Games like No Man's Sky

Landing on an unfamiliar world, gathering what you need, and deciding whether to explore, trade, or build next creates the satisfying loop that keeps No Man’s Sky players roaming. In both games, procedural exploration, crafting, and survival turn each new location into a practical problem—and a potential home.

Starbound also supports solo play, co-op, online multiplayer, and trading, so you can pursue a self-directed expedition alone or share the chaos with friends. Because resources feed directly into tools, gear, and construction, exploration feels purposeful rather than merely scenic; every detour can improve your next trip.

The fresh angle is its 2D pixel-art presentation: instead of No Man’s Sky’s first-person spectacle and seamless planetary scale, you dig through layered worlds, build compact bases, and approach combat like a platforming adventure. That tradeoff makes Starbound more tactile and readable, though less cinematic.

Its comparable grind and occasional stability complaints mean it is not a guaranteed cure for No Man’s Sky’s rough edges, but the sandbox replayability remains a strong match. Best for players who want exploratory freedom with hands-on building and co-op experimentation.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Starbound.

Steering your starship through the silent void, plotting hyperspace jumps to unmapped star systems, and establishing profitable trade routes captures that same intoxicating freedom of charting the unknown. Elite Dangerous shares this core loop of self-directed cosmic exploration, but trades stylized fantasy for hard-science realism. Your hard-earned knowledge of orbital mechanics and ship systems directly influences your survival, making every successful docking maneuver feel like a hard-won triumph.

If you found the planetary transitions and flight physics in your previous journey a bit clunky or poorly optimized, this adventure offers a remarkably smooth, scientifically grounded flight model. Instead of arcade-style controls, you are handed Newtonian physics and a fully mapped, 1:1 scale recreation of our actual Milky Way galaxy. This shift replaces casual planet-hopping with a demand for genuine pilot skill and spatial awareness.

Best for players who chase realistic flight mastery and the quiet awe of authentic space science.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Elite Dangerous.

Both games center on the rhythmic loop of resource gathering, crafting, and incremental base expansion across alien worlds. In No Man's Sky, you hunt materials to fuel your multi-tool and starship; in ASTRONEER, you harvest ores and organics to unlock increasingly complex automation chains. This creates the same addictive cycle of small progress feeding into larger capability.

The exploration payoff differs in a crucial way: No Man's Sky rewards you with discovery through procedural generation and rare finds, while ASTRONEER emphasizes purposeful vertical progression—each new planet or tech tier unlocks tangible new regions to access. Both scratch the same itch, but ASTRONEER's science-driven structure can feel less grindy because advancement directly gates where you can venture next.

ASTRONEER trades No Man's Sky's vast, solitary universe for tighter planetary design built for co-op. The colorful, compact worlds encourage shared base-building rather than solo wandering—a notable pivot, but one that preserves the core appeal of collaborative survival crafting.

Best for: No Man's Sky veterans craving exploration without the grinding fatigue, especially those who prefer base-building as their primary goal over combat or trading.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to ASTRONEER.

Fans who treasure the quiet triumph of landing on an untouched world, scanning its flora, and building a foothold will feel immediately at home in Empyrion's galaxy.

Both games anchor progression in open-world survival crafting, where gathering resources and constructing bases provides the backbone of your session—but Empyrion pushes this further by letting players design fully functional starships and orbital stations from modular components, creating a tangible sense of engineering mastery that complements No Man's Sky's simpler vessel upgrades. The procedural galaxy in both titles rewards curiosity; you never know if the next planet holds alien ruins or a perfect mining spot.

Empyrion does lean harder into ground combat and structured PvE missions, offering more robust first-person shooter mechanics that demand tactical play rather than pure exploration, though this comes with a steeper learning curve and less narrative cohesion than some players expect.

Best for survival sandbox fans who prioritize creative building and combat depth over atmospheric storytelling.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Empyrion: Galactic Survival.

That moment in No Man's Sky when you're scavenging a derelict freighter, calculating whether you have enough resources to survive the trip home — Space Engineers builds an entire game around that tension. Instead of exploring pre-built structures, though, you're the one welding the ship together, plating by plate.

Both games share that procedural-adjacent creative loop: gather, craft, expand, repeat. But where No Man's Sky's building feels like decoration on top of exploration, Space Engineers makes construction the actual survival mechanic — your ship's structural integrity and power grid genuinely matter, thanks to real physics simulation rather than aesthetic snapping.

If grinding wore you down in No Man's Sky, know upfront that Space Engineers doesn't fix that — resource gathering here is arguably even more punishing, just in service of engineering payoffs instead of narrative ones.

