3D, sets up the interaction detection, writes the unlock logic, and connects everything. You get a working door. **"Make the enemies smarter."** A plugin reads your enemy script and suggests adding a state machine or improving the chase logic. The suggestions might be good, but you implement them yourself. Summer Engine reads the current behavior implementation, analyzes how enemies interact with the player and environment, identifies specific weaknesses (enemies getting stuck on corners, not flanking, losing track of the player behind obstacles), and modifies the systems directly. **"The jump feels floaty."** A plugin cannot feel your jump. It can suggest gravity values based on common platformer settings. Summer Engine reads the current gravity, jump velocity, and fall multiplier. It compares them against known good values for the game type. It adjusts the parameters and lets you test immediately, then iterates based on your feedback. ## Both Approaches Have Their Place If you have a Godot project you love and you want AI to help you write code faster, plugins are a solid choice. They fit into your existing workflow. They do not require you to change engines. Ziva, GDAI MCP, and the growing list of community tools are worth exploring. But if you want AI to be a first-class part of how you build games, operating at the same level as the editor itself, you need it inside the engine. That is what AI-native means, and that is what Summer Engine provides. Summer Engine is fully compatible with Godot 4, so your existing projects, plugins, and knowledge transfer directly. The difference is that the AI is no longer outside looking in. [Learn more about AI game development with Godot compatibility](/godot-ai) or [download Summer Engine](/download) to try it yourself. --- ### 15 Games Like Animal Crossing for a Relaxing Escape URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-animal-crossing Published: 2026-03-30T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Life Sim, Animal Crossing, Game Recommendations The best cozy games like Animal Crossing in 2026. Handpicked life sims, farming games, and relaxing adventures for when you need a break from the real world. Animal Crossing is one of the few games that genuinely does not care whether you play it. There is no experience bar creeping toward a next level, no boss waiting at the end of a dungeon, no countdown timer threatening a game over screen. You wake up on an island or in a small town, and the game simply asks: what do you feel like doing today? Pick weeds, plant a garden, catch a beetle, rearrange your living room, talk to a cranky penguin about his day. Or do nothing at all. The world keeps turning on its own clock, synced to real-world time, and it will be there whenever you come back. That design philosophy is what makes Animal Crossing feel less like a game and more like a place. New Horizons sold over 44 million copies not because it had tight mechanics or a gripping narrative, but because it offered something most games cannot: genuine low-stakes comfort. The seasonal events, the slow accumulation of furniture and fossils, the relationships with villagers who remember what you said last Tuesday. All of it compounds into a space that feels personally yours. It arrived at the exact moment the world needed it, and years later, people still boot it up just to hear the hourly music change. But islands get finished. Museums fill up. The daily login ritual fades. If you have reached that point and want something new that captures a similar feeling (the gentle pace, the creative expression, the sense of building a life rather than beating a challenge), these 15 games are worth your time. I have grouped them by the specific itch they scratch, because "games like Animal Crossing" can mean very different things depending on what you loved most about it. --- ## Cozy Life Sims and Farming Games These games nail the core Animal Crossing loop: live somewhere pleasant, tend to things that grow, settle into a daily rhythm. The stakes stay low and the satisfaction comes from watching your little corner of the world improve over time. ### 1. Stardew Valley **PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android** If you have not played Stardew Valley yet, stop reading this list and go play it. That is not hyperbole. ConcernedApe's one-person masterpiece is the gold standard for cozy games, and it earns that reputation through sheer depth disguised as simplicity. You inherit a run-down farm in a small town, and from there the game opens up into farming, fishing, mining, cooking, foraging, and a relationship system that gives every single NPC a schedule, backstory, and arc. The 1.6 update, which arrived years after release, added an absurd amount of new content for free. What makes Stardew special in an Animal Crossing context is the way it balances productivity with peace. There is always something to do (a new crop rotation to plan, a mine level to clear, a recipe to cook), but none of it is mandatory. You can spend an entire season just fishing on the beach if that is what you want. The multiplayer lets friends share a farm, and the modding community has produced thousands of expansions. It is the rare game that gets better the more you put into it, with no ceiling in sight. ### 2. Cozy Grove **PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android** Cozy Grove understood the Animal Crossing assignment better than almost any game on this list. You are a Spirit Scout camping on a haunted island populated by ghost bears, and your job is to help them resolve their unfinished business. The game runs on real time. Each day, a handful of new quests appear, items wash ashore, and the island changes. Sessions last about 30 to 45 minutes before the content runs dry for the day, which creates the same "check in, do your chores, log off" rhythm that Animal Crossing perfected. The visual hook is striking. Areas you have not helped yet appear in grayscale, and they bloom into warm storybook color as you complete quests. Crafting, fishing, cooking, and decorating are all present, but the emotional weight of each bear's story elevates the game above a simple clone. The sequel, Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, refined the formula further. If daily-session structure is what you loved about Animal Crossing, Cozy Grove is the closest match. ### 3. Coral Island **PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch** Coral Island takes the farming sim template and scales it up considerably. You have the standard crop growing and animal husbandry, but the game adds an entire underwater diving system where you clean pollution from coral reefs and discover marine ecosystems. The town has over 70 NPCs with full schedules, relationship progressions, and story arcs. The character designs are among the most diverse in the genre, and the art style is vibrant without being saccharine. The environmental restoration angle gives Coral Island a sense of purpose that goes beyond personal progression. You are not just building a nice farm. You are actively healing the ecosystem around the island. The diving sections work as a genuine change of pace from surface-level farming, letting you explore an underwater world and catalog species. It is one of the more ambitious entries in the cozy sim space, and it delivers on most of that ambition. ### 4. Wylde Flowers **PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, iOS, Mac** Wylde Flowers is a farming sim with a narrative hook that most games in the genre lack. Your grandmother was a witch, and when you inherit her farm, you also inherit her place in the local coven. Days play out like a standard farming game: grow crops, raise animals, sell goods at the market. But at night, coven meetings, potion brewing, and spell learning add a second layer of progression that keeps the loop from flattening out. The story is fully voice-acted across every character, which is unusual for this genre and makes the narrative beats land harder. Romance options are inclusive, the writing is warm without being corny, and the witchcraft mechanics are woven into farming in clever ways. It started as an Apple Arcade exclusive, so the pacing was designed for shorter sessions, which actually works in its favor if you are coming from Animal Crossing's daily check-in structure. ### 5. Dinkum **PC** Dinkum is essentially Animal Crossing relocated to the Australian outback, and that premise alone makes it worth a look. You start with nothing on a large open island and build a town from scratch, attracting residents by adding infrastructure and amenities. The wildlife is distinctly Australian: crocodiles, wombats, emus, and various species that will try to kill you if you are not paying attention. The biomes range from tropical beaches to arid desert. What sets Dinkum apart is the genuine frontier feeling. Early Animal Crossing games had that quality of settling an empty place and watching civilization slowly emerge around your efforts, and Dinkum recaptures it better than New Horizons did. The building system is freeform with no grid restrictions, so your town layout feels organic rather than snapped to a template. It is rougher and less polished than Nintendo's offering, but that rawness is part of the charm. --- ## Decorating, Building, and Creative Expression If your favorite part of Animal Crossing was the island designer, the furniture placement, the hours spent getting your house layout pixel-perfect, these games put creative expression at the center of the experience. ### 6. Hokko Life **PC, Switch** Hokko Life is the most direct Animal Crossing comparison on this list, and it does not try to hide that fact. You arrive in a small town, get a house, and start decorating, gardening, and befriending animal villagers. The structure is familiar enough to feel instantly comfortable. But the standout feature is the crafting workshop, where you design furniture from scratch using a 3D modeling tool. You can build custom tables, chairs, shelving, and decorations piece by piece, adjusting dimensions and painting surfaces however you want. That furniture workshop is genuinely impressive in scope. Most cozy games give you a catalog to shop from. Hokko Life gives you a toolbox. The town develops as you complete quests and attract new residents, and your custom creations populate the world alongside premade items. It wears its influences on its sleeve, but the creative freedom it offers is something Animal Crossing itself has never matched. ### 7. Bear and Breakfast **PC, Switch** You play as a bear who opens a bed and breakfast in the forest. Guests arrive, you decorate rooms to satisfy their specific comfort and style preferences, and you expand your hospitality empire across multiple woodland locations. It is a management game dressed in cozy clothing, and the decorating system is surprisingly strategic. Guests rate specific qualities like comfort, hygiene, and entertainment value, so furniture placement is a puzzle rather than pure aesthetics. The art style is charming, the writing has a dry humor that avoids the usual cozy-game sweetness, and there is a mild mystery running through the story about what is happening in the forest. Sessions have a satisfying arc: check in on your properties, handle guest requests, redecorate underperforming rooms, unlock new furniture, expand to a new location. It scratches the interior design itch that Animal Crossing planted without requiring you to also maintain a farm. ### 8. Disney Dreamlight Valley **PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch** Disney Dreamlight Valley takes the Animal Crossing template (farm, fish, cook, mine, decorate) and populates it with Disney and Pixar characters as your neighbors. You restore a valley corrupted by dark magic, unlocking biomes and inviting characters like Wall-E, Moana, Remy, Woody, and Elsa to move in. Each character has a friendship progression with dedicated quests and storylines that reference their source films. The decorating systems are robust. You have full control over the valley layout, your house interior, and the surrounding landscape. Regular content updates add new characters and realms tied to different Disney properties. The game works best if you have genuine affection for these characters, and seeing Remy help you cook or exploring a Frozen-themed realm has a nostalgic pull that is hard to manufacture. The free-to-play model is relatively gentle, though the premium shop exists. ### 9. Palia **PC, Switch** Palia took the unusual approach of building a cozy life sim inside an MMO framework. You build a homestead in a shared world, farm, fish, hunt, forage, and craft while other players go about their own routines nearby. The social element is collaborative rather than competitive. Other players are neighbors, not rivals. You can visit their plots, trade resources, and party up for activities without any pressure to min-max or race to endgame. The housing system is one of the most detailed in the genre, with full interior and exterior decorating, custom furniture placement, and enough options to make each homestead feel distinct. The world itself is handsome, with a slightly cel-shaded aesthetic that holds up well at a distance. Regular updates expand the story and add new features. It is free to play without predatory monetization, which is increasingly rare. If the idea of a cozy game where you occasionally see another real person wandering past your garden appeals to you, Palia handles that balance well. ### 10. Littlewood **PC, Switch** Littlewood starts with one of the best premises in the genre: the hero already saved the world, but everyone lost their memories in the final battle, and now you need to rebuild the town from nothing. It compresses the Stardew and Animal Crossing loops into short, dense play sessions. Days are based on an energy system tied to actions rather than a real-time clock, so each day takes about 10 minutes and there is no anxiety about wasting time. The town-building aspect is where Littlewood shines for decorating fans. You physically place every building, path, and decoration, rearranging the entire layout of your settlement as it grows. Villagers have relationship arcs and housing preferences. The pixel art is clean, the tone is warm, and the progression curve is tuned so that every session ends with a sense of accomplishment. It is one of the best "just one more day" games in the category. --- ## Social, Story-Driven, and Community Games These picks emphasize the parts of Animal Crossing that involve connection: the feeling of being part of a community, caring about the characters around you, and experiencing stories that stay with you after you put the controller down. ### 11. Spiritfarer **PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch** Spiritfarer is the most emotionally ambitious game on this list. You play as Stella, a ferrymaster for the deceased, sailing a boat that you gradually expand by building facilities on its deck. You cook meals for your spirit passengers, hug them, learn their stories, and eventually bring them to a doorway where they pass on. Each farewell is devastating in a way that sneaks up on you, because the game earns those moments through hours of gentle caretaking. The art is hand-drawn and gorgeous, with fluid animation that gives every interaction warmth. The platforming and resource gathering are light (you jump between structures on your boat, mine islands, weave fabric, smelt metals), but the mechanical simplicity serves the emotional arc. Co-op lets a second player control Stella's cat, Daffodil. It handles grief, memory, and letting go with more grace than most prestige films manage. Play it when you are ready for a game that means something. ### 12. Ooblets **PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch** Ooblets mashes up farming, creature collection, and card-based dance battles into something that should not cohere but absolutely does. You grow creature seeds on your farm, raise the resulting Ooblets, and enter them in choreographed dance-offs instead of Pokemon-style fights. The town has shops, a salon, and NPCs with daily routines and friendship progressions. The aesthetic is aggressively cute in a way that is either magnetic or repellent. There is no middle ground. The dance battle system deserves more credit than it gets. It is a legitimate deck-building card game with strategic depth, resource management, and synergies between different Ooblet types. The farming keeps you grounded between battles, and the town progression gives you long-term goals. If Animal Crossing's social warmth is what you are chasing but you also want a mechanical hook to sink your teeth into, Ooblets offers that combination in a package no other game replicates. ### 13. Garden Story **PC, Switch** You play as Concord, a grape tasked with restoring a garden community overrun by a corrupting force called the Rot. You farm, craft, and complete quests for the island's fruit and vegetable residents, each area presenting its own ecosystem to heal. Combat exists but stays simple and forgiving. The real focus is on rebuilding infrastructure, growing resources, and helping the community recover through collective effort. The community restoration mechanic is what connects Garden Story to Animal Crossing's social appeal. Each area has a bulletin board with requests from residents, and fulfilling them improves the town's facilities and unlocks new resources for everyone. The pixel art is cheerful, the writing has a gentle optimism that never curdles into naivety, and the pacing lets you approach each day at your own speed. It is a smaller game than most on this list, but its thesis, that communities heal through small daily acts of care, resonates. ### 14. My Time at Portia **PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, iOS, Android** My Time at Portia drops you into a post-apocalyptic world that somehow ended up charming instead of bleak. You run a builder's workshop, taking commissions from townspeople and constructing increasingly complex machines and structures from multi-step recipes. The crafting system is deep enough to require genuine planning. You need to smelt ores, process materials, and assemble components in the right order. There is also farming, mining, dungeon crawling, and a full relationship system with datable NPCs. The social fabric of Portia is what earns it a spot in this category. The town feels alive. NPCs have schedules, opinions about each other, and reactions to your work. Completing a big commission for the town feels like a community event. The sequel, My Time at Sandrock, takes everything Portia built and refines it with better pacing and a desert setting. If you liked Animal Crossing's town life but wanted more mechanical depth in your daily routine, the My Time series delivers. ### 15. Summer in Mara **PC, PS4, Switch** Summer in Mara wraps farming mechanics inside an exploration adventure set across a tropical archipelago. You play as Koa, a girl raised by her grandmother on a small island, who sets out to explore the wider world by boat. Each island offers resources, characters, and quests. The farming is simpler than dedicated sims (plant crops, cook recipes, craft tools), but the sailing between islands gives the game a rhythm that most cozy games lack. The tone is gentle and the art is bright, with a hand-painted quality that suits the island-hopping premise. At 15 to 20 hours, it is considerably shorter than most games on this list, which makes it work well as a palette cleanser between longer commitments. The story touches on themes of home, curiosity, and growing up without leaning too hard on any of them. It does not try to be the next hundred-hour life sim. Instead, it offers a brief, warm journey that captures the feeling of a lazy summer spent somewhere beautiful. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **What is the closest game to Animal Crossing on PC?** Hokko Life is the most structurally similar, with animal villagers, daily tasks, and decorating. But Stardew Valley and Cozy Grove both capture the spirit of Animal Crossing more effectively, even if their surface-level mechanics differ. For a multiplayer option on PC, Palia offers a shared-world experience with cozy life sim mechanics. **Are there any free games like Animal Crossing?** Palia is free to play on PC and Switch, with a cozy life sim loop that includes farming, housing, and social features. Disney Dreamlight Valley is also free to play. Both are supported by cosmetic shops rather than pay-to-win mechanics. **What games like Animal Crossing work on mobile?** Cozy Grove and Stardew Valley are both excellent on iOS and Android. Cozy Grove's short daily sessions are particularly well-suited to mobile play. My Time at Portia also has mobile versions, though the controls are better with a physical gamepad. **Which game on this list has the best decorating?** Palia has one of the most detailed housing systems, with extensive interior and exterior customization. Hokko Life lets you design furniture from scratch with a 3D modeling tool. Bear and Breakfast makes decorating strategic, since guest ratings depend on furniture placement. Disney Dreamlight Valley offers broad landscape and home decorating with a huge item catalog. **Is there an Animal Crossing game for PlayStation or Xbox?** There is no Animal Crossing on PlayStation or Xbox. The series is Nintendo-exclusive. The closest alternatives on those platforms are Disney Dreamlight Valley, Coral Island, Spiritfarer, and Stardew Valley, all of which capture different aspects of the Animal Crossing experience. **What if I want something with more of a story?** Spiritfarer has the strongest narrative on this list, dealing with grief and farewell through a beautifully animated adventure. Wylde Flowers has a fully voice-acted story with a witchcraft twist. Garden Story weaves community restoration into a gentle RPG structure. --- ## Build Your Own Cozy Game If playing these games has you thinking about making one, you are not alone. The cozy life sim genre is one of the most active spaces in indie development right now, and the barrier to entry is lower than ever. Summer Engine has [templates](/templates) built specifically for this genre, including life sim, farming sim, and town-building starter projects with NPC interaction systems, inventory management, day-night cycles, and seasonal event frameworks already wired up. You bring the creative vision; the engine handles the scaffolding. --- ### 15 Games Like Elden Ring for Fans of Punishing Combat and Open Worlds URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-elden-ring Published: 2026-03-30T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Action RPG, Elden Ring, Game Recommendations The best games like Elden Ring in 2026. Handpicked action RPGs with brutal combat, open exploration, and worlds that reward curiosity and persistence. Elden Ring did something that should not have worked. It took the punishing, death-heavy combat of Dark Souls, a series defined by tight corridors and carefully gated progression, and dropped it into a vast open world with almost no guidance. No quest markers. No minimap compass. No level-scaling to smooth over the fact that you wandered into a zone meant for characters forty levels above you. FromSoftware trusted players to explore, to get destroyed, to learn from it, and to come back when they were ready. That trust paid off with one of the best-selling games of the decade. What makes Elden Ring special is not any single system in isolation. The combat is refined Dark Souls. The open world is enormous. Neither is unique. The difference is how they interact. Getting stuck on Margit does not mean banging your head against the same fog wall for hours. You ride Torrent in the opposite direction, stumble into a catacomb, find a spirit ash that changes your approach, and come back with new options. The world itself is the difficulty curve. Exploration is not just rewarded, it is the primary way the game teaches you to play. The build variety compounds this. Colossal greatsword stagger builds, bleed-proc dual-wielding, pure sorcery that nukes bosses from range. Spirit ashes function as an opt-in difficulty adjustment without ever being labeled as one. The result is a game that sold 28 million copies by making the hardest genre in gaming feel approachable without making it easy. Shadow of the Erdtree then reminded everyone that FromSoftware can still make content that feels borderline unfair in the best way. If you have exhausted the Lands Between and the Land of Shadow, these 15 games scratch similar itches. They are grouped by which aspect of Elden Ring they capture best. --- ## Open World Exploration These games prioritize the feeling of riding toward a distant landmark and finding something worth fighting when you get there. ### Dragon's Dogma 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Dragon's Dogma 2 is the closest thing to Elden Ring's sense of journey in a completely different combat system. There is almost no fast travel by default, which sounds punishing until you realize that the entire game is built around what happens between destinations. A simple walk to a quest objective turns into a running battle with a griffin that picks up your companion and flies away with them. You chase it across a field, climb onto its back mid-flight, and stab at its wings until it crashes. None of that was scripted. The Pawn system gives you three AI companions that learn from your behavior and other players' worlds. The vocation (class) system encourages experimentation, and Magick Archer feels nothing like Fighter. The world is smaller than the Lands Between but denser with emergent encounters. The lack of fast travel is a design philosophy: every journey is content. If Elden Ring's open world exploration was the hook for you more than the Souls combat, Dragon's Dogma 2 delivers that sense of dangerous travel better than almost anything else. ### Breath of the Wild / Tears of the Kingdom **Platforms:** Switch The Zelda games do not have Elden Ring's combat depth, but they invented the modern version of the open world philosophy that Elden Ring refined. Breath of the Wild was the game that proved you could drop a player into a massive world with almost no direction and trust them to find their own path. Every surface is climbable. Every problem has multiple solutions. The physics engine is a toy that the entire world is built to interact with. Tears of the Kingdom adds Ultrahand and Fuse, turning the world into an engineering sandbox where you build vehicles, weapons, and flying machines from parts scattered everywhere. The Depths add an entire dark underground layer that mirrors the surface map. If what you loved about Elden Ring was genuine discovery, of seeing something in the distance and knowing you can go there and find something real, the Zelda games perfected that feeling first. ### Outward **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One Outward is a survival RPG that treats adventure the way Elden Ring treats combat: with zero hand-holding and real consequences. There is no fast travel. You carry a backpack that slows you down. You need to eat, drink, sleep, and manage your body temperature. When you "die," you do not reload; the game continues with a dynamic consequence. Maybe bandits drag you to their camp. Maybe a traveler rescues you and drops you somewhere unfamiliar. The combat is deliberately clunky in a way that makes every encounter dangerous. Magic requires multi-step rituals rather than pressing a button. Co-op is split-screen or online, and the game is vastly more enjoyable with a partner. Outward lacks Elden Ring's polish, but it captures the spirit of genuine adventure and real stakes better than any AAA game has tried. --- ## Challenging Souls-Like Combat These games focus on the mechanical depth, boss design, and stamina-based combat that FromSoftware built its reputation on. ### Dark Souls 3 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One Dark Souls 3 remains the tightest combat in the pre-Elden Ring FromSoftware catalog. It is faster than Dark Souls 1 and 2 without reaching Bloodborne's aggression, sitting in a sweet spot that Elden Ring later built on directly. Weapon arts gave each weapon a unique special move, a system that Elden Ring expanded into Ashes of War. The boss roster is consistently excellent from start to finish. Abyss Watchers, Pontiff Sulyvahn, Nameless King, and the DLC lineup of Sister Friede, Demon Prince, and Slave Knight Gael represent some of the best boss fights FromSoftware has ever designed. The level design is more linear than Elden Ring but denser for it. Every zone is handcrafted with shortcuts looping back to bonfires, hidden walls, optional areas, and NPC questlines that interweave in obscure ways. If Elden Ring's open world sometimes left you directionless, Dark Souls 3 always has a critical path forward while still hiding plenty of secrets for thorough explorers. The PvP scene is still active in 2026 thanks to community efforts, and the build variety, while narrower than Elden Ring, is deep enough for dozens of distinct playstyles. ### Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Sekiro throws out nearly everything from the Souls formula except the difficulty and replaces it with something entirely its own. There are no builds. No armor sets. No weapon variety. You have a katana and a prosthetic arm, and the game is balanced around the assumption that you will learn to use both. The posture system replaces stamina management with a rhythm game of deflects, where holding block is a trap and aggression is survival. When you perfectly deflect a combo and drive your sword through a boss's guard break, nothing in gaming feels better. The grappling hook transforms exploration into something vertical and fast. The stealth system lets you thin enemy groups before engaging. Resurrection adds a tactical layer to death itself, where dying and reviving mid-fight is sometimes the correct play. Sekiro won Game of the Year because it committed fully to a single vision instead of trying to offer options. The trade-off is that if the combat does not click for you, there is no alternative approach. But if it does click, Sekiro's skill ceiling is the highest FromSoftware has set. ### Lies of P **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Lies of P takes the Pinocchio fairy tale and turns it into a gothic nightmare set in a Belle Epoque city overrun by murderous automatons, and somehow it works. The weapon assembly system is the standout mechanic: every weapon can be broken into a blade and a handle, and you can mix and match freely. Pair a heavy greatsword blade with a rapier handle for a fast but devastating combination. The guard regain system encourages blocking by letting you recover lost health through immediate counterattacks, which keeps fights aggressive rather than passive. The atmosphere rivals Bloodborne. Rain-slicked cobblestone streets, operatic puppet theaters gone wrong, and a hotel full of increasingly suspicious NPCs create a world dripping with dread and beauty. Boss fights are frequent, demanding, and occasionally unfair in ways that a patch or two have mostly smoothed out. The Lie system adds a narrative wrinkle where your dialogue choices are literally about truth versus deception, tying mechanics to the source material in clever ways. It is the best soulslike not made by FromSoftware, and the announced DLC and sequel suggest the developers know what they have. ### Nioh 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5 If Elden Ring's build variety hooked you, Nioh 2 has an order of magnitude more depth to offer. The stance system gives every weapon three full movesets (high, mid, low), and the ki pulse mechanic rewards precise timing with stamina recovery that keeps you attacking. Add yokai abilities absorbed from defeated demons, Burst Counters for punishing specific attacks, and a loot system with set bonuses, gear affixes, and tempering options, and you have a combat system that makes Elden Ring look restrained. The mission-based structure is not open world, which is a legitimate drawback if exploration is what you want. But each mission is a dense, handcrafted level with shortcuts and secrets in the Souls tradition. The weapon variety is absurd. Katana, dual swords, odachi, kusarigama, switchglaive, splitstaff, fists, and hatchets each play like entirely different games. The Depths endgame provides hundreds of hours of optimization for players who want to push builds to their limits. Nioh 2 demands more mechanical engagement than any other game on this list, and it rewards that engagement proportionally. ### Black Myth: Wukong **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Black Myth: Wukong is a visual spectacle with boss fights that belong in the same conversation as FromSoftware's best. The game adapts Journey to the West into a linear action RPG where the set-piece battles are the entire point. Bosses are massive, cinematic, multi-phase affairs against mythological figures, each with devastating attack patterns that require genuine learning. The stance system lets you switch between three fighting styles mid-combo, and transformation abilities (temporarily becoming defeated bosses) add a layer of strategic resource management. The structure is more God of War than Elden Ring. Levels are wide corridors with branching paths rather than an open world. The RPG systems are shallower than a true soulslike. But the production values are extraordinary, the bestiary pulls from a mythology that Western audiences rarely encounter, and the difficulty on higher settings is no joke. If Elden Ring's boss fights were the highlight for you, the encounters in Wukong's later chapters compete directly with anything in the Lands Between. ### Remnant 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Remnant 2 asks what happens when you build a soulslike around guns instead of swords, and the answer is that it works far better than it should. The third-person shooting is precise and weighty, with weapons that feel meaningfully different. The archetype (class) system is deep, and dual-classing opens up hybrid builds that change how you approach every encounter. A Handler/Summoner plays nothing like a Gunslinger/Hunter, and both are viable. The procedural generation is the defining feature. Each playthrough shuffles which dungeons, bosses, and events you encounter, meaning comparing notes with friends is interesting because they may have seen entirely different content. The best bosses stand with anything FromSoftware has designed, and co-op for three players is the best multiplayer soulslike experience available. Adventure Mode lets you reroll individual worlds without restarting your campaign if a run feels weak. --- ## Dark Fantasy Worlds and Deep Lore These games capture Elden Ring's atmospheric storytelling, environmental narrative, and the feeling that you are exploring a world with history written into its architecture. ### Bloodborne **Platforms:** PS4, PS5 (backward compatible) Bloodborne is the game that Elden Ring players who started with FromSoftware's open world should play next, and the one most likely to become their favorite. The Victorian gothic setting transitions from beast hunting to cosmic horror over the course of the game in ways that feel genuinely shocking the first time. Combat is faster and more aggressive than Dark Souls, with a rally system that rewards attacking immediately after taking damage instead of retreating to heal. The trick weapons are FromSoftware's best weapon design. Every weapon has two forms accessed with a transformation attack, and the moveset changes entirely between forms. The Saw Cleaver alone has more depth than most games' entire arsenals. Chalice Dungeons provide procedurally generated endgame content with some of the hardest bosses in the series. The persistent PS4 exclusivity remains frustrating in 2026, but the world design, atmosphere, and boss fights are as close to a perfect action game as FromSoftware has come. ### Blasphemous 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Blasphemous 2 is a 2D soulslike Metroidvania with art direction that punches well above its weight class. The pixel art depicts a world of grotesque religious iconography, baroque architecture, and body horror that channels Spanish Catholic imagery into something genuinely unsettling and beautiful. Three starting weapons each gate different traversal paths through an interconnected map, giving the game strong replay value and moment-to-moment variety. Combat is precise and demanding, built around parries, aerial combos, and dodge timing that rewards aggression. Boss fights are pattern-recognition challenges that hit hard enough to demand respect but stay fair enough to feel satisfying when you crack them. The lore is delivered through item descriptions, environmental storytelling, and cryptic NPC dialogue in the Souls tradition. If you want Elden Ring's atmosphere and difficulty in a 2D format with a 15-hour runtime, Blasphemous 2 is the best option available. ### Lords of the Fallen (2023) **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S The 2023 reboot of Lords of the Fallen has a single idea that elevates it above most soulslikes: the Umbral realm. At any point, you can shift between the world of the living and a dark, decayed parallel dimension where the dead reside. Umbral reveals hidden platforms, alternate paths, and secrets that do not exist in the living world. The catch is that the longer you stay in Umbral, the more aggressive the enemies become, creating a risk-reward tension that never fully lets up. The world design is closer to Dark Souls 1's interconnected approach than most modern soulslikes attempt. Zones link together with shortcuts and elevation changes that reward spatial awareness. Combat is weighty and deliberate, with a magic system built around the Umbral lamp that lets you rip the souls from enemies mid-fight. The game launched in rough technical shape, which damaged its reputation, but extensive patching has addressed the worst issues. The dual-world concept gives exploration a puzzle-solving dimension that Elden Ring's more straightforward open world does not have. ### Mortal Shell **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Mortal Shell is what happens when a small team understands exactly what makes Dark Souls work and builds something lean and focused around that understanding. The hardening mechanic is the standout: you can turn to stone mid-animation, absorbing a hit and then continuing your attack or dodge once the stone breaks. The timing of when you harden (during a swing, mid-roll, while using an item) creates an entire layer of defensive strategy that no other soulslike has replicated. There are only four shells (classes) and four weapons, but each combination plays differently enough to justify multiple playthroughs across the game's 10-15 hour runtime. The world is small and dense, interconnected with shortcuts through swamps, temples, and crypts. Familiarity with items is a progression system: using an item while unfamiliar with it risks a negative effect, but once you have used it enough, its properties are fully revealed. Mortal Shell does not overstay its welcome, and that restraint is itself a statement in a genre that increasingly chases the hundred-hour mark. ### Code Vein **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One Code Vein wraps soulslike combat in anime aesthetics and a surprisingly emotional narrative about immortal revenants in a post-apocalyptic world. The Blood Code system is the main draw: each Blood Code functions as a swappable class with its own abilities and passive skills, and you can change between them freely at any checkpoint. Experimenting with different Blood Codes and finding synergies between their gifts (abilities) keeps the combat from settling into routine. The story is told through memory sequences called Vestiges that reveal the backstories of fallen characters. These are more engaging than they have any right to be, with genuine pathos in several arcs. The AI companion system means you always have a partner in combat, which changes the dynamic from standard soulslike loneliness. Code Vein is not as polished as FromSoftware's output, but the character creator is deep, the build variety through Blood Codes is substantial, and the difficulty is honest. ### Thymesia **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Thymesia is a short, aggressive soulslike that wears its Bloodborne influence openly and earns the comparison more often than not. You wield a saber for quick slashes and a claw for ripping plague weapons from enemies mid-combat. Each enemy type has a unique weapon you can steal and deploy as a powerful special attack, turning every new encounter into an opportunity to expand your arsenal. The plague weapon system means your toolkit is constantly evolving even within a single mission. The game is 8-10 hours long and mission-based, which works in its favor. There is no filler. Every area is dense with enemies and minibosses that demand attention. Deflecting chains of attacks and weaving stolen plague abilities into your combos creates a flow state that Bloodborne fans will recognize immediately. The parry window is tight, the dodge has generous invincibility frames, and the overall pace is relentless. Thymesia is not trying to be a 60-hour epic. It knows exactly what it is, executes on that vision cleanly, and gets out before the formula wears thin. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **What is the closest game to Elden Ring?** Dark Souls 3 is the closest in combat feel, since Elden Ring's systems evolved directly from it. Dragon's Dogma 2 is the closest in open world philosophy. If you want both aspects combined, Lords of the Fallen (2023) comes closest to merging soulslike combat with genuine open exploration, though it does not match FromSoftware's level of polish. **Are there any games like Elden Ring on Switch?** Blasphemous 2 is available on Switch and captures the difficulty and atmospheric storytelling in 2D. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom share the open world exploration philosophy, though the combat is much lighter. For portable soulslikes specifically, Blasphemous 2 is the strongest option on the platform. **Is Elden Ring harder than Dark Souls?** Elden Ring's hardest content (Malenia, Shadow of the Erdtree bosses) is harder than anything in Dark Souls. But the average experience is more forgiving because the open world lets you overlevel, find powerful gear, and summon spirit ashes. Dark Souls forces you through its difficulty gates in sequence with fewer tools to mitigate them. **What should I play after Elden Ring if I have never played a soulslike before?** Dark Souls 3 is the natural next step since the combat will feel immediately familiar. If Dark Souls 3's linear structure feels restrictive after Elden Ring's freedom, try Dragon's Dogma 2 for open world exploration or Lies of P for a modernized soulslike experience. Sekiro is outstanding but requires learning an entirely different combat system, so approach it when you are ready for that shift. **Do any games like Elden Ring have co-op?** Remnant 2 has the best co-op soulslike experience with three-player teams and procedurally generated content that keeps runs fresh. Dark Souls 3 has traditional Souls summoning. Outward supports two-player co-op and is arguably best experienced that way. Code Vein has a built-in AI companion plus online co-op. --- ## Build Your Own Soulslike or Open World RPG Playing great games is one thing. Making one is another. Summer Engine has a [soulslike template](/templates/action-fighting/soulslike) with stamina-based combat, dodge rolling, lock-on targeting, and checkpoint-style respawn systems already wired up. Describe the boss you want in plain language and the AI builds it, attack patterns and all. There is also an [action RPG template](/templates/rpg/action-rpg) with an open world structure if exploration is the focus, and an [open world template](/templates) for building the kind of massive, seamless maps that make this genre work. AI-assisted level design tools help you create interconnected worlds without hand-placing every corridor and shortcut. Browse all templates at [summerengine.com/templates](/templates) and start building. --- ### 15 Games Like Fortnite for Fans of Battle Royale and Building URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-fortnite Published: 2026-03-30T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Battle Royale, Fortnite, Game Recommendations The best games like Fortnite in 2026. Handpicked battle royale shooters, arena games, and competitive multiplayer titles for fans of fast-paced action. Fortnite is not just a game. It is a platform, a social space, and a competitive shooter all running inside the same client. At its core you have a battle royale where 100 players drop onto an island and fight until one squad is left standing. Layered on top of that is a building system that turns every firefight into a vertical chess match, where the player who can throw up walls and edit windows fastest often wins regardless of aim. And wrapping around all of it is a live-service model that reinvents the game every few months with new maps, mechanics, weapons, and crossover events pulling in everything from Marvel to Star Wars. That combination is genuinely unique. Nobody has shipped a product that does battle royale, real-time construction, and cultural-event platform simultaneously. The building mechanic alone creates a skill ceiling that took years for the community to fully explore, evolving from simple 1x1 forts into complex edit plays and piece control techniques that look nothing like the game did at launch. If you are looking for something new after thousands of hours on the battle bus, the games below each capture a different slice of what makes Fortnite work. Some match the last-player-standing format. Others deliver the same competitive intensity in a different structure. A few offer creative destruction or chaotic energy that will feel familiar. None of them have building. That is still Fortnite's thing. --- ## Battle Royale Games These games share Fortnite's core format: drop in, loot up, survive the shrinking circle, and be the last one standing. ### 1. Apex Legends **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Apex Legends is the best-feeling shooter in the battle royale space, and it is not particularly close. Respawn built this on the Titanfall engine, and you can feel it in every slide, every wall climb, every zipline launch. The movement is fast, fluid, and rewards creativity. Add the Legend system on top, where each character brings unique abilities like Wraith's portal or Bangalore's smoke, and you get a game that plays more like a hero shooter than a traditional BR. The trios format and the ping system are the other two pillars. Apex was designed around three-player squads, and the communication tools are so good that you can coordinate with randoms without ever opening your mic. The ping system it introduced has been copied by nearly every multiplayer game since. Gunfights last longer than in most shooters because the time-to-kill is high, which means positioning, ability usage, and team coordination matter more than raw aim. If you want a battle royale where mechanical skill has an extremely high ceiling and every fight feels earned, this is the one. ### 2. Call of Duty: Warzone **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Warzone takes Call of Duty's tight, responsive gunplay and puts it in a battle royale wrapper. The key differentiator is the loadout drop system. Instead of being stuck with whatever you find on the ground, you earn cash during the match, buy a loadout drop, and get your custom weapon builds with all your preferred attachments. This means the mid-game power curve feels different from other BRs. You are not at the mercy of RNG after the first five minutes. The Gulag is the other signature mechanic. When you die for the first time, you get sent to a 1v1 arena for a second chance. Win and you redeploy. It is a brilliant design decision that keeps eliminated players engaged instead of sending them back to the lobby. The maps rotate with each Call of Duty release cycle, and the weapon meta shifts constantly. If you prefer realistic gunplay and quick time-to-kill over Fortnite's cartoonish approach, Warzone has been delivering that since 2020. ### 3. PUBG: Battlegrounds **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Mobile PUBG started the modern battle royale genre and it is still running strong after going free-to-play. The gunplay sits closer to simulation than arcade. Bullet drop matters at range, recoil patterns reward practice, and the attachment system for weapons is deep enough that knowing which grip to use on which gun is a real advantage. Matches play out slower and more tactically than Fortnite, with long stretches of looting and rotating punctuated by sudden, violent firefights. The map variety is excellent. Erangel is the classic open-field experience. Miramar is desert warfare with long sightlines. Sanhok is a smaller, faster map for players who want more action. Each one demands different strategies. PUBG will never be as flashy as Fortnite, but it does not try to be. It is the battle royale for players who want their wins to feel like they were earned through smart positioning and clean shooting rather than build battles. If you want the genre at its most grounded and tactical, PUBG remains the benchmark. ### 4. Naraka: Bladepoint **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Naraka answers the question: what if battle royale, but with swords? The combat system is built around a rock-paper-scissors triangle of normal attacks, charged attacks, and parries. You can grapple to any surface, wall-run across rooftops, and chase down enemies with a fluidity that makes the traversal feel as important as the fighting. Each hero brings unique abilities, and the weapon variety (longsword, katana, spear, greatsword, bow) gives every fight a martial arts movie quality. This is the most mechanically distinct battle royale on this list. It plays nothing like a traditional shooter BR, and that is entirely the point. The skill ceiling for melee combat is enormous. Learning to read your opponent's attack animations, timing parries, and chaining combos takes genuine practice. If you have ever wished the final circle of a battle royale felt more like a duel than a spray fight, Naraka is the only game doing this at scale. The player base is healthy and content updates are regular. ### 5. Super People 2 **Platforms:** PC Super People takes the battle royale formula and adds a power curve within each match. You pick a class at the start, and as the game progresses you level up and unlock increasingly powerful abilities. By the final circles, what started as a standard BR has turned into a superhero brawl with ground pounds, teleportation, and energy shields flying everywhere. The escalation within a single match creates a unique arc that no other battle royale offers. The gunplay underneath the powers is solid Korean FPS fare, similar to PUBG in feel but faster in pace. The class variety means different players in the same lobby are playing fundamentally different games, which keeps matches unpredictable. The player base has fluctuated since the relaunch, but when lobbies fill up, the final minutes of a Super People match are genuinely unlike anything else in the genre. It is worth trying if you want to see what battle royale looks like when everyone gets superpowers. --- ## Destructive and Creative Shooters Fortnite's building mechanic is about reshaping the battlefield in real time. These games explore that idea from different angles, letting you alter, destroy, or manipulate the environment during combat. ### 6. The Finals **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S The Finals is the spiritual opposite of Fortnite's building. Instead of constructing cover, you destroy it. Every wall, floor, ceiling, and building in the game can be blown apart with explosives, heavy weapons, or just brute force. The destruction is physics-based and fully dynamic. You can collapse a building onto an enemy team, blow out the floor to drop a cash box to a lower level, or demolish a choke point to create a new route. No two rounds play the same because the map literally reshapes itself as you fight. Three body types (light, medium, heavy) replace traditional class systems, and each one has a distinct gadget loadout that interacts with the destruction in different ways. The light build can cloak and use grappling hooks for vertical play. The medium build heals and deploys turrets. The heavy build carries sledgehammers and rocket launchers for maximum demolition. The game modes rotate, but the core loop always involves teams competing over objectives while the environment crumbles around them. If what you loved about Fortnite was the idea that the battlefield is not static, The Finals delivers that philosophy through destruction rather than construction. ### 7. Splitgate 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S (In Development) The original Splitgate combined Halo-style arena shooting with Portal's portal mechanic. You could place two portals on designated surfaces and shoot, walk, or see through them, creating angles and flanks that were impossible in traditional shooters. The game built a massive following in 2021 before the studio shut it down to build a full sequel with a bigger budget and broader scope. Splitgate 2 is currently in development and represents one of the most