Terraria is a wonderful 2D side-scroller that tasks you with building a home base, gathering resources, fighting monsters, crafting items, and exploring the world around you. There’s a lot to do and hours to invest in this light-hearted adventure sandbox.
While it’s available on Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS already, perhaps you’re on the hunt for games like Terraria that offer something a little different. Well, you’re in the right place, as we’ve collated a list of the best alternatives that are available to play right now on both the Switch and mobile platforms. From lookalikes to play-a-likes… there’s something for everyone in our guide below.
Of course, we don’t expect you to stop playing Terraria and we’re always ready to create more guides to help your gameplay, such as our Terraria armour guide, Terraria wings guide, and Terraria bosses list and guide for you to peruse at your viewing pleasure. If you’re looking for more like this, then we’ve got the best mobile RPGs and best Switch RPGs, too.
Now, let’s get into the good stuff.
The best games like Terraria
Stardew Valley – Switch & mobile
Let’s get started with our closest visual likeness, Stardew Valley. This role-playing sim is all about completing tasks, whether that’s growing crops on your farm, heading to dungeons for combat, mining resources, or making friends.
On that point, Stardew Valley is more about relationship building, while Terraria is more combat-oriented, and so, depending on your fancy, Stardew Valley offers an opportunity to build a life where perhaps you get married in the end or perhaps not, but you’ll form one hell of a story. We recommend you check out our Stardew Valley fish, Stardew Valley Sebastian, and Stardew Valley co-op guides if you want to get into this game.
Minecraft – Switch & mobile
Comparisons between Minecraft and Terraria always pop up as Minecraft holds rank as one of the OGs in the survival sandbox space. Like Terraria, it’s focused on crafting, building, gathering, and combat, although combat is a lesser portion of the Minecraft world.
It’s the best-selling game of all time and there’s plenty of reason for that. If you’ve not tried it yet and you’re looking for a vast abyss of opportunity in a procedurally generated world, then Minecraft is for you. And, if you fancy going further down the rabbit hole, we’ve got a list of the best games like Minecraft too.
Roblox – mobile
Roblox is a platform that’s home to a whole bunch of games that players themselves can create. Some of the games found within Roblox are like Terraria, embracing the elements of the adventure sandbox.
While not necessarily very similar to Terraria in aesthetics, and more the blocky 3D nature of a game like Minecraft, there are opportunities for gaming experiences that players of Terraria might enjoy with some even taking inspiration from the game itself, turning it into its own 3D RPG. Take a look at our Roblox promo codes if you plan on trying out this game.
Hollow Knight – Switch
Up next, why not try the 2D action-adventure indie game, Hollow Knight? In this entry, you explore the ancient kingdom of Hallownest and the world around it as The Knight, taking on various enemies and various Hollow Knight bosses too, just like Terraria.
There’s no mining or building Hollow Knight, but there’s a hell of a lot of combat and exploring to be done. And, if you’re a fan of the dungeon darkness of Terraria, then Hollow Knight has a lot of that same mysterious abyss to be navigated.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Switch & Pocket Camp – mobile
We couldn’t talk about the whimsical nature of Terraria and not address the fact that Animal Crossing is a great alternative. In Animal Crossing, you build a life, decorate a home, make friends, fish, and craft.
It’s a peaceful game with larger goals driving the story than found in Terraria, but if you’re after something a little more light-hearted and less action-packed then AC could be a great choice. While the main game is on Nintendo Switch, the Pocket Camp edition is your ticket to mobile gaming fun. Take a look at our ACNH villager guide to learn all about the cute folks you encounter.
Forager – Switch & mobile
Forager, the vibrant 2D adventure game, is not only a great alternative, but has literally been inspired by Terraria and another entry on our list, Stardew Valley, so you should know what you’re in for. You explore, farm, and craft in this colourful open-world game.
Much like some of the other alternatives on our list, you’ve got a bunch of tasks that you can busy yourself with, as well as some fast-paced combat against enemies and other NPCs in the game. Plus, you collect money along the way that only expands your world even further.
Spelunky – Switch
Spelunky is one of the original rogue-like platformers that’s been around since 2008, but in 2021, it came to Nintendo Switch. While Terraria and Spelunky share the fact that they’re both voxel-based, 2D, and look fairly similar, they’re quite different gaming experiences.
You have to explore and gather treasure in Spelunky while avoiding traps and enemies along the way. It’s run and jump to survive with more of a goal in sight and offers a lot of fun moments to enjoy.
That’s it for our list of the best games like Terraria. For more content like this, go ahead and browse our lists full of the best Final Fantasy games and the best Resident Evil games on Switch and mobile.