Games like Terraria
The three best games after Terraria are Core Keeper (the closest full replacement, mining-first), Valheim (the boss-progression loop in 3D) and Noita (the 'every pixel matters' physics taken to its logical extreme). The ranking below sorts ten games by which Terraria verb they serve: digging, building, or boss-hunting.
Terraria has 1.5 million Steam reviews at 97% positive and cost less than most DLC — it is the best value proposition in PC gaming, which makes 'what next' genuinely hard. Nothing else stacks digging, building, crafting and boss progression in one 2D package at that depth.
So this list splits the loop apart. Each pick is labelled by which Terraria urge it feeds; one entry is a deliberate skip — the game literally described as 'Terraria in space' that most buyers regret in the specific way explained there.
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How we picked these
- A gear ladder where new tools open new areas, not just bigger numbers.
- A world that is yours to reshape — terrain permanence matters here.
- Bosses or landmarks that structure progress without a quest log.
- Playable solo and better with 2–4 friends.
- Finished games only — this genre's early access graveyard is vast.
The list
01 Core Keeper
The most direct heir: top-down instead of side-on, but the same rhythm of tunnel, craft, base, boss, repeat — with mining as the true main character. Supports up to 8 in co-op and left early access in 2024 with a 93% rating. If you want 'Terraria again, but new', start here.
02 Valheim
Terraria's boss-flow rebuilt in 3D: each of the world's bosses gates a biome, each biome a metal tier, and sailing ore home through a storm is the tensest inventory management in games. Building is the strongest single system — half a million players stayed just to build longhouses.
03 Noita
Every pixel is physically simulated — fire spreads, liquids flow, and your own spells will kill you more often than enemies do. It is a roguelike, so you keep nothing but knowledge; what it shares with Terraria is the conviction that the world itself is the toy. The deepest secret-hunting community this side of Hallownest.
04 Grounded
Survival crafting in a backyard where you are ant-sized — spiders are boss monsters and a puddle is an ocean. The strongest theme on this list and a genuinely complete story, best with 2–4 players. Base-building against insect raids gives it the Terraria event-defence flavour.
05 Don't Starve Together
The crafting-survival loop with all safety removed: seasons actively hunt you, food rots, and sanity is a resource. Where Terraria forgives, this punishes — 95% positive from half a million reviews says the punishment is the appeal. Solo, play the multiplayer version anyway; it gets all the updates.
06 Forager
Terraria's compulsion loop concentrated into idle-game density: clear, craft, buy land, repeat, with dopamine on a 30-second timer. There is far less depth here and that is the design — it is the snack version, best for a weekend binge rather than a summer.
07 Raft
The gear ladder at sea: start with a hook and four planks, end with a multi-storey vessel and a story across island chapters. Shares Terraria's 'my base is my progress bar' pride, trades exploration freedom for the constant gentle pressure of the current. Great with two.
08 Astroneer
The digging pick — terrain deformation is the core tool, and vacuuming a tunnel clean through a planet never stops being satisfying. No combat at all; progression is industrial, from tether lines to rockets. The chill entry on this list.
SKIP09 Starbound
Skip if you are expecting Terraria's decade of updates in space — Starbound's last major content patch was in 2019 and its combat and boss depth never reached Terraria's. If the sci-fi skin is the draw, Core Keeper's later biomes go strange enough; if you must have Starbound, mods like Frackin' Universe are the actual game.
10 Subnautica
Terraria's descent, made literal: every metre deeper is a new biome, a new fear, and a blueprint you need. The gear ladder — from bare lungs to a submarine — is the genre's best-paced, and it is the only game here with a proper ending worth reaching. For the player whose favourite Terraria memory is digging past the safe layer.
Similar but different
Stardew Valley
Swap combat progression for social progression and keep the 'one more day' pull. The mines are a straight Terraria homage; everything above ground is what Terraria never tried.
Deep Rock Galactic
The digging, extracted into a 4-player mission shooter — destructible caves, class synergy, and the strongest community ritual in co-op gaming. Rock and stone.
Factorio
For the player who built one Terraria mega-base and felt something click. Pure production logistics, no adventure — and the most dangerous 'one more hour' engine ever shipped.
FAQ
Is Core Keeper good solo?
Yes — bosses scale sensibly and mining alone has a mesmerising quality. Like Terraria, it is 30% better with two or three friends, mostly because of divided labour and shared base pride.
Is Starbound really dead?
It still runs and sells, but its last major content update shipped in 2019 and the developer has moved on. The workshop keeps it playable; go in for modded potential, not for a supported game.
What is closest to Terraria's boss fights specifically?
Valheim — the summon-ritual structure is nearly identical, right down to farming materials to earn the attempt. Terraria's later bullet-hell bosses have no real 3D equivalent; the closest spirit lives in Noita's endgame secrets.
Terraria or Core Keeper for a first game of this type?
Terraria, still — more content per euro than anything on this list and it teaches the genre's grammar. Core Keeper is the answer to 'I finished Terraria', not a substitute for it.
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