anticipated competitive shooters on the horizon. The portal mechanic added a spatial reasoning layer to every gunfight that felt genuinely new. You were not just thinking about aim and positioning. You were thinking in portals, setting up angles that your opponent could not predict, and collapsing them when you were done. If the sequel delivers on the original's promise with modern production values and a sustainable live-service model, it could be one of the most important shooters of the year. Worth keeping on your radar. --- ## Free-to-Play Competitive Shooters These games share Fortnite's accessibility model and competitive depth without the battle royale format. If what draws you to Fortnite is the free entry point, the ranked grind, and the live-service content pipeline, these deliver all of that. ### 8. Valorant **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Valorant is what happens when you take Counter-Strike's precise, punishing gunplay and layer hero abilities on top of it. Each agent has four abilities (smokes, flashes, walls, recon tools) that add tactical options to every round. The economy system forces difficult decisions about when to buy weapons versus abilities versus saving for the next round. It is a 5v5 tactical shooter, not a battle royale, so the format is entirely different from Fortnite. But the competitive depth is immense. The ranked ladder is one of the most populated in any shooter, and the skill ceiling for both gunplay and ability usage is very high. You can climb ranks purely on aim, or you can climb by being the player who always has the right smoke down at the right time. The professional scene is massive and well-produced. If you are ready to graduate from casual battle royale to a structured competitive experience where every round matters and mistakes are punished hard, Valorant is where the serious player base lives. ### 9. Overwatch 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch (Free-to-play) Overwatch 2 is not a battle royale, but it shares more DNA with Fortnite than you might expect. The hero ability system, the colorful art style, the seasonal content drops, the crossover events, and the emphasis on team play over pure mechanical skill all overlap. Each hero has a unique kit, and the 5v5 format creates team composition decisions that matter at every level of play. Tank, DPS, and support roles force coordination, and switching heroes mid-match to counter the enemy team adds a strategic layer that most shooters lack. The live-service model mirrors Fortnite's seasonal structure. New heroes, new maps, new modes, and regular balance patches keep the meta shifting. If what you enjoy about Fortnite is the ability-driven combat and the feeling that the game is always evolving, Overwatch 2 delivers that with tighter matches and faster feedback loops. Games last 10-15 minutes instead of 20-25, and the objective-based modes give every fight a purpose beyond just eliminating the other team. ### 10. Realm Royale Reforged **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Realm Royale started life as a spinoff of Paladins and has been reworked multiple times since launch. In its current form, it is a class-based battle royale where you pick a class (warrior, mage, assassin, hunter), find class-specific abilities as floor loot, and craft legendary weapons at forges scattered across the map. The forging mechanic is the key design innovation. Crafting broadcasts your position to nearby players, turning every forge into a natural hotspot for fights. You are trading stealth for power, and that tension creates interesting decisions. The chicken mechanic deserves special mention. When you lose all your health, instead of being eliminated immediately, you transform into a chicken and have a few seconds to escape. If you survive, you respawn with a sliver of health. It sounds absurd on paper, but it creates genuine comeback moments and makes the final circles more chaotic in a good way. The player base is small but dedicated, matches still fill quickly, and the game is completely free. If you want a battle royale with class identity and crafting stakes, Realm Royale is an underrated pick. --- ## Games That Capture the Chaos These are not battle royales. They do not have building mechanics. But they capture something specific about Fortnite's energy: the unpredictability, the colorful tone, the feeling that anything can happen in the next thirty seconds. ### 11. Fall Guys **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch (Free-to-play) Fall Guys is battle royale reimagined as a game show. Sixty players compete across rounds of obstacle courses, team challenges, and survival gauntlets until one winner remains. There is no combat in the traditional sense. The "fighting" is bumping other players off platforms, grabbing them at inopportune moments, and desperately diving for the finish line while everything around you collapses. It went free-to-play and the player base surged to enormous numbers. The custom level builder added a community content pipeline that keeps the game fresh long after you have memorized the official rounds. Thousands of player-created courses range from clever to sadistic. If you love Fortnite's chaotic energy and bright, cartoonish aesthetic but want something you can play without any shooting skill whatsoever, Fall Guys captures that exact vibe. It is also one of the best couch-gaming experiences if you have people over who do not normally play competitive games. Low barrier to entry, high capacity for screaming at the television. ### 12. Rocket League **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch (Free-to-play) Rocket League has nothing in common with Fortnite on the surface. You play soccer with rocket-powered cars. But it scratches the same competitive itch in a completely different way. The skill ceiling is one of the highest in all of competitive gaming: beginners struggle to hit the ball consistently, intermediate players learn to fly, and professionals execute ceiling shots and flip resets that look like they break physics. The gap between "I just started" and "I can compete at a high level" is years of practice. Matches last five minutes. The ranking system is well-calibrated. The free-to-play model means there is no barrier to entry. And the short match length makes it dangerously easy to queue "just one more" until you look up and three hours have disappeared. If what you love about Fortnite is the feeling of improving at a mechanically demanding game and seeing that improvement reflected in your rank, Rocket League delivers that feeling with ruthless clarity. Every goal you score and every save you make is entirely your doing. ### 13. Splatoon 3 **Platforms:** Nintendo Switch Splatoon is Nintendo's answer to competitive shooters, and it has more in common with Fortnite's spirit than most people realize. The core mode has two teams of four painting the map with ink. You are not just shooting opponents. You are claiming territory, and the team with more ground covered wins. The ink doubles as a movement system: you swim through your own color as a squid for faster traversal and stealth, while enemy ink slows you to a crawl. Every match reshapes the map dynamically as both teams fight for control. The weapon variety is absurd. Rollers, brushes, sniper-equivalents called chargers, buckets that fling ink in arcs, and umbrellas that function as shields. The seasonal updates, the gear system, and the emphasis on style over grit all echo Fortnite's approach to keeping a competitive game feeling fresh and fun rather than punishing. If you own a Switch and want competitive multiplayer that rewards creativity and map awareness over pure aim, Splatoon 3 is one of the best in the business. --- ## Gone But Not Forgotten These games no longer have live servers, but they pioneered ideas that deserve recognition. If you are a developer or a designer, they are worth studying. ### 14. Spellbreak **Platforms:** Shut down (January 2023) Spellbreak was a battle royale where you cast spells instead of shooting guns, and elemental combinations created emergent chaos. Fire plus tornado created a flaming vortex. Ice plus lightning created electrified frost. Toxic gas plus fire created an explosion. The movement was fluid, with levitation and dashes replacing traditional FPS mechanics entirely. Proletariat shut it down after being acquired by Blizzard, and nothing has attempted this formula since. It remains the most creatively ambitious take on battle royale that anyone has shipped. The elemental combination system created moments that felt genuinely magical, where two players throwing spells at each other would accidentally create a chain reaction that pulled in three other squads. You cannot play it anymore, but it deserves to be remembered. A magic-based battle royale with real elemental interaction design. The idea worked. The business did not. ### 15. Darwin Project **Platforms:** Shut down (2020) Darwin Project was a 10-player battle royale in a frozen arena with a twist that no game has replicated: an 11th player acted as the Show Director. The Director watched the match from above and could close zones, drop nukes on specific areas, heal players, give one player an advantage, or punish another. The game was designed for streaming, and the best matches felt like a televised reality show where the audience and the director were active participants in the drama. It shut down in 2020 due to low player numbers, which is a shame because the Director concept was brilliant. That idea is still sitting there, waiting for someone to pick it up and build it with a bigger budget. The execution was rough, but the design insight was years ahead of its time. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **What is the closest game to Fortnite?** Apex Legends is the closest in terms of overall experience. It is a free-to-play battle royale with hero abilities, fast movement, constant content updates, and a massive player base. The main difference is no building and a trios-focused format with higher time-to-kill. **Are there any games with building mechanics like Fortnite?** Not in the competitive multiplayer space. Fortnite's real-time building during combat remains unique. The Finals offers environmental manipulation through destruction rather than construction, which is the closest conceptual parallel. Creative sandbox games like Minecraft and Roblox have building, but the context is entirely different. **What battle royale games are free-to-play?** Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, PUBG: Battlegrounds, Fall Guys, Realm Royale Reforged, and Rocket League are all free-to-play. The free-to-play model has become standard for competitive multiplayer games. **What should I play if I like Fortnite but want something more competitive?** Valorant if you want a tactical shooter with a serious ranked ladder. Apex Legends if you want to stay in the battle royale format but with higher mechanical demands. Overwatch 2 if you want ability-driven team combat with shorter matches and faster feedback. **Is PUBG still worth playing in 2026?** Yes. The player base stabilized after going free-to-play, the gunplay is still some of the best in the genre, and the map variety gives you options for different play styles. It is the most grounded and tactical battle royale available. **What happened to Spellbreak and Darwin Project?** Both shut down due to small player bases. Spellbreak closed in January 2023 after Proletariat was acquired by Blizzard. Darwin Project shut down in 2020. Neither has been replaced by a spiritual successor, which is a gap in the market. --- ## Build Your Own Battle Royale If playing these games has you thinking about what your own version would look like, Summer Engine has [shooter templates](/templates) with networked multiplayer, weapon systems, and game mode logic already built in. Deathmatch, team objectives, and last-player-standing modes are all scaffolded so you can start prototyping without writing netcode from scratch. The AI tools help you iterate on map design, weapon balance, and game feel faster than traditional engines allow. Whether you want to build a classic battle royale, an arena shooter, or something entirely new, the templates give you a starting point and the tools let you move fast. --- ### 15 Games Like Pokemon for Fans of Catching, Training, and Battling URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-pokemon Published: 2026-03-30T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, RPG, Pokemon, Game Recommendations The best games like Pokemon in 2026. Handpicked creature collectors and monster-taming RPGs for fans who want more catching, training, and battling. Pokemon is one of those rare franchises where the core loop has barely changed in nearly three decades and nobody cares because the loop is that good. You walk into tall grass, something wild appears, you throw a ball at it, and suddenly you are emotionally invested in a creature you met thirty seconds ago. The type chart gives every encounter a layer of strategy. The team of six forces hard choices about who makes the cut. And the collection aspect, filling out that Pokedex one entry at a time, taps into something deeply satisfying about completion and ownership. What makes the formula so durable is how many systems interlock without ever feeling complicated. Type matchups create a massive rock-paper-scissors web where knowledge is power. EVs, IVs, natures, and abilities create a hidden competitive depth that casual players can happily ignore. The progression arc, eight gyms into an Elite Four into a champion fight, gives the adventure a clear spine while leaving room for side content. And evolution transforms your team over time in a way that creates genuine attachment. You remember the Charmander you picked at the start because by the end it is a Charizard that has been with you for forty hours. If you have burned through Scarlet and Violet and the itch is still there, these 15 games all deliver on different parts of what makes Pokemon work. Some nail the creature collecting. Others push the combat system further than Game Freak ever has. A few reimagine the open-world exploration entirely. They are grouped below by the aspect of Pokemon they scratch hardest. --- ## Creature Collecting and Monster Taming These games put the catch-and-collect loop front and center. If your favorite part of Pokemon is filling the Pokedex, building a roster, and seeing every creature the game has to offer, start here. ### 1. Temtem **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Temtem is the most direct Pokemon competitor ever shipped. It is a massively multiplayer creature collector where double battles are the default format, a stamina system replaces PP, and competitive balance is treated as a first-class concern rather than an afterthought. You explore a chain of floating islands, catch Temtem in the wild, challenge dojos that function as gyms, and battle other players online. The difficulty is a genuine step up from Pokemon, especially once you hit the third island. AI trainers use actual strategies, and the stamina system means you cannot just spam your strongest move without consequence. Overuse a technique and your Temtem takes recoil damage from exhaustion. It adds a resource management layer that forces you to think about pacing across a fight, not just individual turns. If you have wished Pokemon would take its competitive scene more seriously and give you a reason to co-op through the story, Temtem delivers on both fronts. ### 2. Coromon **Platforms:** PC, Switch, iOS, Android Coromon looks and plays like a Game Boy Advance-era Pokemon game, and that is entirely by design. Pixel art, turn-based battles, a choice of three starters, and a region full of trainers standing in your path. The nostalgia hit is immediate. But Coromon adds its own wrinkle with the potential system: every creature you catch has a quality rating (standard, potent, or perfect) that affects its stats and gives it a visual color shift. Catching a perfect Coromon is rare enough to feel like an event. The difficulty options deserve special mention. There is a built-in Nuzlocke mode, a randomizer, and a hard mode that makes trainer battles genuinely punishing. The game trusts that its audience has played Pokemon before and wants to be challenged. If you miss the era of FireRed and Emerald and want something that captures that feeling without simply cloning it, Coromon is the best option available. ### 3. Nexomon: Extinction **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, iOS, Android Nexomon: Extinction is a traditional creature collector with 381 monsters, a type-based battle system, and a story that is darker and funnier than anything in the Pokemon mainline series. The writing is self-aware in a way that works because it commits to the bit. Characters acknowledge the absurdity of sending children to fight apocalyptic threats. The villain has actual motivation. The humor pokes at genre tropes without undercutting the stakes. Catch rates are lower than Pokemon, which makes rare encounters feel meaningful. When you finally land a legendary Nexomon after burning through a stack of traps, the payoff is real. The difficulty spikes in the mid-game can be rough, but the creature designs are consistently strong, and the world is large enough that you always have somewhere new to explore. A solid pick for anyone who wants a monster-taming RPG with personality and does not mind a game that occasionally laughs at itself. ### 4. Ooblets **Platforms:** PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Ooblets blends creature collecting with farming simulation and card-based dance battles. You grow Ooblets from seeds in your garden, challenge wild ones to dance-offs that play out as turn-based card games, and manage a farm in a pastel-colored town. The tone is relentlessly cozy, which will either charm you or bounce off you entirely. What keeps it interesting mechanically is the deck-building layer. Each Ooblet adds specific cards to your battle deck, so team composition matters in a way that is closer to Slay the Spire than Pokemon. You are not just picking the strongest creatures; you are curating a hand of moves that synergize. The farming loop provides a satisfying secondary progression track between battles. If you want the collection aspect of Pokemon without the intensity of competitive battling, and you enjoy the Stardew Valley end of the gaming spectrum, Ooblets is a natural fit. ### 5. Siralim Ultimate **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Siralim Ultimate is the creature collector for players who want infinite depth. Over 1,200 creatures, each with unique traits, and a team-building system complex enough to require spreadsheets if you want to optimize. The game is roguelike-structured: you run procedurally generated realms, fight enemies, collect resources, and push deeper. There is no level cap. There is no real ending. The game just keeps going. The graphics are deliberately retro and the presentation is spartan, which will turn off players who care about visual polish. But the build variety is staggering. Trait combinations can create synergies that break the game in creative and satisfying ways, and discovering those combos is the real hook. If you have ever spent more time on damage calculators and Smogon tier lists than actually playing Pokemon, Siralim Ultimate is the game that was built specifically for you. --- ## Turn-Based Combat and Team Strategy These games push the battle system further than Pokemon does. Deeper fusion mechanics, more punishing difficulty, and combat systems where team composition is a puzzle in its own right. ### 6. Cassette Beasts **Platforms:** PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch You wash up on a mysterious island, discover that people record monsters onto cassette tapes and transform into them to fight, and things escalate from there. The standout feature is fusion: any two monsters can fuse mid-battle into a combined form with merged abilities, a blended typing, and a unique generated sprite. The fusion system is not cosmetic. It meaningfully changes your options in a fight and encourages experimentation. The type chart has genuinely creative interactions. Fire plus ice creates water. Poison plus plant creates a different result than you would expect. The system rewards players who think about interactions rather than just memorizing a chart. The open-world island hides a surprisingly good story with lore that unfolds as you explore. Cassette Beasts feels like what happens when people who deeply understand Pokemon decide to build something that pushes the formula in directions Game Freak has never tried. ### 7. Monster Sanctuary **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Monster Sanctuary fuses creature collecting with Metroidvania exploration in a way that makes both halves stronger. You move through a 2D interconnected world, and every monster you hatch grants a new traversal ability. Your fire cat lights dark caves. Your flying griffin carries you across gaps. Your boulder golem smashes through walls. Exploration and team composition become the same decision. Battles are 3v3 turn-based encounters with a heavy emphasis on synergy and combo attacks. Each monster has a skill tree with meaningful choices about offensive, defensive, and support builds. Fights are graded on a star system based on how efficiently you win, and higher ratings mean better loot. The result is a game where you are always thinking about both how your team moves through the world and how it performs in combat. It is a smart fusion that deserves more attention than it has received. ### 8. Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch SMT V is the dark, difficult cousin that Pokemon pretends does not exist. You recruit demons through negotiation rather than capture, chatting them up mid-battle and hoping they accept your offering rather than stealing your items and running. Demon fusion lets you combine two demons into a stronger one, passing down skills and creating builds that would be impossible otherwise. The Press Turn system is one of the best turn-based combat engines ever designed. Hit a weakness, gain an extra action. Hit a resistance, lose actions. Hit an immunity, lose even more. Every random encounter is potentially lethal, and every boss demands specific preparation. The post-apocalyptic Tokyo setting gives the whole game a weight that Pokemon intentionally avoids. If you want creature collecting with genuine stakes, real difficulty, and a tone that never pulls its punches, SMT V is one of the best RPGs of the last decade regardless of subgenre. ### 9. Persona 5 Royal **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Persona 5 shares SMT's demon fusion and type-weakness combat but wraps it in a high school life simulator that somehow makes both halves essential. Half the game is building relationships, studying for exams, working part-time jobs, and exploring Tokyo. The other half is spent in stylish turn-based dungeon crawls where you collect and fuse Personas, this series' version of demons. The fusion system is deep, letting you chain-fuse toward powerful Personas that inherit specific skills. The combat is fast, visually slick, and rewards exploiting weaknesses with an All-Out Attack system that clears the field. The 100-plus hour story maintains momentum better than most RPGs a quarter of its length. The creature collecting is embedded inside a much larger game, and that larger game is one of the best JRPGs ever made. You come for the monster collecting; you stay for everything else. ### 10. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition **Platforms:** PC, Switch Cyber Sleuth is the best Digimon game ever made, and its evolution system is the single biggest reason. Evolution is nonlinear: any Digimon can evolve in multiple directions, and you can de-evolve and re-evolve to unlock completely different paths. The result is a web of possibilities rather than a straight line. Planning an optimal path for your Digimon to absorb the right stats and abilities at each stage is a puzzle that Pokemon's linear evolution chain cannot replicate. The story is set in a near-future Tokyo with a cyberspace layer, and it takes itself seriously enough to land. Turn-based combat is standard JRPG fare, but the Digivolution system gives every battle meaning because you are always progressing toward a new form. The Complete Edition bundles both Cyber Sleuth and its sequel Hacker's Memory, giving you well over 100 hours of content with over 300 Digimon to recruit and evolve. If you have ever wanted an evolution system with real decision-making depth, this is the game that delivers. --- ## Open World Exploration and Adventure These games lean into the exploration and world-building side of Pokemon. Discovering new areas, finding creatures in the wild, and the sense of adventure that comes from setting out into an unknown world. ### 11. Palworld **Platforms:** PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Palworld takes creature collecting and drops it into a survival crafting sandbox. You catch Pals, assign them to work in your base (farming, mining, manufacturing, transporting goods), and take them into combat in a third-person shooter format. The juxtaposition of cute creatures and factory labor is absurd, and the game leans into it. The open world is genuinely large and rewards exploration with rare Pal spawns, hidden dungeons, and boss encounters. Base building is deep enough to sink dozens of hours into on its own. Multiplayer supports both co-op and PvP servers. It is a very different interpretation of the monster-taming formula, closer to Ark: Survival Evolved than mainline Pokemon, but the catching-and-collecting loop is intact and the survival layer adds a sense of stakes that Pokemon's world never has. You need your Pals. They are not just fighters; they are your workforce. ### 12. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin **Platforms:** PC, Switch Monster Hunter Stories 2 takes the iconic creatures from Capcom's flagship franchise and puts them in a turn-based RPG where you raise them from eggs. You infiltrate monster dens, steal eggs based on visual and weight cues that hint at what is inside, hatch them, and ride them into battle using a rock-paper-scissors system built around power, speed, and technical attacks. The gene system is where the depth lives. You can transfer abilities between monsters by sacrificing one to pass its genes to another, creating builds that combine elements and skills from completely different species. Each monster also provides a unique riding ability for overworld traversal: flying, swimming, jumping, climbing, or burrowing. It is a 60-plus hour RPG with co-op multiplayer and some of the best creature designs in gaming. The monster roster benefits from decades of design refinement, and it shows. ### 13. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Switch Studio Ghibli animated the cutscenes. Joe Hisaishi composed the soundtrack. Level-5 built the JRPG around it all. The result is one of the most beautiful games ever made, and it happens to have a full creature-collecting system at its core. You catch familiars in the wild, level them, feed them treats to evolve them, and deploy them in real-time battles that blend direct control with party AI management. The world is the real draw. Every environment looks like a painting. The story, about a boy traveling to a parallel world to save his mother, hits emotional beats that most games in this genre never attempt. The sequel moved away from creature collecting entirely, so the first game is the one you want. The familiar designs are charming, the battles are fun once the system clicks, and the presentation is so far above the genre standard that it makes you wish every creature collector had this level of craft behind it. ### 14. Cassette Beasts (Exploration Focus) The open world of Cassette Beasts deserves its own mention outside of its combat systems. New Wirral, the island you are stranded on, is a hand-crafted open world with verticality, secrets tucked behind environmental puzzles, and a genuine sense of discovery. Landmarks on the horizon are reachable. Caves lead to hidden areas. The map unfolds naturally as you gain new traversal abilities from the monsters you record. The companion system pairs you with NPCs who have their own stories, opinions on the island's mysteries, and combat abilities. Exploring with different companions changes dialogue and opens up relationship arcs. It captures the feeling of setting out on a Pokemon journey through a new region, that sense of not knowing what is around the next corner, better than most games in the genre. The island itself is the reward for exploration. ### 15. PokeRogue **Platforms:** Browser (free) PokeRogue is a fan-made browser game that turns Pokemon into a roguelike, and it is absurdly addictive. You pick a starter from across every generation, fight through increasingly difficult waves of wild Pokemon and trainers, and try to survive as deep into the run as possible. Every Pokemon, ability, and move from the entire franchise is available. Runs last one to two hours and end in either triumph or a wipe that sends you back to the start screen. The roguelike structure transforms how Pokemon's systems feel. Catching a Pokemon mid-run is a strategic decision about team composition under pressure. Held items drop as rewards and force tough choices. Biomes change the encounter pool and the type advantages in play. Because it runs entirely in a browser, you can play it on anything with an internet connection. The community is active, updates are frequent, and the difficulty ramps fast enough that every run feels like a genuine challenge. It is the best Pokemon fan project in years, and it costs nothing. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the best game like Pokemon on PC? Cassette Beasts is the strongest overall pick. It has creative combat, a fusion system that adds real depth, and an open world worth exploring. Temtem is the better choice if you specifically want multiplayer creature collecting. For pure combat depth, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is hard to beat. ### Are there any free games like Pokemon? PokeRogue is a free browser-based roguelike that uses the full Pokemon roster and is remarkably polished for a fan project. There are also several Pokemon ROM hack communities that produce full-length fan games with original regions and increased difficulty. ### What is the hardest game like Pokemon? Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is the most punishing on the list. Random encounters can kill you, and bosses require specific team builds to survive. Siralim Ultimate and Temtem also offer significantly higher difficulty than mainline Pokemon. ### Which game has the best creature designs? Monster Hunter Stories 2 benefits from decades of iconic monster design. Ni no Kuni's familiars have Studio Ghibli's art direction behind them. Cassette Beasts has the most creative concept with its tape-recording transformation system. Creature design quality is subjective, but those three stand out. ### Can I play any of these on Switch? Most of them. Temtem, Coromon, Monster Sanctuary, Cassette Beasts, Nexomon: Extinction, Ooblets, Ni no Kuni, Monster Hunter Stories 2, and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth are all on Switch. Palworld and Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance are not. ### What is the best game like Pokemon for kids? Ooblets is the most kid-friendly option with its cozy tone, farming mechanics, and dance battles. Ni no Kuni is also a great choice thanks to the Studio Ghibli art style and its storybook presentation. Coromon works well for older kids who are already familiar with Pokemon's mechanics. --- ## Build Your Own Creature Collector Playing these games is one thing. Building one is another. Summer Engine has a [creature collector template](/templates/rpg/creature-collector) that gives you a working capture system, a party manager, turn-based battles with a type chart, and an overworld with wild creature spawns out of the box. You describe the creatures you want, the world they inhabit, and the rules of your battle system, and the engine helps you build it. No need to wire up inventory systems, encounter tables, or battle state machines from scratch. If you have ever sketched out your own roster of creatures in a notebook or complained about decisions Game Freak made with the type chart, you already have the design instincts. The template handles the engineering so you can focus on the part that matters: designing the monsters and the world they live in. --- ### 15 Games Like Roblox to Play and Build In (2026) URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-roblox Published: 2026-03-30T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Sandbox, Roblox, Game Recommendations Games like Roblox where you can play and create. Handpicked sandbox worlds, creation platforms, and social games. PC, console, mobile, and browser picks for 2026. Roblox did something nobody expected a kids' game to do: it turned millions of players into developers. The platform's trick was never its graphics, its physics engine, or any single game inside it. The trick was removing the wall between playing and building. You jump into an obby someone made, think "I could do this," open Roblox Studio, and suddenly you are learning Lua at age eleven. That pipeline from player to creator is the single most important thing Roblox got right, and it is the reason the platform has outlasted every trend cycle since 2006. The social infrastructure matters just as much. Roblox is not a game. It is a place where you hang out. Your friends list is the discovery engine. You see what your friends are playing, you join, you discover a new experience you never would have searched for. The avatar system, the chat, the group features. They all exist to keep people connected across thousands of wildly different games. It is a social network that happens to run on user-generated content. But if you have spent real time on Roblox, you know the frustrations. The visual ceiling is low. The revenue split heavily favors the platform (developers historically take home around 24 cents on the dollar after Roblox's cut and fees). Moderation can be heavy-handed. The audience skews young, which shapes the kind of content that gets traction. And if you want to ship your game outside the Roblox ecosystem (on Steam, on mobile as a standalone app, anywhere else), you simply cannot. Your game lives and dies inside Roblox. These 15 alternatives each solve different pieces of that puzzle. Some offer better creation tools. Some offer different audiences. Some let you actually own what you build. ## Creation Platforms These are the closest relatives to Roblox in spirit, platforms where building games is the core activity, not just a side feature. ### Fortnite Creative / UEFN **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android Fortnite Creative started as a sandbox mode and evolved into a full game creation platform. The original Creative mode gave you an island, a pile of prefabs, and basic device logic. It was fun but limited. Then Epic launched Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), and the ceiling blew off. UEFN gives creators access to real Unreal Engine 5 tooling: Verse scripting (a new language built for the platform), Nanite geometry, Lumen lighting, the works. You are building inside a professional engine, and your creations live inside the most popular game on the planet. The distribution advantage is hard to overstate. Fortnite has hundreds of millions of accounts. A Creative island that catches fire through the Discovery tab can rack up millions of plays in days. Epic also offers a more generous revenue model than Roblox, with the Engagement Payout Program distributing a pool of real money based on how much time players spend in your island. If you want the biggest possible audience for your creations and you are willing to learn Verse, UEFN is the strongest play-and-create platform available right now. ### Core **Platforms:** PC Core is built entirely on Unreal Engine and it shows. Games on Core look dramatically better than anything on Roblox, with proper lighting, particle effects, and post-processing all handled by the Unreal renderer. The editor sits at an interesting middle ground: more approachable than raw Unreal (drag-and-drop components, Lua scripting, a big shared asset library) but far more capable than Roblox Studio in terms of visual output. The trade-off is audience size. Core never reached Roblox-scale player counts, which means your game will have a smaller pool of potential players. But it also means less competition. A well-made Core game can stand out in ways that are nearly impossible on Roblox, where thousands of new experiences launch daily. If visual quality matters to you and you want to learn skills that translate toward Unreal Engine development, Core is worth exploring. ### Dreams **Platforms:** PS4, PS5 Dreams is the most ambitious creation tool ever shipped inside a consumer game. Media Molecule (the LittleBigPlanet studio) built a full creative suite: 3D sculpting, music composition, animation, visual scripting, and video editing, all controlled with a DualShock or DualSense. Players have recreated entire games from other franchises, produced original short films, composed albums, and built interactive art installations. The technical ceiling is absurdly high for something running on a PlayStation. The learning curve is steeper than Roblox, no question. The sculpting interface alone takes hours to feel natural. But if you put in the time, Dreams lets you create things that no other console tool can touch. The community output includes some genuinely impressive work: full 3D adventure games, horror experiences with custom soundtracks, animated music videos. The limitation is platform exclusivity: everything you build lives inside Dreams on PlayStation. You cannot export or monetize outside the ecosystem. ### KoGaMa **Platforms:** Web, Android KoGaMa strips the creation-platform concept down to its simplest form. It runs in a browser. You click, you build, you publish. The tools use block-based construction with a logic system for adding enemies, objectives, and game mechanics. There is no download, no install process, no account verification loop. You can be placing blocks within a minute of opening the site. The visual style is simpler than Roblox, closer to early Minecraft with brighter colors. But the zero-friction entry point makes it genuinely useful for younger creators or anyone who wants to prototype an idea fast. The browser-based nature also makes sharing trivial: send a link, the other person is playing. No "download Roblox, create an account, search for my game" friction. For quick, disposable game creation experiments, KoGaMa fills a niche that heavier platforms miss. ### Crayta (Discontinued, Legacy Worth Knowing) **Platforms:** Was PC (formerly Stadia) Crayta deserves a spot even though it shut down, because the idea it proved is more relevant now than when it launched. Multiple people could build a game together in real time, editing scripts, placing objects, and playtesting all simultaneously in the same session. It used Lua scripting and a shared asset library, similar to Roblox Studio, but the collaborative editing was seamless in a way that Roblox's team-create features still have not matched. Crayta launched on Stadia (bad timing), migrated to PC after Stadia's shutdown, then closed entirely. But its DNA lives on. Real-time collaborative game development is showing up in newer tools and platforms. If you see a creation tool advertising "build together in real time," there is a decent chance the developers studied what Crayta got right. ## Social Sandboxes These games nail the "hang out and create together" side of Roblox, where the social experience is just as important as the building tools. ### Minecraft **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android Minecraft needs no introduction, but it is worth examining why it remains the gold standard for sandbox creation after fifteen-plus years. The block-based building system is the most intuitive construction mechanic ever designed. Place a block, break a block. A five-year-old understands it instantly. A computer science student uses redstone circuits to build a functioning CPU inside the game. The skill ceiling is effectively infinite while the floor is at ground level. The modding ecosystem dwarfs everything else on this list. Tens of thousands of mods transform every aspect of the game: new dimensions, magic systems, technology trees, automation frameworks, entire game genres rebuilt inside Minecraft's engine. Multiplayer servers host everything from vanilla survival to heavily modded RPG experiences with custom plugins, economies, and questlines. If Roblox is a platform of games, Minecraft's server ecosystem is an underground city of them, often with more technical depth. Where Minecraft differs from Roblox is in ownership and distribution. You can run your own server. You can sell access to your server. You can mod the game locally without anyone's permission. The Java Edition modding community operates largely outside Microsoft's control, which gives creators a freedom that platform-dependent tools cannot match. ### Rec Room **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android, Meta Quest Rec Room's killer feature is building in VR. You can construct rooms using in-game gadgets and circuits while physically standing inside your creation, walking around it, reaching out and grabbing objects to reposition them. It makes flat-screen level editors feel like drawing with oven mitts on. The creation tools are simpler than Roblox Studio (no scripting language, just circuits and triggers), but the physicality of VR building compensates with an immediacy that code cannot replicate. The social layer is strong and genuinely cross-platform. A VR player on Quest, a PC player on a monitor, and a kid on a Switch can all be in the same room playing the same game. The built-in activities (paintball, laser tag, quests) are polished enough to keep people coming back, and the community-created rooms number in the millions. The audience does skew younger, similar to Roblox, but the VR crowd brings in an older demographic that cares about spatial design and immersive experiences. ### Garry's Mod **Platforms:** PC Garry's Mod is chaos incarnate, and that is entirely the point. It is a physics sandbox with no objectives, no progression, and no rules. You spawn objects from Valve's Source engine games, weld them together, attach thrusters and wheels, and watch your creation either work beautifully or explode in spectacular fashion. The joy is in the experimentation, and the Steam Workshop has over a decade of community content to fuel it. What makes GMod culturally significant is the game modes it spawned. Prop Hunt (hide as furniture, hunters seek you out), Trouble in Terrorist Town (social deduction with guns), DarkRP (freeform roleplay with jobs and economies). These are entire genres that were born inside Garry's Mod and later inspired standalone games. The community is older and more technically inclined than Roblox's, and the humor tends toward absurdist chaos. If Roblox is a curated theme park, GMod is an unsupervised physics lab. Its successor, S&box, is in development on Source 2. ### Manyland **Platforms:** Web Manyland is the weirdest entry on this list and possibly the most creatively pure. It is a 2D multiplayer sandbox where literally everything (every block, every character, every item, every piece of the world) is drawn pixel by pixel by players. You draw your avatar. You draw the ground you walk on. You draw a hat and give it physics properties. Then you place it all in a shared, persistent world where other players see and interact with everything you have created. The result is a world that looks like a collaborative fever dream spanning years of accumulated player art. Some areas are meticulously designed. Others are beautiful nonsense. The drawing tools are deliberately simple (a small pixel canvas with basic colors), which keeps the barrier low and forces creativity within constraints. Manyland will never compete with Roblox on scale, but it represents the most literal interpretation of "the players build the world" that exists. ## Kid-Friendly Alternatives These games target a similar age range as Roblox's core audience, with safety features and content designed for younger players. ### LittleBigPlanet 3 **Platforms:** PS4, PS3 LittleBigPlanet built its entire identity around user-created content years before Roblox hit mainstream consciousness. The level editor is remarkably powerful: players have built working calculators, music sequencers, full RPGs, and racing games inside a system originally designed for 2.5D platforming. LBP3 added three new character types with unique movement abilities (OddSock runs on walls, Toggle switches between heavy and light forms, Swoop flies), which dramatically expanded what creators could build. The creation tools remain some of the most intuitive ever put on a console. The logic system uses visible wires and switches rather than code, making cause-and-effect relationships easy to visualize. Millions of community levels were published across the franchise's lifetime, covering everything from movie recreations to abstract art pieces to surprisingly challenging puzzle games. The servers suffered stability issues in later years, but the offline creation tools still work, and the design philosophy (make creation tangible and playful, not technical) influenced every creation platform that followed. ### Blockman Go **Platforms:** iOS, Android Blockman Go is the mobile answer to Roblox, and it is bigger than most Western gamers realize. The platform hosts dozens of block-style minigames (bed wars, sky wars, survival modes, egg wars, build battles) all accessible through a shared hub with a persistent avatar and progression system. You switch between game modes the way you switch between Roblox experiences, and the creation tools let you build custom maps and modes. The mobile-first design means touch controls are actually good, not an afterthought. Sessions are shorter, interfaces are cleaner, and the performance targets phone hardware. The player base is enormous in Asia and growing globally, particularly in markets where mobile is the primary gaming platform. If you want Roblox on your phone with native mobile UX (not just a port), Blockman Go is the closest equivalent. ### Mini World **Platforms:** PC, iOS, Android Mini World combines block-based sandbox building with survival gameplay and a growing set of developer tools. The building system supports both free-form construction and a trigger-based scripting system for creating custom game modes with objectives, enemies, and win conditions. The art style is bright and approachable, clearly designed for a younger audience, with character designs that lean cute rather than blocky. The platform has a massive player base in Southeast Asia and Latin America that flies under the radar of English-language gaming media. Recent updates have pushed the creation tools toward more complex scripting capability and custom asset support, narrowing the gap with Roblox Studio's functionality. Multiplayer supports large player counts and the social features (friends, parties, guilds) are built out. If you are looking for a Roblox-like experience with a different community and a strong mobile presence, Mini World is a solid pick. ### LEGO Worlds **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch LEGO Worlds taps into something primal: the joy of dumping a bucket of bricks on the floor and building whatever your hands reach for. The game generates procedurally created biomes made entirely of LEGO bricks (pirate islands, medieval kingdoms, candy-colored fantasy landscapes) and gives you tools to reshape every single brick. The Discovery Tool lets you copy and paste any structure you find, and you unlock new vehicles, creatures, and characters by exploring. The brick-by-brick editing is deeply satisfying in a way that block-based games often miss. Individual LEGO pieces snap and click with proper physics. You can build at the single-brick level or use large prefab structures and modify them. The game lacks the online creation-sharing ecosystem that Roblox has, which limits its social side, but as a pure sandbox building experience with a beloved aesthetic, it scratches an itch that no other game on this list does. ### Trove **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Trove merges voxel sandbox building with genuine MMO progression. You pick a class (there are over twenty), grind through procedurally generated dungeons, collect loot, level up, and build in your personal Cornerstone plot or a shared Club World. The hook is that the content pipeline runs on user contributions: players design and submit the dungeons, biomes, decorations, and items that populate the game world. If your submission gets accepted, it becomes part of the live game that millions of people play. This creates a feedback loop that Roblox players will find familiar but with a different flavor. Instead of building standalone experiences, you are contributing pieces to a shared world. The MMO structure gives your playtime a sense of progression that Roblox's disconnected-experiences model lacks. You have a persistent character, a gear score, raids to work toward. If you enjoy Roblox's combat and social experiences but want the satisfaction of an actual loot grind and character build, Trove merges those worlds effectively. ## Build Your Own ### Summer Engine **Platforms:** PC, Mac Every game on this list shares one constraint: your creations live inside someone else's platform. You build on their terms, publish to their audience, earn through their revenue model, and lose everything if they shut down or change their rules. If you have been creating in Roblox and you are ready to break out of that box, Summer Engine is built for exactly that transition. Summer Engine is a full game engine with AI built into the development process. You describe what you want in plain language and the AI builds it alongside you, generating scenes, writing scripts, and creating game logic. The engine is Godot-compatible, which means the skills you develop are real game development skills that transfer to a professional toolchain. You are not learning a proprietary platform language that only works in one ecosystem. You are learning how actual games are made. The difference that matters most: you own everything you create. Export to Steam, itch.io, mobile app stores, your own website. Anywhere. No revenue share with a platform. No content restrictions beyond what the storefronts themselves require. No visual style locked in by the platform's renderer. Your game is a standalone application that runs on its own, independent of whether Summer Engine's servers are up or down. Browse the [template library](/templates) to start from a working game and customize it into something new, or [download Summer Engine](/download) and start from a blank canvas. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **What is the closest game to Roblox?** Fortnite Creative with UEFN is the closest in terms of the play-and-create loop with a massive built-in audience. Minecraft is the closest in terms of cultural impact and creative freedom. For mobile, Blockman Go replicates the Roblox experience most faithfully. **Are there Roblox alternatives that are free?** Most of the platforms on this list are free to play: Fortnite Creative, Core, Rec Room, KoGaMa, Blockman Go, Mini World, and Trove are all free. Minecraft and Garry's Mod require a one-time purchase. Dreams requires purchase and a PlayStation. **What games like Roblox can I play on mobile?** Minecraft, Rec Room, Blockman Go, and Mini World all run on iOS and Android with full feature sets. Fortnite Creative is available on iOS (via Epic's app) and Android. KoGaMa runs in mobile browsers. **Which Roblox alternative has the best creation tools?** Dreams has the most powerful creation tools overall, but it is PlayStation-exclusive. UEFN offers professional-grade Unreal Engine 5 tools with the largest audience. For standalone game creation with no platform lock-in, Summer Engine gives you a full engine with AI assistance. **Can I make money from games on these platforms?** Fortnite Creative pays creators through its Engagement Payout Program. Roblox, Core, and Rec Room all have creator monetization programs with varying revenue splits. For maximum earnings, building a standalone game with Summer Engine and publishing to Steam or app stores gives you the standard 70/30 storefront split with no additional platform cut. **What is the best Roblox alternative for younger kids?