The tradeoff: less atmosphere and story, far more mechanical depth and multiplayer chaos as ships collide, break apart, and somehow still fly.

Best for players who found themselves more excited by base-building than by lore — engineers at heart, not explorers.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Space Engineers.

Both games center on the loop of planetary colonization, forcing you to harvest raw resources to survive hostile, alien environments. This focus on Open World Survival Craft mechanics makes base building the primary tether between your progress and the alien landscape.

The core difference lies in the atmosphere; where No Man’s Sky leans into colorful wonder, Osiris: New Dawn prioritizes gritty, tactile horror. You will trade the vibrant, lighthearted aesthetic of space travel for claustrophobic encounters and a much harder survival edge.

Pick this up if you want the technical thrill of ship maintenance and planetary base expansion but can live without the polite, low-stakes chill of a procedurally generated universe.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Osiris: New Dawn.

Starfield and No Man’s Sky both hinge on space exploration, and that shared loop is the whole hook here: charting planets, traveling between systems, and chasing what’s over the next horizon.

They also overlap on trading and first-person adventuring, which matters because both games reward roaming, looting, and making your own route through a huge galaxy.

The tradeoff is simple: Starfield is far more story-driven and polished in presentation, but it lacks No Man’s Sky’s procedural sandbox freedom and never gives you that same persistent survival-crafting progression.

Pick this up if you want a big single-player space RPG with exploration and faction quests, but can live without true open-ended survival and co-op.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Starfield.

Both games anchor themselves in procedural open-world survival crafting, where every playthrough generates fresh worlds to explore, scavenge, and build within. The multiplayer experience mirrors No Man's Sky's co-op freedom—team up to gather, construct, and survive together.

The critical difference is setting and stakes: 7 Days to Die replaces alien serenity with zombie horror, trading planetary exploration for tower defense against increasingly brutal hordes. Combat is immediate and lethal rather than exploratory.

Pick this up if you want the same addictive crafting-loop structure but can stomach persistent bugs and prefer visceral survival tension over cosmic wonder.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to 7 Days to Die.

Both games nail the open-world survival-crafting loop—scavenge, build, defend, repeat—with identical multiplayer flexibility across single-player, co-op, and PvP servers.

Conan Exiles shares No Man's Sky's atmospheric exploration, which keeps grinding from feeling like pure busywork.

The critical difference: Conan trades sci-fi procedural generation for a fixed dark-fantasy setting, making it feel more grounded but less replayable.

Pick this if you want survival-crafting with melee combat and base-building depth, but can accept a static world and heftier performance demands.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Conan Exiles.

Cubic Odyssey captures the same infinite wonder of procedural space exploration as No Man’s Sky, emphasizing the rewarding loop of discovery and resource acquisition. The game also leans heavily into voxel-based base building, which offers more architectural freedom than its predecessor’s rigid snap-to-grid systems.

While No Man’s Sky prioritizes smooth, polished planetary traversal, Cubic Odyssey trades that stability for a deeper, block-by-block construction experience that allows for total creative control over your starships and outposts.

Pick this up if you crave complex engineering and creative building, but be prepared to overlook significant technical friction and buggy multiplayer connectivity.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Cubic Odyssey.

Salt swaps No Man's Sky’s cosmic vistas for stormy seas and pirate survival horror, targeting players craving a grittier maritime adventure.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Salt.

Ylands ditches the cold cosmos for bright, forgiving islands where building and creative freedom outweigh harsh survival challenges.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Ylands.

Planet Explorers blends voxel building and RPG quests with a sci‑fi world, offering deeper progression than No Man's Sky’s exploration‑focused trek.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Planet Explorers.

Avorion shifts focus to ship construction and economy, letting players design and battle fleets in a multiplayer space sandbox.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Avorion.

TerraTech replaces alien worlds with a modular vehicle builder where physics‑driven combat trumps the serene exploration of No Man's Sky.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to TerraTech.

Planet Crafter puts you in charge of terraforming Mars, blending story‑driven goals with base‑building on a single, hostile world.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Planet Crafter.

Astrox Imperium strips multiplayer away, focusing on atmospheric solo mining and exploration of a gritty, uncharted sector.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Astrox Imperium.

Len’s Island mixes island survival with fantasy dungeons and farming, diverging from No Man’s Sky’s sci‑fi galaxy for a mystical, ground‑level adventure.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Len's Island.

Satisfactory trades galaxy‑wide wandering for factory‑scale automation, challenging players to design efficient production lines on an alien planet.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Satisfactory.

