Top Five Games like Terraria – 2018’s Best Alternatives

The joys of playing sandbox games stem from the countless possible ways on how to play them. Survive the night? Create a massive castle? Construct a maze of death traps for your friends to try out? The genre lets you do whatever it is you want to do and it is a big part on what makes it truly addictive.

Terraria gave this genre a twist by designing it as a side-scroller while retaining the core basics of action-adventure sandbox games. It is also expanding to mobile platforms in hopes of reaching a greater playerbase. The game has earned highly positive reviews and there are already talks regarding another game set in the same universe named Terraria: Otherworld with a release date slated sometime within this year. It is said to have new features like a tower defense element and a plot.

Many other games followed suit in hopes of becoming the next hit sandbox game. Coupled with new features and different game modes, these titles will surely sate your creative appetite. Check out this list of other sandbox games for you to choose from:

Top Five Games like Terraria

Magicite

Magicite is a side-scroller role-playing game with crafting elements and permanent death. It was created by Sean Young and was funded through Kickstarter with $16,308 pledged by 674 people. Now it is available in Steam and has been described as an incredibly-difficult game.

It starts with a character-creation screen where you can choose among the 15 races each with unique attributes and starting equipment. You will also get to choose what hat you will wear which provides passive bonuses to the character. Two passive traits will be granted to your character which you can reroll if you don’t fancy what was given to you. Afterwards you are thrown into Toadroad Forest where you must venture towards the first village while fighting off monsters and collecting wood for item crafting. You’ll have to rely on online sources regarding the recipes for creating items.

Levels are randomly-generated so not all of your playthroughs will be similar. Eventually the character will level up and, in every five levels, will be given a skill of your choosing among the three paths namely melee, ranged, and magic. The freedom to choose from the paths allows fluidity in building a character so you can play as a warrior that can teleport and summon wolves.

The game also supports multiplayer so you can play with your buddies. They can revive you when you perish but this mode makes the game a lot harder with tougher enemies and scarcity of resources. Magicite is actively supported by its developer and is indeed quite a fun game. Just make sure that you are prepared for multiple replays after dying many times.

Growtopia

Growtopia is a mobile multiplayer sandbox game that crams together thousands of players from around the globe into a virtual world where crafting and antics collide.

Growing things out of the ground using seeds is a major focus in this game (hence the name probably) but there is an option of purchasing things with the use of the in-game currency to avoid the process of creating it. Combining these seeds is also another way to craft items and you’ll have to rely on online sources for a database of combinations.

The game is apparently designed to encourage collaboration among players. However the toxic environment of online gaming communities only results in trolling and hostile acts against other players. If you can find a friend or two to play with, and endure whatever other players might bring down upon you, then Growtopia may be worth a try.

Craft The World

Craft The World is an interesting mix of Dwarf Fortress and Terraria as it puts you in control of several dwarves in a side-scroller sandbox game instead of a lone character.

You’ll use these dwarves in resource-gathering tasks while ensuring that they are safe from hostile mobs at night and starvation. They each have a random skill ranging from carpentry to magic and eventually will be able to learn two more with skill books. Their population will increase as the game progresses and you’ll have to construct a shelter that will accommodate them all. There is also a tech-tree that unlocks better equipment and other advancements through the consistent use of an associated skill. For example you will unlock the Wood Working tech by constantly crafting wooden items. Descending deep into the earth will give you the chance of finding some rare mineral or fighting a boss.

The game has a campaign mode with levels that take you to different biomes with different challenges each. There’s also the custom mode where you can set specific options like world size, difficulty, etc. An in-game tutorial will ensure that you won’t get lost especially if controlling multiple units in a sandbox game is new to you.

Try Craft The World if you want something a bit different from the usual side-scroller sandbox formula.

Epic Inventor

Epic Inventor starts with a few pages of text that covers what you need to know before throwing you into the game. It has a couple of notable differences from the other sandbox games in this list.

You are not required to have a certain tool to harvest resources. You don’t need a pickaxe to mine stone or an axe to chop wood. You just have to hold the E button and pray that no hostile mob will attack you while waiting for the timer. There is also no need to dig downward but instead there are caves for you to enter and explore. Your respawn point is your house which can be picked up and transferred anywhere as long as it is placed on a stone base.

The game gives you a robotic partner right off the bat who can be summoned anywhere to protect you and can be upgraded through attachments. Epic Inventor has an easy to follow crafting system that will allow you to create objects like an automated stone harvester or a crossbow turret.

Its graphics are reminiscent of old-school side-scrollers, that might turn off those who are used to the visuals of recent times. Epic Inventor has some potential in becoming a fun game that can burn through your hours in either single player or multiplayer modes.

Junk Jack X

Junk Jack X delivers a satisfying mix of crafting and exploration on a side-scroller as inspired by the success of Terraria.

The game fortunately has a tutorial that guides new players especially those who are not familiar with this genre. It details the basics of gathering resources for item crafting and shelter building. Once it is done you are then left to explore the world freely. There are a lot of things to do above ground like farming and hunting but digging deep into the earth is where you can find rare minerals for better equipment. The most valuable item is the portal piece which is combined with two other pieces to open a portal that leads to a new planet filled with new resources.

Peaceful mode removes all hostile mobs but you can still get damaged by drowning or falling. Creative mode allows you to build to your heart’s content with unlimited health and access to all blocks in the game. Of course there is support for multiplayer so you can build and explore with friends or other players around the world.

Junk Jack X makes an excellent addition to the collector of sandbox games as it contains the core concepts that make this gaming genre great.

Have you tried any of these games? Do you know any other games like Terraria? Let us know in the comments below.