** LittleBigPlanet 3, LEGO Worlds, and Blockman Go are all designed with younger audiences in mind. KoGaMa's browser-based approach means no downloads and quick access. Mini World has a bright, approachable art style and strong parental controls. --- ## Ready to Build Something Real? Roblox taught a generation that making games is not just for professionals. Every platform on this list carries that torch in its own way. But if you have hit the ceiling, if you want higher visual quality, full ownership of your work, real revenue, and the ability to ship your game anywhere, the next step is building with a real engine. Browse the [template library](/templates) to see what is possible, or [download Summer Engine](/download) and start creating something that is entirely yours. --- ### 15 Games Like Terraria for Fans of Mining, Building, and Boss Fights URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-terraria Published: 2026-03-30T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Sandbox, Terraria, Game Recommendations The best games like Terraria in 2026. Handpicked sandbox, survival, and crafting games with deep progression, boss fights, and worlds worth exploring. Terraria is one of those games that sounds unremarkable on paper. A 2D sandbox where you dig holes and build houses. Describe it like that and people shrug. But somewhere between your first wooden shelter and the moment you are dodging bullet-hell projectile patterns from the Moon Lord while wearing armor forged from materials you mined in a biome that did not exist when you started playing, it becomes clear that Terraria is one of the deepest games ever made. What makes it stick is the density. Every system feeds into every other system. Mining gives you ores. Ores become armor and weapons. Better gear lets you reach new biomes. New biomes have new enemies, new NPCs, new crafting stations, new boss summon items. Each boss you defeat transforms the world itself. Hardmode does not just add harder enemies. It rewrites your terrain, spawns new ores underground, and introduces biomes that actively spread and consume the map. The game has more content after its midpoint than most games have in total. Re-Logic kept updating Terraria for over a decade. The result is a game with over a thousand items, dozens of bosses, and a progression curve that stretches across hundreds of hours without running out of meaningful milestones. Finding games that capture all of that is difficult because most games do not even try. They pick one pillar (crafting, building, combat, exploration) and build around it. The 15 games below each nail at least one aspect of the Terraria formula, and a few come surprisingly close to matching its ambition. ## 2D Sandbox and Exploration These games share Terraria's perspective and its core promise: a procedurally generated world full of things to find, mine, fight, and build. ### Starbound **Platforms:** PC, Mac, Linux Starbound is the closest thing to a direct Terraria successor that exists outside of Re-Logic itself. Chucklefish built it on almost exactly the same template (2D side-scrolling, tile-based world, mining, crafting, combat, NPCs, bosses) and then added interplanetary travel. Instead of one world with layered biomes, you get an entire galaxy of procedurally generated planets, each with its own gravity, weather, and creature population. The building tools are more flexible than Terraria's, with better support for wiring and logic gates, and the colony system lets you build staffed outposts on any planet. Where it falls short is in combat depth and boss design; fights feel less precise than Terraria's best encounters. Mod support through the Steam Workshop is strong, and the community has produced total conversion mods that address many of the base game's gaps. ### Core Keeper **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Core Keeper takes the Terraria formula and buries it entirely underground. You wake up in a cavern and mine outward in every direction, discovering biomes arranged in concentric rings around a mysterious core. Each ring has its own resources, enemies, and a boss that gates access to the next layer. The progression is clean and satisfying. Kill the Glurch, get access to the clay biome. Kill Ghorm, open the stone biome. Every victory expands your world. The game layers in farming, cooking, fishing, and an electrical system on top of the mining and combat loop. Multiplayer supports up to eight players, and the top-down perspective makes cooperative mining feel different from Terraria's side-scrolling approach. Content updates since its early access launch have been substantial, adding new biomes, a full narrative throughline, and endgame systems. If you have played through Terraria's progression multiple times and want that same loop in a fresh wrapper, Core Keeper is the strongest recommendation on this list. ### Noita **Platforms:** PC Every single pixel in Noita is physically simulated. Fire burns wood, water flows and conducts electricity, acid dissolves stone, oil ignites, and all of these interactions happen simultaneously in real time. You descend through procedurally generated caves as a wizard, collecting wand components and building custom spell loadouts from a library of hundreds of modifiers, triggers, and projectile types. The wand-building system is where Noita becomes something genuinely special. Assembling a wand involves slotting spells into a cast sequence, where timing, mana costs, and modifier stacking determine whether you get a rapid-fire homing missile launcher or a weapon that instantly kills you. The skill ceiling is enormous. Expert players build wands that break the game in ways the developers clearly anticipated and encouraged. Expect to die constantly for the first dozen hours. Noita is punishing in a way that makes Terraria's master mode look gentle, but the moments of discovery (finding a new spell combo, stumbling into a hidden biome, realizing the world extends far beyond what you assumed) make it worth the suffering. ### Spelunky 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Switch Spelunky 2 compresses Terraria's sense of discovery into 20-minute runs. Each attempt generates a new cave system filled with traps, enemies, shortcuts, and secrets. The physics are deterministic and the interactions are systemic. Throw a torch at a spider web and it burns, releasing whatever was caught inside. Knock a pot into a shopkeeper and you have made an enemy for the rest of the run. Every object in the world has rules, and learning those rules through experimentation and death is the core experience. The secret content runs absurdly deep. There are alternate paths, hidden worlds, cosmic encounters, and an ultimate ending that requires threading through multiple layers of obscure requirements across a single deathless run. Most players will never see it. Many will not even know it exists. That layered depth, the sense that the game always has one more secret behind the wall you thought was the boundary, is the most Terraria thing about Spelunky 2. The execution demands are high. This is a precision platformer at its core, but the reward is a game that keeps revealing new dimensions the better you get. ## Boss Progression and Combat These games emphasize the fight. If your favorite part of Terraria was the Mech bosses, Plantera, or the Lunatic Cultist, these will scratch that itch. ### Dead Cells **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android Dead Cells is a roguelike that feels like a Castlevania game running at double speed. The combat is tight, responsive, and violent. You chain together melee attacks, ranged weapons, traps, and dodge rolls across procedurally generated levels, and every biome ends with a boss fight that tests your pattern recognition and reaction time. The weapon variety is staggering. Broadswords, whips, bows, electric eels, deployable turrets. The combinations you can build change your playstyle entirely. The Terraria connection is in the meta-progression. Cells dropped by enemies persist between runs and unlock new weapons, mutations (passive abilities), and branching paths through the game. Each run gets slightly different as your permanent pool of available items grows. The DLC expansions (The Bad Seed, Fatal Falls, The Queen and the Sea, Return to Castlevania) each add new biomes, bosses, weapons, and lore. Dead Cells launched as an excellent roguelike and became one of the best in the genre through years of post-launch support, in a trajectory that mirrors Terraria's own evolution. ### Hades **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Hades proved that roguelikes could have genuinely great storytelling. You play as Zagreus, fighting through the Greek underworld one room at a time, dying, returning to the House of Hades, and doing it again. Each run layers different god boons onto your attacks, dashes, and specials, creating builds that feel distinct even after dozens of attempts. Ares might give your attack a delayed damage burst while Artemis stacks critical hit chance, and the combinations between gods create synergies that reward experimentation. The combat is fast and precise, with six weapon types that each have multiple aspects. But what makes Hades special is that the story advances through failure. Dying sends you home where characters react to how you died, what you accomplished, and which NPCs you spoke to along the way. The writing is sharp, the voice acting is exceptional, and the permanent upgrade systems (Mirror of Night, weapon aspects, keepsakes) give every run a sense of forward progress even when you fall short. Terraria players who appreciated how boss kills transformed the game world will recognize the same design philosophy here, applied to narrative instead of terrain. ### Risk of Rain 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Risk of Rain 2 is a third-person roguelike where item stacking is the entire point. You land on an alien planet, fight through waves of enemies, activate a teleporter boss, and loop to the next stage. Along the way you collect items, and those items stack multiplicatively. Three Soldier's Syringes means 45% attack speed. Stack that with a Ukulele for chain lightning on hit and an ATG Missile for a percent chance to fire a missile on hit, and within a few stages your screen is a cascading wall of particle effects. The escalation is what channels Terraria. In the early minutes you are carefully dodging beetle swarms and struggling to kill a Stone Titan. Forty minutes later you are moving so fast, dealing so much damage, and healing so aggressively that entire bosses evaporate on contact. Each of the playable survivors has a completely different kit, and learning how item synergies interact with each character's abilities is where the depth lives. Multiplayer with up to four players amplifies the chaos. When four fully stacked survivors hit a teleporter event at the same time, the result is indescribable. ### Moonlighter **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Moonlighter splits its time between dungeon crawling and shopkeeping. By night, you raid procedurally generated dungeons across four themed environments: golem caves, forests, deserts, and tech ruins. Combat is top-down action-RPG with dodge rolls, weapon combos, and elemental interactions. By day, you stand behind the counter of your inherited shop, pricing items based on customer reactions, managing supply and demand, and investing profits into town upgrades. Both halves feed each other directly. Better gear lets you push deeper into dungeons, rarer loot commands higher prices, and more gold funds better upgrades. The loop is focused and satisfying, clocking in at roughly 15-20 hours. It captures the essence of Terraria's crafting economy in miniature: every material has a purpose and every upgrade feels earned. The Between Dimensions DLC adds a fifth dungeon and meaningful endgame content. ## Crafting, Building, and Survival These games lean into the construction and resource management side of the Terraria experience. The satisfaction of building a base, optimizing a production chain, or simply surviving one more night. ### Valheim **Platforms:** PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Valheim's progression mirrors Terraria's almost beat for beat. You spawn in a procedurally generated Norse afterlife and kill five bosses. Each boss drops a unique power and unlocks access to the next biome and its crafting tier. Eikthyr gives you the antler pickaxe for mining copper and tin. The Elder drops a key to the Swamp crypts where you find iron. Bonemass opens the Mountains for silver. The parallel to Terraria's ore progression through Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds, and Wall of Flesh is unmistakable. Building uses a physics-based structural integrity system. Walls need foundations, roofs need supports, and ambitious builds require actual architectural planning. The aesthetic payoff is worth it. Screenshots of Valheim longhouses and clifftop fortresses rival dedicated building games. Sailing between islands to find new biomes, fighting trolls in the Black Forest with a bronze mace you smelted yourself, cooking elaborate meals for stat buffs before a boss fight. The texture of the experience is fantastic. Co-op supports up to ten players and is the best way to play. The Ashlands and Deep North biomes have added substantial late-game content since launch. ### Minecraft **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android The comparison is inevitable and worth making carefully. Minecraft goes 3D where Terraria stays 2D, and the priorities diverge from there. Minecraft is first and foremost a building game. Its creative mode is essentially a voxel art tool with no limits. Survival mode has mining, crafting, enchanting, and boss progression through the Ender Dragon and Wither, but the combat is simpler and the item variety is narrower. Where Terraria has over a thousand weapons, Minecraft has a few dozen. Where Terraria has intricate boss mechanics, Minecraft has bosses that are primarily spectacle. What Minecraft offers that Terraria cannot is spatial freedom. Building in three dimensions with structural support and redstone circuitry enables creations that are genuinely awe-inspiring in scope. The modding ecosystem is also unmatched. Modpacks like RLCraft, Create, and Vault Hunters transform vanilla Minecraft into something that approaches Terraria's depth of progression and combat, sometimes exceeding it. If you have only played vanilla Minecraft and felt it was too shallow, modded Minecraft is essentially a different game and deserves serious consideration. ### Don't Starve Together **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android Don't Starve strips survival crafting to its most hostile form. You are alone in a procedurally generated wilderness with nothing, and three meters are ticking down: hunger, health, and sanity. Gathering resources, building a camp, and learning what each biome offers takes priority over everything else, because winter is coming and you are absolutely not prepared. The crafting system reveals itself gradually. Early game is campfires and berry bushes. Midgame is crock pots and bee farms. Late game is boss-summoning items, ancient ruins exploration, and seasonal mega-bosses that wreck your base if you are not ready. The art style is hand-drawn and unsettling, somewhere between Edward Gorey and Tim Burton. Don't Starve Together is the multiplayer expansion and has years of additional content including underground caves, seasonal events, and a lore-rich endgame. Expect your first winter to kill you. And your second. ### Factorio **Platforms:** PC, Switch Factorio replaces Terraria's bosses with logistics optimization. You crash-land on an alien planet and automate your way to launching a rocket. Mining ore, smelting plates, assembling components, and moving materials through conveyor belts, inserter arms, and train networks becomes an obsession that can devour hundreds of hours. The "just one more production line" loop is dangerously effective, and the game enables it with an interface that scales from a single furnace to a factory spanning thousands of tiles. Alien attacks force you to defend your perimeter, adding survival pressure that keeps you from purely optimizing in peace. The Space Age expansion adds interplanetary logistics, turning the endgame into a multi-planet supply chain problem. Factorio launched out of early access in a state of extraordinary polish and has maintained a 98% positive rating on Steam for years. It does not play like Terraria mechanically, but the feeling is identical: the realization at 2 AM that you have been playing for six hours and the next milestone is only twenty minutes away. It is never twenty minutes. ### Stardew Valley **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android Stardew Valley shares more DNA with Terraria than its cozy reputation suggests. Beneath the farming and relationship sim is a full combat system in the mines, with 120+ floors of progressively dangerous enemies, resource nodes, and boss encounters. The Skull Cavern is genuinely challenging endgame content that rewards good gear, food buffs, and mechanical skill. The crafting system is deep, with sprinklers, kegs, preserves jars, and machines that transform raw materials into processed goods with higher value. The 1.6 update added a massive amount of content including a new farm type, new festivals, expanded NPC interactions, and a meadowlands biome. The game is built by a single developer, ConcernedApe, and the care shows in every system. Multiplayer on the same farm works well for co-op and turns the daily loop into a collaborative planning exercise. If you want the calmer side of Terraria (the base building, the NPC village management, the gradual accumulation of resources toward long-term projects), Stardew Valley is one of the best games ever made at delivering that feeling. ### Subnautica **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Subnautica moves the survival sandbox underwater and wraps it in a genuinely compelling story. You crash-land on an ocean planet and survive by scavenging wreckage, gathering resources, and building underwater bases while exploring increasingly deep and dangerous biomes. Each depth threshold introduces new creatures, new materials, and new threats. Paddling around in safe shallows gives way to piloting a submarine through pitch-black volcanic trenches hundreds of meters down. The progression is gated brilliantly. You need a specific vehicle to survive certain depths, and that vehicle requires materials from a biome you cannot reach without a different vehicle. Each new biome rewards exploration with blueprints, story logs, and alien architecture that explains what happened to this planet. The first time a Reaper Leviathan grabs your Seamoth is a genuine horror moment. Terraria players who love biome-gated progression and the thrill of finding crafting materials in hostile territory will feel at home here, even though nothing else about the two games is similar. ### Deep Rock Galactic **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Four dwarves mine resources, fight alien bugs, and drink beer. That sentence undersells one of the best co-op games ever made. Deep Rock Galactic sends teams into procedurally generated cave systems to complete objectives (mining specific minerals, salvaging equipment, eliminating targets, escorting a drill) while fighting off waves of Glyphid bugs and reshaping the terrain with pickaxes and class-specific tools. Each of the four classes has a unique traversal ability that complements the others. The Engineer places platforms on walls, the Scout grapples up and illuminates them, the Driller carves tunnels through solid rock, and the Gunner deploys ziplines across chasms. A good team uses these tools together to navigate caves that would be impassable solo. The mining is tactile and satisfying in a way that channels Terraria's best moments, and the mission variety keeps hundreds of hours feeling fresh. The community is famously welcoming. Random matchmaking consistently produces friendly teams. If you miss the feeling of mining into unknown territory and finding something unexpected, Deep Rock Galactic delivers that reliably. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the closest game to Terraria? Core Keeper and Starbound are the most structurally similar games. Core Keeper matches the boss-gated progression and mining loop almost exactly, while Starbound replicates the 2D sandbox building and exploration across multiple worlds. If you want the same feel in 3D, Valheim's boss-to-biome progression is the closest equivalent. ### Are any of these games better than Terraria? Better is subjective, but several games on this list are stronger in specific areas. Hades has better combat and storytelling. Factorio has a deeper optimization loop. Noita has more creative systemic interactions. Subnautica has a better narrative. Terraria's advantage is that it does all of these things competently within a single game, which is a rare achievement. ### Which games on this list have the best multiplayer? Deep Rock Galactic and Valheim are the standouts for cooperative play. Risk of Rain 2 is excellent for chaotic co-op runs. Core Keeper supports up to eight players and scales well. Terraria itself still has some of the best multiplayer in the genre, so the bar is high. ### What if I want something more relaxing? Stardew Valley is the obvious choice. It has mining and combat but wraps them in a farming sim that never pressures you. Moonlighter balances dungeon difficulty with the calm routine of shopkeeping. Minecraft in peaceful mode is pure creative expression. ### Which of these games have the longest playtime? Factorio and Minecraft both routinely absorb hundreds of hours. Core Keeper and Valheim have substantial progression arcs in the 80-150 hour range. Risk of Rain 2 and Dead Cells offer theoretically infinite replay through their roguelike structure. Terraria itself remains the benchmark, with many players reporting 500+ hours across multiple playthroughs and difficulties. ## Build Your Own Terraria-Style Game If playing these games makes you want to build one, you are not alone. The 2D sandbox genre has a passionate audience and well-understood design patterns: boss-gated progression, procedural worlds, layered crafting trees, and biome-specific content. The hard part has always been the engineering: tile engines, physics, lighting, inventory systems, AI pathfinding, and multiplayer netcode. Summer Engine has [survival and sandbox templates](/templates) that handle the foundational systems so you can focus on the design that makes your game different. Inventory, crafting, world generation, and combat frameworks are included as starting points you can customize. Whether you want to make a sci-fi mining game, an underwater exploration sim, or something that has not been tried yet, starting from proven systems beats writing a tile engine from zero. --- ### 15 Games Like Wordle That Will Test Your Brain Every Day URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-wordle Published: 2026-03-30T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Puzzle, Wordle, Game Recommendations The best daily word and puzzle games like Wordle in 2026. Handpicked brain teasers, word games, and logic puzzles to keep your streak going. Wordle works because of everything it refuses to be. No lives, no ads, no energy meters, no gacha pulls. You get one five-letter word per day, six tries to crack it, and a color-coded grid that tells you just enough to keep guessing. The green-yellow-gray system is instantly legible, the constraint of a single daily puzzle turns it into a shared ritual, and the spoiler-free share format means your results can travel across group chats and timelines without ruining anything. When the New York Times acquired it in early 2022, the template was already set: the best daily puzzle game is one that respects your time and gives everyone the same problem to solve. But two minutes of Wordle rarely feels like enough. Once you have solved the day's word (or failed, which is its own kind of entertainment), you are left looking for something else that hits the same way. The good news is that Wordle kicked off an entire generation of daily puzzle games, each riffing on the formula in different directions. Some stay in the word game lane. Others apply the same one-puzzle-per-day structure to math, geography, or music. A few abandon the guessing format entirely and find new ways to make language feel like a puzzle. These 15 games are the ones worth adding to your daily rotation. They are grouped by type so you can find exactly what you are after, whether that is more word puzzles, something with numbers, or a complete change of pace. ## Word Games These stay closest to Wordle's roots. Letters, vocabulary, and the particular satisfaction of watching a jumble of characters resolve into something meaningful. ### 1. Connections **Platforms:** Web (NYT Games) Connections gives you 16 words and asks you to sort them into four groups of four. The trick is that the categories are deliberately misleading. Words that look like they belong together often do not, and the real connections are lateral, built on double meanings, shared prefixes, or thematic links that only click once you stop looking at the obvious groupings. The four difficulty tiers (yellow, green, blue, purple) give you a built-in progression within each puzzle. The purple category deserves special mention. It is almost always some wordplay trick or obscure connection that makes you groan when you finally see it. "Things that can follow 'fire'" or "words that are also pasta shapes." That kind of thing. The puzzle rewards flexible thinking over raw vocabulary, which makes it feel genuinely different from Wordle even though it lives on the same NYT Games page. Connections has arguably surpassed Wordle as the daily puzzle people talk about most. The four-guess limit creates real tension, and the moment when an incorrect guess turns a word red is devastating in a way that only a well-designed puzzle can be. If you only add one game from this list to your routine, make it this one. ### 2. Spelling Bee **Platforms:** Web (NYT Games) You get seven letters arranged in a honeycomb. Make as many words as you can using those letters, but every word must include the center letter and be at least four letters long. Points scale with word length, and the goal is to climb through ranks from "Beginner" to "Genius" and, for the truly dedicated, "Queen Bee" (finding every single valid word). The pangram, a word that uses all seven letters, is always the most satisfying find. What makes Spelling Bee different from Wordle is that it is open-ended. There is no single answer. Some days have 30 valid words, others have 70, and the difference between "Genius" and "Queen Bee" can be a dozen obscure but perfectly legal words you have never heard of. It becomes a vocabulary excavation, where you start with the obvious words and then dig into the corners of your mental dictionary looking for anything that fits. The community around Spelling Bee is also worth noting. Hints columns, discussion threads, and the collective frustration of knowing there is one more word hiding in those seven letters have turned it into a daily social ritual that rivals Wordle's heyday. ### 3. Quordle **Platforms:** Web, iOS, Android Quordle is four Wordles running simultaneously. Every guess you type applies to all four boards at once, and you get nine attempts total to solve all four words. The jump from one board to four changes the strategy completely. A guess that perfectly narrows down one word might give you nothing useful on another, so you have to think in terms of information efficiency across all four puzzles at once. The daily mode is free and takes five to ten minutes, which slots neatly into a coffee break. There is also a weekly challenge mode where the words are deliberately harder, and a practice mode with no daily limit for when you want to sharpen your approach. If regular Wordle has started to feel like a formality, something you solve in two or three guesses without much thought, Quordle will remind you what it feels like to sweat over a word puzzle again. ### 4. Dordle **Platforms:** Web Two Wordles at the same time with seven guesses. Dordle sits in the sweet spot between Wordle and Quordle in terms of difficulty. Every guess fills in both boards, so you need to balance gathering information for each word without burning too many attempts on one side. It is a clean, no-frills implementation that does exactly one thing well. If Quordle feels overwhelming, start here. The two-board format is complex enough to require real strategy but simple enough that you can hold the full state of both puzzles in your head. It is the stepping stone that will either satisfy you permanently or send you straight to Quordle and Octordle. ### 5. Octordle **Platforms:** Web Eight Wordles at once with thirteen guesses. Octordle is the logical extreme of the multi-board format. Your screen fills with eight grids and every guess updates all of them simultaneously. It sounds like chaos, and the first time you try it, it is. But the extra guesses give you room to be strategic. The proven approach is to open with three or four broad guesses that cover the most common letters, then systematically work through the boards that have revealed the most information. A single round takes about five to eight minutes, which makes it a solid daily ritual for anyone who finds Wordle too quick. The sense of accomplishment when you clear all eight boards, especially when you are down to your last two guesses, is substantial. There is also a "Sequence" mode where you solve the eight words one at a time in order, which requires a completely different strategy. ### 6. Waffle **Platforms:** Web Waffle gives you a completed crossword grid where all the letters are present but scrambled. You swap letters to put them in the right positions, and the color coding (green, yellow, gray) tells you how close each letter is to its correct spot. You get 15 swaps to solve it, and the star rating depends on how few swaps you use. A perfect score requires exactly 10 swaps. The constraint transforms it from a word game into something closer to a sliding puzzle. You are not guessing words from scratch; you are rearranging known letters into the right configuration. This rewards pattern recognition and spatial reasoning more than vocabulary. You can see the word "CRANE" hiding in the grid, but getting that C into position without disrupting three other words is the actual challenge. There is a deluxe version with a larger grid if the standard five-by-five format starts to feel routine. ### 7. Letter Boxed **Platforms:** Web (NYT Games) You get a square with three letters on each side, twelve letters total. Form words by drawing lines between letters, but consecutive letters in a word must come from different sides of the square. Each new word must start with the last letter of your previous word. The goal is to use all twelve letters in as few words as possible, and solving it in two words is the real challenge. The constraint seems simple until you try it. Your brain wants to form words the normal way, pulling from any available letter, but the side restriction forces you into unfamiliar letter combinations. It turns common vocabulary into a spatial logic problem. Two-word solutions often require finding one very long word that uses eight or nine letters, then a second word that mops up the rest. The satisfaction of cracking a two-word solve is disproportionate to the time invested. ## Number and Logic Puzzles For the days when you want the Wordle structure but your brain is tired of letters. These games apply the same elimination logic to math, equations, and spatial reasoning. ### 8. Nerdle **Platforms:** Web, iOS, Android Nerdle replaces letters with numbers and math operators. You guess an eight-character equation (like 48-36=12), and the tiles tell you which digits and symbols are correct, misplaced, or absent. The underlying logic is surprisingly similar to Wordle once you internalize it. You eliminate impossible digits, lock in confirmed positions, and narrow down the remaining possibilities through deduction. The first couple of attempts will feel alien if you are coming from word games. Your brain is not used to thinking about which digits are most "common" or which operator positions are most likely. But the learning curve is part of the appeal. Within a week, you develop intuitions about equation structure that feel like a completely different kind of literacy. There are mini and instant variants if the full eight-character version feels like too much math before breakfast. ### 9. Knotwords **Platforms:** iOS, Android, PC Knotwords is a crossword puzzle where the clues are replaced by Tetris-shaped pieces. Each piece contains a set of letters, and you drag them into the grid so that every row and column spells a valid word. It is part crossword, part sudoku, part spatial reasoning test, and somehow the combination works better than any individual component would suggest. The daily puzzles take five to ten minutes and are consistently satisfying. The monthly puzzles are substantially harder and can take an hour. Made by Zach Gage and Jack Schlesinger, Knotwords has the hallmark of their best work: a mechanic that is instantly understandable but reveals unexpected depth the longer you sit with it. The logic of "these four letters must go in these four spaces, and they must form valid cross-words" creates a deductive chain that feels closer to solving a crime than filling in a grid. ### 10. NYT Crossword **Platforms:** Web, iOS, Android The daily crossword has been running since 1942, and it endures because the format is nearly perfect. Monday puzzles are approachable enough for beginners. Saturday puzzles are brutal enough to humble experienced solvers. The difficulty curve through the week gives you a built-in progression system that resets every seven days, which is a design choice that most modern games would do well to study. The mini crossword is free, takes two minutes, and scratches the same itch as Wordle. The full crossword takes fifteen to forty-five minutes depending on the day. The Thursday puzzle deserves special mention for its tradition of including a trick or gimmick, rebuses, unusual grid shapes, or answers that break the normal rules. If you have never tried the NYT crossword, start with Mondays and the Mini. The jump from "I could never do a crossword" to "I can finish a Wednesday" happens faster than you expect. ### 11. Typeshift **Platforms:** iOS, Android, PC Typeshift presents columns of letters that slide up and down. You shift them to form words across the middle row, and the goal is to use every letter in every column at least once. It is made by Zach Gage, who has a remarkable talent for taking a simple mechanical idea and tuning it until it feels exactly right. The sliding interaction is inherently satisfying in a way that tapping letters is not. Each puzzle starts easy as you find the obvious words, then gets progressively trickier as you work through the less common letters. The "use every letter" requirement means you cannot just find a few long words and call it done. You need to seek out unusual combinations, which pushes your vocabulary in directions that Wordle never does. Daily puzzles plus a large archive mean you can binge when the mood strikes. ## Geography, Music, and Everything Else These games take the daily-puzzle format and apply it to completely different domains. Same structure, different knowledge. ### 12. Worldle **Platforms:** Web Worldle shows you the silhouette of a country and gives you six guesses to identify it. After each wrong guess, it tells you the distance and direction from your guess to the correct answer, which turns every attempt into a process of triangulation. Guess Brazil and the arrow points northeast across the Atlantic? Start thinking about West Africa. The game is a geography quiz wrapped in Wordle mechanics, and it will quickly reveal which parts of the world map you actually know and which are just vague blobs in your memory. Central Asian countries, Pacific island nations, and the smaller African states are where most people's knowledge falls apart. It is humbling and genuinely educational. A few weeks of daily Worldle will do more for your geography than a semester of school ever did. ### 13. Heardle **Platforms:** Web Heardle plays the first second of a song and gives you six chances to guess the title and artist. Each wrong guess or skip reveals a longer clip: two seconds, four seconds, seven, eleven, then sixteen. It tests how well you recognize music from its opening notes, which turns out to be a hyper-specific skill that some people are inexplicably good at and others find baffling. The song selection draws from popular tracks across several decades, which means your success rate says as much about your musical diet as your ear. Playing it with friends or a partner is where Heardle really shines. The arguments about whether a one-second clip is "obviously" a particular song are half the entertainment. It is also a useful reminder of how many songs you know by heart but cannot identify from the intro alone. ### 14. Bananagrams **Platforms:** iOS, Android The digital version of the tabletop game that has been a staple of family game nights for years. You draw letter tiles and race to arrange them into a personal crossword grid. No turns, no waiting, just speed and spatial awareness. When you use all your tiles, you yell "peel" and everyone draws another one. If you get stuck, you can dump a tile back and take three more, which is almost always a bad trade but feels necessary in the moment. The app version adds daily challenges and online multiplayer to the core mechanic. It is faster and more frantic than Wordle, closer to a sport than a puzzle, but the underlying skill (seeing words in a jumble of letters) is the same. The daily challenge gives you a fixed set of tiles and a time limit, which provides the one-attempt-per-day structure that Wordle players crave. ### 15. SpellTower **Platforms:** iOS, Android A word search meets Tetris. You find words in a grid of letters, and those letters disappear. Remaining letters fall down to fill the gaps, and new rows push up from the bottom. If the letters reach the top, you lose. The daily Tower mode gives everyone the same grid, so you can compare scores, and the tension between finding long words (which clear more tiles and score more points) and finding quick words (which keep the board manageable) creates a genuine strategic layer. SpellTower looks casual in screenshots but has serious depth in how you manage the board. A five-letter word in the wrong position might clear tiles you needed for a bigger play, while leaving a cluster of consonants in the corner that slowly becomes an unmanageable wall. The daily mode takes about five minutes and rewards both vocabulary and spatial planning, which makes it one of the more skill-intensive games on this list. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the best Wordle alternative for someone who wants a harder challenge? Start with Quordle. It uses the same mechanics but demands four solutions with only nine guesses, which forces you to think about information efficiency in a way that single-board Wordle does not. If Quordle starts to feel routine, move to Octordle. If you want difficulty without more boards, Connections' purple category will humble you regularly. ### Are there any daily puzzle games that work offline? Knotwords, SpellTower, Typeshift, and Bananagrams all have offline modes through their mobile apps. The NYT Crossword app lets you download puzzles for offline solving. Most browser-based games (Wordle itself, Nerdle, Worldle) require an internet connection. ### Which NYT Games subscription is worth it? NYT Games gives you access to Wordle (free regardless), Connections, Spelling Bee, the full Crossword, Letter Boxed, Tiles, and several others. If you play three or more of those daily, the subscription pays for itself in entertainment value. The Mini Crossword and Wordle remain free without a subscription. ### Do any of these games have multiplayer? Bananagrams has real-time online multiplayer. Most of the others are single-player daily puzzles with social sharing features, meaning you solve independently and compare results. SpellTower's daily mode creates a de facto leaderboard by giving everyone the same grid. The NYT Crossword has a "Play With A Friend" feature that lets two people collaborate on the same puzzle remotely. ### What are the best daily puzzle games for kids? The NYT Mini Crossword is approachable for kids who can read and spell. Spelling Bee works well because it has no time pressure and the rank system provides positive reinforcement. Waffle is good for younger players because all the letters are already visible, removing the blank-page anxiety of Wordle. Avoid Nerdle unless your kid genuinely enjoys math. ### Is Wordle still worth playing in 2026? Yes. The core game has not changed, which is exactly the point. The New York Times has added a hard mode and some quality-of-life features, but the fundamental experience of guessing a five-letter word in six tries remains intact. The daily puzzle takes two minutes. There is no reason to stop playing it just because you have added other games to your rotation. ## Build Your Own Puzzle Game If playing these games every day has you thinking about puzzle mechanics of your own, you are not alone. The daily puzzle format is one of the most elegant design patterns in games: a single challenge, a fixed number of attempts, a shared solution that creates community. It is also surprisingly achievable to build. Check out the [puzzle game templates](/templates/puzzle) on Summer Engine. You get a working puzzle framework with grid systems, input handling, tile-based feedback, and scoring logic ready to customize. Whether you want to riff on the Wordle formula with a different twist, build a math puzzle with your own rule set, or create something entirely new, the template handles the infrastructure so you can focus on the design that makes your puzzle unique. --- ### 15 Games Like It Takes Two for Co-Op With Friends URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-it-takes-two Published: 2026-03-28T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Co-Op, Multiplayer, Game Recommendations The best games like It Takes Two in 2026. Handpicked co-op games for friends who love playing together, from couch co-op platformers to cooperative puzzle adventures with real teamwork mechanics. It Takes Two won Game of the Year in 2021, and it earned it by doing something almost no other game attempts: it made co-op the entire point, not an afterthought. Every level in It Takes Two hands each player a different set of mechanics and then builds every puzzle, platforming section, and boss fight around the assumption that two people are communicating and coordinating in real time. One player gets a sap gun, the other gets matches. One shrinks down to insect size while the other stays full height. The game cycles through these ideas at a pace that would be reckless if the execution were not so tight. What makes it hard to replace is the density of invention. Most co-op games find a formula and repeat it for ten hours. It Takes Two reinvents itself every thirty minutes. The snow globe level plays differently from the toy box, which plays differently from the garden. Josef Fares and his team at Hazelight treated each chapter like its own standalone game jam, and the result is a co-op experience that never coasts on a single idea. If you have burned through It Takes Two and want that feeling again -- the feeling of two people solving problems together in a game that was designed from the ground up to require both of you -- these 15 games are worth your time. They are grouped by what they do best: cooperative puzzle-solving, co-op action, and couch co-op chaos. --- ## Co-Op Puzzle Games These are the games that come closest to It Takes Two's core identity. They give each player distinct tools or roles and ask you to think together. ### Unravel Two **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Two tiny yarn characters tethered together by a single thread. The thread is the core mechanic: you swing from it, pull each other up ledges, create bridges, and use tension to launch across gaps. Every puzzle is built around the physical properties of that thread, and the best moments come when both players have to move simultaneously in opposite directions to create the right angle or the right amount of slack. The physics puzzles are clever without being frustrating, which is rarer than it sounds in co-op puzzle games. The art direction is gorgeous -- real-world Scandinavian environments rendered at miniature scale, so you are running across a dock or through a forest floor where blades of grass tower overhead. Shorter than It Takes Two at around six hours, but every level feels carefully designed around the two-player dynamic. There is no filler here. ### Pode **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Switch A puzzle game about a fallen star and a rock helping each other through the inside of a mountain. One character grows plants, the other activates crystals. The entire game is built around combining those two abilities to open paths forward, activate mechanisms, and reveal hidden areas in each room. The art style is inspired by Norwegian folk art, and the whole game has a quiet, meditative quality that sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from It Takes Two's frenetic energy. That is not a weakness. If you want co-op that feels like a conversation rather than a shouting match, Pode is the best option on this list. The puzzles are calm and methodical, the kind of thing where you both stare at a room for a moment, try something, and then nod when it works. It is co-op as contemplation. ### Phogs! **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch You control a two-headed dog. Each player controls one head. That sounds like a gimmick, and it is, but it works far better than it has any right to. One head can grab objects while the other stretches to reach platforms. You bark to activate switches, bite onto rails to swing, and stretch your shared body to bridge gaps. The puzzles are built entirely around your shared anatomy, and every solution requires genuine coordination. There are worlds themed around eating, sleeping, and playing, each introducing new ways to use your stretchy dog body. It is lighthearted and funny without being shallow, and the physical comedy of two people trying to coordinate a single bendy animal creates moments that no other co-op game can replicate. ### Biped **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Switch Two robots walk through obstacle courses, and each player controls one of their robot's legs using the analog sticks. Walking itself is a mechanic you have to master. You coordinate steps to cross balance beams, slide across ice, and navigate rotating platforms. There are sections where one player has to stand on switches while the other carefully walks a tightrope, and the leg-control system makes even simple traversal feel like an accomplishment. The controls sound gimmicky on paper, but they create some of the most satisfying cooperative moments in any co-op game. When you and your partner finally nail a tricky sequence of coordinated steps, it feels earned in a way that button-press puzzles never do. The game is short and focused -- about four hours -- and it does not waste a minute. ### KeyWe **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Two kiwi birds run a post office. You type letters by jumping on keyboard keys, sort packages, stamp mail, and handle an increasingly absurd series of postal duties. The birds are tiny and all the equipment is human-sized, so everything becomes physical comedy: reaching, pecking, flapping, and body-slamming your way through each task. Each season brings new mechanics and hazards, from snowstorms that blow your letters away to haunted mail that fights back. The game requires genuine coordination rather than just having two people do the same thing side by side. One bird holds the envelope while the other stamps it. One reads the address while the other sorts the package. It is short, but the precision required makes it a proper co-op puzzle game wrapped in a comedy skin. --- ## Co-Op Action and Adventure These games pair you up for combat, exploration, or narrative-driven adventures where cooperation matters but the pace is faster. ### A Way Out **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S From the same director as It Takes Two, Josef Fares. Two prisoners plan and execute a jailbreak, and the entire game plays out in split-screen, even online. The camera dynamically shifts between players depending on who is driving the current scene -- sometimes one player is doing something mundane while the other has a tense encounter, and you are both watching each other's screen. The gameplay shifts between stealth, combat, vehicle chases, and cinematic set pieces. It is rougher around the edges than It Takes Two -- the combat is not as tight, and some mechanics feel underdeveloped. But the commitment to the split-screen format is impressive, and the story payoff in the final act is one of the best surprises in co-op gaming. If you care about narrative in your co-op games, A Way Out delivers a gut punch that most single-player games never land. ### Haven **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch A co-op RPG about a couple who escaped to an alien planet to be together. One player controls Yu, the other Kay. You glide across landscapes on hover boots, gathering resources, cooking meals, and fighting corrupted creatures in a turn-based combat system where your attacks combo off each other. Impact attacks chain into shield breaks, which chain into blast attacks, and the rhythm of combat only works when both players are coordinating. The tone is warm and intimate in a way that most co-op games never attempt. Between missions, you hang out in your camp, cook dinner, talk about your relationship, and make choices that affect how the story unfolds. If you liked the relationship story in It Takes Two, Haven focuses entirely on that. It is a love story where both players are active participants, and the mundane moments -- making breakfast, fixing the ship, choosing what to say -- are as important as the combat. ### Nobody Saves the World **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch An action RPG where you shapeshift between forms: a rat, a horse, a dragon, a bodybuilder, a slug, a robot, and about a dozen more. Each form has unique abilities, and the co-op shines when two players combine forms to cover each other's weaknesses. One player tanks as a turtle while the other deals damage as a magician. The dungeon modifiers force you to constantly swap builds, so you can never settle into a single strategy. The variety of mechanics and the pace of unlocks keep it fresh across the full fifteen-hour runtime. Every hour or so you gain access to a new form with its own ability tree, and you can mix passive abilities between forms to create broken combinations. It is more combat-focused than It Takes Two, but the constant reinvention of your toolkit captures a similar energy. You are never doing the same thing for long. ### Sackboy: A Big Adventure **Platforms:** PS4, PS5, PC A 3D platformer with dedicated co-op levels that require real coordination. The levels that are specifically designed for two players are the highlight -- they lock you into challenges where one player pulls a lever while the other jumps through the gap, or where you carry each other across hazards. The controls are tight, the level variety is strong, and the rhythm-based stages set to licensed music are genuinely surprising. It has that same energy as It Takes Two where the game keeps throwing new ideas at you. One level is a music visualizer. The next is a precision platforming gauntlet. The next has you riding a yak through an obstacle course. Up to four players can join, but two is the sweet spot. The co-op-specific levels are not optional extras -- they are some of the best content in the game. ### Darksiders Genesis **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch A top-down action game set in the Darksiders universe, designed from the ground up for two-player co-op. One player is War (melee-focused, tanky), the other is Strife (ranged, mobile). The two characters complement each other in combat, and the game builds encounters and puzzles around having both playstyles active at once. The combat is the main draw -- it is fast, punchy, and satisfying, with upgrade trees for both characters that let you specialize. But there are also environmental puzzles that require both players to stand on switches, throw objects to each other, and use their unique traversal abilities to reach different areas of a room. It is not as inventive as It Takes Two, but if you want co-op with a heavier combat focus and Diablo-style loot progression, Genesis fills that gap well. --- ## Couch Co-Op and Party Games These games lean into the chaos of sharing a screen. They are less about careful puzzle-solving and more about communication under pressure, physical comedy, and cooperative panic. ### Overcooked! 