We've all played Minecraft for a good few hundred hours by now, across Nintendo Switch, PC, mobile - every platform out there, almost. So, we've got a list of games like Minecraft for you to try and continue the sandbox vibes. These games offer plenty of building, some combat, fishing, multiplayer scenarios - but most importantly, there's both mining and crafting. Tons of it, in fact.
There are games in this list that focus on a few different areas, so if you just want to explore caves, you can do that - or if building a village is your thing, we've got ideas for you too.
The best games like Minecraft on handhelds are:
1. Terraria
What came first, the chicken or the egg? Terraria or Minecraft? It was Minecraft, actually, but these two games are both excellent open-ended builder games that you can sink hours and hours into. Terraria is a sandbox game where you can build what you like and do what you want. It can be tricky to set a path and figure out what you actually want to do due to the sheer openness, but once you get going, it's hard to stop.
Fight some things, gather some things, build a house, build another house, head to a cave, and make a minecart system - the world is your oyster. You can play easily with friends, which makes gathering and beating enemies a cinch, or you can even join a PVP scenario for a bit of a different vibe.
We can help you get a head start, though. Here are some Terraria house designs you can follow, and a guide on how to get past the Terraria bosses that may hinder your exploration from time to time.
Check prices: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
2. Dragon Quest Builders 2
Aside from Terraria, Dragon Quest Builders 2 is the closest you'll get to Minecraft, except it has a story, characters, and goals added in. The main aim is to rebuild small civilizations that you come across, but there are enemies to defeat here, too, including a big ol' boss at the end of the game.
I played through DQB and DQB 2 on Switch, and had a great time placing blocks and creating new habitats for the villagers I met along the way. There's only a small radius you can build in, and anything outside of that doesn't count toward in-game goals. This means you need to get creative with smaller, denser, and more pleasing amenities.
Since there are already two Builders games, I anticipate that a third may happen, but we'll need to wait and see. In the meantime, you should check out our guide to the best Dragon Quest games to see what else this iconic franchise has to offer.
Check prices: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
3. Don't Starve
This entry is a two-fer. Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together put your survival and building skills to the test, either alone or in a group. You choose a character from a roster, all of whom have individual quirks, and then you're dropped into the world with nothing but the clothes on your back. Pick up some sticks, make some tools, and then avoid setting the forest on fire and getting eaten by a myriad of creatures.
Don't Starve's artwork really plays into the sometimes-dire scenarios - it's almost Tim Burton-esque drawn visuals and muted color palette make you almost see the sanity escaping you and the cold, hungry feelings creeping over you. These games can get hard. You end up with no food, it's nighttime, monsters are coming out, and your sanity is quickly draining… I don't have much advice other than to try not to starve.
At least if you're playing Together, you can rely on teammates to provide you with some sustenance, assuming you have trustworthy friends to play the multiplayer game with.
Check prices: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
4. Lego Fortnite
Fortnite, as we all know, is a huge game with many different areas to jump into. One of those is Lego Fortnite, a semi-separate game mode where you can play various scenarios as brick-shaped people. One of which, Odyssey, is akin to Minecraft as it's a survival game.
In this game mode, your current avatar turns into a Lego minifigure, and you can customize the game to your needs by essentially making it a peaceful mode, similar to the one in Minecraft, or you can turn up the heat and face off against enemies while farming and building. Better still, there's also fishing, chests to loot, plenty of friendly (and unfriendly) critters, and even a machine-based addition that lets you drive around. Can't do that in Minecraft, huh?
There's also Brick Life, which is more of a social-based adventure game, but still pretty fun. It's certainly worth a try if you enjoy simulation games.
Play for free: Android, iOS, and Windows handhelds
5. Roblox
Roblox has games for everyone. And we mean everyone. Building, combat, driving, fashion shows - you name it, Roblox has it. To get the most Minecraft-y experience, we recommend combat simulators if you like taking down hordes of zombies at night.
Many Roblox experiences share similar visuals to Mojang's monster game, with their cubic visuals, which make you feel more at home. But seriously, anything you enjoy doing in Minecraft, you can find here. There's Cut Trees (where you cut down trees), Build A Zoo, Dig 1 Million Blocks, Fisch (for fishing), and even Build A Beehive if you just love Minecraft's bees.