Icarus emphasizes realistic, harsh planet survival and mining, offering a grounded, mission‑based experience that diverges from No Man's Sky’s boundless space.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to ICARUS.

Shrinks the cosmic scope to intimate sky-islands where farming and sailing replace starship exploration, keeping co-op and crafting intact.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to ALOFT.

Plants survival crafting in Dune's harsh desert sandbox with massive multiplayer politics and base-building, swapping procedural planets for one lived-in world.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Dune: Awakening.

Exchanges No Man's Sky's exploration for voxel-building dominance in space, trading wonder-discovery for creative construction with darker, edgier atmosphere.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Boundless.

Confines exploration to a post-apocalyptic sky-world where atmospheric dread replaces cosmic optimism, but preserves first-person survival and base-building co-op.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Forever Skies.

Trades procedural exploration for persistent space stations where destruction physics and robot engineering create emergent gameplay on a single destructible world.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Starbase.

Shrinks the universe to backyard scale with humorous horror-tinged survival, maintaining co-op crafting while grounding exploration in intimate, creepy proximity.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Grounded.

Replaces procedural galaxies with story-driven fantasy worlds where procedural generation serves narrative depth rather than infinite discovery.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Nightingale.

Grounds survival crafting in a post-apocalyptic MMO where community building and horror atmosphere replace solitary space-faring exploration.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Once Human.

Loosely echoes exploration through time-travel and flight mechanics, but prioritizes action-RPG intensity and story over cosmic discovery wonder.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to No Time.

Strips away space to strand survival on ocean islands where water-bound exploration and crafting replace planetary-hopping with intimate realism.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Stranded Deep.

Swap intergalactic travel for gritty medieval survival, emphasizing grounded building and realistic group coordination in a harsh, unforgiving historical sandbox.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Life is Feudal: Your Own.

Focuses entirely on top-down space ship management and combat, distilling the vast exploration of cosmic vistas into tight tactical RPG progression.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Star Valor.

Prioritizes gritty, high-stakes science fiction survival and first-person combat in a persistent online environment where resource competition is the primary goal.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Stars End.

Trading infinite procedural planets for a singular, handcrafted mythical realm, this title emphasizes challenging boss progression and brutal, stamina-based combat mechanics.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Valheim.

Replaces the lonely vacuum of space with a lush, creature-filled alien ecosystem designed for cozy, creature-collecting base management and ecological restoration.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Towers of Aghasba.

Ditches high-tech space flight for a lonely, meditative dog-sledding journey across a serene, frozen wilderness focused on calm exploration and survival.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Arctico.

Focuses on complex mechanical engineering and voxel-based destruction, offering a more technical, physics-driven approach to surviving on desolate alien landscapes.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Planet Nomads.

Abandons the starship cockpit for a mobile, expanding interdimensional train, centering the entire adventure on base-building within a constantly moving vehicle.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Voidtrain.

Prioritizes total creative freedom in a procedurally generated voxel world, offering deeper terraforming and building tools than standard space-faring survival experiences.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Rising World.

While lacking the space-faring scope, this title provides a town-management layer, shifting the focus from individual exploration to building a thriving fantasy community.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Stonehearth.

Swap No Man's Sky's hopeful star-hopping for a harsher survival trip where freezing weather and scarcity make every expedition tense.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to The Long Dark.

For pilots who want No Man's Sky's trading and wandering, but in a 2D, text-heavy space economy with far more faction depth.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Endless Sky.

It keeps the freeform space travel, yet shifts No Man's Sky toward a denser solo sandbox of shipbuilding, politics, and lore.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to SpaceBourne 2.

If you want No Man's Sky's crafting and exploration recast as a cozy, solar-powered colony builder, this is the gentler detour.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Solarpunk.

This trades No Man's Sky's space survival for a post-apocalyptic town-and-workshop loop, aimed at players who enjoy co-op crafting and life sim progression.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to My Time at Sandrock.

It keeps the first-person gathering and building vibe from No Man's Sky, but grounds everything in a slower medieval settlement survival grind.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to null.

Instead of lonely procedural planets, this sends No Man's Sky fans into a chatty starship romp with combat, jokes, and branching choices.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Star Control: Origins.

For players who want No Man's Sky's space building and multiplayer chaos pushed into a voxel universe where engineering matters more than discovery.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to StarMade.

If No Man's Sky's trade-and-explore loop is what you enjoy, this offers a deeper solo economy sim with corporate-scale space management.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to X4: Foundations.

This swaps No Man's Sky's personal exploration for galaxy-level strategy, rewarding anyone who wants procedural space empires instead of piloting.

If you enjoyed this game, see our list of games similar to Stellaris.