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Pure cooperative chaos. You and your partner run a kitchen together, chopping, cooking, and serving orders under a timer. The kitchens get increasingly absurd: moving platforms, fire hazards, portals between counters, conveyor belts that rearrange your workspace mid-service. You have to divide labor, call out orders, and adapt when the kitchen literally shifts underneath you. Communication breaks down fast, and that is the entire point. Overcooked 2 is the best game ever made for testing whether two people can stay calm under pressure. You will develop shorthand, assign roles, optimize routes, and then watch everything fall apart when a new kitchen layout throws your system out the window. If It Takes Two is a celebration of cooperation, Overcooked 2 is a stress test of it. ### Moving Out 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch You are movers. You carry furniture out of increasingly ridiculous buildings. Couches get stuck in doorways. Boxes fly out windows. Fridges roll down stairs. The physics are intentionally chaotic, and the fun comes from solving each level's spatial puzzle while everything goes wrong around you. Each level is a miniature logistics problem: what order do you move things in, which route is fastest, can you throw that couch through the second-floor window instead of carrying it down the stairs? The answer is usually yes, and the game rewards creative destruction. It hits the same cooperative-but-barely-holding-it-together energy as Overcooked, but at a different pace. Less frantic, more slapstick. The sequel adds interdimensional levels and online co-op, which expands the chaos nicely. ### Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch You and your co-op partner crew a circular spaceship, running between stations for shields, weapons, engines, and a map. There are never enough players for every station, so you are constantly shouting about which turret needs attention while someone else steers into an asteroid. The ship has multiple floors and you physically run between them, which turns crew management into a platforming problem on top of everything else. The neon art style is beautiful, the difficulty ramps up fast, and the game gets genuinely intense in later levels when you are being attacked from all directions and have to make split-second decisions about who runs to the shield and who stays on the gun. It is one of the best couch co-op games ever made, and the frantic energy of managing a ship together creates stories you will retell for years. ### Towerfall Ascension **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Technically a competitive game first, but the co-op campaign is excellent. Two archers fight through waves of enemies in single-screen arenas, using limited arrows that you have to retrieve after shooting. The movement is tight -- you dash, wall-jump, dodge, and catch arrows mid-air. Every session is a flurry of precise shots and narrow escapes. The co-op works because the game is lethal. You die in one hit. Friendly fire is on by default. You have to be precise and aware of where your partner is at all times, or you will kill them. The limited arrow economy means you are constantly sharing resources and making calls about who takes the shot. It is fast, tense, and deeply satisfying when you clear a hard wave together. Short sessions, high replay value. ### Wilmot's Warehouse **Platforms:** PC, Switch Two players manage a warehouse, receiving deliveries and organizing hundreds of different products on a grid floor. There are no shelves or categories -- you decide the system. You and your partner have to agree on where things go, and then remember your system when a customer asks for three specific items and you have thirty seconds to deliver them. It sounds mundane, and that is what makes it brilliant. The game becomes a conversation about taxonomy. Do you sort by color? By shape? By vibes? Your organizational system has to make sense to both players, and the pressure of timed deliveries reveals exactly how well you actually understand each other's logic. It is unlike anything else on this list, and it captures something specific about cooperation that combat and platforming never touch: the challenge of building a shared mental model. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **Can you play It Takes Two with someone online?** Yes. It Takes Two supports online co-op with a Friend's Pass, meaning only one person needs to own the game. The second player downloads a free trial and joins through an invite. This works on all platforms. **What is the best game like It Takes Two for couples?** Haven is the strongest choice for couples. It is built around a romantic relationship, with quiet domestic moments alongside the adventure. The tone is warm and the co-op mechanics are approachable without being shallow. If you want something with more action, A Way Out's shared narrative also works well for two invested players. **Are there games like It Takes Two that work with more than two players?** Overcooked 2, Moving Out 2, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime all support three or four players. However, the games on this list that are specifically designed for exactly two players tend to have tighter co-op design, since every puzzle and encounter can assume both players are present and accounted for. **What is the easiest game on this list for non-gamers?** Pode is the most accessible. It has no combat, no time pressure, and puzzles that you can solve at your own pace. Phogs and Unravel Two are also good choices for players who are new to games, since the mechanics are simple and the difficulty ramp is gentle. **Did Josef Fares make other co-op games?** Yes. Josef Fares directed A Way Out (2018) and It Takes Two (2021), both at Hazelight Studios. His next game, Split Fiction, released in 2025 and continues the two-player co-op formula with a sci-fi narrative. All three games require two players and cannot be played solo. **Is It Takes Two a couch co-op game?** It supports both local split-screen and online co-op. If you are playing on the same screen, you each get half the display in split-screen. The game works well in both modes, though couch co-op is the better experience since communication is instant. --- ## Build Your Own Co-Op Game If these games make you want to build something with a friend, check out our [co-op game templates](/templates). Summer Engine gives you a working two-player foundation with shared-screen mechanics, character abilities, and networked multiplayer out of the box. You describe what you want and the engine builds it -- the fastest way to go from an idea to a playable co-op game without writing netcode from scratch. --- ### 15 Games Like Skyrim for Open World RPG Fans URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-skyrim Published: 2026-03-28T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, RPG, Open World, Skyrim, Game Recommendations The best games like Skyrim in 2026. Handpicked open world RPGs with deep exploration, character builds, and hundreds of hours of content for players who want that Skyrim feeling again. Skyrim came out in 2011 and people are still playing it. That is not nostalgia talking. Fourteen years later, it still has one of the largest active modding communities in PC gaming, it still sells on every new platform that launches, and it still shows up in recommendation threads for good reason. The game did something that very few RPGs have managed since: it made a world that feels like it exists whether you are paying attention to it or not. What makes Skyrim work is not any single mechanic. The combat is serviceable at best. The main quest is forgettable compared to the faction storylines. What Skyrim nails is the feeling of freedom inside a coherent, atmospheric world. You leave Helgen, the game points you toward Whiterun, and from that moment forward every decision is yours. You can follow the critical path, or you can pick a direction and walk until you find a cave, a ruin, a dragon, a quest-giver, or a mammoth that sends you into low orbit. The first-person perspective pulls you in. The skill-based leveling means your character grows from what you actually do, not from allocating points on a menu. The environmental storytelling -- skeletons posed around a table, journals left beside dead adventurers, traps set by long-dead Dwemer engineers -- rewards curiosity constantly. That combination of scale, freedom, atmosphere, and emergent discovery is what people mean when they say they want "a game like Skyrim." The 15 games below all deliver on at least one of those pillars, and several deliver on all of them. ## Open World RPGs That Nail Exploration and Freedom These games capture what Skyrim does best: dropping you into a massive world and letting you chart your own course. If the "see a mountain, climb it" philosophy is what hooked you, start here. ### Elden Ring **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S FromSoftware's open world is built around discovery in a way that feels genuinely Skyrim-like, even though the two games share almost nothing mechanically. You see a castle on the horizon, ride Torrent toward it, and stumble into a catacomb, a field boss, or an entire underground region you had no idea existed. The Lands Between is one of the most densely packed open worlds ever built. Every cliff face hides a cave. Every suspicious wall might crumble. The game trusts you to find things on your own without quest markers or compass icons screaming for attention. The build variety rivals Skyrim's. Strength builds, dexterity builds, sorcery, faith, arcane bleed builds, hybrid combinations -- the number of viable playstyles is staggering. The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC adds an entire landmass worth of new content. If you can handle combat that punishes mistakes harder than anything in Skyrim, Elden Ring delivers the same "what's over there?" pull that made Skyrim addictive. ### Dragon's Dogma 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Dragon's Dogma 2 has the best moment-to-moment combat in any open world RPG. Every vocation plays completely differently, from the acrobatic Thief to the Magick Archer homing in on weak points mid-leap to the Mystic Spearhand freezing enemies in time. Climbing onto a griffin's back as it takes flight and hacking at its wings until it crashes into a hillside is an experience no other game in the genre offers. The pawn system gives you AI companions with their own knowledge of quests, enemy weaknesses, and world geography. A pawn who has already completed a quest in another player's world will guide you through it in yours. Exploration rewards curiosity the same way Skyrim does -- wander off the beaten path and you will find hidden caves, roaming boss monsters, and entire questlines that most players miss entirely. The world is smaller than Skyrim's but denser, and the lack of fast travel forces you to actually traverse it, which leads to the kind of unscripted encounters that make open world RPGs memorable. ### Starfield **Platforms:** PC, Xbox Series X/S Bethesda's space RPG runs on the same design DNA as Skyrim. Explore, loot, build your character, get distracted by side content for 40 hours before remembering the main quest exists. The Settled Systems offer hundreds of handcrafted locations across multiple star systems. Ship building and outpost construction add layers of customization Skyrim never had. The persuasion system is genuinely interesting, turning dialogue into a tactical minigame rather than a stat check. The Shattered Space DLC addressed the most common criticism by adding a large, handcrafted world space that feels closer to a traditional Bethesda experience. If you liked Skyrim specifically because it was a Bethesda game -- the way they build worlds, fill them with environmental stories, and let you vacuum up every loose object -- Starfield will feel familiar. The sci-fi setting divides people, but the underlying loop of exploring, looting, and building a character is pure Elder Scrolls. ### Avowed **Platforms:** PC, Xbox Series X/S Obsidian's first-person RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe is the most direct modern successor to Skyrim's specific format. First-person melee and magic combat, open environments to explore, dungeon delving, companion relationships that affect quest outcomes. Think Skyrim's exploration style combined with Obsidian's writing, which means the quests are better written and the choices have more meaningful consequences. Dual-wielding magic and melee feels fluid and the companion system adds tactical depth without requiring you to micromanage a full party. The world is smaller than Skyrim's but significantly denser, with fewer copy-paste dungeons and more meaningful encounters per square mile. If you have been waiting for someone to take another serious shot at the first-person open world RPG that Skyrim defined, Avowed is the answer. ### Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S If you want Skyrim but historically grounded, this is it. Set in medieval Bohemia with no magic, no fantasy races, and a combat system rooted in real swordfighting techniques. You start as a peasant who can barely swing a sword and have to train, eat, sleep, and maintain your gear to survive. The world is painstakingly researched and recreated -- the towns, the architecture, the social hierarchies all reflect actual 15th century Bohemia. Lockpicking, alchemy, herbalism, and speech all have genuine mechanical depth. The reputation system tracks how people in each town perceive you based on your clothing, your cleanliness, and your past actions. It scratches the same immersive RPG itch that Skyrim does, just without the dragons and Draugr. The sequel builds on the original with improved combat, larger environments, and a story that does not require you to have played the first game. ## Deep Lore and World-Building These games prioritize rich, layered worlds where the history, mythology, and politics are as compelling as the gameplay. If you spent hours reading every book in Skyrim's libraries, these are for you. ### The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch The gold standard for narrative in open world RPGs. Geralt is a defined character rather than a blank slate, which means you lose some of Skyrim's role-playing flexibility but gain a protagonist whose relationships, history, and personality make every conversation richer. The choices you make reshape entire regions. Political leaders live or die based on your decisions. Romances play out over dozens of hours and actually affect the ending. Side quests in The Witcher 3 are better than most games' main stories. The Bloody Baron questline alone -- a morally complex investigation into domestic abuse, addiction, and supernatural horror -- is worth the price of entry. Both DLCs, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, are massive expansions that many players consider superior to the base game. Blood and Wine in particular adds Toussaint, a sun-drenched wine country that is one of the most beautiful regions in any RPG. This is hundreds of hours of content that never once feels like filler. ### Baldur's Gate 3 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Mac Not open world in the traditional sense, but the sheer freedom Baldur's Gate 3 offers rivals anything Skyrim provides. Every problem has at least five solutions. You can talk your way past a guard, sneak around them, fight through them, throw them off a cliff with telekinesis, polymorph them into a sheep, or stack crates to climb over the wall entirely. The D&D 5th Edition ruleset means builds are deep and endlessly replayable, with twelve classes, dozens of subclasses, and multiclassing that opens up absurd combinations. The lore runs deep. The world draws on decades of Forgotten Realms history, but the game makes it accessible whether you are a tabletop veteran or a complete newcomer. A full playthrough runs 80 to 100 hours and you will still miss entire questlines, companions, and outcomes. The reactivity is extraordinary -- the game acknowledges choices you made 40 hours ago in ways you never expected. Four-player co-op through the entire campaign makes it even better. ### The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind **Platforms:** PC, Xbox If you love Skyrim but wish it trusted the player more, go back to Morrowind. No quest markers. No compass arrows pointing you to the next objective. NPCs give you written directions -- "follow the road east past the silt strider port, turn left at the Dwemer ruin, look for a door behind the rock formation" -- and you have to actually read them, pull up your map, and navigate. Getting lost is part of the experience, and finding your destination feels like a genuine accomplishment. The world of Vvardenfell is alien and strange in a way that Skyrim's Nordic setting never attempts. Giant mushroom towers serve as wizard homes. Cities are built inside the shells of enormous insects. Ash storms roll across volcanic wastelands. The Tribunal Temple worships living gods who walk among mortals. The political landscape is layered with competing Great Houses, imperial colonialism, and religious schism. The combat has aged poorly -- attacks are determined by dice rolls behind the scenes, so your sword can visually connect and still "miss" -- but the world building, faction design, and sense of discovery remain unmatched in the Elder Scrolls series and arguably in the entire genre. ### Dragon Age: Inquisition **Platforms:** PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One BioWare's biggest RPG gives you a massive world to explore alongside a party of memorable companions whose personal stories interweave with the political intrigue of a continent in crisis. The Inquisition system lets you send agents on missions, judge prisoners, and shape the world from your war table. Your choices in how you handle religious conflicts, political alliances, and military strategy have consequences that ripple across the entire game. The Trespasser DLC is essential -- it completely recontextualizes the ending and sets up threads that carry forward into the series. If you liked Skyrim's guild questlines and wished the companions had more to say, the character work here is on another level. Dorian, Cassandra, Solas, Iron Bull -- these are companions with real depth, personal arcs, and opinions about your decisions that affect your relationship with them. Combat is a hybrid of real-time action and tactical pausing that lets you play it as either an action game or a strategy game depending on your preference. ### Gothic **Platforms:** PC (Remake: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) The 2001 original is rough around the edges but its world design was ahead of its time by a decade. You are a prisoner thrown into a mining colony sealed off by a magical barrier, and every single NPC has a daily routine, a job, an opinion about you, and a faction allegiance that determines how they treat you. Join the Old Camp and the New Camp's members become hostile. Rise through the ranks of one faction and members of another will comment on your reputation. The world is small by modern standards but every inch of it is handcrafted and meaningful. The 2024 remake modernizes the controls, visuals, and quality of life while keeping the world structure and faction dynamics intact. If you love Skyrim's sense of place but wish the NPCs felt more alive and the world reacted more meaningfully to your choices, Gothic delivers on that promise. The remake is the best entry point the series has ever had. ## Player Freedom, Modding, and Systemic Depth These games emphasize player agency, mechanical depth, and the kind of systemic interactions that create emergent stories. If you spent more time modding Skyrim than playing it, or if you love builds and systems, these belong on your list. ### Enderal: Forgotten Stories **Platforms:** PC (free, requires Skyrim) A total conversion mod for Skyrim that is better than most standalone RPGs released in the same decade. Enderal replaces everything: the world map, the main story, the skill system, the crafting, the leveling structure. The narrative is darker and more focused than Skyrim's, dealing with themes of trauma, purpose, and inevitability with genuine emotional weight. Characters die and it matters. Choices have consequences that you do not see coming until they arrive. The class system rewards specialization over Skyrim's do-everything approach, which means builds feel more distinct and replayable. It runs on Skyrim's engine so the moment-to-moment feel is identical -- the same first-person perspective, the same movement, the same modding potential -- but the design philosophy is completely different. The team that made this went on to form a studio and develop a standalone game, which tells you everything about the quality level. Free on Steam if you own Skyrim. There is no reason not to play it. ### Divinity: Original Sin 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Mac, iPad The most systemically deep RPG on this list and one of the most systemically deep RPGs ever made. Every surface in the world interacts with every element. Spill oil on the ground and set it on fire. Cast rain to create puddles, then electrify them. Bless cursed fire to create holy flame. Teleport an enemy into a pool of poison. The combat is turn-based but plays out like environmental puzzle-solving where positioning, elevation, and creative use of the world matter more than raw stats. The writing is sharp, with six origin characters who each have fully voiced personal storylines that interweave with the main quest. Co-op supports up to four players and every player can make independent choices -- including betraying each other. The Game Master mode lets one player run a tabletop-style campaign for others using the game's engine. Two full playthroughs minimum to see everything, and even then you will miss things. ### Outward **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Outward asks what an open world RPG would feel like if you were not the chosen one. You are not the Dragonborn. You are not a hero prophesied by the gods. You are a regular person with a backpack, a bedroll, and a debt to pay off before your house gets repossessed. There is no fast travel. You have to manage hunger, thirst, temperature, and sleep. Walking across the map at night in a thunderstorm while your torch sputters out and you hear wolves in the distance is genuinely tense in a way that Skyrim's wilderness never quite manages. Magic in Outward requires multi-step rituals, not just pressing a button. You need to find a ley line, sacrifice maximum health to unlock a mana pool, then combine runes in specific patterns to cast spells. Combat is stamina-based and unforgiving -- two bandits can kill you if you are careless. Dying does not reload a save. Instead, the game generates a scenario: you wake up in a bandit camp as a prisoner, or a traveler drags you to safety, or you wash up on a beach miles from where you fell. Split-screen co-op through the entire game makes it one of the best RPGs to play with a friend on the couch. ### Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Amalur plays like a single-player MMO with action combat designed by the team behind the original God of War. Where Skyrim's melee combat boils down to swinging and backpedaling, Amalur gives you fluid combos, dodge cancels, launchers, and weapon-specific special moves that make fights feel like a character action game. The Fateweaving system lets you respec your entire build at any time, mixing warrior, rogue, and mage skill trees freely and unlocking hybrid "destiny" classes that grant unique bonuses. The world is colorful and packed with hundreds of quests across multiple distinct regions. The lore was written by R.A. Salvatore and the art direction was led by Todd McFarlane. The game launched into the shadow of Skyrim's release and never got the audience it deserved, which makes the Re-Reckoning remaster a genuine hidden gem. The Fatesworn DLC adds a solid endgame zone with new abilities and a level cap increase. If Skyrim's combat was always the weakest link for you, Amalur fixes that problem completely. ### Greedfall **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S A colonial-era RPG where you play a diplomat arriving on a mysterious island full of magic, native peoples, and competing colonial factions. Every faction questline can be resolved through combat, diplomacy, or stealth, and your choices permanently lock out content and reshape alliances. Side with the natives against the colonizers and the merchant guild cuts ties with you. Help the scientists with their research and the religious order turns hostile. The consequences are real and they stick. The companion system is strong, with loyalty missions that rival BioWare's best. Each companion belongs to a different faction, and their approval creates genuine tension when faction interests conflict. Production values sit a tier below AAA, but the ambition, branching narrative, and commitment to player freedom make up for it. If you liked Skyrim's faction system but wanted real, lasting consequences for your choices, Greedfall delivers exactly that. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the closest game to Skyrim? Avowed is the most direct modern successor -- it shares the first-person perspective, the open world exploration, and the mix of melee and magic combat. Starfield comes from the same studio and shares Bethesda's particular approach to world building and player freedom. Enderal literally runs on Skyrim's engine. Any of these three is a strong pick depending on whether you want a new studio's take, Bethesda's own evolution, or more Skyrim content specifically. ### Are there games like Skyrim but with better combat? Dragon's Dogma 2 and Kingdoms of Amalur both have significantly better combat than Skyrim while keeping the open world RPG structure. Elden Ring has the best combat on this list but demands a much higher skill level. If you want tactical depth rather than action combat, Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 offer combat systems where positioning, environment, and creativity matter more than reflexes. ### What games like Skyrim can I play on Switch? The Witcher 3, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning, and Divinity: Original Sin 2 are all available on Nintendo Switch. The Witcher 3's Switch port is impressive given the hardware limitations. Divinity: Original Sin 2 runs well and supports local co-op. ### Is Elden Ring like Skyrim? They share the core appeal of exploring a massive world and finding unexpected things around every corner. But Elden Ring's combat is significantly harder, it tells its story through item descriptions and environmental details rather than dialogue, and death carries real mechanical consequences. If the exploration and discovery were what hooked you on Skyrim, Elden Ring delivers that in spades. If you liked Skyrim because it was relaxing and low-stakes, Elden Ring is the opposite. ### What is the best game like Skyrim for someone who has never played an RPG? The Witcher 3 is the easiest recommendation. It has a strong narrative that pulls you forward, difficulty options that accommodate casual players, and a protagonist with enough personality that you are never lost wondering what to do. Starfield is also accessible if you prefer sci-fi, and it uses the same Bethesda formula that made Skyrim approachable. ## Build Your Own Open World RPG If playing these games has you thinking about building one yourself, Summer Engine has a [western RPG template](/templates/rpg/western-rpg/western-rpg) that gives you a working foundation for open world exploration, character progression, quest systems, and NPC dialogue. Describe the world you want in plain language and the engine builds it. The template handles terrain, inventory, combat, and save systems out of the box -- the fastest way to go from a Skyrim-inspired idea to a playable prototype. Check out all the [game templates](/templates) to find a starting point that matches your vision. --- ### 15 Games Like Zelda for Fans of Exploration and Adventure URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-zelda Published: 2026-03-28T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Adventure, Zelda, Game Recommendations The best games like Zelda in 2026. Handpicked action-adventure games with dungeons, puzzles, and open worlds for fans who love exploring every corner of the map. The Legend of Zelda has defined what an action-adventure game can be for nearly four decades, and the reason it endures is not any single mechanic. It is the way every system feeds into every other system. You find a new item in a dungeon and it does not just help you beat the boss -- it recontextualizes the entire world. That bombable wall you walked past three hours ago suddenly matters. The ledge you could not reach now has a purpose. Zelda games teach you their rules through play, then reward you for remembering those rules in places you did not expect. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom pushed this further by replacing linear item progression with physics and chemistry systems. Suddenly the question was not "do I have the right tool" but "can I think of a way to do this with what I have." The older games -- A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker -- were tighter, more curated experiences where every block and every enemy was placed with surgical precision. Both approaches share the same DNA: a world that rewards curiosity, dungeons that demand lateral thinking, and combat that stays interesting because the tools keep changing. If you have burned through every Zelda game and want more of that feeling, here are 15 games that deliver, organized by which aspect of Zelda they capture best. ## Open-World Exploration These games understand that the best part of Zelda is cresting a hill and seeing something interesting in the distance, then spending the next forty minutes getting sidetracked on the way there. ### Genshin Impact **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, iOS, Android Genshin Impact took the Breath of the Wild blueprint -- stamina-gated climbing, a glider for traversal, a massive open world with puzzles and secrets scattered across it -- and built a 200-hour game on top of it. The world of Teyvat is organized into nations, each with its own biome, culture, and elemental theme. Mondstadt feels like the Hyrule Fields of the game, wide-open and breezy, while Liyue is a sprawling landscape of amber forests and towering stone formations that rivals anything in Tears of the Kingdom for sheer scale. What elevates Genshin beyond "Breath of the Wild clone" is the elemental combo system. You swap between four characters mid-combat, each wielding a different element, and the interactions between them -- fire evaporates water to create steam, electro chains through wet enemies, ice freezes puddles into walkable platforms -- create a combat system with genuine depth. Treasure chests are hidden behind environmental puzzles, platforming challenges, and enemy encounters, and the game relentlessly rewards players who go off the beaten path. The gacha monetization is a real drawback, but the vast majority of exploration and story content is available without spending a cent. ### Immortals Fenyx Rising **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Ubisoft rarely gets credit for this one, and it deserves more than it received. Immortals Fenyx Rising is an open-world action-adventure set in a version of the Greek Golden Isle, and its structure is closer to Breath of the Wild than almost any other AAA game. You have a stamina bar for climbing and swimming, a glider for traversal, and an open world filled with puzzle vaults that function exactly like shrines. The world is divided into regions themed around Greek gods -- Aphrodite's area is lush and green, Ares's is a war-torn wasteland -- and each region has its own set of challenges and upgrades. The puzzle vaults are the highlight, ranging from simple ball-pushing exercises to elaborate multi-room challenges that require combining abilities in creative ways. The combat is responsive and satisfying, with light attacks, heavy attacks, dodge mechanics, and godly abilities that you upgrade over time. The humor is hit-or-miss -- Zeus and Prometheus narrate the story through constant bickering -- but mechanically it is one of the strongest Breath of the Wild-likes available. ### A Short Hike **Platforms:** PC, Mac, Linux, Switch A Short Hike proves you do not need a hundred hours of content to capture the feeling of a great Zelda overworld. You play as a bird named Claire visiting a provincial park, and your goal is to reach the summit of the mountain. Along the way you collect golden feathers that extend your flight stamina, letting you reach higher ledges and explore further. The entire game takes about two hours. What makes it belong on this list is how perfectly it captures the Zelda sense of discovery. Every path leads somewhere interesting. Every NPC has a small story or a side activity to offer. There is a fishing minigame, a treasure hunt, a volleyball court, hidden caves, and a surprising amount of vertical exploration. The world is tiny compared to Hyrule, but it is dense with intention. Nothing is filler. If you have ever spent an hour in a Zelda game ignoring the main quest because you wanted to see what was behind that cliff, A Short Hike is built entirely around that impulse. ### Windbound **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Take Wind Waker's sailing, strip away the cartoon humor, and add survival mechanics. Windbound puts you on a small boat in an open ocean dotted with procedurally generated islands. You sail between them, gather resources, craft tools and weapons, upgrade your vessel, and explore ruins that hold fragments of a larger mystery. The sailing is the star here -- your boat responds to actual wind direction and speed, so tacking into the wind and catching gusts becomes a skill you develop over time. The survival elements -- hunger, weapon durability, crafting -- are divisive. Some players find they add tension to the exploration loop, others feel they introduce friction where there should be freedom. It is worth trying if the idea of sailing an uncharted sea and discovering what waits on the next island speaks to you. Cresting a wave and spotting a new landmass on the horizon captures something essential about what made Wind Waker special. ## Puzzle Dungeons and Clever Design Zelda dungeons are built on a simple principle: give the player a new tool, then build rooms that teach them every possible use of that tool before the boss fight tests their mastery. These games understand that design philosophy. ### Tunic **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Mac Tunic presents itself as a cute isometric Zelda homage -- you are a small fox with a sword and shield, exploring a colorful world with secrets and dungeons. For the first few hours, that is exactly what it is. Then you start finding pages of an in-game instruction manual, written in a fictional language with just enough English to be partially legible, and the game transforms into something entirely different. Tunic is a puzzle box disguised as an action game, and the puzzle is the game itself. The manual pages reveal hidden mechanics that were always present but never explained. Entire systems exist beneath the surface that fundamentally change how you interact with the world. Saying more would spoil it, but veterans of Zelda's most cryptic moments -- bombing every wall in the original NES game, deciphering the Stone Tower Temple -- will find a kindred spirit here. The combat draws from the Souls school of stamina management and precise dodge timing. Bosses will kill you, and the game expects you to learn their patterns. One of the best indie games of the past decade. ### CrossCode **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch CrossCode is set inside a fictional MMO, and its dungeon design is better than most Zelda games. That is not hyperbole. Each dungeon introduces a new element -- fire, ice, wave, shock -- and then constructs increasingly intricate puzzles around bouncing projectiles off walls, activating switches in sequence, and combining environmental effects in real time. The puzzles demand both spatial reasoning and quick reflexes, because your projectiles travel in real time and you often need to hit multiple targets before a timer runs out. Combat mixes melee combos with the same projectile system used in puzzles, creating a loop where puzzle-solving skills directly improve combat effectiveness. The story is surprisingly compelling -- a mystery about memory, identity, and the nature of the virtual world you inhabit -- and the game clocks in at 30 to 40 hours with substantial post-game content. If dungeon design is what you love most about Zelda, CrossCode is essential. ### Ittle Dew 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Ittle Dew 2 is what happens when a developer decides that puzzle design is the only part of Zelda that matters and builds an entire game around that conviction. The overworld contains dungeons that can be completed in any order. Each dungeon grants an item -- a stick, a ring, dynamite -- and every dungeon is designed to be solvable with any combination of items. This means there are multiple valid routes through the game, and the puzzles change depending on which tools you have available. The result is a puzzle game with genuine replay value, which is rare for the genre. Rooms that seem straightforward with one set of items become devious brain-teasers when you approach them with a different loadout. Combat exists but is deliberately simple -- it is not the point. The point is standing in a room with blocks, switches, and hazards, staring at the layout, and having that moment where the solution clicks. If you have ever wished Zelda dungeons were longer and harder, Ittle Dew 2 is exactly what you want. ### Hob **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Switch Hob tells its story entirely without words. There is no dialogue, no text logs, no narration. You explore a vast interconnected world that is equal parts machine and nature, and you reshape it by activating mechanisms that physically rearrange the terrain. Pull a lever and an entire section of the map slides into a new position, revealing pathways through areas you thought you had already fully explored. The world functions as one enormous interlocking puzzle. Each area connects to others in ways that are not immediately obvious, and the game's greatest moments come from watching a transformation cascade through the environment, suddenly understanding how three different areas relate to each other. Combat is functional but secondary to the exploration and environmental puzzle-solving. If you loved the feeling of understanding the Water Temple's water level system in Ocarina of Time -- that sense of a space with hidden mechanical logic beneath it -- Hob builds an entire game around that concept. ### Lenna's Inception **Platforms:** PC, Mac, Linux A top-down Zelda-like with procedurally generated dungeons and a meta-narrative about a glitching game world. You can toggle between 8-bit and 32-bit art styles at any time, which is more than a visual gimmick -- it becomes a puzzle mechanic. The dungeon structure follows the classic formula: find the map, find the compass, find the dungeon item, defeat the boss. What sets it apart is the randomizer element. Dungeon order, item locations, and even the overworld layout change each playthrough. This procedural approach forces you to actually explore rather than following a guide. You cannot rely on knowing that the hookshot is always in dungeon three, because it might be in dungeon seven this time. The result captures the feeling of playing a Zelda game for the first time -- genuine uncertainty about what comes next. It is rough and lo-fi, but for players who have memorized every Zelda game and want to feel lost again, it delivers. ## Combat and Action These games prioritize the feel of swinging a sword, dodging an attack, and taking down a boss. They capture the side of Zelda where you walk into a room, the doors lock, and you have to fight your way out. ### Death's Door **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Mac You play as a crow employed by a bureaucratic agency that reaps souls, and when your latest assignment goes wrong, you are pulled into a world of old, powerful beings who have cheated death. The setup is charming, but the real draw is the combat. Melee attacks are quick and responsive, with a combo system that flows naturally between light strikes and heavy finishers. Ranged attacks use limited ammunition that recharges when you land melee hits, creating a rhythm where you constantly switch between close and long range. The structure is pure Zelda: explore an area, find the dungeon, earn a new ability inside, use it to defeat the boss and unlock new overworld paths. The world is compact but incredibly dense, packed with shortcuts that loop back on themselves and secrets behind destructible walls. Death's Door respects your time -- a full playthrough takes about ten hours -- and not a minute feels wasted. Every room has a purpose and every boss fight is a genuine test of skill. ### Darksiders **Platforms:** PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Switch Darksiders is what you get when you ask "what if Zelda, but you play as War, Horseman of the Apocalypse, and every enemy explodes when you kill it." The structure is unmistakably Zelda: a central hub world connects to themed dungeons, each containing a new traversal item that opens previously inaccessible areas. You get a hookshot equivalent, a portal gun, a boomerang blade. The progression loop of gaining an item and then re-exploring old areas with fresh eyes is straight out of Ocarina of Time. Where Darksiders diverges is in combat intensity. Fights are closer to God of War than Zelda, with long combo strings, aerial juggles, and brutal finishing moves. The dungeon design is legitimately excellent -- rooms are layered with puzzles that use your full toolkit, and the late-game dungeons reach a level of complexity that rivals anything in the Zelda series. It is not a subtle game. It is loud, violent, and excessive. But beneath the heavy metal aesthetic is a deeply traditional Zelda-style adventure with outstanding dungeon design. ### Okami **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Okami is the game that comes closest to matching Zelda across every dimension -- exploration, puzzle design, combat, and progression. You play as Amaterasu, the sun goddess in wolf form, restoring life to a Japan-inspired world consumed by darkness. The structure mirrors Zelda almost exactly: an overworld connects themed dungeons, each built around a new ability. The twist is the Celestial Brush. At any point you can pause the game and paint on the screen. Draw a circle in the sky to summon the sun. Slash across an enemy to cut them. Draw a line from fire to an unlit torch to light it. The brush system is one of the most original mechanics in action-adventure history, and the game builds increasingly clever puzzles around it. Combat combines standard melee attacks with brush techniques, and the interplay between the two keeps fights engaging across the game's substantial 35 to 50 hour runtime. The sumi-e ink wash art style has aged far better than most games from its era. If you only play one game on this list, make it Okami. ### Phoenotopia: Awakening **Platforms:** PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One Phoenotopia: Awakening starts as a quiet village story -- your character wakes up, helps with chores, runs errands. Then the sky opens and things escalate rapidly into a globe-spanning adventure with dungeons, towns, NPCs with actual side stories, and a crafting system that feeds into both combat and exploration. The pacing is deliberate in a way that modern games rarely attempt. It takes its time establishing the world before throwing you into danger. Combat is stamina-based and intentionally weighty, closer to Zelda II than any modern action game. Every swing costs stamina, every dodge requires commitment, and enemies hit hard enough that button-mashing will get you killed. The world is full of hidden areas that require creative tool use -- throwing objects at walls, using bombs to open shortcuts, combining items in ways the game never tells you about. It is rough around the edges, but the sense of discovery is genuine and the dungeon design shows real craft. ## Hidden Gems Worth Your Time These two games do not fit neatly into one category. They blend multiple elements of the Zelda formula in ways that feel fresh. ### Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King **Platforms:** PC, Switch A top-down action-adventure modeled directly after A Link to the Past, and it wears that influence proudly. You get a sword, a shield, bombs, a boomerang, and a bow across a series of dungeons filled with block puzzles, boss fights, and collectible upgrades. The framing device has a grandfather narrating the story to his two grandchildren, who occasionally interrupt to change the events -- at one point they argue about whether you should fight pirates or ninjas, and you choose which encounter plays out. The dungeon design is consistently strong, with puzzles that use your full inventory and bosses that test specific skills. The overworld rewards backtracking once you have new tools. It does not attempt to reinvent anything -- it is a love letter to SNES-era Zelda, executed with care and confidence. If you grew up with A Link to the Past and want something that feels like a lost sequel, Blossom Tales delivers. ### Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm **Platforms:** PC, Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Oceanhorn 2 is the most literal Zelda-like on this list. Third-person action-adventure with an overworld connecting themed dungeons, a companion system, and an inventory of items -- grappling hook, gun, caster -- that serve double duty as combat tools and puzzle keys. The structure is Wind Waker filtered through a smaller budget, with sailing sections, island exploration, and a story about ancient civilizations. It started life as an Apple Arcade exclusive, and certain animations and voice performances show the budget constraints. But the dungeon design is solid, the puzzles are well-constructed, and the item progression scratches the same itch as classic Zelda. If you want a 3D Zelda-style adventure with dungeons, keys, and boss fights, and you have played everything from Nintendo, Oceanhorn 2 fills that gap competently. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the closest game to Zelda? Okami is the closest in overall design philosophy -- it matches Zelda's mix of exploration, dungeon crawling, combat, and item-based progression more completely than any other game. For a more modern pick that captures the Breath of the Wild style specifically, Genshin Impact delivers the open-world exploration and traversal mechanics at a comparable scale. ### Are there any good Zelda-like games on PC? Most games on this list are available on PC. Tunic, CrossCode, Death's Door, Okami, and Darksiders are all excellent options. Steam is arguably the best platform for Zelda-likes because the indie scene has produced dozens of quality titles in the genre. ### What games are like Zelda but harder? Tunic and Death's Door both feature combat that is significantly more challenging than most Zelda games, drawing influence from the Souls series. CrossCode's puzzle dungeons are harder than anything in Zelda, demanding both spatial reasoning and real-time execution. Phoenotopia: Awakening has punishing stamina-based combat that requires patience and precision. ### Is Genshin Impact really like Zelda? The exploration and traversal are directly inspired by Breath of the Wild -- stamina-based climbing, gliding, an open world with puzzles and secrets. It diverges with party-based combat, RPG progression, and gacha monetization. If you love Zelda's exploration, Genshin delivers at massive scale. If you primarily love dungeon design, look at Tunic or CrossCode instead. ### What Zelda-like games can I play on Switch? Nearly every game on this list is available on Switch: Okami, Tunic, Death's Door, CrossCode, Blossom Tales, Hob, A Short Hike, Darksiders, Ittle Dew 2, and Oceanhorn 2. It is arguably the best single console for Zelda-likes outside of actual Zelda games. ### Are there any free games like Zelda? Genshin Impact is free-to-play and offers the closest experience to Breath of the Wild's open-world exploration without spending anything. The gacha system is for acquiring new characters, but the base roster and full story content are available for free. ## Build Your Own Adventure Game If playing through these games has given you ideas for your own, you do not need to start from scratch. Our [adventure game template](/templates/adventure) gives you a working foundation with an explorable overworld, item pickups, combat mechanics, and room transitions already built. Describe what you want in conversation and the engine builds it -- no boilerplate, no engine configuration, just your ideas turned into a working prototype. --- ### How to Make a Game in 2026 (Complete Beginner Guide) URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/how-to-make-a-game Published: 2026-03-28T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Game Development, Beginner, Tutorial, No Code Learn how to make a game from scratch with zero experience. A step-by-step beginner guide covering tools, first projects, and publishing your game in 2026. You play games. Maybe you have played thousands of them. At some point, probably more than once, you have thought: "I could make something like this." Good news. You can. And in 2026, making a game is more accessible than it has ever been. You do not need a computer science degree. You do not need to know how to code. You do not need a team or a budget. You need an idea, a free tool, and a few hours. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from zero to a finished game you can share with the world. ## Step 1: Start Small This is the most important step, and almost every beginner skips it. Your first game should take a weekend to make. Not a month. Not a year. A weekend. Here is what happens when beginners ignore this advice. They imagine a massive open-world RPG with 40 hours of content, online multiplayer, and a crafting system. They spend weeks planning it out. Then they open a game engine, realize they do not know how to make a character walk across the screen, and quit. Instead, pick something tiny: - A platformer with one level (think classic Mario, but just one screen) - A simple puzzle game (match colors, slide tiles, connect dots) - A clicker game (tap a button, number goes up, buy upgrades) - A top-down maze where you avoid enemies These are not boring projects. They are the projects that actually get finished. Every professional game developer started with something like this. Stardew Valley started as a farming experiment. Undertale started as a tiny RPG demo. Vampire Survivors started as a weekend prototype. Make something small. Finish it. Then make something bigger. That is the path. ## Step 2: Pick Your Tool A "game engine" is the software you use to build a game. It handles the hard stuff (drawing graphics on screen, playing sounds, detecting when things collide) so you can focus on the creative part. There are more options than ever in 2026. Here are the main paths, sorted from easiest to most powerful. ### AI Game Engines (Easiest) **[Summer Engine](/)** lets you make games by describing what you want in plain English. You type something like "make a platformer where a cat jumps between floating islands," and the AI builds a playable game for you. You play it, give feedback ("make the jump higher," "add coins to collect"), and the AI updates the game in real time. No code. No tutorials. Just a conversation. The game runs on the Godot engine under the hood, which means it is a real, full game project. You can export it to Steam, desktop, mobile, or web. You can also open the project in the regular Godot editor if you ever want to learn how everything works. Best for: complete beginners who want to make a real, shippable game without learning to code first. ### No-Code Visual Engines Tools like **GDevelop** and **Construct 3** let you build games using visual logic blocks instead of code. You drag and drop conditions and actions: "When player presses jump button, move character up." It looks like building with LEGO instead of writing paragraphs. These work well for 2D games. You still need to learn how the tool works and build everything manually, but you never have to type a line of code. The learning curve is real but manageable. Expect to spend a few days getting comfortable. Best for: people who want hands-on control and enjoy figuring out how systems connect, but do not want to learn a programming language. ### Traditional Game Engines **Godot**, **Unity**, and **Unreal Engine** are the industry-standard tools. Most commercial games are built with one of these. They are extremely powerful and can make anything from a phone game to a AAA console title. The tradeoff: you need to learn how to code. Godot uses GDScript (similar to Python), Unity uses C#, and Unreal uses C++ or Blueprints (a visual scripting system). Expect to spend weeks or months learning the basics before you can make something that feels good. These are the right choice if you want a career in game development or want to understand every detail of how your game works. They are not the fastest path to your first finished game. Best for: people who want to learn programming and build deep technical skills over time. ### Browser-Based Tools **Rosebud** and **Star** let you generate simple games directly in your web browser. Type a prompt, get a playable game. No download, no installation, instant results. The limitation: these create web-only games. You cannot export to Steam or mobile app stores. The games tend to be simpler and the customization options are limited. But for quick experiments and sharing game ideas with a link, they are great. Best for: quick prototyping, game jams, or sharing ideas without any setup. ## Step 3: Make Your First Game Let's walk through making a simple platformer in Summer Engine, start to finish. First, download Summer Engine from the [downloads page](/download) and open it. You will see a chat window. This is where you talk to the AI to build your game. Type something like this: > "Make a 2D platformer. The player is a small blue square that can run and jump. There are 5 floating platforms at different heights. Put a gold star at the top right of the level. When the player reaches the star, show a 'You Win' screen." Within a minute, you will have a playable game. Click Play and try it out. The character moves, the physics work, and the win condition triggers when you reach the star. Now comes the fun part: iteration. Play your game and notice what feels off. Maybe the jump is too floaty. Maybe the platforms are too far apart. Tell the AI: > "Make the jump snappier and faster. Move the third platform a bit to the left so the gap is not so wide. Add a simple enemy that walks back and forth on the bottom platform." The AI updates your game and you can play the new version immediately. This back-and-forth is how you develop the game. You are the designer and creative director. The AI handles the implementation. After a few rounds of this, you will have a real, playable platformer that you built in an afternoon. No tutorials, no Stack Overflow, no debugging mysterious error messages. ## Step 4: Make It Your Own A game is not just mechanics. It is art, sound, and personality. This is where your game goes from "tech demo" to something people actually want to play. **Art and visuals.