Games like Skyrim
The three best games after Skyrim are The Witcher 3 (the same scale with far better writing), Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (first-person medieval immersion without the dragons) and Baldur's Gate 3 (the freedom to solve problems sideways, in a party). The ranking below sorts ten games by which Skyrim habit they feed: wandering, role-playing, or living there.
Nobody asks for 'games like Skyrim' because they need another fantasy setting. What they miss is the licence to wander: pick a direction, get distracted by a cave, come out three hours later with someone else's problems. Most recommendations replace the setting and forget the licence.
The ten below are ranked by how much of that wandering freedom survives. Each entry says whether it feeds the explorer, the role-player, or the person who mostly wants to own a house and fill it with cheese. One entry is a deliberate skip — the game Skyrim players were promised would be next.
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How we picked these
- An open world that rewards picking a direction over following a marker.
- Role-playing weight: your build or choices change how the world treats you.
- Big enough to live in — 60 hours minimum without touching the main quest.
- Playable today without a modding weekend (exceptions flagged).
- Numbers from Steam quoted per entry, so you can check every claim.
The list
01 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the standard answer because it is the correct one: Skyrim's scale with writing several tiers above it — 97% positive across 882,000 Steam reviews. You trade build freedom (you are always Geralt) for quests that remember you. If you skipped it because 'everyone says that', everyone is right.
02 Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is first-person Skyrim with the fantasy removed and the immersion doubled: 15th-century Bohemia, food that spoils, a sword you have to actually learn. 94% positive across 193,000 reviews. The closest any game gets to Skyrim's 'I just live here now' feeling — earned, not given.
03 Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 carries Skyrim's real secret — the game says yes to stupid ideas. It is turn-based and party-driven, so the moment-to-moment feel is different, but the 'can I steal it, stack it, or set it on fire' instinct transfers completely. 97% across 853,000 reviews.
04 Elden Ring
Elden Ring is the wandering, weaponised: no quest markers at all, a horizon that always pays out, and combat that demands far more than Skyrim ever did. Go in knowing the difficulty is the price of the freedom — 93% across 1.1 million reviews say the trade is worth it.
05 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is literally more Elder Scrolls — the 2006 classic with a modern coat. The 75% Steam rating is mostly performance complaints on weaker hardware, not verdicts on the game underneath, which remains the series at its strangest and most charming. Flagged so you know what the score means.
06 Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy is the castle-and-countryside half of Skyrim with a bigger licence: 90% positive across 371,000 reviews. Exploration and atmosphere carry it; role-playing depth does not — your choices barely register. Pick it for the wandering, not for consequence.
07 Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord answers a question Skyrim only whispered: what if you could stop adventuring and start a faction? No hand-written quests to speak of — the stories come from sieges you started and kingdoms you betrayed. 88% across 296,000 reviews, and the most replayable game on this list.
08 Fallout 4
Fallout 4 is Skyrim's engine-sibling with guns: the same wander-loot-build loop in a wasteland instead of a fjord. Its 81% rating reflects real criticisms — thin dialogue, shallow choices — but the exploration compulsion is fully intact, and it is routinely very cheap.
09 Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen is the deep cut: clunkier than everything above, and home to the best 'a griffin just ruined my trip' moments in the genre. Night is genuinely dangerous, climbing onto monsters is a mechanic, and its cult status (88% across 49,000 reviews) was earned after launch, not bought at it.
SKIP10 Starfield
Skip if what you want is Skyrim in space — Starfield is the studio's own next game and its 57% Steam rating tells the honest story: loading screens where the wandering should be. The magic of Skyrim was a continuous world; a menu of planets is the opposite of that. Elden Ring or Kingdom Come II keeps the horizon unbroken.
Similar but different
Valheim
Valheim swaps quests for self-assigned projects: same fjords, same wanderlust, but you build the homestead instead of buying it. The best 'I live here now' feeling outside the Elder Scrolls.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the other great 'just exist in it' world — less build freedom than Skyrim, far more density per square mile. See our full games-like-RDR2 page if the wandering matters more than the wizardry.
Subnautica
Subnautica replaces the horizon with a depth gauge: the same pull of 'what is over there' pointed straight down. No character sheet — the progression is your own nerve.
FAQ
What is the closest game to Skyrim overall?
The Witcher 3 for quality, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II for feel. If you want first-person immersion in a hand-made world, Kingdom Come is the truer heir; if you want the best possible version of 'big map, great quests', it is The Witcher 3.
Is Oblivion Remastered worth it over just replaying Skyrim?
If you have never played Oblivion, yes — the quest writing is better than Skyrim's and the remaster looks the part. Check the 75% rating's context first: most complaints are performance on mid-range hardware, so mind your specs.
What about Starfield — it is the same studio?
Same studio, different shape: Starfield splits its world across loading screens and menus, which kills exactly the thing people love Skyrim for. The 57% Steam rating is unusually honest crowd wisdom. Wait, or wander elsewhere.
I mostly used stealth archery. What fits that habit?
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has genuine stealth with consequences, and Baldur's Gate 3 turns sneaking into a full tactical toolkit. Elden Ring supports a bow build, but honestly, everyone there ends up dodge-rolling.
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