There are even Roblox games that resemble Minecraft itself. We recommend using these Slasher Blade Loot codes to get some items you can use for better armor.
Play for free: Android, iOS, and Windows handhelds
6. Satisfactory
This particular entry will interest those of you who love messing around with redstone and getting into the nitty-gritty of systems and storage. Satisfactory debuted on Steam in 2024, and let us rush in to become builders of the most organized factories ever. I spent 40 hours playing this game in just one week; you go around finding something, turning it into something else, transporting it somewhere, and then using it for a different thing.
You begin on an alien planet with a convenient device that can print items, and you go from there. Start small by picking up sticks and leaves to fuel your power stations, and pretty soon you'll be overclocking your Mk II miner to get that uranium coming in thick and fast. The hardest part is remembering where you built that extra base or which storage capsule has what you need.
The main goal is to provide items to build the space elevator, so in theory, Satisfactory is perfect for fans of business simulation games. It's more of an unpaid internship, but it is fun.
Check prices: Steam Deck and Windows handhelds
7. Lego Worlds
Imagine Minecraft, but it's made of Lego bricks instead of dirt, stone, water, and wood. That's what Lego Worlds is. You can go to all manner of environments from snowy tundras to jungles to underground, treasure-laden caves in procedurally generated worlds, keeping you busy forever, if you like.
You can create almost anything here - if you can build it with Lego, you can make it. It's basically like your Lego collection but in digital form, so you're not likely to lose that last piece you need, and you can take it out and about with you. There are blueprints you can work from, or you can go creative. We love the castle and lighthouse blueprints, and the Dino Transport Cage can help you take your ferocious friends from A to B.
If you want to play it on the go, Lego Worlds is available on Nintendo Switch, but it's currently unsupported on Steam Deck. Hopefully, Traveler's Tales optimizes it soon so we can shrimp up in bed and play on either device, along with all of the other Lego games.
Check prices: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
8. Core Keeper
Do you really enjoy going into the dark depths of a cave and digging up treasure? Core Keeper is exactly this. There are enemies to fend off, and minecart rails to follow, all while you're running around with a torch in hand.
This is a sandbox game, where you and your friends can join together to create an underground civilization with farms, fishing areas, helpful machinery - you name it, it's there. Just beware of that gigantic bug coming to ruin your hard work, and maybe stay away from the pointy slimes.
Core Keeper has Steam Deck verification, so it runs beautifully, and you don't need one of the best Steam Deck alternatives to enjoy it. Plus, it's also available on Nintendo Switch, so there are plenty of handheld options for you to play it on. Perhaps you could turn off the light and really immerse yourself in the vibes.
Check prices: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
9. Dinkum
Heading back to the surface, we recommend Dinkum for those who prefer the farming and village-based gameplay. Set in the Australian outback, you need to chop trees and forage for items to get started. Yes, there are dingoes (diggos), echidnas (kidnas), and platypi (wild plunks) to spot, too.
The main part of Dinkum is building up your town and inviting NPCs to move in, though you do need to survive out in the wild, as there are some pesky hostile mobs that will run at you and potentially cause you to perish. Give them a quick bonk with a hammer or a bat, and you can get some drops from them… or you can run away if needs be.
Dinkum is on Nintendo Switch and 'playable' on Steam Deck. The game left early access in 2025, so we expect more expansions and improvements as time goes on, but it's already a super solid sandbox game.
Check prices: Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Windows handhelds
New games like Minecraft
While we're not short on games offering a similar experience to Minecraft, there are upcoming Switch games and upcoming mobile games that are also similar to Mojang's title. We're specifically excited to jump into Starsand Island as it releases in 2026, and Pokémon's Pokopia, which looks like a Pokémon-themed Dragon Quest Builders. For mobile gamers, you can pre-register for Heartopia, a very cutesy life sim all about building your ideal house.
You can join our Pocket Tactics Discord to ask us about more of the best Nintendo Switch games or even the best mobile games - we have plenty of recommendations, no matter what genre of game is your favorite.