** You can ask the AI to change the look of your game ("make it pixel art style," "give the background a sunset gradient") or import your own artwork. If you can draw, scan your sketches. If you cannot, there are free asset packs all over the internet. Sites like itch.io, Kenney.nl, and OpenGameArt have thousands of free sprites, tilesets, and animations. **Sound and music.** Sound is one of the most underrated parts of a game. A satisfying jump sound, a coin collect chime, and some background music will make your game feel ten times more polished. Free sound libraries like Freesound.org and free music from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) can get you started. You can also ask the AI to add placeholder sounds while you work on gameplay. **Level design.** This is pure creativity. Add more levels. Make them progressively harder. Introduce new mechanics one at a time. Study games you love and notice how they teach the player without tutorials. The best level design feels like a conversation between the designer and the player. ## Step 5: Share It You made a game. Now let people play it. **itch.io** is the easiest place to publish. It is free, the community is supportive, and you can upload your game in minutes. This is where most indie developers put their first games. **Steam** is where serious players shop. There is a one-time $100 fee to create a developer account, but once you are set up, your game is on the biggest PC gaming platform in the world. We wrote a complete guide on [how to publish your game on Steam](/blog/how-to-publish-game-on-steam). **Mobile** (iOS and Android) is an option if you built your game in an engine that supports mobile export, like Summer Engine, Unity, or Godot. Mobile has the largest audience but also the most competition. **Web** works for quick sharing. Export an HTML5 build, host it on itch.io or your own website, and send people a link. No download required. Pick one platform and ship. You can always add more later. ## Common Mistakes Beginners Make **Scope creep.** You start making a simple platformer. Then you think "what if I add an inventory system?" Then a dialogue system. Then multiplayer. Then a procedurally generated world. Suddenly your weekend project is a two-year commitment and you have finished none of it. Resist the urge to add features. Finish the small version first. **Perfectionism.** Your first game will not be good. That is fine. It is not supposed to be good. It is supposed to be finished. A finished bad game teaches you more than an unfinished masterpiece. Ship it, learn from it, make the next one better. **Learning to code before making anything.** Some people spend months studying C++ or C# before they ever open a game engine. This is backwards. Make a game first. Learn to code later, if you want to. The motivation to learn is much stronger when you have a specific problem to solve ("how do I make my enemy chase the player?") instead of an abstract goal ("learn programming"). **Working alone on everything.** You do not have to make every asset yourself. Use free art. Use free music. Use AI to generate what you need. The game industry runs on collaboration and shared resources. There is no award for suffering through every pixel. **Never sharing your work.** Put your game out there even if it is rough. The feedback you get from real players is worth more than a hundred hours of solo polishing. Post it on itch.io, share it with friends, put it in a game dev Discord. You will be surprised how encouraging people are toward beginners who actually finish something. ## Start Making Your Game Today You do not need permission. You do not need a degree. You do not need to wait until you "know enough." Open [Summer Engine](/download), describe a game idea, and hit play. You will have a working game in minutes. Explore the [templates gallery](/templates) if you want a starting point. The best time to start making games was ten years ago. The second best time is right now. --- ### How to Make an RPG Game (Beginner Guide) URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/how-to-make-an-rpg Published: 2026-03-28T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Tutorial, RPG, Game Development, Beginner Learn how to make your own RPG game from scratch. A practical beginner guide covering RPG types, core systems, tools, and step-by-step instructions to build your first RPG in 2026. You have played hundreds of RPGs. Maybe thousands. You have leveled up characters, explored dungeons, made dialogue choices that kept you awake at night, and beaten bosses that took you dozens of tries. At some point you thought: "I want to make one of these." You can. RPGs are one of the most rewarding genres to build because they combine so many creative elements: storytelling, system design, world-building, and player choice. They are also one of the hardest genres for beginners, because there are so many moving parts. This guide will help you cut through the complexity. You will learn which type of RPG to start with, which systems actually matter, and how to build your first playable RPG without getting overwhelmed. ## What Kind of RPG Do You Want to Make? "RPG" covers a massive range of games. Before you open any tool, figure out which flavor you are going for. Here are the four main types. **Action RPG** -- Real-time combat with stats and loot. Think Diablo, Elden Ring, or Zelda. The player fights enemies in real-time while getting stronger through gear and levels. These are satisfying to play but require tight controls and responsive combat feel. **Turn-based RPG** -- You and your enemies take turns. Think Final Fantasy, Pokemon, or Dragon Quest. Combat is strategic and methodical. These are great for beginners because you do not need to worry about real-time physics or animation timing. **Tactical RPG** -- Grid-based, positioning matters. Think Fire Emblem, XCOM, or Final Fantasy Tactics. These add a spatial layer on top of turn-based combat. More complex to design, but deeply satisfying for strategy fans. **Story RPG** -- Dialogue and choices are the core mechanic. Think Undertale, Disco Elysium, or Planescape: Torment. Combat might be minimal or absent entirely. The game lives or dies on its writing and branching paths. Pick one. Not two. Not a hybrid. One type, one scope, one prototype. You can always expand later. For your first RPG, turn-based is the most forgiving starting point. The pace is slow enough that you can focus on systems without worrying about frame-perfect combat. ## The Core Systems of an RPG Every RPG is built from a handful of interlocking systems. Here are the big five: **Stats** -- Numbers that define your character. Health, attack, defense, speed. Stats create the math layer that makes the whole game work. Even a simple RPG needs some version of this. **Inventory** -- Items the player collects and uses. Potions, weapons, armor, key items. An inventory system needs storage, equipping, and using or dropping items. **Dialogue** -- Conversations with NPCs (non-player characters). This can range from simple text boxes to full branching dialogue trees with choices that affect the story. **Combat** -- How the player fights. Turn-based menus, real-time swinging, card-based, grid-based. This is usually the system players spend the most time with. **Progression** -- How the player gets stronger. Experience points, leveling up, learning new abilities, finding better gear. This is the hook that keeps players going. Here is the important part: **you do not need all five for your first RPG.** Undertale shipped with minimal inventory. Some RPGs have no equipment at all. Disco Elysium barely has combat. Pick two or three systems. Build those well. Add more later if you need them. ## Start with One Room This is the advice that separates people who finish their first game from people who give up after a month. Do not design a 40-hour epic. Do not write a world bible. Do not plan out 8 party members with unique skill trees. Build one room. One dungeon room with one enemy and one treasure chest. Make the player walk into the room, fight the enemy using your combat system, open the chest, and get an item. If that one room is fun, you have something. Expand from there. Add a second room. Add a second enemy type. Add a simple boss fight. If that one room is not fun, you have learned something valuable without wasting months. Tweak it, rebuild it, or try a different approach. Every great RPG started as a tiny prototype. Undertale was a single-room demo before it became one of the most beloved RPGs of all time. ## Tools for Making RPGs You have three main paths, depending on your experience and how much control you want. ### Summer Engine You describe the RPG you want to make, and AI builds the systems for you. Tell it you want a turn-based battle system with three party members, and it generates the code, the UI, and the logic. You can then edit everything, add your own art, and customize it. Best for: beginners who want to build a real, exportable game without writing code from scratch. Everything runs on the Godot engine under the hood, so you get a professional-quality project you actually own. ### RPG Maker The classic RPG tool. RPG Maker has been around for decades and is purpose-built for 2D RPGs. It comes with tile-based map editors, built-in combat systems, and a huge community of creators sharing assets and plugins. Best for: 2D pixel-art RPGs in the JRPG style. If you want something that looks like a SNES-era Final Fantasy, RPG Maker gets you there fast. The trade-off is limited flexibility outside its built-in systems, and your game will look and feel like an RPG Maker game unless you put serious work into customization. ### Godot or Unity Full game engines with complete control over everything. You can build any type of RPG with any visual style. The cost is that you need to code everything yourself. Godot uses GDScript (similar to Python), Unity uses C#. Best for: people who want to learn programming or already know how to code. More effort up front, but no ceiling on what you can build. ## Step-by-Step: Building an RPG in Summer Engine Here is what it looks like to go from zero to a playable RPG prototype. **1. Start a new project.** Open Summer Engine and choose a template from the RPG category. You will find options like Turn-based RPG, Action RPG, JRPG, and Creature Collector. **2. Describe your game.** Tell the AI what you want. For example: *"A turn-based RPG with a party of 3 characters exploring a dungeon. The warrior has high health and a shield bash ability. The mage has low health but powerful fire spells. The healer can restore HP and cure status effects. Enemies include slimes, skeletons, and a boss dragon."* **3. The AI builds it.** Summer Engine generates your battle system, character stats, abilities, enemy encounters, and a dungeon layout. You get a working prototype in minutes, not weeks. **4. Playtest and iterate.** Open the project, walk around, fight some enemies. Does the combat feel too easy? Tell the AI to increase enemy damage. Want a new ability? Describe it and it gets added. This back-and-forth is where your game takes shape. **5. Make it yours.** Add your own sprites, write your own dialogue, design your own levels. The AI gives you a foundation. You turn it into your game. **6. Export and share.** When you are ready, export to desktop, web, or Steam. It is a real Godot project. You own it completely. ## Common Beginner Mistakes After watching thousands of people try to build their first RPG, these are the patterns that kill projects. **Too much story before gameplay.** You spend weeks writing lore, character backstories, and a detailed plot outline. Then you open a game engine and realize you do not know how to make a text box appear on screen. Write story after you have a working prototype. Story is easy to add. Systems are not. **Too many systems at once.** You want crafting, fishing, cooking, romance, housing, mounts, pets, and a card game minigame. Each system takes real time to build and balance. Start with two or three. Add more only when the core game is fun. **Too many items and abilities.** You design 200 weapons and 50 spells before your game has a single working enemy. You only need a handful of items to test your systems. Five weapons, three armor pieces, and a few consumables are enough for a prototype. **Perfectionism on art before gameplay.** Custom pixel art for every tile, hand-drawn portraits for every NPC. Art is important, but it can come last. Use placeholder art (colored squares work fine) until your game is fun to play. The pattern here is clear: build less, build it working, and expand from there. ## Start Building Your RPG You have the knowledge. You know which type of RPG to start with, which systems to focus on, and how to avoid the traps that catch most beginners. The only step left is the one that matters: open a tool and start building. If you want the fastest path from idea to playable RPG, check out the [RPG templates](/templates/rpg) in Summer Engine. There are ready-made starting points for the most popular RPG types: - [Action RPG](/templates/rpg/action-rpg) -- real-time combat with loot and leveling - [Turn-based RPG](/templates/rpg/turn-based-rpg) -- classic party-based battles - [JRPG](/templates/rpg/jrpg) -- story-driven with anime-style presentation - [Creature Collector](/templates/rpg/creature-collector) -- catch, train, and battle monsters Pick one. Build one room. Make it fun. Then make it bigger. --- ### I Have a Game Idea. Now What? URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/i-have-a-game-idea Published: 2026-03-28T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Game Design, Beginner, Game Ideas, Prototyping You had an amazing game idea. Here's how to turn it into a real, playable game. A practical guide from first spark to working prototype. You have a game idea. It hit you at 2am and now you can't sleep. Maybe it's an RPG with a twist nobody's seen before. Maybe it's a puzzle mechanic that would blow people's minds. Maybe it's "Stardew Valley but in space." Whatever it is, it feels real. It feels important. You're lying there thinking *this could actually be something.* Here's the thing: you're right. It could be something. But ideas don't become games on their own. They become games through a series of small, concrete steps. And the first step is much simpler than you think. ## Write It Down (Seriously) Tomorrow morning, before the excitement fades, open a notes app and write one paragraph. Not a design document. Not a wiki. One paragraph. Answer these three questions: What does the player do? What makes it fun? Why would someone play this instead of watching TV? That's it. If you can't describe your game in one paragraph, you don't have a game idea yet. You have a feeling. Feelings are great starting points, but they need to be compressed into something concrete before they can become anything real. Here's an example: "The player runs a repair shop for broken robots. Each robot arrives with a unique personality glitch. You diagnose the problem through conversation, then physically rewire their circuits in a puzzle minigame. It's fun because every robot is different, the dialogue is funny, and the puzzles get harder as you unlock new tools." That's a game. You can build that. You can picture someone playing it. ## Find the Core Loop Every game that works has a loop. The player does a thing, gets a reward, then does a harder version of the thing. Over and over. That's what makes games feel good. Platformer: run, jump, reach the goal. RPG: explore, fight, level up. Farming sim: plant, harvest, sell, expand. Roguelike: attempt a run, die, unlock something, try again. What's your loop? Write it down in one line. "The player does X, which leads to Y, which makes them want to do X again." If you can't find the loop, your idea might be a story, or a world, or a vibe. Those are valuable, but they need a loop wrapped around them to become a game. Don't overthink this. The loop can change later. But having one early gives you something to test. ## Build the Worst Version First This is the step where most people stall. They think they need to learn an engine for six months, watch a hundred tutorials, and master 3D modeling before they can start. They don't. You need to build the worst possible version of your game. Not a prototype. The *worst* version. One room. One mechanic. Placeholder art. No menus. No title screen. No polish. If your game is about repairing robots, build one robot with one puzzle. If it's a platformer, build one level with one jump. If it's a farming sim, build one crop cycle. The reason this works is brutal and honest: if the worst version is fun, you have something worth building. If the worst version is boring, no amount of art, music, or content will save it. The core has to work. You want to find that out in a weekend, not after a year of development. ## Tools for Turning Ideas Into Games The traditional path looks like this: pick an engine (Unity, Godot, Unreal), spend weeks learning the interface, follow tutorials, write code, debug, iterate. Eventually, maybe months later, you have something that moves on screen. It works. Millions of great games were made this way. But it is slow, and most people quit before they get to the fun part. With [Summer Engine](https://summerengine.com), you describe your game idea in a conversation. "I want a top-down game where the player controls a little robot in a repair shop." The engine builds it. You play it. You say "make the robot move faster" or "add a workbench the player can interact with." You iterate in minutes, not months. This isn't magic and it won't build your entire game for you. But it collapses the distance between having an idea and seeing it on screen. That matters more than people realize. Because the moment you can *play* your idea, you start learning what works and what doesn't. And that learning is where real game design happens. ## The Ideas That Work vs. The Ideas That Don't Let's talk about the trap. You know the one. "It's an open-world MMO RPG with full crafting, base building, 200 hours of story content, multiplayer co-op, and procedurally generated dungeons." That's not a game idea. That's a feature list. And feature lists don't ship. The ideas that actually become real games start small. Absurdly small. Undertale started as a battle system. Stardew Valley started as one farm. Hollow Knight started as one character in one room with one attack. Start with one room. One mechanic. One minute of gameplay. If that one minute is interesting, you can build outward from there. If it's not, you can throw it away and try a different minute. Both outcomes are progress. The biggest trap in game development isn't lack of skill. It's scope. The gap between "what I imagine" and "what I can build" has killed more games than any technical limitation. ## What to Do After the Prototype You built the worst version. It's ugly and janky and held together with duct tape. But something about it is fun. Now what? Put it in front of someone. A friend, a family member, someone in an online community. Watch them play. Don't explain anything. The places where they get confused are the places your design is unclear. The places where they smile are the places your design is working. Then iterate. Fix the confusing parts. Expand the parts that work. Add a second level, a second mechanic, a second minute of gameplay. Layer in art when the design feels solid. Add sound. Add music. Polish. This loop of build, test, learn, repeat is the entire craft of game development. Every studio in the world, from solo indie devs to thousand-person AAA teams, follows some version of it. You are not behind. You are at the beginning, which is exactly where everyone starts. ## Your Idea Is Worth Building The difference between people who make games and people who just think about making games is not talent. It's not money. It's not connections. It's whether they took the idea out of their head and put it somewhere real. Write it down. Find the loop. Build the worst version. Test it. Improve it. Ship it. Your 2am idea is waiting. [Turn your idea into a playable game today](/download). Or browse [starter templates](/templates/start) to see what's possible. --- ### How to Make a Game Without Coding in 2026 URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/make-game-without-coding Published: 2026-03-28T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: No Code, Game Development, Beginner, AI You can make a real game without writing code. Here are three approaches that actually work in 2026, what you can build with each, and a step-by-step walkthrough. You do not need to learn to code to make a game. Not anymore. In 2026, there are multiple real ways to create a game without coding, and some of them produce games you can actually publish on Steam. This is not a "learn to code" article in disguise. If you want to make a game without writing a single line of code, you can. Here is how. ## The Three No-Code Approaches Not all no-code game tools work the same way. There are three distinct approaches, each with different strengths. ### 1. Talk to AI (Summer Engine) You describe what you want in plain English. The AI builds it inside a real game engine. You say "add a player character that can double jump" and it creates the node, sets up the physics, writes the script, and connects everything. This is the most natural approach for complete beginners because there is nothing to learn upfront. You talk, the engine builds. If something is wrong, you say what to change. It works like having a game developer sitting next to you who does exactly what you ask. Summer Engine is a full desktop game engine, so the games you build can be exported to Steam, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. You are not locked into a browser tab. ### 2. Visual Logic (GDevelop, Construct 3) These tools replace code with drag-and-drop event sheets. Instead of writing `if player.is_on_floor(): velocity.y = jump_force`, you create a visual rule: "When player is on platform and Space is pressed, set vertical speed to -500." You still need to think logically. You are still programming, just without syntax. This approach works well if you enjoy puzzles and systems thinking. The learning curve is real but much gentler than traditional code. GDevelop is free and open source. Construct 3 is browser-based with a subscription. Both can export to desktop and mobile. ### 3. Prompt-and-Play (Rosebud AI, Star) Type a description, get a playable browser game in seconds. These tools are genuinely impressive for quick experiments. "Make a space shooter where enemies come in waves" gives you something playable almost instantly. The trade-off is control and scope. The output is a web page, not a game project. You cannot export to Steam. You cannot open the project in another engine. Customization is limited to what the AI generates in one pass. These tools are great for prototyping ideas and sharing quick demos, but they have a ceiling. ## What You Can Actually Build Without Code Let's be specific about what is possible. **A platformer with 10+ levels.** Full player movement, enemies with patrol patterns, collectibles, a score system, level transitions, and a title screen. This is completely doable in any of the three approaches, though only the first two will give you something you can publish. **A farming sim with inventory.** Plant crops, water them, watch them grow on a timer, harvest and sell at a shop. Inventory management, a day/night cycle, and NPC shopkeepers. Tools like Summer Engine handle this well because you can describe each system in conversation and build them one at a time. **An RPG with dialogue trees.** A top-down adventure with towns, NPCs who say different things based on your choices, a simple combat system, and quest tracking. This is more ambitious but absolutely possible. You will spend a few weekends on it. **A puzzle game.** Grid-based logic puzzles, match-three mechanics, physics-based puzzles. These tend to be the easiest to build without code because the rules are clear and discrete. **A visual novel.** Branching stories with character portraits, backgrounds, music, and multiple endings. This is one of the most popular genres for first-time creators, and no-code tools handle it naturally. ## Step-by-Step: From Zero to Playable in Summer Engine Here is what making a game without coding actually looks like. This is a real workflow for building a simple platformer. **Step 1: Start a new project.** Open Summer Engine and create a new 2D project. You get an empty scene and a chat panel. **Step 2: Describe your player.** "Create a player character. It should be a small blue square that can run left and right with arrow keys and jump with spacebar. Add gravity so it falls." The engine creates a CharacterBody2D node with a sprite, collision shape, and movement script. The character immediately works in the preview. **Step 3: Build a level.** "Add a ground platform that stretches across the bottom of the screen. Add three floating platforms at different heights." Platforms appear in the scene. You can drag them around in the editor if you want to adjust positions, or just tell the AI to move them. **Step 4: Add danger.** "Add spikes on the ground between the second and third platform. If the player touches them, restart the level." The AI places the hazard, creates the collision detection, and handles the restart logic. **Step 5: Add collectibles.** "Put five gold coins floating above the platforms. When the player collects all five, show a 'Level Complete' message." Coins appear, the collection counter works, and the win condition triggers. **Step 6: Polish.** "Add a simple particle effect when coins are collected. Make the background a dark blue gradient. Add a jump sound effect." These are the kind of tweaks that make a game feel real, and describing them is faster than configuring them manually. That entire process takes about 30 minutes for your first game. Your second game will be faster because you will know what to ask for. ## What No-Code Cannot Do (Yet) Honesty matters here. No-code game development has real limits in 2026. **Competitive multiplayer with netcode.** Building an online multiplayer game with server authoritative physics, lag compensation, and matchmaking is still a coding task. Local multiplayer (two players on one keyboard) is totally doable without code. Online multiplayer is not, at least not at production quality. **AAA graphics and custom shaders.** If you want raytraced lighting, custom post-processing effects, or hand-written shader code, you need to write code. No-code tools give you access to built-in visual effects, which are good, but not custom. **Highly optimized performance.** If you are building a game with thousands of entities on screen and need to squeeze out every frame, you will eventually need to optimize at the code level. **Novel game mechanics.** If your game idea requires a truly unique system that no existing tool has anticipated, you may hit the edges of what no-code can describe. Most game mechanics are variations on well-understood patterns, but genuinely new ones sometimes need code. For the vast majority of games that people actually want to make, these limits do not matter. You are probably not building Elden Ring. You are building something fun, creative, and yours. ## When You Might Want to Learn Code This is not a pitch for learning to code. But there is a natural progression that some people discover. You might find yourself wanting to tweak a specific physics value that the AI set. Or you want an enemy to follow a path that is hard to describe in words. Or you are curious about how the jump script actually works. That curiosity is the best reason to learn code. Not because you have to, but because you want to understand what is happening under the hood. Summer Engine is built for this transition. You can create your entire game through conversation, then open any script the AI wrote and read it. You can modify one line and see what changes. You can learn by tinkering with a working game instead of staring at a blank editor wondering where to start. Some people make games for years without writing a line of code. Others pick up scripting within a month. Both paths are valid. ## Start Building The best way to find out if you can make a game without coding is to try it. [Download Summer Engine](/download) and start a conversation with the AI. Describe the simplest version of the game in your head. You will have something playable in under an hour. If you want a head start, check out the [game templates](/templates). Pick one close to your idea, open it, and start modifying it through conversation. "Take this platformer template and make it a space theme with lower gravity" is a perfectly good way to start. You do not need permission to be a game developer. You do not need a computer science degree. You need an idea, some free time, and a tool that does not make you learn syntax before you can see your idea on screen. That tool exists now. Go make something. --- ### 15 Games Like Dark Souls That Will Test Your Limits URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-dark-souls Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Soulslike, Dark Souls, Action RPG The best games like Dark Souls in 2026. Handpicked soulslikes and action RPGs for fans who love punishing combat, interconnected worlds, and the satisfaction of finally beating that boss. Dark Souls did not just raise the bar for difficulty in games. It redefined what difficulty could mean. Before 2011, hard games were often hard because of bad design -- cheap hits, unclear objectives, or controls that fought against you. Dark Souls flipped that script entirely. Every death in Lordran felt earned. Every enemy had readable tells. Every trap, once you understood the logic of the world, made a kind of cruel sense. The game trusted its players to figure things out, and millions of them responded by doing exactly that, over and over, through hundreds of deaths per playthrough. What made Dark Souls stick was never just the difficulty, though. It was the interlocking systems that made difficulty feel purposeful. Stamina management turned every swing into a risk-reward calculation. The souls currency system meant death always cost you something tangible, creating real tension every time you pushed deeper into an unknown area. The interconnected world design -- where an elevator from the depths of Blighttown deposits you back at Firelink Shrine -- rewarded exploration with an almost architectural satisfaction. And the storytelling, told through item descriptions and environmental details rather than cutscenes, created a world that felt ancient and unknowable in a way that exposition-heavy RPGs never manage. The genre that Dark Souls spawned -- now universally called "soulslike" -- has grown enormous. Some of these games replicate the formula closely. Others take specific elements and push them in new directions. The following 15 games each capture something essential about what makes Dark Souls great, organized by what specifically drew you to the Souls series in the first place. ## If You Love the Combat These games nail the thing that keeps you coming back to Dark Souls: weighty, deliberate combat where every input matters and button mashing gets you killed. ### Elden Ring **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S FromSoftware took twelve years of Souls design knowledge and dropped it into an open world, and the result is arguably the studio's masterpiece. Elden Ring keeps the stamina-based combat, the dodge rolling, the punishing bosses, but wraps it all in a world where getting stuck on a boss means riding your horse across a field and finding an entirely new dungeon, questline, or optional boss to tackle instead. The build variety is the deepest in any Souls game by a wide margin. You can dual-wield colossal greatswords, play a pure sorcerer raining comets from across the arena, or build around bleed procs that shred health bars in seconds. The open world does change the pacing. Some players miss the tight interconnected corridors of Dark Souls 1, and the late-game difficulty spike is real -- Malenia alone has probably ended more runs than any Souls boss in history. But the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC proved FromSoftware can still design brutally hard, tightly focused content. Messmer, Promised Consort Radahn, and the Scadutree Fragments system showed the studio is still pushing what the formula can do. If you have played every Dark Souls game and somehow skipped Elden Ring, stop reading this list and go play it. ### Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Sekiro is the most divisive FromSoftware game because it strips out nearly everything RPG players rely on as a crutch. There are no builds. No summons. No leveling past a boss that walls you. Instead, you get a single katana, a prosthetic arm with gadget attachments, and a posture-based deflection system that turns every fight into a rhythmic duel. Deflecting an attack at the exact right moment fills the enemy's posture gauge, and when it breaks, you land a deathblow regardless of their remaining health. When this system clicks -- and it takes hours for most players -- Sekiro's combat becomes the most satisfying melee combat FromSoftware has ever designed. The boss design reflects this focus. Genichiro Ashina is the game's skill check: a three-phase fight that teaches you to stop dodging and start deflecting. Isshin, the Sword Saint, is a four-phase gauntlet that tests everything you have learned across the entire game. There is no way to outlevel these fights or summon help. You either internalize the combat system or you hit a wall. That constraint is exactly what makes Sekiro's highs so high. Beating Isshin after fifty attempts feels like a genuine personal achievement in a way that few games can replicate. ### Nioh 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5 Nioh 2 is what happens when Team Ninja applies their Ninja Gaiden pedigree to the Souls template. The stance system gives every weapon three full movesets -- high stance for damage, mid for balance, low for speed -- and the ki pulse mechanic rewards aggressive play by letting you recover stamina mid-combo with a timed button press. Where Dark Souls combat is methodical and weighty, Nioh 2 is fast, technical, and dense with systems. Yokai Shift forms, Burst Counters, soul cores that grant enemy abilities, switchglaives that change weapon category depending on your stance -- the depth here is staggering. The endgame is where Nioh 2 truly separates itself. Dream of the Nioh difficulty and the Depths of the Underworld offer hundreds of hours of gear optimization, set bonus theorycrafting, and increasingly brutal enemy configurations. If you thought Dark Souls was too slow or too simple in its build options, Nioh 2 operates at a completely different speed and complexity level. The co-op is also excellent, with random Torii Gate matchmaking that pairs you with other players seamlessly. ### Lies of P **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S A soulslike set in a Belle Epoque city overrun by killer puppets, loosely based on Pinocchio. The premise sounds absurd, but the execution is remarkably confident. Neowiz Games clearly studied FromSoftware's design philosophy closely: the level design loops back on itself in satisfying ways, the boss fights escalate in complexity and spectacle, and the atmosphere -- gas-lit streets, crumbling opera houses, plague-ravaged districts -- is genuinely haunting. The weapon assembly system is the standout mechanic. Every weapon can be split into a blade and a handle, and mixing components from different weapons creates combinations that change your moveset, scaling, and Fable Art entirely. The guard regain system, where blocking an attack lets you recover lost health by immediately counterattacking, encourages a more aggressive playstyle than Dark Souls' passive shield tanking. Perfect guards function like Sekiro's deflections, staggering enemies and opening them to Fatal Attacks. The game leans hard into this aggressive loop, and on higher difficulties, mastering perfect guards is essentially mandatory. Lies of P is the strongest non-FromSoftware soulslike released so far, and the upcoming DLC and sequel suggest the studio is only getting better. ## If You Want the Atmosphere Dark Souls' world felt oppressive, melancholic, and deeply strange. These games capture that same sense of exploring a dying world full of things that want to kill you. ### Hollow Knight **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Mac, Linux Hollow Knight translates the Souls philosophy into 2D with a precision that borders on uncanny. You descend into Hallownest, a vast underground kingdom of insects, with no map until you find the cartographer hidden somewhere in each new zone. You lose your currency (Geo) on death and must return to your corpse's location to reclaim it -- fail, and it is gone permanently. Bosses will kill you dozens of times before you learn their patterns. The Mantis Lords, the Watcher Knights, the Radiance -- each fight is a masterclass in 2D boss design with clear tells, tight windows, and escalating phases. What elevates Hollow Knight beyond a 2D Souls clone is the sheer scale and quality of its world. Hallownest contains over a dozen distinct biomes, each with its own visual identity, music, enemy types, and lore. The Charm system serves as your build variety, letting you customize your loadout with passive abilities that fundamentally change how you play. And the Pantheon of Hallownest endgame content -- a boss rush gauntlet culminating in the Absolute Radiance -- is among the hardest challenges in any game ever made. All of this from a three-person studio on a modest Kickstarter budget. ### Blasphemous **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Dark Souls meets Spanish Catholic horror rendered in some of the most striking pixel art in the medium. The world of Cvstodia is drenched in religious imagery -- flagellants, weeping madonnas, grotesque miracles -- and the atmosphere is genuinely unsettling in a way that few games attempt. Combat is slower and more deliberate than most 2D action games, built around parries, dodge timing, and brutal execution animations called Prayers. The interconnected world is full of hidden paths, cryptic NPC questlines, and lore that only begins to make sense on a second playthrough. Blasphemous 2 improves the gameplay significantly with multiple weapon types and tighter controls, but the original has an atmosphere that remains unmatched. The Penitent One's journey through a world twisted by a curse called the Miracle captures the same sense of tragic inevitability that permeates Lordran. If you gravitated toward Dark Souls for its gothic aesthetics and oppressive mood more than its specific combat mechanics, Blasphemous is essential. ### Lords of the Fallen (2023) **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S The 2023 reboot from Hexworks nails one big idea: a dual-world system where you can shift between the living realm and a dark parallel dimension called the Umbral at any time. In the living world, you fight standard enemies and explore gothic cathedrals. Raise your Umbral lamp, and the architecture warps -- new paths appear where walls once stood, spectral enemies crawl from the ground, and the longer you remain in the Umbral realm, the more aggressive and numerous the enemies become. This constant tension between worlds gives exploration a unique rhythm that no other soulslike has replicated. The world design hews closer to Dark Souls 1's interconnected approach than most modern soulslikes dare to attempt. Shortcuts loop back to vestiges (bonfires), areas connect in unexpected ways, and the dual-world mechanic means each zone effectively has two versions to explore. The game launched in a rough state with performance issues and balance problems, but extensive post-launch patches have addressed the worst of it. If you value atmosphere and exploration in your soulslikes above all else, Lords of the Fallen delivers something genuinely different. ### Mortal Shell **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S A short, focused soulslike built around one brilliant mechanic: hardening. At any point -- mid-attack, mid-dodge, mid-heal -- you can freeze your character into stone, absorbing one hit completely before continuing your action. This single mechanic transforms every encounter. You can harden mid-swing, tank a hit that would have interrupted you, and let your attack land anyway. It creates a deliberate, almost chess-like rhythm where every action involves calculating whether to commit fully or harden at the last moment. The shell system replaces traditional leveling. You find and inhabit different humanoid bodies scattered throughout the world, each with different health pools, stamina, and special abilities. One shell is a tanky warrior, another a fragile but powerful damage dealer, another rewards perfect play with resolve generation for powerful ripper attacks. The game is only about 15 hours long, and that restraint works entirely in its favor. Mortal Shell does not overstay its welcome or pad itself with filler. It has one great idea, executes it well, and ends before it gets stale. ## If You Love Build Variety and Progression Part of Dark Souls' magic was choosing a class, finding new weapons, and watching a build come together over dozens of hours. These games scratch that same itch. ### Remnant 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Dark Souls with guns, done right. Remnant 2 is a third-person co-op shooter built on soulslike bones: checkpoint crystals that respawn enemies, boss fog walls, punishing encounters that require pattern recognition, and deep build-focused progression. The archetype system gives each class a distinct identity -- the Handler fights alongside a dog companion, the Gunslinger chains instant reloads and fire-rate buffs, the Summoner commands minions -- and dual-classing opens up serious theorycrafting. A Medic/Summoner plays nothing like an Archon/Ritualist, and discovering synergies between archetypes is genuinely rewarding. The procedural generation is the other standout feature. Every player's world is assembled from different tileset combinations, boss encounters, and event triggers, meaning your playthrough will contain areas and bosses your friends never saw in theirs. This keeps co-op interesting well past the first run, since joining a friend's game often means encountering entirely new content. The DLCs have added substantial new worlds and archetypes. If you want the tension and build depth of Dark Souls but prefer ranged combat and co-op, Remnant 2 is the best option available. ### Salt and Sanctuary **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS Vita, Switch, Xbox One Salt and Sanctuary proved the Souls formula works in 2D before Hollow Knight made it mainstream. It has a full class system, equipment load thresholds that affect dodge speed, scaling weapon upgrades, and a massive interconnected world that loops back on itself the way Lordran does. The skill tree is enormous -- a sprawling web of nodes that lets you spec into greatswords, magic, whips, prayers, or any combination thereof. The hand-drawn art style is deliberately rough and scratchy, which is divisive, but the level design and build variety underneath are genuinely excellent. The sequel, Salt and Sacrifice, shifted to a Monster Hunter-inspired structure with mage hunts, and opinions are split on whether it improved on the original. But Salt and Sanctuary remains one of the purest 2D translations of Dark Souls' RPG systems. Local co-op support makes it even better. If you want a game where you agonize over stat allocation, swap between weapons depending on the boss, and carefully manage your equipment load, this delivers that experience in a surprisingly complete package. ### Dead Cells **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android Dead Cells is a roguelite, not a soulslike, but the combat DNA is undeniable. Attacks are committal with real recovery frames. Dodge timing matters against every enemy type. Bosses will annihilate you if you mash buttons instead of learning their patterns. The critical difference is that death resets your run entirely -- no corpse runs, no soul retrieval. What carries over between runs is meta-progression: unlocked weapons, mutations, and routes through the island. Each run takes 30 to 60 minutes, making it ideal when you want Souls-style tension without the multi-hour commitment. The build variety within each run is enormous. Every weapon has a distinct moveset, and synergies between items create wildly different playstyles. A run built around fire synergy with an oil sword and fire grenades plays nothing like a run built around ice with frost blast and a war javelin. The Boss Cell system -- Dead Cells' equivalent of New Game Plus -- adds increasingly punishing modifiers across five difficulty tiers, with the final tier demanding near-flawless play. Motion Twin has supported the game with years of free updates and paid DLCs, and the total weapon and biome count in 2026 is massive. ### Star Wars Jedi: Survivor **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Jedi Survivor takes the Sekiro-inspired parry combat from Fallen Order and expands it significantly with five lightsaber stances, each with a distinct moveset, rhythm, and tactical niche. Single blade is your balanced all-rounder. Double-bladed excels at crowd control. Dual wield is fast and aggressive. Crossguard -- essentially an ultra greatsword in lightsaber form -- is slow but devastating, with hyperarmor on heavy swings that lets you trade hits with bosses. Blaster stance pairs a saber with a pistol for ranged harassment between melee combos. The progression system lets you unlock and upgrade abilities within each stance, and you can equip two stances at any time, swapping between them mid-combat. Grandmaster difficulty is genuinely punishing, requiring precise parry timing and stance-switching to handle different enemy types efficiently. The exploration side leans metroidvania, with Force abilities gating access to areas you can revisit later for secrets and upgrades. Respawn Entertainment understood that the Souls formula and Star Wars are a natural fit -- lightsaber combat was always supposed to feel lethal and precise, and the soulslike framework delivers that fantasy perfectly. ## If You Want Something Different These games take core Souls ideas and push them into unexpected territory. They prove the formula has legs beyond medieval fantasy. ### Hyper Light Drifter **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, iOS Hyper Light Drifter never uses a single word of dialogue or text. The story is told entirely through pixel art visuals, environmental storytelling, and cryptic NPC animations. You play a drifter exploring the ruins of a fallen civilization, fighting through four distinct regions in whatever order you choose. The combat is fast and precise -- a dash-heavy system built around chain dashing between enemies, landing two or three sword strikes, then dashing away before the counterattack lands. Health is extremely limited, healing is slow and leaves you vulnerable, and enemies hit hard from the first zone onward. The world design shares Dark Souls' philosophy of showing rather than telling. Massive titan corpses litter the landscape. Ruined cities suggest a catastrophe that no one explains. NPCs communicate through picture sequences that hint at events without spelling them out. The result is a game that feels lonely, melancholic, and beautiful in the same way that Ash Lake or Majula do in the Souls games. It is only about eight hours long, but those eight hours are dense with secrets, hidden rooms, and optional challenges that reward thorough exploration. ### Tunic **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Tunic looks like an adorable isometric Zelda clone, and that disguise is entirely intentional. Underneath the cute fox protagonist and colorful world lies a game built on the same design principles as Dark Souls: obscured mechanics, hidden paths everywhere, enemies that will kill you fast if you get greedy, and a world full of secrets that the game never explicitly tells you exist. The central conceit is that you find pages of the game's own instruction manual scattered throughout the world, and these pages -- written in a fictional language with hand-drawn diagrams -- gradually reveal mechanics, hidden areas, and an entire secret layer to the game that most players do not discover until late in a playthrough. The combat is straightforward -- dodge roll, shield, sword, magic -- but the tuning is Souls-tight. Healing is limited, stamina management matters, and bosses have multi-phase patterns that require memorization and precise timing. The real magic is the puzzle layer that exists on top of the action game. Tunic is full of secrets that require you to think about the game itself as a puzzle, examining manual pages for coded messages and environmental clues. It captures the feeling of playing Dark Souls in 2011, when nobody knew the rules and every discovery felt monumental. ### Ashen **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Ashen takes the soulslike formula and centers it around community building. You start in an empty world and gradually attract NPCs to your settlement, each one unlocking new crafting options, quests, and upgrades. The passive multiplayer system is the standout feature: instead of summoning players through signs, Ashen seamlessly drops other players into your world as your AI companion, replacing the NPC without announcement. You might fight alongside what you think is an AI partner for an hour before realizing it was another player the entire time. The combat is deliberately simpler than Dark Souls -- there are no shields, and the weapon variety is more limited -- but the encounter design compensates with environmental hazards, ambushes, and boss fights that are clearly designed around having a partner. The art style is striking, with faceless characters and a muted color palette that gives the world a handcrafted, almost storybook quality. Ashen is shorter and more focused than most soulslikes, clocking in around 15 to 20 hours, and it is one of the few games in the genre that genuinely feels designed for cooperative play rather than bolting co-op onto a single-player experience. