10 Games Like Terraria If You Love Building and Survival

If you like Terraria, you probably enjoy games that do not rush you.

You start with almost nothing. You dig, build, fight, die, learn, and slowly turn a dangerous world into something that feels like yours. Progress comes from curiosity and experimentation, not from following arrows on the screen.

I have put a lot of hours into Terraria over the years, especially on mobile. What keeps it special is how many systems work together. Exploration feeds combat. Combat feeds gear. Gear opens new biomes, bosses, and building options. The loop never feels shallow.

That is why people keep looking for games like Terraria.

This list focuses on mobile games that capture that same mix of exploration, crafting, survival, and long-term progression. Some lean heavier into combat. Some focus more on building or survival. All of them reward players who like learning systems and shaping the world around them.

If Terraria clicked for you, these games are worth checking out.

Quick List

1. Portal Knights

A colorful sandbox action RPG that blends Terraria-style exploration with Minecraft vibes and structured progression.

You explore small island worlds, mine resources, fight enemies in real-time combat, and build gear to get stronger. You pick a class at the start, which shapes your combat style, but crafting and exploration stay front and center. The loop is very smooth and easy to get into on mobile.

How Portal Knights is like Terraria:
✅ Sandbox exploration and mining
✅ Crafting and gear progression
✅ Real-time combat with enemies and bosses
✅ Co-op play feels great
✅ Clear sense of progression

How Portal Knights is different from Terraria:
❌ Structured classes instead of total freedom
❌ Separate island zones instead of one giant world
❌ Less chaotic combat
❌ More guided progression
❌ Brighter, more kid-friendly tone

My take:
If you loved Terraria but want something more polished and less overwhelming, this is a fantastic pick. It trades some depth for clarity and flow. Not as wild or deep as Terraria, but way easier to stick with on mobile.

2. Grim Soul: Dark Survival RPG

A dark survival action RPG focused on exploration, crafting, and slow tense progress in a cursed world.

You explore dangerous zones, gather resources, build gear and a base, and fight enemies in real-time combat. Death is punishing and learning enemy patterns matters a lot. Progress comes from careful farming, smart crafting, and not getting greedy.

How Grim Soul is like Terraria:
✅ Resource gathering and crafting loop
✅ Exploration-driven progression
✅ Gear upgrades matter
✅ Boss fights gate progress
✅ Strong sense of danger

How Grim Soul is different from Terraria:
❌ Top-down view instead of side-scrolling
❌ Much slower and more punishing pace
❌ No building for creativity, mostly functional
❌ Survival mechanics like hunger and durability
❌ Very grim tone with little humor

My take:
This feels like Terraria’s survival pressure turned up while creativity gets turned way down. If you liked the early-game tension in Terraria where every upgrade mattered, Grim Soul hits hard. If you loved building wild bases and experimenting, this one might feel too restrictive.

3. Growtopia

A chaotic sandbox MMO where building, trading, and social chaos matter more than combat.

You jump between player-made worlds, break and place blocks, grow items from seeds, and trade with other players. There is no main goal pushed on you. The game becomes whatever you decide to chase, wealth, cool builds, rare items, or social status. Combat exists but it is very basic.

How Growtopia is like Terraria:
✅ Block-based worlds
✅ Mining and placing blocks
✅ Creative freedom
✅ Progress comes from exploration and building
✅ Strong sense of discovery

How Growtopia is different from Terraria:
❌ Massive focus on trading and economy
❌ Very light combat and boss content
❌ MMO social chaos front and center
❌ No structured progression path
❌ Feels more like a sandbox platform than an action RPG

My take:
This is Terraria if you ripped out the bosses and turned the game into a giant social experiment. If you like building, messing around, and trading with real people, it can be insanely addictive. If you loved Terraria for combat and progression, this will feel unfocused fast.

4. Minecraft

The ultimate sandbox game about mining, building, surviving, and doing whatever you feel like in a blocky world.

You spawn into a massive world, punch trees, mine resources, build shelters, craft gear, and survive against enemies. You choose your own goals. Survival, creative builds, exploration, redstone machines, or mods. On mobile, it plays shockingly well and supports multiplayer and realms.

How Minecraft is like Terraria:
✅ Mining and crafting core loop
✅ Sandbox freedom
✅ Gear progression through exploration
✅ Bosses exist and gate progress
✅ Huge replay value

How Minecraft is different from Terraria:
❌ First-person or third-person instead of side-scrolling
❌ Much heavier focus on building
❌ Combat is simpler and slower
❌ Progression is less structured
❌ Feels more calm than chaotic

My take:
If Terraria feels like an action RPG sandbox, Minecraft feels like a survival sandbox first. You get more creative freedom but less combat intensity. If you loved building and exploration in Terraria, this is a no-brainer. If bosses and fast combat were your favorite parts, Minecraft might feel a bit sleepy.

5. Crashlands

A story-driven crafting action RPG with Terraria-style progression, wrapped in nonstop humor and tight mobile-friendly design.

You explore a hand-built world, fight enemies in real-time combat, gather resources, and craft better gear to push into tougher zones. There is no hunger, no inventory stress, and no base babysitting. The game keeps you moving forward at all times, with quests guiding everything.

