Palworld is a game, which quickly captured the hearts of players, reaching 5 million sold copies within just 4 days after its early access release.
Have you had a chance to play this title and are looking for something similar? Or perhaps you haven’t decided to make a purchase and are exploring alternatives? Here is a list of 6 games like Palworld!
Criteria
Palworld is often referred to as “Pokémon with guns,” and for good reason. The game takes us to a world inhabited by Pals, diverse creatures with various powers (e.g., electric, fire). Besides exploring the world, our tasks include capturing Pals, which can later serve us in battles, be our companions, or help us gather resources.
The game is a blend of adventure, action, and survival, offering a large open world and sandbox gameplay mechanics where players can do whatever they please — build a farm, create a self-sufficient city, explore the world, or focus on combat.
We’ve sifted through dozens of games to find those similar to Palworld in terms of aesthetics or gameplay mechanics.
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | Trailer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Age of Conan Unchained Hyborian Conqueror Collection | ||||
 | Cassette Beasts | 2023-04-26 | Bytten Studio | ||
 | Craftopia | 2020-09-04 | PocketPair | ||
 | Grounded | 2020-07-28 | Obsidian Entertainment | ||
 | Raft | 2018-05-23 | Adventure | Redbeet Interactive | |
 | Valheim | 2021-02-02 | Sanbox, survival | Iron Gate Studios |
Age of Conan
| Release date: | 2008-05-20 |
| Genre: | MMO |
| Developer: | Funcom |
This multiplayer game transports us to a fantasy world based on the Conan the Barbarian universe. Players create their characters and traverse a vast world filled with enemies and mysterious creatures. It depends solely on us how the fate of our hero unfolds.
Although the title lacks the ability to capture and tame monsters, the game offers a huge, fantasy-open world that presents players with almost unlimited gameplay possibilities.
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Valheim
| Release date: | 2021-02-02 |
| Genre: | Sanbox, survival |
| Developer: | Iron Gate Studios |
Valheim immerses players in a world inspired by Norse mythology. Warriors who wish to enter Valhalla but didn’t prove their bravery in life find themselves in the eponymous Valheim, where they face various dangers, including mythical beasts.
The game’s aesthetic – simple, somewhat cartoonish style, and the exploration, resource gathering, and crafting mechanics are notably similar to Palworld. Additionally, the game is available in multiplayer/co-op mode.
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Raft
| Release date: | 2018-05-23 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Redbeet Interactive |
Raft is a relatively straightforward game where players take on the role of a castaway, waking up on a raft in the middle of the ocean. The objective is to survive (finding water and food) and gradually expand and improve the raft using an elaborate crafting system.
The crafting system is a significant similarity with Palworld. While drifting across the ocean, players collect debris, dive underwater, and explore islands to find resources for creating food, shelter, and weapons. Players also engage in combat with dangerous creatures.
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Cassette Beasts
| Release date: | 2023-04-26 |
| Genre: | JRPG |
| Developer: | Bytten Studio |
Cassette Beasts is a turn-based RPG set on a mysterious island, dominated by creatures with various interesting powers. Players take on the role of a character trying to find a way home through the island’s darkest corners. The unique feature of the game is the ability to record encountered beasts on cassette tapes, allowing the player to take on their form and abilities.
The primary similarity between the two games lies in their fantasy setting. It’s impossible not to notice the resemblance between the previously mentioned Pals and the Beasts inhabiting the island. In both cases, these creatures possess special powers, and the player’s task is to capture them.
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Craftopia
| Release date: | 2020-09-04 |
| Genre: | Sandbox |
| Developer: | Pocketpair |
Craftopia is a game that combines action, survival, hack’n’slash, RPG, and simulation. Players take on the role of a customizable character, tasked with traversing an open, sandbox world, defeating enemies, building shelters, and completing quests.
This title shares many elements with Palworld. Firstly, both productions were created by the same studio and are a fusion of multiple genres. In both games, significant mechanics include crafting, combat against wild creatures, building, and exploring an extensive world.
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Grounded
| Release date: | 2020-07-28 |
| Genre: | Survival |
| Developer: | Obsidian Entertainment |
Grounded is an action game with survival elements where players embody miniature humans surviving in a backyard overrun by giant beasts… which are, in fact, regular-sized insects.
Similar to Palworld, the game focuses on exploration, combat against various creatures, building, and crafting. Another similarity may be found in the graphic aesthetics, which is also maintained in an animated movie style.
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Conclusion
As you can see, there are at least several games that, like Palworld, offer vast open worlds full of wild beasts, and combine action, survival, crafting, and combat mechanics.
Apart from the mentioned games, we can’t overlook the titles that inspired PocketPair Studio during the creation of their game — Rust, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Ark: Survival Evolved, Rust, and, of course, the Pokémon series, to which Palworld is most frequently compared.