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What makes a game a "soulslike"? The term has become broad, but the core pillars are: stamina-based or committal melee combat where button inputs have real weight and recovery frames; a risk-reward death mechanic where you drop currency or progress and must retrieve it; challenging enemies and bosses designed around pattern recognition and precise timing; and interconnected or shortcut-rich world design that rewards exploration. Not every game on this list hits all four pillars, but each one captures at least two of them in a meaningful way. ### Is Elden Ring a good starting point for the Souls genre? Yes, and it is probably the best one in 2026. The open world structure means you are never truly stuck -- if a boss walls you, you can ride away and explore dozens of other areas, gaining levels, weapons, and upgrades before returning. Spirit ash summons provide a difficulty release valve that purist Souls games lack. And the sheer volume of content means you can play for over a hundred hours before touching the DLC. That said, if you specifically want the tight, corridor-based design of Dark Souls 1, Lies of P is a closer match. ### Are there any soulslike games on mobile? Dead Cells is available on iOS and Android with excellent touch controls and controller support. Hyper Light Drifter has a strong iOS port as well. Beyond those two, the mobile soulslike space is thin on quality options. Pascals Wager is a dedicated mobile soulslike that is decent but not on the level of the console entries on this list. ### Which game on this list is the hardest? Sekiro on a first playthrough is probably the highest raw difficulty floor because you cannot outlevel or outgear the challenges. However, the Pantheon of Hallownest in Hollow Knight and Boss Cell 5 in Dead Cells both represent endgame difficulty spikes that rival anything in the genre. Nioh 2's Depths of the Underworld at Dream of the Nioh difficulty is also in the conversation. "Hardest" depends on your personal strengths -- Sekiro is hardest if you struggle with deflection timing, Hollow Knight is hardest if 2D platforming bosses give you trouble. ### Will Hollow Knight: Silksong ever come out? As of early 2026, Silksong remains one of the most anticipated games in the indie space. Team Cherry has been notably quiet since its initial reveal, and no firm release date has been confirmed. The original Hollow Knight set an extraordinarily high bar, so the wait -- while painful -- at least suggests the studio is not rushing to meet it. When it does release, expect it to land near the top of any updated version of this list. ## Build Your Own Soulslike Playing fifteen soulslikes might scratch the itch, but nothing compares to building the one that exists in your head. If you have ever sketched out a boss fight on paper, theorycrafted a stamina system, or imagined an interconnected world that loops back on itself in surprising ways, you already have the seed of a game. Summer Engine has a [soulslike template](/templates) that gives you a working foundation out of the box: stamina-based combat, lock-on targeting, dodge rolling with invincibility frames, bonfire-style checkpoints, and a souls currency system with drop-on-death and retrieval. You describe the game you want in plain language -- the setting, the combat feel, the boss behavior -- and the engine builds it. No boilerplate, no weeks spent wiring up basic systems before you can start designing the parts that actually make your game unique. The template is a starting point, not a ceiling. Swap the medieval fantasy assets for sci-fi. Replace the melee combat with the gun-and-dodge loop from Remnant 2. Add a dual-world mechanic like Lords of the Fallen. The point is to skip the months of foundational work and get straight to the design decisions that make your soulslike yours. Check out the [template library](/templates) to see what is available and start building. --- ### 15 Games Like Hollow Knight That Deserve Your Attention in 2026 URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-hollow-knight Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Metroidvania, Hollow Knight, Indie Games The best games like Hollow Knight in 2026. Handpicked metroidvanias and action-platformers for fans who love tight combat, interconnected worlds, and the thrill of getting lost underground. Hollow Knight is one of those rare games that earns its reputation through sheer craft rather than marketing spend. Team Cherry built a world that feels genuinely alive -- not because of scripted events or cinematic set pieces, but because every tunnel, every bench, every forgotten corner of Hallownest tells you something about a civilization that collapsed long before you arrived. The Forgotten Crossroads teaches you the rules. Greenpath teaches you to look up. City of Tears teaches you to listen. And by the time you reach the Abyss, the game has trained you to read its world like a language. What makes Hollow Knight endure is the intersection of its systems. The combat is tight, with every nail swing carrying weight and every charm loadout creating a genuinely different playstyle. Quick Slash and Unbreakable Strength turn you into an aggressive brawler. Mark of Pride and Steady Body turn you into a patient poker. Shape of Unn and spore builds turn you into something completely different. And underneath all of that sits the exploration -- a sprawling, hand-drawn map that loops back on itself in ways that reward curiosity over completionism. You don't check off rooms. You discover connections. If you have finished Hollow Knight and feel the specific ache of a game that gave you 60 hours and left you wanting more, the list below is for you. These 15 games each capture something that made Hollow Knight special, whether that is the exploration, the combat, or the atmosphere. I have grouped them by what they do best so you can find exactly what you are craving. --- ## If You Love the Exploration These games prioritize the feeling of getting lost in an interconnected world, finding shortcuts that loop you back to familiar ground, and earning every inch of the map through observation rather than objective markers. ### Hollow Knight: Silksong **Platforms:** PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S The sequel plays Hornet, and the shift from the Knight's grounded, nail-focused combat to Hornet's silk-based movement changes everything. She is faster, more vertical, and her tools lean into momentum in a way the original never did. The world of Pharloom is built around this speed -- areas are taller, traversal puzzles are more aggressive, and the map branches in surprising directions. Team Cherry kept the same philosophy of trusting the player to find their own path, but the vocabulary is different enough that you are genuinely learning a new game rather than replaying the old one. It shipped September 2025, and a free expansion is already in the works. The boss design deserves specific mention. Silksong's fights ask you to stay airborne more than grounded, and the healing system has been reworked around crafted tools rather than focusing soul. If you have muscle memory from Hollow Knight, Silksong will force you to unlearn some of it, and that is the best possible compliment for a sequel. ### Axiom Verge 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Switch Axiom Verge 2 pulls a fascinating trick: it shares a universe with the first game but plays almost nothing like it. The original was a Metroid-style shooter. This one strips out most of the gunplay and builds its exploration around a dimension-shifting mechanic -- you can hack into a parallel world called the Breach that sits on top of the main map like a transparency sheet. The two layers interact in ways that make exploration genuinely cerebral. A wall that blocks you in the real world might have a gap in the Breach. A pathway in the Breach might deposit you on the other side of a locked door. If exploration was your favorite part of Hollow Knight, this is the game that comes closest to replicating the feeling of staring at the map and thinking "I bet I can get there from here." Combat takes a back seat, which will disappoint some players, but the world design is dense and rewards patient players who like to poke at boundaries. ### Rain World **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Switch Rain World is the most hostile game on this list, and that hostility is exactly why it belongs here. You play as a slugcat, a small creature near the bottom of the food chain in a procedurally animated ecosystem. There are no power-ups. No waypoints. No quest log. The world runs on its own schedule -- rain cycles force you to find shelter, predators patrol routes based on AI behavior rather than scripted patterns, and your position in the food chain never really changes. You learn to survive by reading the environment the way you read Hallownest: through failure, observation, and pattern recognition. The movement has a steep learning curve. Slugcat physics are intentionally sloppy -- you slide, you fumble, you misjudge jumps. But once you internalize the weight and momentum, traversal becomes deeply satisfying. The Downpour DLC adds campaigns with different slugcats that each change how you interact with the ecosystem. Rivulet is fast but fragile. Artificer can explode things. Saint cannot kill at all. Each recontextualizes the entire world. ### Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch You play as Lily, a small, fragile girl in the ruined kingdom of Land's End. Every boss you defeat becomes a spirit that fights alongside you, and these spirits double as your traversal tools and combat abilities. This is the core loop: explore, find a boss gate, overcome the fight, inherit their power, use it to open up new parts of the map. The progression is clean and satisfying in the way Hollow Knight's ability gates are -- you constantly pass ledges and barriers that you know you will come back to later. The atmosphere is melancholic in a way that feels genuinely close to Hollow Knight. The art uses muted watercolors, the soundtrack is piano-driven and restrained, and the lore is delivered through item descriptions and environmental storytelling. Combat is fast and rewards aggression, with dodge timing being more important than spacing. One of the best metroidvanias released in the last five years, and a strong recommendation for anyone who liked the sad beauty of City of Tears. --- ## If You Want Harder Combat These games take Hollow Knight's combat philosophy -- tight, pattern-based, punishing but fair -- and push it further. Expect to die, learn, and adapt. ### Blasphemous 2 **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch The first Blasphemous was stiff. It had incredible pixel art and a fascinatingly grotesque world built on Spanish Catholic iconography, but the combat punished aggression and the movement felt heavy in ways that were not always intentional. Blasphemous 2 fixes nearly everything. You now choose between three starting weapons -- a sword, a flail, and a set of prayer beads -- and each weapon unlocks different traversal abilities, meaning exploration is gated by your build choices rather than a single linear set of upgrades. The boss design is dramatically improved. Fights are faster, more readable, and built around learning phases rather than memorizing long attack chains. The world is more interconnected, with shortcuts and loops that feel purposeful rather than arbitrary. If you bounced off the first game, Blasphemous 2 is worth a second look. If you loved the first game, this is everything you wanted it to be. ### Salt and Sanctuary **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS Vita, Switch, Xbox One Salt and Sanctuary is the game that proved Souls-like combat works in two dimensions. It has a full class system with over 40 weapon types, equipment load that changes your dodge, stamina management, and a massive interconnected world that loops back on itself the way Lordran does in Dark Souls. The skill tree is sprawling -- you can build a greatsword-wielding tank, a pyromancer, a whip-based dexterity build, or a cleric who heals through prayer. The build variety is genuinely excellent and gives the game far more replay value than most metroidvanias. The art style is hand-drawn and intentionally rough. It is divisive -- some people find it charming, others find it ugly. But the level design underneath is smart, with elevators and shortcuts that make the world feel like a puzzle box. Bring a friend for local co-op, which adds a layer of chaos to the exploration. The sequel, Salt and Sacrifice, shifted to a Monster Hunter-style hunt structure and lost some of the original's magic, so start here. ### Death's Gambit: Afterlife **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Death's Gambit launched in a rough state and was effectively rebuilt with the Afterlife update, which added ten new levels, over 30 weapons, a talent tree system, and reworked the combat from the ground up. The result is a 2D action RPG that feels genuinely distinct. Each of the seven classes plays differently -- the Sentinel is a shield-based tank, the Blood Knight heals by dealing damage, the Acolyte of Death uses scythes and dark magic. The combat is weighty and deliberate, closer to Dark Souls than Hollow Knight in its pacing. The story surprised me. It deals with immortality and the psychological toll of not being able to die, which is a clever meta-commentary on the death-and-respawn loop that Souls-likes are built on. The boss fights are the highlight -- they are large, cinematic, and designed around specific class strengths. The map is more linear than Hollow Knight, but the branching paths and hidden areas give it enough exploration to satisfy. ### Crowsworn **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Mac, Linux (coming 2026) Crowsworn has been called "Hollow Knight meets Bloodborne," and for once, the comparison is earned. The combat is built around a rally mechanic -- you recover health by attacking immediately after taking damage, which creates a risk-reward loop that rewards aggression over caution. The nail-style attacks feel responsive, the dash has generous i-frames, and the boss encounters are designed around reading tells and punishing recovery windows. The art style takes direct inspiration from Hollow Knight while pushing toward a darker, more gothic tone. The environments are detailed and moody, with a hand-drawn quality that sits somewhere between Hollow Knight's clean lines and Blasphemous's grotesque detail. It is not out yet as of this writing, but it is confirmed for 2026 and the gameplay footage suggests it will be one of the year's strongest metroidvanias. This is the game most Hollow Knight fans are watching. ### Vigil: The Longest Night **Platforms:** PC, Switch Vigil flew under most radars, which is a shame, because it does something few metroidvanias attempt: it gives you access to four weapon types from the start, each with its own skill tree, and encourages switching between them mid-fight. Swords are fast and safe. Halberds have range. Twin daggers reward perfect timing. Bows let you play keepaway. The combat system has genuine depth, and the game does not gatekeep any of it behind progression. The world draws on Lovecraftian imagery -- not the tentacle-monster kind, but the creeping-dread kind. Areas shift between eerie villages, flooded cathedrals, and nightmare dimensions. The atmosphere is surreal and unsettling in a way that distinguishes it from the typical metroidvania palette. The exploration is solid if not remarkable, but the build variety and combat depth make it worth playing through at least twice with different weapon focuses. --- ## If You Love the Atmosphere These games prioritize mood, tone, and the feeling of being somewhere that matters. They build worlds you want to sit in, not just traverse. ### Ori and the Will of the Wisps **Platforms:** PC, Xbox One, Switch The first Ori was a beautiful platformer with mediocre combat. Will of the Wisps is a beautiful platformer with genuinely excellent combat. Moon Studios added a proper weapon system -- you equip spirit shards and spirit weapons that change how you fight, and there is real build variety in choosing between the Spirit Edge (melee sword), Spirit Star (ranged shuriken), and Spike (ground pound). Boss fights rival Hollow Knight's best, with multi-phase encounters that test both your combat and platforming skills. But the atmosphere is what earns Ori its spot in this section. The art direction is some of the best in any 2D game ever made. Every frame looks like a painting, and the animation is fluid in a way that makes movement feel like choreography. The soundtrack by Gareth Coker is devastating -- the kind of music that makes you stop moving just to listen. The story hits hard, especially in the final act. If Hollow Knight's melancholy appealed to you, Ori channels a similar emotional register through a completely different aesthetic language. ### Ori and the Blind Forest **Platforms:** PC, Xbox One, Switch The original Ori is worth playing even after Will of the Wisps, because its platforming is purer. The bash mechanic -- where you grab a projectile or enemy, aim a direction, and launch yourself while sending the grabbed object the other way -- is one of the best single mechanics in any platformer. It transforms combat encounters into platforming puzzles and traversal challenges into combat puzzles. The escape sequences, where you flee rising water or collapsing environments using every skill you have learned, are among the most exhilarating moments in the genre. It is shorter and more linear than Hollow Knight, running about eight to ten hours. But the level design is tight enough that every room feels intentional. The save system (you manually create soul links that cost energy) adds tension that modern checkpointing removes. And the emotional arc, from the devastating opening to the bittersweet ending, gives it a narrative weight that most metroidvanias do not attempt. ### Blasphemous **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch If Hollow Knight is melancholy, Blasphemous is anguish. The entire game is built on the aesthetic of Spanish Catholic penitence -- flagellation, martyrdom, relics of saints, and suffering as a path to grace. The pixel art is grotesque and gorgeous in equal measure. Bosses are towering, twisted religious figures. Environments drip with blood and gold. The visual identity is so strong that you could recognize a Blasphemous screenshot from across the room. The gameplay is slower and more deliberate than Hollow Knight. Your character, the Penitent One, swings a massive sword called the Mea Culpa, and combat is built around parries, executions, and careful positioning rather than dashing. The world design is cryptic -- items have lore descriptions that do not make sense until your second playthrough, NPCs speak in riddles, and the true ending requires finding hidden connections between seemingly unrelated quests. If you liked piecing together Hallownest's history from item descriptions and environmental details, Blasphemous offers the same kind of archaeological storytelling. ### Grime **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Grime builds its entire identity around one mechanic: absorption. You can parry enemies by absorbing them into your body at the moment of impact, and doing so fills a resource meter that fuels your special abilities. Kill enough of a specific enemy type and you unlock their trait permanently. The world is built from living rock and organic matter, with an art direction that looks like someone sculpted the entire game out of clay and bone. It is deeply weird in the best way. The Souls-like structure is strong -- you rest at surrogates (bonfires), lose currency on death, and fight bosses that require pattern memorization and stamina management. But the absorption mechanic gives it a unique identity. Choosing whether to dodge or absorb creates a constant risk-reward calculation that keeps combat engaging throughout. The world interconnects well, with shortcuts and loops that reward thorough exploration. It does not get mentioned alongside the genre's best often enough. ### Sundered **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Switch Sundered takes a procedurally generated approach to the metroidvania structure, which sounds like it should not work, but it mostly does. Each region has a fixed layout of key rooms and boss arenas, but the connecting corridors shuffle between runs. The art is hand-drawn and fluid, with a Lovecraftian aesthetic that prioritizes scale -- bosses fill the screen, and environments stretch into the distance in ways that feel genuinely vast. The skill tree offers a meaningful choice: you can resist or embrace the eldritch corruption that permeates the world, and your decision changes your abilities, your ending, and even the visual design of your character. Combat is horde-based rather than one-on-one, with enemies spawning in waves that force crowd control and mobility rather than precise dueling. It is a different rhythm than Hollow Knight, but the atmosphere of exploring a collapsing, alien world hits a similar nerve. ### Minishoot' Adventures **Platforms:** PC This one breaks the mold. Minishoot' Adventures is a top-down twin-stick shooter wrapped in a metroidvania structure, and it works far better than that description suggests. You pilot a small ship through an interconnected overworld, unlocking abilities that open new areas, fighting bosses that gate progression, and discovering secrets hidden behind destructible walls and environmental puzzles. The exploration loop is pure metroidvania -- the combat just happens to be a shooter instead of a platformer. The world design is surprisingly dense for a game of its size. Areas are visually distinct, shortcuts loop back meaningfully, and the map is filled with optional challenges and hidden upgrades. The difficulty curve is well-tuned, with bosses that escalate in complexity without becoming unfair. It runs about eight to twelve hours, which is a sweet spot for this kind of game. If you want something that captures Hollow Knight's exploration philosophy in a completely different genre wrapper, Minishoot' is an unexpected gem. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Is Hollow Knight: Silksong a direct sequel? Yes, but it stands on its own. Silksong takes place in a different kingdom (Pharloom) with a different playable character (Hornet). There are narrative connections to the original -- Hornet's backstory carries forward, and some lore threads tie the two worlds together -- but you do not need to have finished Hollow Knight to understand or enjoy Silksong. The gameplay is different enough that it feels like its own game rather than an expansion. ### What is the closest game to Hollow Knight in terms of feel? Ender Lilies is probably the closest in atmosphere -- melancholic, quiet, beautiful in a sad way. For combat feel, Crowsworn is deliberately building on Hollow Knight's foundation with faster, more aggressive mechanics. For exploration specifically, Axiom Verge 2's dual-world system scratches the same itch of looking at the map and figuring out how to reach a room you can see but cannot access. ### Are any of these games harder than Hollow Knight? Rain World is significantly harder in a different way -- it is not about boss patterns but about surviving in a world that actively hunts you. Salt and Sanctuary's Souls-like difficulty is comparable to Hollow Knight's harder content (Pantheon of Hallownest, Nightmare King Grimm). Blasphemous is roughly similar in difficulty, while both Ori games are easier on the combat side but have challenging platforming sequences. ### Which game on this list has the best boss fights? Blasphemous 2 and Death's Gambit: Afterlife have the strongest overall boss rosters. Blasphemous 2 excels at multi-phase fights with readable but demanding patterns. Death's Gambit goes for scale and spectacle. Silksong's bosses are excellent but designed around Hornet's faster moveset, so they feel different from Hollow Knight's bosses rather than directly comparable. ### Should I play the Ori games in order? Yes. The story of the first game provides emotional context for the second, and the mechanical improvements in Will of the Wisps feel more meaningful if you have experienced what Blind Forest did (and did not) do. Blind Forest is also a shorter, tighter experience that works well as an entry point. That said, Will of the Wisps is the better game, so if you only have time for one, play that. --- ## Build Your Own Metroidvania Playing through this list might give you ideas. Maybe you want interconnected rooms that loop back on themselves the way Hallownest does. Maybe you want ability-gated progression where finding a dash opens up three new areas. Maybe you want boss fights that test pattern recognition and punish greed. Whatever it is, the impulse to build your own version of the thing you love is worth acting on. Summer Engine has a [metroidvania template](/templates/adventure/metroidvania/metroidvania) that gives you a working foundation: interconnected rooms, ability-gated progression, a combat system, and a map that tracks where you have been. You describe what you want in plain language and the engine builds it. Change the art direction, add new enemy types, design a boss with specific attack patterns -- you are working with a real game engine, not a toy. It is the fastest way to go from "I have an idea for a metroidvania" to something you can actually play and share. --- ### 15 Games Like Minecraft for Building, Surviving, and Exploring URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-minecraft Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like Minecraft, Sandbox Games, Survival Games, Building Games The best games like Minecraft in 2026. From Terraria to Valheim to Subnautica, these are the sandbox survival games worth playing next. Minecraft works because it trusts the player. No mission marker telling you where to go. No cutscene explaining why you should care. You spawn in a procedurally generated world with nothing, and within minutes you understand the deal: punch trees, make tools, build shelter before dark. That loop -- gather, craft, build, explore -- sounds almost too simple to hold anyone's attention for long. And yet hundreds of millions of people have sunk thousands of hours into it. The reason is layered depth beneath apparent simplicity. Redstone circuits let engineers build functioning computers inside the game. The building system is flexible enough that people have recreated entire cities block by block. The survival mechanics create genuine tension on your first few nights, and the progression from dirt hut to nether fortress feels earned every time. Minecraft is not one game. It is a creative tool, a survival challenge, and a canvas for whatever you want it to be. That is also why finding something "like Minecraft" is tricky. No single game replicates the whole package. But plenty of games take one of its core pillars and push it further. This list covers fifteen of them, grouped by the itch they scratch. If you know which part of Minecraft you love most, skip to that section. --- ## Building and Creativity These games put construction and creative expression front and center. Combat and survival take a back seat (or disappear entirely) so you can focus on making something impressive. ### 1. Satisfactory **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation 5 Satisfactory is what happens when you take the redstone-obsessed corner of the Minecraft community and build an entire game around their specific brand of madness. You land on an alien planet as an engineer for FICSIT Incorporated, and your job is to automate production chains until every square meter of wilderness is covered in conveyor belts, splitters, and smelters. The building is first-person and freeform. You snap foundations together, stack factories vertically, route belts through walls, and connect everything to a power grid you also have to design. The satisfaction (the name knows what it is doing) comes from watching early-game spaghetti belts evolve into a clean, optimized megafactory. There is always one more bottleneck to fix. Where Minecraft's building is block-by-block and improvisational, Satisfactory rewards planning and systems thinking. You are not placing individual blocks so much as designing industrial infrastructure. If you have ever spent an evening building a sorting system in Minecraft and thought "I wish the whole game was this," Satisfactory is your answer. ### 2. Dragon Quest Builders 2 **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch Dragon Quest Builders 2 solves the existential crisis that hits every sandbox player eventually: "Why am I building this?" In pure sandbox games, you build for yourself. Here, you build for a world that reacts. Construct a kitchen and your villagers start cooking. Build bedrooms and they sleep in them. Plant farms and they harvest crops. The feedback loop between creation and consequence makes every building project feel meaningful. The JRPG structure gives you direction without strangling your creativity. Each island presents a scenario -- a farming community that needs rebuilding, a mining town under threat -- and you solve it through construction. But the game never tells you exactly what to build or where. The blueprints are suggestions, not mandates. Once you unlock the Isle of Awakening, all restrictions come off and you have a massive sandbox to fill however you want. The block-based building will feel immediately familiar to Minecraft players, but the combat, story, and NPC systems add layers that Minecraft intentionally leaves out. Sometimes you want a reason to build beyond "because I can." ### 3. Lego Worlds **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch An open-world sandbox where everything is Lego bricks. You explore procedurally generated biomes, discover new brick types and prefab structures, and build whatever you can imagine using the same interlocking system you played with as a kid. The Discovery Tool lets you scan any object in the world -- a castle, a dragon, a pirate ship -- and add it to your permanent collection for instant placement later. The terrain tools diverge from Minecraft significantly. Instead of placing blocks one at a time, you paint landscapes, raise mountains, and carve valleys with broad strokes. Large-scale construction is faster but less precise than Minecraft's grid. Lego Worlds lacks the survival pressure and progression depth of Minecraft, and performance can struggle when builds get massive. But as a pure creative sandbox, especially for younger players or families, it hits a sweet spot that nothing else reaches. The Lego license is not just a skin -- the snap-together building genuinely feels different from placing cubes. ### 4. Astroneer **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch The most relaxed game on this list by a significant margin. Astroneer drops you on a colorful alien planet with a terrain-deforming tool that feels like sculpting clay. You gather resources, research technology, build bases, and eventually launch to other planets in your solar system. There is no combat. Nothing is trying to kill you except your own poor oxygen management. The terrain tool is the standout mechanic. You can literally reshape the planet: tunnel through mountains, flatten plains for your base, dig straight down to the planet's core. It gives construction a sculptural quality that grid-based building cannot match. Bases snap together from modular components -- platforms, research stations, smelters -- connected by cables and powered by solar panels, wind turbines, or generators. Progression is exploration-driven. Each planet has unique resources needed for higher-tier technology. Getting to a new planet requires building a shuttle and a solid oxygen supply, which requires resources from your current planet, which requires exploration and base expansion. The loop is gentle but persistent. Astroneer is Minecraft with the volume turned down -- same core verbs, much lower stakes, equally engaging. --- ## Survival and Challenge If you love Minecraft for the tension of your first night, the resource scarcity, and the satisfaction of overcoming a hostile world, these games turn that dial up considerably. ### 5. Valheim **Platforms:** PC, Xbox Viking survival that nails the fantasy of taming a hostile wilderness with nothing but your hands and whatever you can scavenge. You wake up in a procedurally generated purgatory and must defeat five forsaken bosses to prove your worth to Odin. The progression is biome-gated: each new area introduces tougher enemies, new resources, and harsher environmental hazards. The building system is physics-based and surprisingly deep. Structures need proper support or they collapse. Wood rots in rain unless you build a roof. Smoke from your fire needs ventilation or it will suffocate you indoors. These constraints force thoughtful architecture instead of gravity-defying block towers. The result is that player-built bases in Valheim tend to look genuinely impressive because the physics demand structural integrity. The co-op is where Valheim truly excels. Sailing across the ocean to a new continent, building a forward base, gearing up, and taking down a boss as a group is one of the best cooperative experiences in any survival game. The art style is intentionally low-resolution and it looks stunning anyway. ### 6. The Forest **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation You survive a plane crash on a forested peninsula. Your son is kidnapped. The locals are cannibals. The Forest takes the survival crafting formula and injects genuine horror, and the blend works far better than it has any right to. During the day you chop trees, build shelters, and set traps. At night, mutants come. The AI is what sets it apart -- enemies scout your base, test your defenses, and adapt their approach. They are not just damage sponges walking toward you. The building is freeform with a blueprint system. You place a blueprint, then fill it with resources. Walls, floors, custom structures, treehouses, houseboats. The cave systems underneath the peninsula are some of the most atmospheric underground environments in any game, and exploring them is both terrifying and essential for progression. Its sequel, Sons of the Forest, expanded the scope with better graphics, a larger map, and companion NPCs. But the original remains a tighter, more focused experience. Play it first, ideally with one or two friends who do not mind being genuinely startled. ### 7. Vintage Story **Platforms:** PC If you have ever wished Minecraft took itself more seriously, Vintage Story is the game you did not know existed. Born from a Minecraft mod, it is now a standalone title that keeps the voxel foundation but layers on simulation depth that borders on obsessive. Seasons change and affect crop growth. Metal progression requires actual knowledge of smelting -- you need the right clay mold, the right fuel, the right temperature. Temporal storms roll in periodically and spawn horrors that will shred an unprepared player. The survival mechanics have real teeth. Food spoils. Wolves hunt in packs. Winter can kill you if you have not prepared. The first time you successfully smelt copper after hours of learning the system, it feels like a genuine achievement rather than a recipe you looked up on a wiki. The world generation creates varied terrain with geological layers, and mining feels purposeful because ore placement follows logical rules. The community is small but deeply invested, and the development team ships frequent, substantial updates. Vintage Story is not for everyone -- the learning curve is steep and the pace is deliberate. But for players who bounced off Minecraft because it felt too easy or too shallow in its survival systems, this is the definitive answer. ### 8. Grounded **Platforms:** PC, Xbox Honey, I Shrunk the Kids as a survival game, developed by Obsidian Entertainment. You are a teenager miniaturized to the size of an ant in a suburban backyard, and suddenly every blade of grass is a building material, every juice box is a landmark, and every spider is a boss fight. The scale shift recontextualizes survival crafting in a way that feels genuinely fresh even if you have played dozens of games in the genre. The insect AI is surprisingly sophisticated. Ants are neutral until provoked, living in colonies with patrol routes and resource-gathering behavior. Wolf spiders are apex predators that will hunt you across the yard. The ecosystem creates emergent encounters -- you might stumble into a battle between ants and a bombardier beetle and have to decide whether to intervene or run. Base building uses the familiar gather-and-craft loop but the materials are backyard detritus: grass planks, pebbles, woven fiber, insect parts. Obsidian's RPG pedigree shows in the progression system, the story, and the overall polish. The setting alone makes it worth trying. ### 9. Raft **Platforms:** PC You start on a two-by-two raft in an endless ocean with a plastic hook on a rope. You reel in floating debris -- planks, plastic, palm leaves -- and use it to expand your raft. That is the entire premise, and it works brilliantly. Every piece of junk you hook becomes walls, floors, crop plots, water purifiers, cooking stations, engines. Your raft evolves from a desperate survival platform into a floating mansion. A shark circles your raft permanently, biting off chunks if you do not reinforce the edges. It is annoying in exactly the right way -- persistent enough to keep you engaged without being overwhelming. Story islands appear periodically, offering puzzles, lore, and rare resources that break up the ocean survival with self-contained adventures. Raft is best experienced with two or three friends. One person fishes for debris, another manages the crops, someone else dives for underwater resources while the shark is distracted. The cooperative division of labor emerges naturally from the mechanics. Solo play works but lacks the chaos and coordination that make the best survival memories. ### 10. Eco **Platforms:** PC A survival game where the ultimate threat is not monsters or starvation but ecological collapse. Every tree you chop, every animal you hunt, every furnace you run affects a simulated ecosystem that can be permanently damaged. Overhunt the elk and they go extinct. Clearcut the forest and the soil erodes. Burn too much coal and the atmosphere changes. The server has a shared objective -- stop a meteor from hitting the planet -- and a time limit, so resource extraction is necessary but restraint is critical. The social layer is where Eco becomes something unique. Players run a shared economy with storefronts, currency, laws, taxes, and elections. Want to ban deforestation? Propose a law and vote. Disputes over resource allocation, zoning, and environmental policy become the actual gameplay. It is Minecraft meets political simulation, and the emergent dynamics on a populated server can be fascinating. Eco requires a committed server community, and the simulation-heavy approach means deliberate, cerebral gameplay. But nothing else in the genre attempts what Eco does, and when it clicks with the right group, it produces stories no other game can generate. --- ## Exploration and Discovery These games prioritize the wonder of stepping into unknown territory. The world itself is the content, and the drive to see what is over the next hill (or under the next ocean) keeps you playing. ### 11. Subnautica **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch The best survival game ever made. That is not hedged or qualified. Subnautica drops you in the ocean of an alien planet after a spaceship crash and asks you to survive, and everything that follows is masterfully executed. The world is entirely hand-crafted -- no procedural generation -- which means every biome, every wreck, every creature is placed with intention. Each depth level introduces new threats, new resources, and a new shade of dread. The genius is vertical exploration. Going deeper is both necessary for progression and increasingly terrifying. The shallows are bright, colorful, and safe. By the time you are building a submarine to explore the deep zones, the ocean is pitch black, the creatures are enormous, and every sonar ping raises your heart rate. The game has no weapons beyond a survival knife. You cannot fight the ocean. You can only prepare and persevere. There is also a real story here, delivered through environmental storytelling, radio transmissions, and data logs. It builds to a conclusion that is genuinely moving. Play it blind if you possibly can. Subnautica proves that survival games do not need procedural generation or multiplayer to be endlessly compelling -- they just need a world worth exploring. ### 12. No Man's Sky **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch The redemption arc that rewrote the rules of game development. At launch in 2016, No Man's Sky was barren and repetitive. In 2026, after years of free updates, it is one of the most content-dense exploration games ever released. Eighteen quintillion procedurally generated planets across a shared universe. Base building, fleet management, multiplayer, expeditions, settlement management, mech suits, living ships, cooking, music creation. The list of systems is almost absurd. The core appeal remains planetary exploration. Landing on a new world, scanning its flora and fauna, naming discoveries, and deciding whether to build a base or move on scratches the explorer itch better than almost anything else. Frozen wastelands, toxic swamps, paradise planets, anomalous worlds that break the game's own rules. Not every planet is interesting, but the ratio has improved dramatically. Hello Games' post-launch support is legendary. Major updates continue to ship for free, each adding substantial new systems. The game you can play today barely resembles the 2016 release. If you bounced off it at launch, it deserves a second chance. ### 13. Deep Rock Galactic **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation, Xbox Not a traditional sandbox, but Deep Rock Galactic captures the mining-and-camaraderie spirit of Minecraft's multiplayer better than most games that try to copy the formula directly. You play as one of four dwarf classes, dropping into procedurally generated caves to mine minerals, fight alien bugs, and extract before things get too hot. Every surface can be dug through, collapsed, or reshaped. Each class interacts with the environment differently. The Driller bores tunnels through solid rock. The Engineer places platforms on walls for the Scout to grapple to. The Gunner provides covering fire and ziplines. The synergy between classes creates moments of cooperative problem-solving that feel genuinely collaborative rather than "four people playing solo in the same room." Sessions run thirty to forty-five minutes per drop, making it ideal for groups that cannot commit to multi-hour survival sessions. The community is famously welcoming (Rock and Stone is not just a meme, it is a culture), and Ghost Ship Games continues shipping new content. If you miss playing Minecraft with friends but cannot commit to another open-ended survival game, this is the answer. ### 14. Terraria **Platforms:** PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Mobile Terraria looks like 2D Minecraft and plays like an entirely different game. Yes, you mine blocks and build structures. But Terraria is fundamentally a combat RPG with building mechanics, not a building game with combat. The boss progression is the spine of the experience: each boss you defeat unlocks new tiers of ore, new biomes, new enemy types, and new crafting recipes. The gear treadmill is satisfying in a way that Minecraft's relatively flat progression cannot match. The content volume is staggering for a game that costs less than a sandwich. Hundreds of weapons, dozens of armor sets, multiple classes, extensive wiring systems, fishing, NPCs with housing requirements, events, and a hardmode that effectively doubles the game after a specific boss. Re-Logic supported Terraria for over a decade, and the "final" update has been declared and retracted multiple times because they keep adding more. The 2D perspective makes building faster and more accessible. You can see your entire base at once, which encourages decorative building and experimentation. If you have somehow never played Terraria, it is the single best value proposition in gaming. ### 15. Hytale **Platforms:** PC (in development) From the team behind Hypixel, the largest Minecraft server network ever operated. Hytale aims to be the next generation of block-based gaming, combining Minecraft's voxel foundation with modern combat, deeper adventure content, and a modding framework designed to let the community build anything. The ambition is enormous: a game that is simultaneously a better Minecraft, a game creation platform, and a competitive experience. Development has been lengthy and the scope has shifted multiple times since the cinematic announcement trailer in 2018. Riot Games acquired Hypixel Studios, bringing significant resources but also raising questions about direction. Recent updates suggest the team is focused on getting the core experience right rather than rushing to release. Whether Hytale delivers remains an open question. But the pedigree is strong -- the Hypixel team understands what Minecraft players want better than almost anyone -- and the technical foundation looks genuinely impressive. If it ships anywhere close to the original vision, it could redefine the genre that Minecraft created. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **What is the closest game to Minecraft?** Vintage Story is the closest in feel -- same voxel building, same survival loop, same open-ended structure, but with deeper simulation (seasons, metallurgy, temperature). If you want a different take on the same ideas, Terraria (2D, combat-focused) or Valheim (Viking co-op) are the strongest alternatives. **Are there any free games like Minecraft?** Minetest is an open-source voxel engine with community-made game modes that replicate much of Minecraft's functionality. It is free, moddable, and runs on low-end hardware. Roblox also offers Minecraft-like experiences within its platform, though the quality varies wildly. **What should I play if I love Minecraft's creative mode?** Satisfactory for factory building, Dragon Quest Builders 2 for purpose-driven construction, or Astroneer for relaxed exploration with base building. For pure block-by-block creative building without survival, Lego Worlds is the closest analog. **What is the best survival game like Minecraft?** Subnautica if you want a solo, story-driven experience. Valheim if you want co-op. The Forest if you want horror. Vintage Story if you want harder Minecraft. Grounded if you want something with personality and polish. **Can I play these games with friends?** Most support multiplayer. Valheim, Deep Rock Galactic, Raft, Grounded, and The Forest are designed for co-op and significantly better with a group. Terraria, No Man's Sky, and Eco also work multiplayer. Subnautica is single-player only. --- ## Build Your Own Minecraft-Style Game If playing these games makes you want to build one, you do not need to start from scratch. Summer Engine has a [voxel sandbox template](/templates/survival/voxel-sandbox/voxel-sandbox) that gives you a Minecraft-style foundation out of the box -- terrain generation, block placement, inventory systems, day-night cycles. The template handles the boilerplate so you can focus on what makes your game different. Browse all [survival game templates](/templates/survival) or explore [templates across every genre](/templates). Every game on this list started with someone asking "what if Minecraft, but..." and following that thread until it became something new. --- ### 15 Games Like Slay the Spire for Deckbuilding Addicts URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-slay-the-spire Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Deckbuilder, Roguelike, Slay the Spire, Strategy The best roguelike deckbuilders like Slay the Spire in 2026. Handpicked games with deep card synergies, meaningful choices, and that one-more-run pull. Slay the Spire did not just popularize a genre. It defined the grammar that every roguelike deckbuilder since has had to reckon with. The draft-one-card-per-combat reward structure, the branching map with risk-reward pathing, the relic system that warps your entire strategy around a single passive effect -- these are not features anymore. They are expectations. And the reason Slay the Spire still holds up years later is that every single piece of it feeds back into one question: do you take the safe line or the greedy one? The four characters each force you to think about cards differently. The Ironclad rewards you for taking damage. The Silent builds toward a single explosive turn. The Defect asks you to plan three turns ahead with orb management. The Watcher punishes greed with a stance system that can end your run in one mistake. That mechanical variety, combined with a difficulty curve that scales all the way from casual to Ascension 20 heartbreak, is why people sink hundreds of hours into it. If you have exhausted all four characters and still want that feeling of a run clicking into place on floor three, these 15 games will scratch the itch. Some stay close to the Slay the Spire formula. Others take the deckbuilding core and bolt it onto completely different genres. All of them are worth your time. ## If You Love Pure Deckbuilding These games focus on the card synergy puzzle above everything else. Tight pools, careful drafting, and the satisfaction of a perfectly constructed engine. ### Balatro **Platforms:** PC, Mac, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, iOS, Android Balatro replaces fantasy combat with poker hands, and it works absurdly well. You score points by playing hands like flushes and full houses, then modify your deck with jokers that bend the scoring rules in ways that compound exponentially. A steel card doubles its chips when held. A polychrome joker multiplies your entire score. Stack three of these interactions together and you are scoring billions of points from a single pair of twos. The genius is in the economy. You earn money between rounds and spend it on booster packs, rerolls, or joker slots. Every dollar spent on a reroll is a dollar you did not save toward the interest threshold. Every joker slot you buy is one more synergy to manage but one less safety net in your wallet. The decisions feel exactly like Slay the Spire's shop: constant tension between what your deck needs now and what it needs three blinds from now. Runs are short, usually thirty minutes, and the skill ceiling is staggering. Once you understand how joker ordering affects multiplication chains, the game opens up entirely. This is the closest any game has come to matching Slay the Spire's "one more run" pull. ### Vault of the Void **Platforms:** PC Vault of the Void is the most mechanically refined Slay the Spire-like on this list, built by someone who clearly spent hundreds of hours on Ascension 20 and wanted to push the formula further. The headline mechanic is the void: you can purge cards from your hand mid-combat to fuel powerful void abilities. This means every card in your deck has two values -- its face effect and its sacrifice value -- and you are constantly choosing between them. Deckbuilding is tighter because of it. Where Slay the Spire sometimes punishes you for having too many cards, Vault of the Void makes every card useful even if you never play it, because feeding it to the void is itself a strong action. The six classes each interact with the void differently. The Automaton builds decks around cycling and self-damage. The Primal stacks wrath tokens that grow stronger the more cards you void. The difficulty curve is steep and the endgame builds get degenerate in the best way. If you are the kind of player who watches Slay the Spire tier lists and optimizes draft picks, this is your game. ### Cobalt Core **Platforms:** PC, Mac, Switch Cobalt Core mixes deckbuilding with spaceship combat and a time-loop narrative. You play cards to move your ship left and right, fire weapons, raise shields, and launch drones, and positioning matters because enemy attacks target specific columns. A missile headed for column three does nothing if you shift your ship two spaces to the right. This spatial layer transforms the deckbuilding puzzle from pure math into something closer to a tactics game. The crew system is the other hook. You pick three of eight characters per run, each with their own card pool, and the combinations create wildly different strategies. Dizzy adds shield-stacking cards. Peri brings missile barrages. Max gives you drones that persist between turns. The art is charming, the writing is surprisingly funny, and runs clock in at about forty minutes. It does not try to be Slay the Spire in space. It is its own thing, and the positional combat makes it feel genuinely fresh. ## If You Want More Roguelike These games lean harder into the roguelike side -- permadeath stakes, narrative consequences, and runs that feel meaningfully different every time. ### Inscryption **Platforms:** PC, Mac, PS4, PS5, Switch Inscryption starts as a creepy cabin card game where a shadowy figure deals you cards across a table and taunts you when you lose. The card battling in this first act is genuinely excellent: a sacrifice-based resource system where you feed weak cards to play powerful ones, with a board that fills up and forces spatial decisions about placement and blocking. Then the game becomes something else entirely. Saying more would spoil one of the best surprises in recent gaming. What matters is that the card mechanics keep evolving across the full runtime, introducing new resource systems, new deckbuilding rules, and new ways to interact with the game itself. The meta-narrative is what elevates Inscryption from a good card game to something unforgettable. Play it blind if you can. Do not read the Steam reviews. Do not watch videos. Just start it and see where it goes. ### Griftlands **Platforms:** PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One Griftlands gives you two separate decks: one for combat and one for negotiation. You can talk your way out of fights, bribe guards, intimidate merchants, or just punch everyone. The negotiation deck plays like its own card game -- you build arguments as shields, attack your opponent's resolve, and deploy rhetorical gambits that debuff their position. It is not a gimmick. The negotiation system has real depth and its own card pool worth optimizing. The social system tracks who likes you and who wants you dead, and those relationships carry mechanical consequences through the entire run. Kill someone's friend and they might ambush you later. Spare an enemy and they might offer you a discount at their shop. Three campaigns with very different protagonists mean three very different playstyles. Klei (the Don't Starve studio) made this, and the writing has real personality -- gritty science fiction with a sense of humor. If you want a deckbuilder where your choices have narrative weight beyond "which card do I draft," Griftlands is the one. ### Nowhere Prophet **Platforms:** PC, Mac, PS4, Xbox One, Switch Nowhere Prophet sets its deckbuilding in a post-apocalyptic convoy crossing hostile territory. Your cards are followers -- actual people in your group -- and when they die in battle they are gone for good. A follower who takes lethal damage gets a wound. Take another hit while wounded and they are dead permanently, removed from your deck for the rest of the run. That permanence changes everything about how you play. You stop throwing units away as blockers when losing them means a weaker deck for every future fight. You start caring about positioning, about retreat, about whether this battle is even worth fighting. The Indian science fiction aesthetic is distinctive and the world-building sells the stakes. Every resource decision on the overworld map -- do you push through the dangerous shortcut or take the safe path that costs food -- feeds back into the deckbuilding because your deck is your people. ### Tainted Grail: Conquest **Platforms:** PC Tainted Grail puts you on a dark Arthurian island dripping with body horror and folk nightmare imagery. Nine classes, each with a unique card pool and playstyle. The Wyrdhunter plays aggressively with combo chains. The Apostate manipulates a corruption resource that powers strong cards but punishes overuse. The combat system uses a living deck that evolves mid-run based on your choices -- cards upgrade, mutate, and combine as you progress. Between runs, you unlock new buildings and NPCs in a village hub, giving you long-term goals that persist across failures. The permanent progression is heavier than Slay the Spire's ascension system, closer to a meta-game that takes dozens of runs to fully unlock. If you want something meatier and darker with a gothic atmosphere that makes Darkest Dungeon look cheerful, Tainted Grail delivers. ## If You Want a Twist on the Formula These games take deckbuilding mechanics and combine them with other genres -- tower defense, tactics, space combat -- creating something that feels familiar but plays very differently. ### Monster Train **Platforms:** PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Monster Train adds a tower defense layer to the Slay the Spire formula. You place units across three floors of a train heading to hell, and waves of heavenly enemies climb upward toward your pyre on the top floor. The floor system creates decisions Slay the Spire never has to ask: do you stack all your power on one floor for a guaranteed kill zone, or spread units thin to chip away at enemies across multiple levels? The clan combination system is the real hook. You pick two of six factions per run, and each pairing creates completely different strategies. Hellhorned plus Awoken gives you beefy tanks that heal. Stygian Guard plus Umbra gives you spell-heavy decks that feed energy between units. The interactions between clans are where the depth lives, and there are enough pairings to keep runs feeling fresh for a long time. Runs are faster than Slay the Spire, usually around thirty minutes, which makes it dangerously easy to start "just one more." The competitive multiplayer mode (Hell Rush) adds another dimension if you want to race other players through identical seeds. ### Roguebook **Platforms:** PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch Roguebook comes from Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: The Gathering, and you can feel his design sensibility in every card. You control two heroes and swap them between front and back positions during combat. The front hero takes damage but gets attack bonuses. The back hero is safe but deals less. Deciding when to swap -- protecting a wounded hero or pushing an aggressive one forward for a killing blow -- adds a tactical layer most deckbuilders lack. The map is a hex grid hidden under fog that you reveal by spending ink and brushes. Exploration itself becomes a resource management puzzle: every hex you reveal might contain a card reward, a relic, or a fight, but the ink to reveal it costs resources you could spend elsewhere. The card design is clean, synergies between hero pairs feel intentional rather than accidental, and the gem system (socketable modifiers for individual cards) adds another axis of customization. ### Arcanium: Rise of Akhan **Platforms:** PC Arcanium spreads its deckbuilding across a tactical overworld. You control a party of three heroes on a hex map, each with their own deck, and the strategic layer adds decisions that pure card games never have to make. Which hero explores which tile? Do you split up to cover more ground or keep the party together for harder fights? Encounter order matters because the buffs you pick up in one fight carry into the next. The card design across the hero roster is varied enough that party composition drives your strategy as much as the cards you draft. It is rougher around the edges than some entries on this list -- the UI could use polish and some encounters feel unbalanced -- but the ambition is real. If you have ever wished Slay the Spire had a party system and an overworld with real tactical choices, Arcanium is the closest thing to that vision. ### Ring of Pain **Platforms:** PC, Mac, Switch, iOS, Android Ring of Pain presents its roguelike deckbuilding as a ring of cards arranged in a circle. Each turn you see two cards in front of you and choose to engage, sneak past, or use an item. Equipment cards modify your stats permanently, creature cards fight you, and event cards offer risk-reward choices. The circle structure means you can see threats coming several turns ahead, which turns every step into a calculated gamble. The build variety comes from equipment stacking. Load up on speed and you attack before enemies can react. Stack soul gain and you heal through damage. Go all-in on critical hits and one-shot everything but die to anything that survives. Runs are fast -- fifteen to twenty minutes -- and the difficulty ramps aggressively. It does not look like Slay the Spire and it does not play like Slay the Spire, but it scratches the same "one more optimization" itch. ## If You Want Multiplayer Slay the Spire is a solo experience. These games bring deckbuilding into competitive and cooperative spaces. ### Slay the Spire 2 **Platforms:** PC (Early Access) The sequel. Slay the Spire 2 keeps the core loop intact -- draft cards, navigate a branching map, fight through three acts -- but adds co-op multiplayer where two players tackle the spire together with shared relic pools and coordinated turn planning. The new characters introduce mechanics the original never explored. The Necrobinder reanimates defeated enemies as temporary allies. The Adventurer builds around a backpack system that stores items between combats. Even in early access, the foundation is rock solid. The card pool is smaller than the original's current state, but every card feels like it has a purpose. The co-op mode transforms the decision-making from internal monologue to active debate about draft priorities and pathing. If you are looking for "more Slay the Spire," this is literally that, from the same developers, with the lessons of the original baked in. ### Across the Obelisk **Platforms:** PC Across the Obelisk is a four-player cooperative deckbuilder with persistent progression. Each player controls a hero with their own deck, and you tackle encounters together on a branching map. The party composition matters enormously -- a healer who buffs the right damage type for your DPS hero creates synergies that trivialize fights, while a poorly coordinated team gets crushed. Communication about draft picks and strategy becomes the game. The progression system unlocks new cards and perks across runs, giving the whole group long-term goals to work toward. Difficulty scales well from casual to punishing. The art style is classic fantasy illustration, nothing groundbreaking, but the mechanical depth is real. If you have a friend group that exhausted your board game collection, this fills the same niche digitally. ### Minion Masters **Platforms:** PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Minion Masters is not a traditional deckbuilder, but it scratches a related itch. It is a real-time competitive card game where you play units onto a two-lane battlefield and they march toward your opponent's tower. Deck construction happens before the match, and the meta-game of building a deck that counters the current ranked strategies has the same theory-crafting appeal as optimizing a Slay the Spire draft. Matches are fast (three to five minutes) and the free-to-play model is generous enough that you can compete without spending money. The twist compared to other competitive card games is that unit placement and timing matter as much as card selection. Dropping a tank unit to absorb a push, then countering with ranged units behind it, requires real-time decision-making that pure turn-based games never demand. It is a different skill set than Slay the Spire, but if the deckbuilding theory-craft is what hooks you, the ranked ladder here is deep. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What makes a good Slay the Spire alternative? The best alternatives nail the same core loop: meaningful draft decisions, synergies that emerge from combining cards and relics in unexpected ways, and runs that feel different enough to keep you coming back. A great deckbuilder roguelike makes you feel clever when a build comes together and makes you want to immediately try again when one falls apart. Games that just copy the surface mechanics without understanding the underlying decision density tend to feel hollow. ### Is Slay the Spire 2 worth playing in early access? Yes, with the caveat that the card pool is still growing. The core mechanics are polished and the co-op mode adds genuine strategic depth. If you are someone who needs a complete game with all characters and full ascension levels, wait for the 1.0 release. If you want to experience the evolution of the formula and do not mind a smaller card pool, it is already excellent. ### Which game on this list is closest to Slay the Spire? Vault of the Void is the most mechanically similar. It has the same single-character, three-act structure with card drafting, relics, and branching maps. The void mechanic adds depth without changing the fundamental feel. Monster Train is the second closest, though the tower defense layer makes it play differently enough to feel like its own game. ### Are there any good deckbuilder roguelikes on mobile? Balatro is available on iOS and Android and is arguably better on mobile because of its short run times. Ring of Pain is on iOS. Slay the Spire itself has an excellent mobile port on iOS and Android. For a pure mobile-first experience, Balatro is the strongest recommendation -- the poker theme translates perfectly to touchscreen play. ### What should I play if I want something completely different from Slay the Spire but with the same depth? Inscryption, without question. It starts as a card game and becomes something else entirely, and the less you know going in, the better. If you want depth in a competitive setting rather than single-player, Minion Masters offers real-time deckbuilding strategy with a skill ceiling that will keep you busy for years. --- ## Build Your Own Deckbuilder Every game on this list started with someone asking "what if cards worked like this?" If you have your own answer to that question, you can prototype it faster than you think. Summer Engine has a [roguelike deckbuilder template](/templates/strategy/deckbuilder/roguelike-deckbuilder) that handles the core systems: card drafting, procedural map generation, turn-based combat, relic and status effect frameworks, and save state management between runs. Describe what you want your deckbuilder to do in plain English -- the card mechanics, the theme, the twist that makes it yours -- and the AI builds the foundation. You focus on the design decisions that matter: which cards feel good, which synergies create interesting choices, and what makes your game worth one more run. Check out the full [template library](/templates) to see what else you can build. --- ### 15 Games Like Stardew Valley for 2026 (Farm, Cozy, Sim) URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-stardew-valley Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Game Recommendations, Farming Sim, Stardew Valley, Indie Games The best farming sims and cozy games like Stardew Valley in 2026. Coral Island, Fields of Mistria, and 13 more, sorted by what you loved most about Stardew. Stardew Valley works because every system feeds every other system. Grow parsnips to make money, upgrade your watering can to grow better crops, unlock the greenhouse for year-round ancient fruit. The farm is the heartbeat, but the real hook is the web around it: mines that gate sprinkler materials, friendships that unlock recipes, community center bundles that give year one a quiet sense of purpose. What keeps people playing hundreds of hours is the rhythm. Each in-game day runs about 13 real-time minutes. Seasons change every 28 days, reshuffling crops, fish, and festivals. And underneath the cozy exterior, there is real mechanical depth: optimal crop layouts, artisan goods pipelines, skull cavern bomb runs, a perfection tracker that demands mastery of everything. If you have squeezed everything out of Stardew, the genre has exploded since 2016. Here are 15 games that capture different parts of what makes it work, organized by what you loved most about it. ## If You Love the Farming These games nail the core loop: planting, harvesting, upgrading your land, and watching a neglected space transform into something productive. ### Coral Island The most complete Stardew successor available right now. It has the same core systems (crops, animals, artisan goods, seasonal cycles) but layers on an entire underwater diving system where you restore coral reefs and clean up ocean pollution. That second progression track gives you something meaningful to do on rainy days or when your crops are mid-cycle. ![Coral Island](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1158160/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** The town ranking system makes your farming output matter beyond your bank account. As you contribute to the community, the town physically upgrades: new buildings appear, roads improve, NPCs change routines. Co-op support shipped with 1.0 and the game gets steady content patches. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch - **Vibe:** Stardew but bigger, in 3D, with ocean conservation - **Co-op:** Yes, online - **Price:** ~$30 --- ### Fields of Mistria Arrived in early access and immediately became the farming sim everyone was talking about. The pixel art is among the best the genre has ever seen, with fluid animations and detailed environments that make Stardew's art look sparse by comparison. ![Fields of Mistria](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/2142790/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** The town of Mistria is in ruins when you arrive. As you complete quests and donate resources, you physically reconstruct buildings, bridges, and public spaces. Each restoration unlocks new mechanics, NPCs, or areas. Combat takes place in mines structured more like proper dungeon floors than Stardew's repetitive cave levels, with distinct enemy types and environmental hazards per biome. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC (Early Access) - **Vibe:** Gorgeous pixel art, town rebuilding, better combat - **Co-op:** Not yet - **Price:** ~$15 --- ### Roots of Pacha Stardew Valley set in the Stone Age, and the premise goes deeper than a reskin. Instead of inheriting a farm with established infrastructure, you help a prehistoric clan discover agriculture from scratch. ![Roots of Pacha](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1245560/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** You do not buy seeds from a shop. You find wild plants, learn to cultivate them, and develop irrigation and crop rotation. Animals are befriended in the wild and domesticated over generations. The co-op (up to 4 players) is where it shines: the clan's "Ideas" system lets players vote on which innovations to pursue next, creating genuine collaborative decision-making. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch - **Vibe:** Prehistoric Stardew with meaningful co-op - **Co-op:** Yes, up to 4 players - **Price:** ~$25 --- ### One Lonely Outpost Stardew Valley on an alien planet. You are the first human colonist on a barren, rocky world. There is no soil when you arrive. ![One Lonely Outpost](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1465550/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** You start by terraforming small patches of ground, building hydroponic systems, and experimenting with alien plant species that behave nothing like Earth crops. Some grow in geometric patterns. Others produce crafting materials instead of food. As your settlement grows, new colonists arrive with their own skill sets and questlines. The town does not exist from the start. You build it from nothing. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC (Early Access) - **Vibe:** Sci-fi farming with terraforming and alien botany - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$20 --- ## If You Want More RPG These games keep farming as a foundation but push harder on combat, character builds, and narrative progression. ### Sun Haven Takes the farming RPG concept and multiplies everything by three. Three distinct biomes (human, elven, monster), each with their own town, NPC roster, and storyline. A full skill tree with branches for farming, combat, mining, fishing, and magic. ![Sun Haven](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1432860/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** If your main complaint about Stardew was that the combat lacked depth and the RPG elements were too shallow, Sun Haven directly addresses that. Real-time combat with dodging, abilities, and boss encounters. Multiplayer for up to eight players turns it into something closer to a farming MMO. The trade-off: it is rougher around the edges and the UI can overwhelm. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch - **Vibe:** Fantasy farming MMO with deep RPG systems - **Co-op:** Yes, up to 8 players - **Price:** ~$25 --- ### Rune Factory 5 The Rune Factory series invented the farming-plus-combat formula that Stardew later refined. The fifth entry goes fully 3D. ![Rune Factory 5](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1702330/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** Farm by day, clear monster dungeons in the afternoon, then tame defeated creatures to work your fields or fight alongside you. The combat has multiple weapon types, combo systems, and magic spells that make fights feel like an actual action RPG. The standout mechanic: any monster you defeat can be recruited to your farm, where it tills soil, waters crops, or produces resources. Higher-level monsters from deeper floors are better workers. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Switch - **Vibe:** The original farming+combat formula, now in 3D - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$40 (performance warning: Switch version runs rough, PC recommended) --- ### Moonstone Island What happens when you combine Stardew's farming with Pokemon's creature collection and Slay the Spire's deck-building combat? Moonstone Island answers that question, and it works far better than the mashup has any right to. ![Moonstone Island](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1658150/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** You settle on a floating sky island in a procedurally generated archipelago, farm crops, and explore neighboring islands by glider. When you encounter spirit creatures, battles play out through a card-based system. Procedural generation means every playthrough arranges islands differently, giving it genuine replay value that most farming sims lack. Shorter than Stardew (30-40 hours per run), but the combination of systems feels fresh the entire time. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, Switch - **Vibe:** Farming meets Pokemon meets Slay the Spire on sky islands - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$20 --- ### Graveyard Keeper The darkest farming sim ever made. You run a medieval graveyard, which involves embalming bodies, harvesting organs, crafting gravestones, and making some ethically questionable decisions about what goes into the food you sell at the tavern. ![Graveyard Keeper](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/599140/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** If you found Stardew's systems too simple and wanted something with genuine mechanical teeth, this is it. Resource chains are long and interconnected, with items requiring four or five crafting steps across multiple workstations. The day-of-the-week system (replacing day-night) forces you to plan around NPC schedules. The humor is bone-dry. The tech tree is enormous. Be warned: the zombie DLC adds automation that makes the late game significantly more manageable. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, Mobile - **Vibe:** Dark comedy graveyard management with deep crafting - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$20 --- ## If You Love the Social Sim These games emphasize relationships, town life, and the feeling of belonging to a community. ### Spirittea You move to a rural East Asian village, discover you can see spirits, and take over a rundown bathhouse to serve the local ghost population. ![Spirittea](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1931010/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** The core loop is management sim: seat spirits at the right temperature pools, keep the water heated, scrub backs, serve snacks, solve each spirit's personal problems. Meanwhile you also forage, fish, cook, and build friendships with the human townsfolk who have no idea their village is haunted. The Spirited Away influence is obvious and intentional. The spirit designs are creative, the human NPCs have actual personality (including flaws), and the bathhouse management creates a different kind of daily pressure than farming does. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, Xbox Series X/S, Switch - **Vibe:** Spirited Away meets Stardew Valley - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$20 --- ### Wylde Flowers A farming sim with a witchcraft twist that executes both halves with surprising quality. By day you run your grandmother's farm. By night you sneak out to join a secret coven in the woods, learning spells and brewing potions. ![Wylde Flowers](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1896700/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** Full voice acting for every character, which is vanishingly rare in farming sims. The voice performances are genuinely good. The writing tackles mature themes (queer relationships, family grief, small-town prejudice) without being heavy-handed. The two tracks interweave as the coven's activities start affecting the farm and the town's social dynamics. If you want a farming sim with a narrative that actually goes somewhere, this is one of the strongest options. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Switch, Mobile - **Vibe:** Farming by day, witchcraft by night, fully voice-acted - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$30 --- ### Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life The remake of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, the game that directly inspired ConcernedApe to create Stardew Valley. ![Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/2111170/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** The unique hook is time. Your character ages. You get married, have a child, and watch the town change over in-game decades. Buildings deteriorate or get renovated. NPCs grow old. Your kid's personality develops based on how you interact with them. No other farming sim attempts anything like this. The remake adds new romance candidates (including same-sex options) and modernized controls. The farming itself is more relaxed than Stardew, which is either a positive or negative depending on your preferences. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch - **Vibe:** Stardew's spiritual predecessor, now with aging and consequences - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$40 --- ### Ooblets Part farming sim, part creature collector, part rhythm game. You grow little creatures called Ooblets in your garden, raise them, and enter them in dance battles. ![Ooblets](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/593150/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** The farming loop feeds the creature loop directly. Specific crops attract specific Ooblets, and upgraded farm infrastructure lets you grow rarer species. Battles are card-based, with each Ooblet contributing moves to your hand. The art style is aggressively cute and polarizing: drenched in pastels and rounded shapes. If you can meet it on its own terms, there is a genuinely good creature collection game underneath. The dance battle system has more strategic depth than it initially suggests. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, Xbox Series X/S, Switch - **Vibe:** Pokemon dance battles meet pastel farming - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$25 --- ## If You Want Something Different These games share Stardew's DNA but mutate it in interesting directions. ### Littlewood The premise is brilliant: you are the hero who already saved the world, and now you need to rebuild your town during peacetime. ![Littlewood](https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/894940/header.jpg) **Why Stardew fans will like it:** Days are not governed by a real-time clock but by an action meter. Every action drains the meter, and when it empties, the day ends. Zero time pressure. The town-building is the core: you place every building, path, and decoration on a grid. Each villager has favorite locations and neighbor preferences, adding a light puzzle element to layout. The whole experience can be completed in 30-40 hours. If Stardew's open-endedness sometimes left you directionless, Littlewood's tighter structure might be exactly what you need. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC, Switch - **Vibe:** Post-adventure town rebuilding with zero time pressure - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** ~$15 --- ### Haunted Chocolatier ConcernedApe's next game, from the solo developer who built Stardew Valley. You run a chocolate shop inside a haunted castle, gathering ingredients from the surrounding wilderness. **What we know so far:** - Real-time combat that looks significantly more polished and central than Stardew's mines - A gathering-to-crafting-to-selling pipeline centered on product creation and shop management - Multiple biomes to explore - Customer satisfaction mechanics - The same attention to NPC personality that defined Stardew No release date. ConcernedApe has been characteristically quiet. But anything from this developer warrants a permanent spot on any recommendation list. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** TBA - **Vibe:** Chocolate shop management meets action RPG from the Stardew creator - **Co-op:** Unknown - **Price:** Unknown --- ### My Charming Farm A farming sim that strips the genre back to its essentials. Grow crops, raise animals, decorate your property, and enjoy the process without combat systems or complex NPC relationship meters. **Why Stardew fans will like it:** The appeal is intentional simplicity. The seasonal cycle drives the loop, and the decorating tools are more flexible than Stardew's, letting you create farm layouts that feel genuinely personal. Not every farming sim needs six interlocking progression systems. Sometimes you want to plant seeds, watch them grow, sell the harvest, and beautify your space. If you want a farming game you can play for an hour before bed without optimizing anything, this fits the bill. **The short version:** - **Platforms:** PC - **Vibe:** Pure, relaxed farming with strong decoration tools - **Co-op:** No - **Price:** Budget --- ## Quick Reference: All 15 Games at a Glance | Game | Platforms | Co-op | Best For | |---|---|---|---| | Coral Island | PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch | Yes | Most complete Stardew successor | | Fields of Mistria | PC (EA) | No | Best pixel art, town rebuilding | | Roots of Pacha | PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch | Yes (4p) | Stone Age setting, collaborative co-op | | One Lonely Outpost | PC (EA) | No | Sci-fi farming, terraforming | | Sun Haven | PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch | Yes (8p) | Deep RPG systems, fantasy setting | | Rune Factory 5 | PC, PS4, Switch | No | Best combat, monster taming | | Moonstone Island | PC, Switch | No | Deck-building combat, sky islands | | Graveyard Keeper | PC, PS4, Xbox, Switch, Mobile | No | Dark humor, complex crafting | | Spirittea | PC, Xbox, Switch | No | Bathhouse management, ghost stories | | Wylde Flowers | PC, PS5, Switch, Mobile | No | Voice-acted narrative, witchcraft | | Story of Seasons: AWL | PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch | No | Time progression, emotional depth | | Ooblets | PC, Xbox, Switch | No | Creature collection, dance battles | | Littlewood | PC, Switch | No | Tight structure, zero time pressure | | Haunted Chocolatier | TBA | Unknown | ConcernedApe's next game | | My Charming Farm | PC | No | Pure relaxation, decoration focus | ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the closest game to Stardew Valley? **Coral Island** is the most direct successor. Same core systems (farming, mining, fishing, romance, community restoration) with a bigger budget, 3D art, and additional mechanics like underwater diving. **Fields of Mistria** is the other strong contender, especially if you prefer pixel art and want better combat. Both are actively developed with regular updates. ### Are any of these games better than Stardew Valley? That depends on what you value. No game on this list matches Stardew's overall polish and balance, which is the product of nearly a decade of updates from a developer who clearly cares about every detail. But individual games surpass it in specific areas: - **Rune Factory 5** has better combat - **Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life** has a more emotionally resonant narrative - **Sun Haven** has more raw content - **Fields of Mistria** has better pixel art Stardew remains the best all-rounder. ### Which games have co-op or multiplayer? - **Coral Island:** Online co-op - **Roots of Pacha:** Online co-op, up to 4 players (particularly well-designed with shared clan progression) - **Sun Haven:** Online co-op, up to 8 players ### Can I play these on Nintendo Switch? Most of them. Currently available on Switch: Coral Island, Roots of Pacha, Sun Haven, Moonstone Island, Spirittea, Ooblets, Littlewood, Graveyard Keeper, Wylde Flowers, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, and Rune Factory 5. PC-only for now: Fields of Mistria and One Lonely Outpost (both in early access, console ports expected after full release). Performance note: Rune Factory 5 runs noticeably worse on Switch than on PC. ### What farming sim should I play if I have never played Stardew Valley? Play Stardew Valley. It is still the best entry point to the genre by a wide margin. It costs $15 USD, runs on virtually any hardware, and has more content than most $60 games. Start there, figure out which parts of it you enjoy most, then use this list to find games that lean harder into those specific aspects. ## Build Your Own Farming Sim If playing these games sparks the urge to build one yourself, that is worth acting on. Farming sims have clear, well-understood systems that translate well into game dev projects: crop growth timers, seasonal calendars, NPC schedules, inventory management, tile-based placement. [Summer Engine](/templates) has simulation templates that handle the foundational systems so you can focus on the parts that make your game unique. Crop growth cycles, day-night systems, NPC routines, and inventory grids are solved problems. Your job is to figure out what your version of the community center is, what your equivalent of the mines looks like, and what makes your town worth caring about. The best farming sims on this list all started with someone asking "what if Stardew, but..." and following that question somewhere interesting. --- ### 15 Games Like Vampire Survivors You Need to Play in 2026 URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/games-like-vampire-survivors Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Games Like, Vampire Survivors, Horde Survival, Indie Games The best games like Vampire Survivors in 2026. Handpicked auto-attack horde survival games for fans who love screen-filling chaos, satisfying builds, and that one-more-run feeling. Vampire Survivors works because it strips everything down to what matters. No aiming, no complex inputs, no ability rotations. You move, you pick upgrades, and you try to survive against a rising tide of monsters that eventually fills every pixel of the screen. The genius is in the build system: every run plays differently depending on which weapons you evolve, and the dopamine hit of clearing a full screen of enemies with a maxed-out King Bible or Death Spiral never gets old. It is the purest distillation of the "number go up" fantasy in gaming. What made the game explode was how low the floor is and how high the ceiling goes. Anyone can pick it up in seconds, but the weapon evolution chart, the hidden characters, the coffin unlocks, the inverted stages, the secret characters hidden behind achievement chains -- there is an absurd amount of depth hiding behind that simple surface. You can play it on autopilot while watching a show, or you can min-max your build around Duplicator timing and curse levels, hunting for that perfect Phiera Der Tuphello plus Eight The Sparrow evolution. Both approaches are valid. Both are satisfying. The genre it created -- sometimes called "survivors-like" or "horde survival" -- has become one of the most active spaces in indie gaming. Dozens of developers have taken the core loop (auto-attack, level up, pick upgrades, survive escalating waves) and layered on their own ideas. Some add manual aiming. Some add squad mechanics. Some add deckbuilding or god blessings or destructible terrain. The formula turns out to be incredibly flexible. If you have burned through every character, unlocked every evolution, and pushed the death timer past 30 minutes, here are 15 games that scratch the same itch. Some stick close to the formula. Others take the core loop and twist it into something genuinely new. All of them understand why Vampire Survivors works. ## If You Love the Screen-Filling Chaos ### Halls of Torment **Platforms:** PC Halls of Torment takes the Vampire Survivors formula and wraps it in a dark, pre-rendered art style straight out of Diablo II. The big difference is active aiming on certain weapons. Your crossbow fires where you point, your boomerang arcs in the direction you face. This gives you more agency over your builds without losing the horde survival feel. Boss encounters are structured and dangerous -- they are actual fights, not just bigger health bars walking at you. The between-run progression is deeper than most games in the genre, with a talent tree that unlocks entirely new weapon behaviors. The "Well of Souls" system gives you permanent stat upgrades that make early runs feel noticeably different from your first hour. If Vampire Survivors felt too passive for you, this is the one. ### Spirit Hunters: Infinite Horde **Platforms:** PC Spirit Hunters pushes the enemy count harder than almost anything else in the genre. We are talking thousands of enemies on screen at once, and the performance somehow holds up. The weapon evolution system is straightforward -- combine the right items at the right levels -- but the sheer visual scale of combat makes every run feel intense. Where Vampire Survivors gives you that "build coming online" moment around minute 10, Spirit Hunters delivers it constantly because the enemy density never lets up. The maps are large and varied, with environmental hazards that add a layer of spatial awareness. If your favorite part of Vampire Survivors is watching your fully evolved build melt a screen of enemies, Spirit Hunters is basically a 30-minute version of that feeling. ### Army of Ruin **Platforms:** PC, Switch Army of Ruin sticks closest to the original Vampire Survivors blueprint. Auto-attacking weapons, huge enemy waves, and a focus on weapon evolutions through item combinations. If you handed someone Army of Ruin without context, they might think it was a Vampire Survivors expansion pack. What sets it apart is the pacing -- runs escalate faster, enemies get dangerous earlier, and the weapon variety keeps the first few minutes interesting while you unlock the full roster. The evolution system is satisfying, with clear visual upgrades that make your character feel meaningfully stronger. A solid pick if you want more of exactly what Vampire Survivors offers, just with different weapons and maps. ### Yet Another Zombie Survivors **Platforms:** PC The name is self-aware, and the game earns it. Yet Another Zombie Survivors adds a squad system where you control a group of characters instead of one. You have a formation, and positioning your squad matters -- tanks in front, ranged in back. This adds a light tactical layer on top of the usual upgrade loop. Each squad member levels independently and picks from their own upgrade pool, which means you are making four times the build decisions per run. The zombie theme is well-executed, with distinct enemy types that force you to adjust your formation. The difficulty curve ramps smoothly, and the late-game waves hit with genuine menace. ## If You Want More Control ### 20 Minutes Till Dawn **Platforms:** PC, iOS, Android This one adds manual shooting to the Vampire Survivors template. You aim and fire while dodging increasingly dense bullet patterns, which makes it feel closer to a twin-stick shooter than a pure auto-attacker. Runs are exactly 20 minutes -- no more, no less -- which makes it perfect for short sessions. The upgrade trees are where it shines. You can build a lightning mage that chains bolts across the entire screen, a shotgun build that clears arcs in front of you, or a summoner build that lets minions do the work. The lightning builds in particular are some of the most visually satisfying power fantasies in the genre. If you thought Vampire Survivors would be better with a right stick, this is your game. ### Brotato **Platforms:** PC, iOS, Android, Switch You are a potato with up to six weapons strapped to your body. Brotato runs in short waves instead of continuous timers, which makes each run feel snappy and replayable -- a full run takes maybe 15 minutes. The real hook is the item shop between waves, where you build synergies from a massive pool of stats, weapons, and traits. Do you go all-in on melee lifesteal? Stack engineering turrets? Build around crit chance and hope the math works out? Character variety is excellent, with each of the 40+ characters forcing a completely different playstyle. The Pacifist character, who cannot deal damage and wins purely through avoidance and passive effects, is a standout design that shows how creative the game gets. ### Death Must Die **Platforms:** PC Death Must Die blends the Vampire Survivors loop with ARPG mechanics and a pantheon system borrowed from Hades. You pick blessings from gods that modify your abilities -- Frost might make your attacks slow enemies, while Death lets you stack damage-over-time effects. The combat is faster and more visually chaotic than most survivors-likes, with spell effects that fill the screen in genuinely impressive ways. But the god synergy system is what keeps you coming back. Experienced players can target specific god combinations and build around them, creating runs where Lightning plus War turns your character into a walking thunderstorm. The build diversity here is a real strength, and the Hades-style narrative between runs gives the meta-progression some narrative weight. ### Soulstone Survivors **Platforms:** PC Soulstone Survivors leans hard into ability builds and skill trees. You pick a class -- Barbarian, Pyromancer, Assassin, and others -- and spec into elemental or physical damage, then layer on passive upgrades as you clear waves. The combat is flashier than Vampire Survivors, with screen-wide spell effects that feel genuinely powerful. A maxed Pyromancer raining fire across the map is one of the most satisfying things in the genre. The endgame adds a curse system that multiplies difficulty and rewards, giving experienced players something real to push against. If Vampire Survivors felt like it lacked build identity, Soulstone gives you actual class fantasy. ## If You Want Something Different ### HoloCure: Save the Fans! **Platforms:** PC A free fan-made game based on Hololive VTubers, and it has no business being this polished. HoloCure has some of the tightest weapon design in the genre, with unique attack patterns and evolutions for every character. Gawr Gura's trident plays nothing like Calliope's scythe. The weapon collabs (HoloCure's version of evolutions) are inventive and powerful, and discovering new ones is half the fun. Between runs, the fishing minigame and gacha system give you more meta-progression than most paid alternatives. The game gets regular content updates with new generations of characters. Even if you know absolutely nothing about VTubers, the gameplay stands entirely on its own. The fact that it is free makes the quality even more impressive. ### Rogue Genesia **Platforms:** PC Rogue Genesia adds a world map and stage selection to the survivors formula, which changes the pacing significantly. Instead of one continuous run, you choose your path between stages, picking different biomes with different enemy types and rewards. This means you are making strategic decisions about your route, not just your build. The meta-progression is massive, with permanent upgrades that meaningfully change how future runs play out. Early unlocks give you new starting weapons; later ones reshape entire mechanics. It also has multiplayer, which turns the screen into pure chaos with friends. The difficulty scaling in co-op is well-tuned -- it actually gets harder, not just busier. ### Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor **Platforms:** PC Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor takes the beloved co-op mining shooter's universe and compresses it into a survivors-like. You play as one of four dwarven classes, each with their signature weapons from the original game. The Driller's flamethrower, the Gunner's minigun, the Scout's rifle -- they all translate surprisingly well to the auto-attack format. What makes it stand out is the terrain. Maps have destructible environments, cave systems, and verticality that most survivors-likes completely lack. You are not just circling on a flat field; you are carving paths through rock, finding mineral veins, and dealing with enemies that burrow out of walls. The mining mechanic gives runs a secondary objective beyond pure survival. ### Boneraiser Minions **Platforms:** PC Boneraiser Minions flips the formula. Instead of powering up your own character, you raise an army of undead minions that fight for you. Each upgrade adds or evolves a minion in your horde -- skeletal warriors, archer skeletons, giant bone golems. Your job is positioning and army composition, not direct combat. It plays like a necromancer fantasy crossed with Vampire Survivors' upgrade loop. The pixel art is charming, the enemy waves are punishing, and figuring out which minion combinations synergize is the core puzzle. It is a genuine inversion of the genre that still feels like it belongs. ### Tiny Rogues **Platforms:** PC Tiny Rogues blends the survivors-like wave structure with dungeon-crawling room layouts. Each floor is a set of combat rooms where enemies pour in and you clear them with your build, but between floors you pick new weapons, relics, and passive upgrades from a massive pool. It plays faster than a traditional roguelike dungeon crawler, but slower and more deliberate than a pure survivors-like. The weapon variety is enormous -- bows, swords, magic staves, guns -- and each one has distinct upgrade paths. Boss fights punctuate the floors with genuine difficulty spikes that test whether your build actually works or just looked good on paper. If you want the upgrade loop of Vampire Survivors inside a more structured dungeon format, Tiny Rogues delivers. ### Survivor.io **Platforms:** iOS, Android The best mobile-native survivors-like. Survivor.io adapts the formula for touchscreens with simplified controls and shorter run times. Maps are small and dense, waves hit fast, and the weapon evolution system is streamlined but satisfying. It is free-to-play with the usual mobile monetization, but the core loop works without spending money. The EVO system for weapons is creative, with some evolutions combining two weapons into something entirely new. If you want the Vampire Survivors experience on your phone during a commute, this is the one that actually plays well on a small screen. Brotato on mobile is the other strong option, but Survivor.io was designed for touch from the ground up. ### Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok **Platforms:** PC Nordic Ashes goes big on Norse mythology and class-based combat. You pick from distinct character archetypes -- Berserker, Valkyrie, Shaman, and more -- each with unique ability trees that play nothing alike. The Valkyrie swoops and dives with aerial attacks while the Shaman drops totems and area denial. Where most survivors-likes give every character the same weapon pool with different stats, Nordic Ashes gives each class a genuinely different mechanical identity. The map design is more varied than most entries in the genre, with objectives scattered across the battlefield that reward exploration over pure circle-kiting. Boss encounters draw from Norse mythology and have real attack patterns you need to learn. If you want your survivors-like to feel more like an ARPG with class identity, this is a strong pick. ## Build Your Own Survivors-Like Game The survivors-like genre has clear, elegant design rules -- which makes it one of the best genres to build yourself. The core loop is deceptively simple: auto-attacking weapons, a leveling system with upgrade choices, enemy waves that escalate over time, and weapon evolution as a reward for smart build decisions. The complexity comes from tuning: how fast enemies scale, how many upgrade choices you offer per level, how weapon combinations interact. Summer Engine has a ready-made survivors-like template you can start from. Pick your theme, adjust the mechanics -- enemy spawn curves, weapon types, evolution trees, XP scaling -- and ship your own horde survival game. The template handles the boilerplate (wave spawning, XP orbs, level-up UI, weapon slot management, damage numbers, screen-shake) so you can focus on what makes your version different. Maybe you want a sci-fi setting with laser weapons and alien hordes. Maybe you want to add a deckbuilding layer where upgrades come from card drafts. Maybe you want co-op where each player specializes in a different role. The genre is wide open for new ideas, and the mechanical simplicity means you can get a playable prototype fast. [Start from the survivors-like template here](/templates/action-fighting/survivors-like/survivors-like). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What makes a good survivors-like game? Three things. First, the upgrade loop needs to feel rewarding -- every level-up should present a meaningful choice, not just a stat bump. Second, the power curve has to hit right. You should feel weak at the start and overpowered by the end, with a clear inflection point where your build "comes online." Third, runs need variety. Whether that comes from character selection, randomized upgrades, or weapon evolution systems, no two runs should play the same way. The best games in the genre nail all three: Vampire Survivors, Brotato, and HoloCure are the gold standard. ### Are survivors-like games roguelikes? Technically, yes. They have procedural elements, permadeath (your run ends when you die), and build variety across runs. But they sit in a specific corner of the roguelike space. Traditional roguelikes emphasize player skill and knowledge. Survivors-likes emphasize build optimization and the satisfaction of growing powerful. The overlap with bullet hell games is stronger than the overlap with something like Nethack or Caves of Qud. Most players in the genre do not think of them as roguelikes -- they think of them as their own thing, which at this point they are. ### Can I play survivors-like games on mobile? Yes. Brotato, 20 Minutes Till Dawn, and Survivor.io all have strong mobile versions. Brotato's wave-based structure translates well to short sessions. Survivor.io was designed for mobile from scratch. 20 Minutes Till Dawn works on touch but benefits from a controller. Vampire Survivors itself is available on iOS and Android and plays well on touchscreens since it only requires movement input. ### What is the hardest survivors-like game? Halls of Torment with high difficulty modifiers and Soulstone Survivors with the curse system maxed out are the two toughest experiences in the genre. Both have endgame content specifically designed for players who have mastered the base game. Death Must Die also scales hard at the highest god difficulty tiers. If you want pure mechanical challenge, 20 Minutes Till Dawn on its hardest settings combines bullet-hell dodging with build pressure in a way that demands real skill, not just good upgrade RNG. ### Can I make my own survivors-like game without coding? Yes. The genre's simple input model (movement only, or movement plus aim) makes it one of the most approachable genres to build. Summer Engine's AI-assisted workflow lets you describe what you want -- enemy types, weapon behaviors, evolution trees -- and generates the game logic for you. You can start from a working template and modify it through conversation. The core systems (wave spawning, XP collection, level-up choices, weapon evolution) are already built. You focus on the creative decisions: theme, art direction, and what makes your version of the formula unique. --- ### Publish Your Game on Steam: 2026 Step-by-Step Guide URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/how-to-publish-game-on-steam Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Steam, Game Publishing, Tutorial, Indie Game Development Everything you need to ship on Steam: the $100 fee, Steamworks setup, store page optimization, SteamPipe builds, pricing strategy, and launch checklist. You do not need a publisher. You do not need an invite. Anyone can publish a game on Steam by paying a fee and following a checklist. This guide walks through every step of the process, from creating your Steamworks account to pressing the launch button. No fluff, just what you actually need to do. ## Quick Overview: What It Costs and How Long It Takes Before getting into the details, here is a summary of the numbers. | Item | Details | |------|---------| | Steam Direct fee | $100 per game (refunded after $1,000 in revenue) | | Valve's revenue cut | 30% (drops to 25% after $10M, 20% after $50M) | | Review time | 1 to 5 business days | | Minimum build requirement | Windows .exe | | Recommended wishlist period | 2 to 6 months before launch | ## Step 1: Create a Steam Developer Account Go to [partner.steamgames.com](https://partner.steamgames.com) and create a Steamworks account. You need a regular Steam account first (the same one you use to buy games). Valve charges a **one-time $100 USD fee per game**. This is the Steam Direct fee. You get it back as a credit once your game earns $1,000 in revenue. The fee exists to prevent spam, not to block real developers. ### Identity Verification Valve requires bank and tax information before you can receive payments. If you are outside the US, you will fill out a W-8BEN form. This part takes a few days to process, so do it early. Once approved, you get access to the Steamworks dashboard. This is where everything happens: store page setup, build uploads, analytics, and community management. ## Step 2: Prepare Your Game Build Steam requires a native desktop executable. You cannot publish a web game or browser-based experience. Your game must run as a standalone application. **Platform requirements:** - **Windows .exe** is the minimum. Most Steam games ship Windows-only, and that covers the vast majority of players. - **macOS and Linux** builds are optional. They expand your reach at no extra cost if your engine supports cross-platform export. - The game must launch without requiring the player to install additional software manually. ### Testing Before Upload Test on a clean machine that does not have your development tools installed. The most common failure is missing DLLs or runtime dependencies that exist on your dev machine but not on a player's PC. ## Step 3: Set Up Your Store Page Your store page is the single biggest factor in whether someone wishlists your game or scrolls past. Every element matters. ### Required Capsule Art Steam uses specific image sizes for different placements. You need all of them. | Asset | Dimensions | Where It Appears | |-------|-----------|------------------| | Header Capsule | 460x215 | Search results, store page | | Small Capsule | 231x87 | Wishlists, top seller lists | | Main Capsule | 616x353 | Front page, browse views | | Hero Graphic | 3840x1240 | Top banner on your store page | | Library Capsule | 600x900 | Player's Steam library | | Page Background | 1438x810 | Store page backdrop (optional) | Every capsule **must include your game's name as text** on the image. Steam enforces this rule. A beautiful scene with no title will be rejected. ### Writing Your Description Lead with what the player does, not your lore. - Good: "Build and defend a colony on Mars against sandstorms and rival factions." - Bad: "In a distant future, humanity has reached the stars and must now face its greatest challenge." Your description is searchable. If your game is a "roguelike deckbuilder with co-op," those exact words should appear in the text. ### Choosing Tags Tags drive discoverability on Steam. Pick genre tags that honestly describe your game, then add specific mechanical tags (roguelike, base building, co-op, souls-like). Look at similar games in your genre to see which tags they use. ### Screenshots Upload at least 5 screenshots of **actual gameplay**. Not title screens, not menus. Screenshots need to read clearly at thumbnail size because that is how most people see them first. ### Trailer Games without trailers convert significantly worse. Your trailer does not need professional production. 