How Crashlands is like Terraria:
✅ Crafting and gear progression drive the game
✅ Exploration unlocks stronger enemies and recipes
✅ Real-time combat with lots of enemy variety
✅ Clear sense of power growth
✅ Boss fights gate progress

How Crashlands is different from Terraria:
❌ Strong story focus instead of sandbox freedom
❌ No building for creativity
❌ Top-down camera instead of side-scrolling
❌ Much more guided experience
❌ Comedy tone replaces chaos

My take:
This feels like Terraria cleaned up for people who hate friction. No inventory pain, no confusion, just constant forward momentum. If you loved Terraria’s progression loop but got tired of management overhead, Crashlands is an absolute win. Less freedom, more flow.

6. Mini DayZ 2

A top-down survival game about scavenging, crafting, and barely staying alive in a zombie-infested wasteland.

You head out on short expeditions, loot buildings, fight zombies, manage hunger and health, then return to your base to upgrade and prepare for the next run. Death is expected and progress carries over through upgrades and unlocks. It is tense, slow, and very deliberate.

How Mini DayZ 2 is like Terraria:
✅ Resource gathering and crafting matter
✅ Exploration drives progress
✅ Gear upgrades help you survive tougher areas
✅ Strong risk versus reward loop
✅ Progress builds over time

How Mini DayZ 2 is different from Terraria:
❌ Survival systems dominate the experience
❌ No creative building
❌ Run-based structure instead of one persistent world
❌ Much slower and more punishing
❌ Almost no boss-style progression

My take:
This feels like Terraria’s survival pressure pulled out and put under a microscope. If you liked the early-game fear of being underpowered, this delivers that feeling constantly. If you loved Terraria for freedom and creativity, this one will feel restrictive and stressful.

7. The Blockheads

A side-scrolling sandbox survival game that blends Terraria-style worlds with slower, more thoughtful progression.

You explore a large 2D world, mine resources, craft tools, build shelters, and manage survival needs like food and warmth. Actions take real time, so planning matters. You can play solo or host multiplayer worlds with friends, which adds a lot of life to the experience.

How The Blockheads is like Terraria:
✅ Side-scrolling sandbox world
✅ Mining and crafting at the core
✅ Base building matters
✅ Exploration drives progression
✅ Multiplayer support

How The Blockheads is different from Terraria:
❌ Slower pace with real-time action timers
❌ Less combat focus
❌ Survival systems are more prominent
❌ Fewer bosses and set-piece fights
❌ More calm and methodical overall

My take:
This feels like Terraria if it leaned harder into survival and planning instead of combat chaos. It is very satisfying if you enjoy taking your time and building smart setups. If boss fights and fast upgrades were your favorite parts of Terraria, this one can feel a bit sleepy.

8. Block Story

A sandbox RPG that mixes blocky worlds, quests, magic, and dragons into a surprisingly deep adventure.

You explore a large block-based world, mine resources, craft gear, fight enemies in real-time combat, and follow quests that unlock new areas and abilities. There is a clear story push, but you still have room to wander, build, and grind at your own pace.

How Block Story is like Terraria:
✅ Sandbox exploration and mining
✅ Crafting and gear upgrades
✅ Side-view perspective
✅ Boss fights and dangerous enemies
✅ Sense of adventure and discovery

How Block Story is different from Terraria:
❌ Much heavier story and quest focus
❌ Magic and dragons take center stage
❌ Combat is simpler
❌ Building is secondary to progression
❌ Smaller overall scope

My take:
This feels like Terraria mixed with a classic RPG campaign. If you liked Terraria’s adventure side and wanted clearer goals, Block Story delivers. If you loved total freedom and sandbox chaos, it can feel a bit guided. Still a very solid mobile pick.

9. Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition

A brutal survival sandbox about staying alive in a hostile world that actively wants you dead.

You explore a strange hand-drawn world, gather resources, build tools and bases, and juggle survival needs like hunger, sanity, and health. There is no mercy. Death is permanent and learning comes from failure. Progress is about knowledge more than stats.

How Don’t Starve is like Terraria:
✅ Resource gathering and crafting loop
✅ Open-ended sandbox progression
✅ Exploration-driven survival
✅ Base building matters
✅ Strong sense of danger

How Don’t Starve is different from Terraria:
❌ Extreme survival focus
❌ Permadeath instead of steady power growth
❌ Much less emphasis on combat progression
❌ No traditional boss ladder
❌ Dark, oppressive tone

My take:
This feels like Terraria’s early survival stress stretched across the entire game. If you enjoy learning systems, planning ahead, and barely scraping by, it is incredible. If you loved Terraria for power fantasy and boss fights, this will feel punishing and exhausting. Amazing game, but absolutely not chill.

10. ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition

A massive open-world survival game about crafting, base building, and taming dinosaurs in a brutal sandbox.

You wake up naked on a dangerous island, punch trees, gather resources, build shelters, craft gear, and slowly work your way up to taming dinosaurs. Survival systems like hunger, weather, and hostile creatures constantly push back. You can play solo or on servers with other people, which can get chaotic fast.

How ARK is like Terraria:
✅ Sandbox survival at the core
✅ Resource gathering and crafting loop
✅ Exploration unlocks stronger gear and threats
✅ Base building matters
✅ Progress feels earned over time

How ARK is different from Terraria:
❌ Fully 3D first-person or third-person view
❌ Heavy survival micromanagement
❌ Huge map instead of compact worlds
❌ Combat is slower and clunkier
❌ Much steeper learning curve

My take:
This feels like Terraria if you scaled everything up by ten and added dinosaurs. The freedom is amazing, but the friction is real, especially on mobile. If you love deep survival systems and big goals, ARK can hook you for hundreds of hours. If you want quick sessions and smooth pacing, it will fight you every step of the way.

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