Top 5 Games Like Terraria You Need to Play in 2026
Love Terraria but craving something fresh? These 5 recent survival crafting games deliver the same dig-build-fight loop with modern twists. From underground mining to vampire castles, here are the best Terraria alternatives in 2026.
Tyler Reeves
September 15, 2025 · 5 min read
Terraria has been the gold standard of 2D sandbox survival for over a decade. The dig-craft-fight loop is practically a genre of its own at this point. But if you have put hundreds of hours into Re-Logic's masterpiece and you are hungry for something new, 2026 has you covered. These five games capture what makes Terraria special while bringing their own fresh ideas to the table.
Core Keeper
Pugstorm · Fireshine Games
Aug 27, 2024
Explore an endless cavern of creatures, relics and resources in a mining sandbox adventure for 1-8 players.
If you want the game that feels closest to Terraria in 2026, Core Keeper is it. You wake up in a mysterious underground cavern and have to mine resources, craft gear, farm crops, and fight massive bosses. Sound familiar? The difference is that Core Keeper leans harder into base-building and co-op. Playing with friends turns the underground world into a bustling little settlement as you push deeper into procedurally generated biomes. The combat is satisfying, the progression loop is addictive, and the pixel art style feels right at home for anyone who grew up on Terraria.
Enshrouded
Keen Games
Jan 24, 2024
You are Flameborn, last ember of hope of a dying race. Survive the terror of a corrupting fog, and reclaim your kingdom.
Enshrouded takes the survival crafting formula and cranks the RPG dial to eleven. Set in a massive open world shrouded in a deadly fog called the Shroud, you gather materials, build your base on the heights above the corruption, and dive into the dangerous mist below for loot and boss fights. The voxel-based building system lets you construct impressive structures block by block, scratching that creative itch. Combat borrows from action RPGs with skill trees, gliding, and grappling hooks. If Terraria's boss fights are your favorite part, Enshrouded's challenging encounters will feel like a natural step up.
Palworld
PocketPair
Jan 19, 2024
A multiplayer open-world survival crafting game where you can befriend and collect mysterious creatures called Pals.
Palworld took the gaming world by storm in 2024 and it is easy to see why. It blends survival crafting with creature collection in a way nobody expected to work this well. You build bases, automate production lines, and explore a sprawling open world. Oh, and you befriend (or catch) creatures called Pals who help you fight, build, and farm. It sounds absurd on paper but in practice it delivers a crafting loop that rivals Terraria's depth. The multiplayer is chaotic in the best way. If you want a survival crafter that does not take itself too seriously, Palworld is your game.
V Rising
Stunlock Studios
May 8, 2024
Awaken as a vampire. Hunt for blood in nearby settlements to regain your strength and evade the scorching sun to survive.
Ever wondered what Terraria would be like if you played as a vampire? V Rising answers that question. You awaken as a weakened vampire and must hunt for blood, gather resources, and build your gothic castle from the ground up. The survival crafting core is solid but the real hook is the combat. Fighting bosses to unlock new vampire powers feels incredible, and the day-night cycle adds genuine tension as sunlight becomes your biggest enemy. The castle-building system is deep enough to lose hours in, and the PvP servers add a whole extra layer if you want to compete with other vampires. It is Terraria by way of Castlevania, and it rules.
Grounded
Obsidian Entertainment · Xbox Game Studios
Sep 27, 2022
The world is a vast, beautiful and dangerous place, especially when you have been shrunk to the size of an ant.
Obsidian Entertainment's Grounded flips the survival formula on its head. You are shrunk to the size of an ant and dropped into a suburban backyard that now feels like a hostile alien planet. Blades of grass tower over you, spiders become terrifying boss-level threats, and you craft armor from insect parts. The sense of scale is unlike anything else in the genre. Underneath the gimmick is a rock-solid survival crafter with deep base-building, co-op for up to four players, and a surprisingly good story. If you loved Terraria's sense of discovery when you first dug underground, Grounded recaptures that feeling from a completely different angle.
Which One Should You Play First?
If you want the purest Terraria experience, start with Core Keeper. If you want more action RPG depth, go Enshrouded. If you want something wildly different but equally addictive, Palworld or V Rising will keep you busy for weeks. And if you want to show the kids what survival games are all about, Grounded is the perfect family pick. No matter which you choose, these games prove the sandbox survival genre Terraria pioneered is alive and thriving in 2026.