30 to 60 seconds of gameplay footage with a title card and music works fine. Upload it directly to Steam rather than linking YouTube. ## Step 4: Upload Your Build with SteamPipe SteamPipe is Valve's tool for uploading game files. You can use the command-line tool (steamcmd) or the upload feature in the Steamworks dashboard. ### Upload Process 1. In Steamworks, navigate to your app's page, then "Edit Steamworks Settings," then "SteamPipe," then "Builds." 2. Set up at least one **depot** (a container for your game files). 3. Download the Steamworks SDK, which includes steamcmd. 4. Create a build configuration file that points to your game files. 5. Run the upload command. SteamPipe handles delta uploads, so subsequent updates only transfer changed files. The first upload can be slow depending on your game size. After that, patches are fast. After uploading, set your build as the **default branch** so reviewers (and later, players) get the correct version. ## Step 5: Set Your Price You have two paths: free or paid. ### Free-to-Play Skip the pricing step entirely. You can still sell DLC, in-game items, or cosmetics later. ### Paid Games Set a base price in USD. Steam auto-generates regional prices for every other currency using a purchasing power matrix. You can adjust these manually, but the defaults are reasonable. ### Pricing Tips for Indie Developers - **First game with no audience?** Price at $5 to $15. Building a following matters more than maximizing per-unit revenue. - **Launch discount:** Steam allows up to 40% off during your first week. A 10 to 20% discount drives initial sales and pushes you into visibility algorithms. - **Cooldown period:** You cannot run another discount for 28 days after your launch discount ends. Plan accordingly. - **Revenue cut:** Valve takes 30% of all sales. Factor this into your pricing math. ## Step 6: Submit for Review Valve reviews every game before it goes live. This is not a quality judgment. They check for: - **Legal compliance.** No stolen assets, no trademark issues, no illegal content. - **Store page accuracy.** Your description and screenshots must reflect the actual game. - **Basic functionality.** The game must launch and be playable. - **Content disclosure.** Mature content must be properly tagged. You can (and should) submit the **store page for review first**, separately from the build. An approved store page lets you start collecting wishlists while you finish development. ### Review Timeline Typical review takes 1 to 5 business days. Do not submit the day before your planned launch. If something fails, Valve tells you what to fix. Most issues are minor: wrong image size, missing content descriptor, or similar small things that take minutes to resolve. ## Step 7: Build Wishlists Before You Launch Do not launch the moment your build is approved. The time between approval and launch is for building wishlists. Every wishlist converts to a notification email on launch day. Those emails drive your critical first-week sales. ### How to Get Wishlists - **Post your store link** on social media, Reddit communities for your genre, Discord servers, and game dev forums. - **Steam Next Fest.** Upload a free demo and get featured alongside thousands of other upcoming games. This is one of the best free marketing opportunities on Steam. - **Content creators.** Reach out to small YouTubers and streamers who cover your genre. Many are happy to play indie games if you send a key. ### Choosing a Launch Day | Day | Verdict | |-----|---------| | Monday | Avoid. Competing with weekend releases. | | Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday | Best days to launch. | | Friday | Avoid. Less store browsing over the weekend. | ## Step 8: Launch Day Checklist - Announce across all channels simultaneously. - Be online and responsive. Players will find bugs. Responding quickly to community posts earns goodwill and better reviews. - Your first few reviews heavily influence your overall rating. Encourage honest reviews, but never offer incentives for positive ones (Valve prohibits this). - Monitor your store page analytics in Steamworks. Watch impressions, click-through rate, and wishlist conversion. ## Common Mistakes That Kill Launches **1. Bad capsule art.** If your header capsule looks amateur, players assume your game is amateur. This is the first thing anyone sees. A freelance designer can create a solid capsule for $50 to $100. It is the highest-ROI investment you can make. **2. No trailer.** A store page without a trailer loses a huge percentage of potential wishlists. Even 30 seconds of gameplay with music is better than nothing. **3. Launching with zero wishlists.** Steam's algorithm needs signal. If you launch with no wishlists, your game gets no traction and sinks. Spend at least a few weeks (ideally months) with a Coming Soon page before pressing launch. **4. Price too high for a debut.** An unknown developer with no audience asking $20+ faces an uphill battle. Build a following at a lower price point first. **5. Ignoring the description.** Your store page description is searchable text. Include the keywords players would use to find a game like yours. ## Build Your Steam Game with Summer Engine Summer Engine exports Steam-ready desktop builds directly from the editor. No manual packaging, no third-party export tools. If you are building a game and want to ship on Steam, [download Summer Engine](/download) and start creating. --- ### Make a Platformer Game with AI: 5-Minute Tutorial URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/make-platformer-with-ai Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Tutorial, Platformer, No Code, Game Development Build a playable Mario-style platformer in under 5 minutes using AI. No coding needed. Follow along from first prompt to exported game you can share. Platformers are the most intuitive game genre. Run, jump, reach the goal. Everyone has played one. Building one in a traditional engine takes days: tilemaps, player movement code, physics tuning, level design. With AI, you describe what you want and play it in minutes. This tutorial walks through the full process, from first prompt to a game you can export. ## What You Will Build By the end of this tutorial, you will have a 2D platformer with: - Player character with run, jump, and double-jump - Static, moving, and crumbling platforms - Collectible coins and power-ups - Enemies with patrol behavior - Multiple levels with increasing difficulty - Start screen and game over screen - Sound effects This is a real Godot engine project. You own it, you can edit every file, and you can export it to Steam, desktop, web, or mobile. ## Step 1: Pick a Platformer Template Open Summer Engine and create a new project. Select the **Platformer** category from the template browser. Available platformer templates: | Template | Style | Example | |---|---|---| | 2D Platformer | Classic side-scroller | Mario, Sonic | | Precision Platformer | Tight controls, hard jumps | Celeste, Super Meat Boy | | Puzzle Platformer | Platforming + puzzle mechanics | Limbo, Inside | | Metroidvania | Interconnected world, ability gating | Hollow Knight, Ori | | Endless Runner | Auto-running, dodge obstacles | Temple Run, Canabalt | | 3D Platformer | Third-person 3D | Crash Bandicoot, A Hat in Time | For this tutorial, pick **2D Platformer**. ## Step 2: Describe Your Game to the AI The AI builds what you describe, not a generic default. Your prompt matters. Here are three levels of detail, all valid starting points: ### Basic prompt (good for your first try) > Make a 2D platformer with a knight character. The knight can run, jump, and attack enemies with a sword. Include coins to collect and 3 levels that get harder. ### Detailed prompt (more control over the result) > Create a side-scrolling platformer set in a haunted forest. The player is a small fox that can run, wall-jump, and dash. Enemies are ghosts that float in patrol patterns. Collectibles are glowing orbs. Pixel art style, dark and moody. Include a double-jump ability that unlocks after level 2. ### Precise prompt (for experienced game devs) > Build a precision platformer with tight controls. Run speed 200, jump height 400, dash length 150 with 0.5s cooldown. Gravity scale 2.5 for fast falls. Include coyote time (0.1s grace after leaving a platform edge). Tilemap with ground, spikes (instant death), and bounce pads. No enemies, pure platforming. Death counter and speedrun timer. ### What the AI generates from your prompt After you send your description, the AI creates the full project structure: 1. **Scene tree** with player, camera, tilemap, and level nodes 2. **Player controller script** with the movement mechanics you described 3. **Enemy nodes** with patrol behavior (if you requested enemies) 4. **Collectible items** with pickup logic and score tracking 5. **Level transitions** between your levels 6. **UI** for score, health, and menus ## Step 3: Playtest and Iterate Hit play. Your platformer runs immediately in the editor. Now refine it through conversation. Each message modifies the existing project. You are not regenerating from scratch. **Tuning movement feel:** > "Make the jump feel floatier. Reduce gravity and increase air control." **Adding mechanics:** > "Add a wall-slide mechanic so the player slows down when touching walls." **Adjusting difficulty:** > "The second level is too easy. Add more gaps and two more enemies." **Visual polish:** > "Change the background to a sunset gradient. Add parallax scrolling." **Game systems:** > "Add a checkpoint system. The player should respawn at the last checkpoint, not the start." The AI edits scripts, adjusts physics values, adds nodes, and reconfigures scenes. Your project accumulates changes like any normal development workflow. ## Step 4: Switch to the Editor for Fine Control At any point, you can stop chatting and work directly in the Godot editor. Everything the AI built is standard Godot: scenes, scripts, resources. Nothing is locked or obfuscated. What you can do manually: - **Paint level tiles** in the tilemap editor (drag and drop tile placement) - **Tweak physics values** in the inspector panel (gravity, speed, jump height as export variables) - **Import custom sprites** by dragging image files into the project - **Write GDScript** for custom behavior the AI cannot express - **Animate** using the built-in animation timeline This is the key difference between an AI game maker and an AI game engine. A game maker gives you a result. An engine gives you a project you can open, inspect, and modify at every level. ## Step 5: Export Your Game When the platformer is ready, export it like any Godot project: **Desktop (Steam, itch.io):** 1. File > Export > Windows / macOS / Linux 2. Configure project name and icon 3. Build the executable 4. Upload to Steam, itch.io, or distribute directly **Web:** 1. File > Export > HTML5 2. Host the files on your site or share the link **Mobile:** 1. File > Export > Android / iOS 2. Submit to Play Store or App Store The export works because Summer Engine is compatible with Godot 4. Standard Godot export process, standard output. ## Why This Is Not the Same as Browser AI Game Makers Rosebud and Star let you type "make a platformer" and get a browser game. It works, and it is fun for a quick demo. But the output is limited: | Capability | Browser AI tools | Summer Engine | |---|---|---| | Edit the tilemap | No | Yes, full tilemap editor | | Tweak jump physics | No | Yes, adjust any value | | Add wall-jump or dash | Regenerate everything | Iterate on existing project | | Export to Steam | No | Yes | | Import custom pixel art | No | Yes | | Build 10+ levels | Usually no | Yes | | Access the source code | No | Full GDScript access | The output of Summer Engine is the same kind of project a professional indie developer would build in Godot. You get there through conversation instead of weeks of manual work. ## Five Platformer Prompts to Try ### Celeste-style precision platformer > Create a precision platformer with tight controls, a dash mechanic, and difficult-but-fair level design. Pixel art style. Include a death counter. The player should feel fast and responsive. ### Hollow Knight-style metroidvania > Build a 2D metroidvania with a knight character. Interconnected rooms, ability gating (unlock wall jump to access new areas), melee combat, and boss fights. Dark, atmospheric art style. ### Super Meat Boy-style challenge platformer > Create an extremely difficult precision platformer. Small levels, instant death from any hazard, instant respawn. Saw blades, spikes, moving platforms, and a timer. Very fast, responsive character. ### Classic Mario-style platformer > Build a side-scrolling platformer with a character that runs, jumps, and stomps on enemies. Coins, question blocks with power-ups, pipes, and a flagpole at the end of each level. Bright, colorful art style. ### Endless runner > Create a side-scrolling endless runner where the player automatically moves right. Jump and double-jump to avoid obstacles. Speed increases over time. High score system and procedurally generated obstacles. ## Get Started Summer Engine is free to download. No coding required. Pick a platformer template, describe what you want, and start playing in minutes. [Download Summer Engine](/download) | [Platformer Templates](/templates/platformer) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Can I make a platformer without coding? Yes. You describe what you want in conversation, and the AI builds the project. You can optionally open the code and edit it, but you do not have to. ### How long does it take? A playable prototype takes minutes. A polished game with multiple levels, custom art, and refined mechanics takes hours instead of the weeks a traditional engine would require. ### Can I publish my platformer on Steam? Yes. Summer Engine produces standard Godot projects with full Steam export support. Your game is a native desktop application, not a browser demo. ### Is this the same as making a game in Godot? The output is identical. Standard Godot scenes, scripts, and resources. Summer Engine adds AI conversation on top of Godot 4, so you can switch between AI and manual editing at any time. ### What if I want features the AI cannot build? Switch to the editor and write GDScript. AI and manual editing work together. Use conversation for speed, use the editor for precision. ### Can I make a 3D platformer? Yes. Choose the 3D Platformer template for a third-person camera setup with 3D environments. The same AI workflow applies. --- ### 7 Rosebud Alternatives to Ship to Steam and Desktop (2026) URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/rosebud-alternatives Published: 2026-03-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: AI Game Maker, Comparison, Rosebud Alternative Rosebud is browser only. These 7 alternatives let you export to Steam, desktop, mobile, and consoles. Pros, cons, and who each tool is actually for. Rosebud is genuinely good at what it does. Type a prompt, get a playable browser game in seconds. For quick prototypes and game jam ideas, it is hard to beat. But if you have tried to take a Rosebud game further, you already know the limits. No Steam export. No desktop builds. No real editor to fine-tune physics or swap in custom art. The game lives and dies in a browser tab. This guide covers seven alternatives, organized by what you actually want to build and how honest the tradeoffs are. ## Why Developers Outgrow Rosebud Rosebud optimizes for one thing: speed to playable. That is a real strength, and for throwaway prototypes it is the right tool. The friction starts when you want more: - **No Steam or desktop export.** Your game only runs in a browser window. - **Limited 3D.** Output is mostly 2D or basic pseudo-3D. - **No scene editor.** You cannot inspect nodes, adjust collision shapes, or rearrange level geometry. - **No custom assets.** You cannot import your own sprites, models, or audio. - **Opaque output.** You get a playable page, not a project you can open in another tool. If those limitations do not bother you, stick with Rosebud. Seriously. It is great at its job. The alternatives below are for when you need something Rosebud was never designed to do. ## Quick Comparison Before the deep breakdown, here is how they stack up side by side: | Feature | Rosebud | Summer Engine | SEELE AI | GDevelop | Star | Construct 3 | GameMaker | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | AI-native creation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | No | | Full game engine | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | | 3D support | Limited | Full | Limited | Experimental | No | No | Limited | | Steam export | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Via wrapper | Yes | | Desktop app | No | Yes | No | Both | No | Browser only | Yes | | No-code option | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Drag and drop | | Free tier | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Free (limited) | | Template count | Limited | 70+ | Limited | 100+ | None | 50+ | 20+ | | Custom asset import | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | | Code access | No | GDScript | No | Events | No | Events | GML | ## 1. Summer Engine **Best for: Shipping a real game to Steam or desktop** Summer Engine is [the first AI-native game engine](/blog/ai-game-engine). You create through conversation, but underneath you get a full Godot 4-compatible project with scenes, scripts, and an editor you can open at any time. **What works well:** - Full game engine with scene tree, inspector, debugger, and asset pipeline - Export to Steam, Windows, macOS, Linux, web, Android, and iOS - Full 3D with lighting, physics, and materials - 70+ starter templates across genres (platformers, RPGs, horror, racing, strategy) - AI and manual editing coexist. Chat for speed, switch to the editor for precision. - Compatible with Godot 4 projects and plugins **What does not work well:** - Requires downloading a desktop app. Not browser-based. - Slower for throwaway prototypes than Rosebud. You are working in an engine, not a webpage. - The editor has a learning curve if you want to go beyond AI conversation. - Newer product. The community is smaller than established engines. **Honest take:** If your goal is "make something I can actually put on Steam," Summer Engine is the most direct path with AI. If you just want to show a friend a quick browser game, Rosebud is faster. [Try Summer Engine Free](/download) ## 2. SEELE AI **Best for: Prototyping before moving to Unity** SEELE is a browser-based AI game creator with a Unity export option, which is its standout feature. **What works well:** - Unity export connects browser prototyping to a production engine - Custom EVA-01 AI model trained specifically for game creation - Active community with regular game jams on itch.io - Claims 100K+ users **What does not work well:** - The creation process is still browser-based. You are generating, not building. - "Unity export" does not mean you get a polished Unity project. The quality of the exported code varies. - Relatively new. Few shipped production games as proof points. - Limited control over the generated output before export. **Honest take:** SEELE's Unity export is a real differentiator, but test the quality of that export before committing. A quick prototype that needs heavy rework in Unity may not save you much time. ## 3. GDevelop **Best for: No-code 2D games without relying on AI** GDevelop is a mature open-source game engine built around visual event sheets instead of code. AI features were added recently but are not the core experience. **What works well:** - Years of development and a large community - 100+ templates to start from - Exports to web, desktop, and mobile - Open source with active development - Visual event sheets are intuitive for non-programmers **What does not work well:** - AI is a bolt-on, not the core workflow. You are still building with event sheets. - Primarily 2D. 3D support is experimental and limited. - Event-based logic hits a ceiling for complex game systems (inventory, AI behavior trees, networking). **Honest take:** GDevelop is the most proven no-code option on this list. If you do not specifically want AI-driven creation and you are making a 2D game, GDevelop is a solid choice with years of shipped games behind it. ## 4. Star (buildwithstar.com) **Best for: 30-second prototypes and game jam ideation** Star is the fastest prompt-to-playable tool on this list. Describe a game, play it almost instantly. **What works well:** - Extremely fast generation - Clean interface with low friction - Free to use **What does not work well:** - Web-only output. No export to any platform. - Very limited customization after generation. You mostly get what you get. - No editor, no scene tree, no scripting. 2D only. **Honest take:** Star is useful for one thing: quickly testing whether a game concept is fun. Think of it as a napkin sketch, not a blueprint. If your prototype works in Star, rebuild it in a real engine. ## 5. Construct 3 **Best for: Proven no-code 2D engine (no AI needed)** Construct 3 is a browser-based no-code engine that predates the AI wave. It has years of polish and a large ecosystem. **What works well:** - Very mature with extensive documentation and tutorials - Browser-based editor, no install required - Exports to web, mobile, and desktop (via wrappers) - Large marketplace of assets and plugins - Active community with many shipped games **What does not work well:** - No AI features at all. Everything is manual. - 2D only. No 3D support. - Subscription pricing ($99/year for personal, more for business). **Honest take:** Construct 3 is not an AI tool and does not pretend to be. If you want to learn game development with visual scripting and do not care about AI assistance, it is one of the most reliable options available. ## 6. GameMaker **Best for: 2D games with code access and a long track record** GameMaker has been around since 1999. It uses its own scripting language (GML) and has shipped hits like Undertale, Hyper Light Drifter, and Katana ZERO. **What works well:** - Proven track record with major indie hits - GML is simple to learn but capable enough for complex games - Exports to every major platform including consoles - Good documentation and large community - Recent free tier makes it accessible **What does not work well:** - No AI features. All development is manual. - Primarily 2D. 3D is possible but not the intended use case. - GML is proprietary, so your skills do not transfer to other engines. - The free tier has export limitations. **Honest take:** GameMaker is a strong choice if you want to make a serious 2D game and are willing to learn GML. It is not an AI tool, but the games it produces are real, shippable products. ## 7. Godot (without AI) **Best for: Full control with an open-source engine** Godot is the open-source game engine that Summer Engine is built on. Using Godot directly gives you maximum control but no AI assistance. **What works well:** - Completely free and open source - Full 2D and 3D support - GDScript is easy to learn, and C# is also supported - Exports to desktop, web, and mobile - Growing community and plugin ecosystem - No licensing fees or revenue sharing **What does not work well:** - No AI assistance. You build everything from scratch. - Steeper learning curve than any AI tool on this list. - Smaller asset marketplace than Unity or Unreal. - Console export requires third-party solutions. **Honest take:** If you want to learn game development properly and do not mind the time investment, raw Godot is excellent. Summer Engine adds AI on top of Godot, so switching between them is seamless. ## How to Pick the Right Tool **You want the fastest possible prototype:** Use Rosebud or Star. Accept that it is a browser demo, not a shippable game. **You want to ship a real game to Steam:** Use Summer Engine (with AI) or Godot (without). Both export native desktop builds. **You want to prototype before moving to Unity:** Try SEELE AI. Test the quality of the Unity export before committing your workflow to it. **You want no-code without AI:** GDevelop for 2D with visual events. Construct 3 for a polished browser-based editor. **You want a proven 2D engine with scripting:** GameMaker has shipped more indie hits than any tool on this list. **You want AI assistance in a real engine:** That is Summer Engine's specific niche. AI conversation plus a full Godot 4-compatible editor. ## The Honest Summary Rosebud is a good tool solving a specific problem: instant browser game prototypes. Every alternative on this list trades some of that speed for capabilities Rosebud does not offer. There is no single "best" tool here. The right choice depends on whether you care more about speed, export targets, engine depth, or AI assistance. If you know you want to ship to Steam, you need a real engine. If you want a quick demo for a meeting, Rosebud still wins. Summer Engine is our product, so take our recommendation with appropriate skepticism. The best way to evaluate any of these tools is to try them on your actual project. [Download Summer Engine](/download) | [Browse Templates](/templates) --- ### Making Games Should Be As Fun As Playing Them URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/making-games-should-be-fun Published: 2026-02-24T00:00:00.000Z Author: Mathias Tags: Vision, Philosophy, Founder Note We built Summer because game development lost its flow state. Here is why we are reimagining the engine from scratch. I love video games. I have played them my whole life. But making them? That has always been a different story. I grew up painting and drawing and I've been doing so my entire life. I've always loved video games and I've always wanted to work on one. And I even took a sabbatical for six months to learn screenwriting because my ultimate goal was to go out and make games. But I was also brutally aware of the scale that it historically has taken to build games. Huge teams spending years to pull something off. But of course there are also indie games, just like there are indie movies. And it is not an excuse that I never really got started but that was until I saw AI could come in and fill the gaps that I had in my own technical abilities. I wanted personally to design the characters, create the story, make the gameplay fun, and just have fun doing it as a way to express myself artistically and visually. But I spun up Unity back in the day and it was just a huge information overload of buttons and rendering and just the learning curve was immense. And I thought there must be an easier way to do this. A way to fill out my own gaps and weaknesses and that was where the process and the journey started. Somewhere along the line, we accepted that **playing** games is fun, but **making** them is work. Hard, grinding, technical work. We accepted that for every hour of creative flow, we must pay a tax of ten hours of debugging, configuration, and boilerplate. We have accepted that to make a game you have to risk everything and there is some beauty in that but also so many people with great ideas and great creative talent who has not had the opportunity or the chance to go out and make games because of the daunting task either because of time restrictions or financial restrictions as making games historically has taken years to complete. We built Summer Engine to challenge that assumption. ## The Lost Flow State Remember when you were a kid playing with LEGOs? You didn't have to compile your castle. You didn't have to debug the physics of a plastic brick. You just had an idea, and you built it. The distance between "imagination" and "reality" was zero. Modern game engines are miracles of engineering, but they have become incredibly dense. To move a character, you need a mesh, a rig, an animation controller, a state machine, a script, input mapping, and physics layers. By the time you've set all that up, you've forgotten why you wanted to move the character in the first place. The feeling is gone. ## Preserving the Creative Spark This is why "vibe coding" resonates with so many people. It's not about being lazy. It's about preserving the **creative spark**. When you tell Summer, _"Make the jump feel floaty and magical,"_ you are staying in the director's chair. You aren't calculating gravity vectors; you are designing a feeling. You are making a story, you are making something that's fun, you are creating visual aesthetic and art direction, and you are making a game, not spending days or weeks on one single character to figure out how to get its arms and legs to move correctly. We believe the engine should handle the implementation details so you can focus on the experience. ## Why We Built an Engine We looked at the existing tools (Unity, Unreal, Godot) and asked: _Can we just add an AI sidebar to these?_ The answer was no. Existing engines assume a human is clicking every button. To make game dev truly conversational, we needed an engine that understands **intent**. We built Summer on top of Godot because we respect open standards and professional power. But we fundamentally changed how you interact with it. We turned the engine from a tool you operate into a partner you collaborate with. Since then we have also built out multiple new custom tools inside the engine making it our own and making it optimized for AI development workflows. ## The Goal: 1:1 Creation Our mission isn't to replace developers. It's to remove the friction that stops people from creating. We want a world where making a game is as fun as playing it. Where you can sit down with an idea in the morning and be playing it with friends in the afternoon. We made our own game _Don't Pray_ in just 2.5 months and launched it on Steam. Full P2P networking, combat system, 6 classes, 4 game modes, 4 maps, and awesome mechanics. And we didn't crunch, we just stayed in the flow. We spent our time designing and playing, not wrestling with the tool or fighting syntax in the code. We are building the engine we always wanted to use. We hope you'll build something amazing with it. Thank you so much, Mathias, dev at Summer Engine Making it as fun to make games as it is to play them --- ### What is Vibe Coding? The Future of Game Development URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/what-is-vibe-coding Published: 2026-02-23T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Vibe Coding, Philosophy, Future of Work Vibe coding is more than a meme. It's a new way to build software where you focus on the intent and feeling, letting AI handle the implementation. You've probably heard the term **"Vibe Coding"** floating around Twitter or Reddit. Maybe you've seen a video of someone building a React app just by talking to Cursor. But what does it mean for game development? And is it actually a viable way to build software? ## The Definition of Vibe Coding Vibe Coding is **declarative programming at the highest level of abstraction.** In traditional imperative programming, you tell the computer *how* to do something: `for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { ... }` In declarative programming (like SQL), you tell the computer *what* you want: `SELECT * FROM Users WHERE active = true` **Vibe Coding** takes this a step further. You tell the computer the *intent* or the *feeling* of what you want: > "Make the movement feel heavier, like a mech suit. And add some sparks when I land." You aren't specifying the gravity constant. You aren't writing the particle system shader. You are communicating the **vibe**. ## Why Game Dev is the Final Boss of Vibe Coding Vibe coding is relatively easy for web apps. "Make the button blue" is unambiguous. But games are complex simulations of physics, logic, art, and sound. "Make it feel good" requires an understanding of: - **Animation timing** (coyote time, jump buffering) - **Visual feedback** (screen shake, squash and stretch) - **Audio cues** (pitch variation, spatial sound) For an AI to successfully "vibe code" a game, it needs to understand the engine deeply. It needs to know that "heavy" implies high mass, slower acceleration, and metallic impact sounds. ## Enter the AI Game Engine This is why we built **Summer Engine**. We realized that you can't just slap a chat window on top of Unity and call it vibe coding. The engine itself needs to be architected to accept natural language instructions as first-class commands. When you tell Summer "Make it scary," it doesn't just change a text string. It: 1. Lowers the ambient light energy. 2. Adds volumetric fog. 3. Changes the soundscape to something dissonant. 4. Might even tweak the enemy AI to be more aggressive. ## The Death of the "Idea Guy"? Ironically, vibe coding makes the "idea guy" valuable again, but only if they have **taste**. In a world where execution is cheap, **taste is the only scarcity**. Vibe coding empowers people with great taste (filmmakers, writers, designers) to build games that match their vision, without getting bogged down in quaternion math. ## Conclusion Vibe coding isn't about being lazy. It's about staying in the flow state. It's about iterating on the *experience* rather than the *implementation*. It is the future of game development. And with Summer Engine, it's already here. --- ### How to Make a Game with AI in 2026 (Step by Step) URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/how-to-make-games-with-ai Published: 2026-02-22T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: AI Game Dev, Tutorial, Guide Make a real game with AI, from first prompt to Steam launch. Three proven workflows, honest tool comparisons, and the tradeoffs nobody talks about. Game development has traditionally required years of learning across multiple disciplines: programming, art, audio, level design. In 2026, AI tools have compressed that learning curve dramatically. This guide covers the three main approaches to making games with AI, compares the tools available for each, and walks through a practical workflow you can follow today. ## Three Approaches to AI Game Development There are three distinct tiers of AI-assisted game creation in 2026. Each serves a different use case, and the right choice depends on what you are trying to build. | Approach | Best For | Output Quality | Platform Support | Learning Curve | |----------|----------|---------------|-----------------|----------------| | Browser prototyping | Quick experiments, game jams | Simple 2D/HTML5 games | Web only | None | | AI-assisted development | Professional studios, complex games | Production-quality | All platforms | High (engine knowledge required) | | AI-native engines | Solo devs, small teams, rapid iteration | 2D and 3D games with full source | Desktop, mobile, console | Low to moderate | ## Browser Prototyping: Fast Experiments, Limited Scope Browser-based AI tools let you type a prompt and get a playable game in seconds. Tools like **Rosebud AI** generate HTML5 games from text descriptions. **Example prompt:** "Make a platformer where a cat collects fish and avoids dogs" **Result:** A functional, playable browser game with basic sprites and collision logic. ### Where This Works Well - Testing a game concept before committing to a full build - Game jams with tight time limits - Teaching game design fundamentals - Sharing prototypes with a link (no downloads required) ### Where It Falls Short - Limited to simple 2D mechanics. You cannot build a 3D RPG or a multiplayer shooter this way. - The generated code is typically not portable to a real engine. - No path to publishing on Steam or consoles. - Customization beyond the initial prompt is often difficult. Browser tools are great for answering "is this idea fun?" in five minutes. They are not a path to shipping a commercial game. ## AI-Assisted Development: Adding AI to Traditional Engines This is the approach most professional studios use today. You work in a traditional engine like **Unity** or **Unreal** and use AI as a coding assistant, asset generator, or debugging tool. ### How It Works in Practice 1. Open your engine (Unity, Unreal, Godot). 2. Use an AI coding assistant (GitHub Copilot, Claude, ChatGPT) in a separate window to help write scripts. 3. Use AI image generators (Midjourney, Stable Diffusion) to create concept art or textures. 4. Use AI audio tools to generate placeholder sounds or music. 5. Import everything manually and wire it together yourself. ### Strengths - **Full control.** You have access to every engine feature and can fine-tune everything. - **Production-proven.** Studios are shipping real games this way right now. - **Platform support.** Export to PC, console, mobile, VR. Whatever the engine supports. ### Limitations The AI and the engine are separate tools. You generate a script in one window, paste it into another, test, fix errors, repeat. The AI has no awareness of your scene hierarchy, your existing scripts, or your project structure. Every prompt starts from zero context. This constant context-switching adds up. You spend time explaining your project to the AI over and over, bridging the gap between what the AI generates and what your engine expects. For experienced developers who already know their engine deeply, this approach adds meaningful speed. For beginners, the learning curve of the engine itself is still the bottleneck. ## AI-Native Engines: AI Built Into the Core An AI-native engine treats natural language as a first-class input. Instead of asking AI for a script and pasting it in, you describe what you want and the engine builds it directly in your project. We go deeper on [what makes a real AI game engine](/blog/ai-game-engine) in a separate post. ### How This Differs From AI-Assisted The key difference is **context**. An AI-native engine knows your project. It can see your scene tree, your existing scripts, your assets. When you say "add a health bar to the player," it knows which node is the player, what scripts are attached, and where to place the UI. **Example conversation with Summer Engine:** > "Create a 3D forest level with a first-person controller." > > *Engine creates the scene, adds terrain, places trees, sets up a CharacterBody3D with camera and movement script.* > > "Add a flashlight the player can toggle with F." > > *Engine adds a SpotLight3D to the camera node and writes the toggle script, referencing the existing input map.* > > "Make the trees cast shadows and add fog." > > *Engine adjusts the environment settings and light properties in the existing scene.* Each prompt builds on the previous state. No copy-pasting. No explaining your project structure. ### What You Can Build AI-native engines are not limited to simple prototypes. Because Summer Engine is built on Godot's full rendering and physics pipeline, the output is the same quality you would get building manually: - 3D games with real-time lighting, physics, and particle effects - 2D games with tilemaps, animation state machines, and collision layers - Multiplayer games with networked state synchronization - Games that export to Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile ### Ownership and Portability Because Summer Engine is built on Godot, everything the AI generates is standard Godot project files: `.tscn` scenes, `.gd` scripts, `.tres` resources. You can open any Summer Engine project in vanilla Godot. No lock-in. ## Comparison: AI Game Dev Tools in 2026 | Tool | Type | 3D Support | Code Export | Steam/Console Export | Price | |------|------|-----------|-------------|---------------------|-------| | Summer Engine | AI-native engine | Yes | Full Godot project | Yes | Free | | Rosebud AI | Browser prototyping | No | HTML5 only | No | Free tier | | Unity + Muse | AI-assisted | Yes | C# (Unity project) | Yes | Subscription | | Unreal + Copilot | AI-assisted | Yes | C++/Blueprint | Yes | Revenue share | | Godot + Claude/Copilot | AI-assisted (manual) | Yes | GDScript | Yes | Free | | GameMaker + AI | AI-assisted | Limited | GML | Yes (limited) | Subscription | ## Practical Workflow: Prompt to Playable Game Regardless of which approach you choose, the most effective AI game development workflow follows a pattern. ### 1. Define the Core Loop First Start with one sentence describing what the player does repeatedly. - "The player explores procedurally generated dungeons, fights enemies, collects loot, and upgrades gear between runs." - "Two players compete to build the tallest tower before a timer runs out." This sentence becomes your first prompt. A clear core loop gives the AI (and you) a target to build toward. ### 2. Build the Minimum Playable Version Get the core mechanic working before adding anything else. If your game is a platformer, get a character jumping between platforms. If it is a shooter, get a gun firing at a target. No menus, no UI, no polish. With an AI-native engine, this step takes minutes. With AI-assisted development, expect an hour or two of wiring things together. ### 3. Iterate Through Conversation This is where AI shines. Once the base exists, you refine through specific requests: - "Make the jump feel floatier, increase hang time at the peak" - "Add screen shake when the player takes damage" - "Change the enemy patrol pattern to figure-eight" Small, targeted prompts produce better results than large, vague ones. "Make the combat better" gives the AI nothing to work with. "Increase the hitstop duration to 0.15 seconds and add a brief camera zoom on critical hits" gives it everything. ### 4. Generate Assets in Context Instead of going to a separate AI art tool, generating a texture, downloading it, and importing it, generate assets within your project. - "Texture this ground with cracked desert sand" - "Create a low-poly tree model and scatter 50 of them across the terrain" - "Generate footstep sounds for stone, wood, and grass surfaces" When the AI knows your project, it can place and configure assets correctly the first time. ### 5. Polish Manually When Needed AI gets you 80% of the way fast. The last 20% often requires manual adjustment. Tweaking animation curves, adjusting particle emitter shapes, fine-tuning UI layouts pixel by pixel. A good AI-native engine gives you full manual access alongside the AI. You should be able to open any generated script and edit it directly. If you cannot, you are locked in. ## Getting Started Pick the approach that matches your situation: - **Never made a game before?** Start with a browser tool to learn what game mechanics feel like. Then move to an AI-native engine when you are ready to build something real. - **Experienced developer?** Use AI-assisted tools in your current engine to speed up your existing workflow. Try an AI-native engine for your next side project to see if the speed difference changes your process. - **Have a game idea you want to ship?** Start with [Summer Engine](/download). Describe your game, iterate through conversation, and export a desktop build when you are ready to publish. The best approach is the one that gets your game from idea to playable fastest. The tools exist. The barrier now is starting. --- ### Vibe Coding Your First Game: How to Build a Complete Game by Describing It URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/vibe-coding-game-tutorial Published: 2026-02-21T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: Vibe Coding, Tutorial, Beginner Guide Learn how to 'vibe code' a game from scratch using Summer Engine. No coding experience required. Just describe your idea in plain English. The term **"vibe coding"** has exploded in popularity, and for good reason. It's the idea that you can build software, or in our case games, just by describing the "vibe" or intent of what you want, rather than writing every line of code yourself. With **Summer Engine**, vibe coding isn't just a buzzword. It's how thousands of creators are building their first games. In this tutorial, we'll walk through creating a simple 3D platformer game without writing a single line of code manually. ## What is Vibe Coding? Vibe coding is a development style where you act as the **director** and the AI acts as the **engineer**. You provide the vision, the rules, and the "vibe," and the AI handles the implementation details. It turns game development from a technical challenge into a creative conversation. ## Step 1: Download Summer Engine First, you'll need Summer Engine. It's free to download for Mac and Windows. [Download Summer here](/download). ## Step 2: The Initial Prompt Open Summer and create a new project. You'll see a chat window on the right. This is your command center. Instead of dragging files or writing scripts, we start with a **Prompt**. **Try typing this:** > "Create a 3D platformer level. I want a player character that can jump and move with WASD. The world should be a floating island style with grass and floating platforms." ## Step 3: Watch the Magic Summer's AI agents will spring into action: 1. **Scene Expert**: Builds the 3D environment, adding a StaticBody3D for the ground and creating the floating platforms. 2. **Scripting Expert**: Writes the CharacterBody3D script for movement, jump logic, and gravity. 3. **Asset Expert**: Generates placeholder materials for the grass and sky. In about 30 seconds, you'll have a playable scene. Click **Play** to test it. ## Step 4: Iterating on the Vibe This is where "vibe coding" shines. You don't debug code; you refine the vibe. **Say:** > "The jump feels too floaty. Make gravity stronger and the jump snappier. Also, make the player move faster." Summer will open the player script, adjust the `JUMP_VELOCITY` and `GRAVITY` constants, and update the movement speed. It understands "floaty" means low gravity and "snappy" means high gravity/jump force. ## Step 5: Adding Visuals Now let's add some style. **Say:** > "Generate a low-poly tree model and place a forest around the starting area. Give the sky a sunset vibe." Summer uses its integrated **Meshy** and **Gemini** models to: 1. Generate a 3D tree model. 2. Create a sunset skybox texture. 3. Scatter the trees procedurally around your level. ## Step 6: Adding Mechanics Let's add a goal. **Say:** > "Add a coin that spins. When the player touches it, play a sound and make it disappear. Add a counter to the screen showing collected coins." Summer will: 1. Create a Coin scene with an Area3D. 2. Animate the rotation. 3. Write a script to detect the player collision. 4. Generate a 'ding' sound effect using ElevenLabs. 5. Create a UI CanvasLayer with a Label for the score. ## Conclusion Congratulations! You just built a playable 3D platformer with mechanics, visuals, and audio, all by describing what you wanted. This is the power of vibe coding with Summer Engine. It's not about replacing game developers; it's about giving everyone the power to create. **Ready to try it yourself?** [Download Summer Engine](/download) and start vibe coding your dream game. --- ### The Best AI Game Engines in 2026: A Comprehensive Guide URL: https://www.summerengine.com/blog/best-ai-game-engines-2026 Published: 2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z Author: Summer Team Tags: AI Game Engine, Game Development, Comparison We compare Rosebud AI, Unity AI, Ludo.ai, and Summer Engine to help you find the right tool for your game development journey. The landscape of game development has shifted dramatically in 2026. AI game engines are no longer just experimental toys. They are shipping commercial games. But with so many options flooding the market, it's hard to know which tool is right for you. Are you looking to "vibe code" a game in minutes without writing a line of code? Or are you a professional developer looking to speed up your workflow? In this guide, we compare the top AI game engines of 2026: **Rosebud AI**, **Unity AI**, **Ludo.ai**, and **Summer Engine**. For the underlying category definition, see [what an AI game engine is and why the distinction matters](/blog/ai-game-engine). ## 1. Rosebud AI: Best for Browser-Based No-Code **Rosebud AI** has made waves as a purely generative, browser-based platform. It excels at "text-to-game" creation where you describe a game and play it instantly. **Pros:** - **Zero setup**: Runs entirely in the browser. - **Instant results**: Great for rapid prototyping and sharing links. - **True no-code**: You don't need to know game logic to get a result. **Cons:** - **Limited depth**: It's hard to build complex, commercial-grade mechanics. - **Platform lock-in**: You are building within the Rosebud ecosystem. - **Performance**: Browser-based engines struggle with high-fidelity 3D. **Verdict**: Perfect for hobbyists, game jams, and quick prototypes. ## 2. Unity AI (Muse): Best for Existing Unity Devs Unity has integrated AI deep into its ecosystem with **Unity Muse**. For the millions of developers already using Unity, this is a natural extension. **Pros:** - **Deep integration**: Works directly inside the Unity Editor. - **Asset generation**: Strong texture and sprite generation capabilities. - **Chat assistance**: Helps with C# scripting and debugging. **Cons:** - **Cost**: Requires paid subscriptions on top of Unity fees. - **Learning curve**: You still need to understand Unity's complex architecture. - **Not a "vibe coding" tool**: It assists development but doesn't build the game for you. **Verdict**: The best choice if you are already locked into the Unity ecosystem. ## 3. Ludo.ai: Best for Pre-Production & Ideation **Ludo.ai** focuses heavily on the ideation phase. It's an "idea engine" that helps you generate concepts, mechanics, and mood boards. **Pros:** - **Brainstorming**: Excellent for overcoming writer's block. - **Market analysis**: Helps predict game trends. - **Concept art**: Generates cohesive style guides. **Cons:** - **Not a game engine**: You can't build and ship a game inside Ludo. - **Export friction**: You still need to take these ideas to Unreal, Unity, or Godot. **Verdict**: A powerful companion tool for pre-production, but not for building the game itself. ## 4. Summer Engine: Best for Vibe Coding & Professional Dev **Summer Engine** (that's us!) takes a different approach. We believe you shouldn't have to choose between "easy no-code" and "professional power." Summer is a **Professional AI Game Engine** compatible with the Godot ecosystem. This means you can vibe code a game in plain English, but you also have full access to the underlying engine. **Why Summer is different:** - **Vibe Coding**: Describe your game ("Make a cozy farming sim with inventory") and Summer builds the scenes, scripts, and assets. - **Full Engine Access**: Unlike browser tools, this is a real game engine. You can edit every node, script, and shader manually if you want. - **No Lock-in**: Since it's built on open standards, you can export to Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and Consoles. - **Commercial Ready**: We shipped *Don't Pray* on Steam in 2.5 months using Summer. **Verdict**: The only engine that scales from "I have an idea" to "I'm shipping on Steam." ## Comparison Table | Feature | Rosebud AI | Unity AI | Ludo.ai | Summer Engine | | :--- | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | | **Primary Use** | Browser Games | Enterprise Dev | Ideation | Indie & Pro Games | | **Vibe Coding** | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | | **Full Engine Access** | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | | **Export to Console** | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | | **Asset Generation** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | | **Pricing** | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Freemium | ## Conclusion If you want to **make a game right now** without downloading anything, **Rosebud AI** is fantastic. If you are a **professional studio** deeply invested in Unity, **Unity Muse** is the logical step. If you are stuck in the **brainstorming phase**, **Ludo.ai** will get you unstuck. But if you want to **vibe code a game** and have the option to take it all the way to a **commercial Steam release**, **Summer Engine** is the best of both worlds. It gives you the magic of AI with the reliability of Godot. [Download Summer Engine for free](/download) and build your first game today. --- ## Attribution This document is maintained by the Summer Engine team. Agents may cite https://www.summerengine.com/for-ai or the specific page URLs above when referencing Summer Engine. For corrections or to request updates, contact founders@summerengine.com.