What are the best free Minecraft games? Although these games aren’t one-to-one replicas of Minecraft, some of them get incredibly close, and those looking for free Minecraft games are sure to find something they recognize and love from Mojang’s blocky universe in each of these six games, such as survival-horror Unturned, or the endless possibilities of Roblox’s mad player-created worlds. If you’re somehow new to Minecraft, these free alternatives provide a little taste of the block-building behemoth.
If you’ve exhausted Minecraft, or you’re looking for games like Minecraft but don’t want to pay the price tag that comes with them, these free Minecraft games will fill that block-shaped hole in your life. These games may not all feature the same creative and survival modes Minecraft is known for, but they all have something in common with the beloved sandbox game, so something on this list of the best free Minecraft-like games is sure to keep you entertained.
Here are the best free Minecraft games in 2023:
Terasology
Probably the game that looks the most like Minecraft on our list, in fact, it was inspired by a Minecraft demo, so you’ll definitely recognize a lot of Minecraft in Terasology’s world-building. There are different terrains, cities, and villages, and even lots of weird and wonderful AI critters, such as Gooey, which are little slime blocks you can breed.
Terasology is still in open development, so anyone can hop over to Git Hub and tinker with its progress – or if you’re a bit lazy, you can just download and install the many quests and systems developed by others. If you want to be actively involved in creating another Minecraft-like game, Terasology might be the next big thing.
Trove
Trove is one of the best building games with a very similar aesthetic to Minecraft but with an emphasis on the RPG aspects, such as leveling up and grinding for loot. You start Trove by picking a class of your choice, ranging from RPG archetypes like Knight and Barbarian to more extravagant builds like Dino Tamer and Tomb Raiser. Each class gives you a distinct set of attacking abilities and crafting specialties for when you’re out roaming the many biomes of this open-ended adventure game.
Like Minecraft, Trove has plenty of building and crafting mechanics to make the world your own, as you start out in Trove with a small base known as your cornerstone. One of Trove’s best features is the countless player-created worlds called Clubs that you and online friends can explore as you take down creatures and craft new weapons – continually building up your cornerstone full of loot and goodies.
Roblox
You’ll recognize a lot of Minecraft in Roblox’s building and creativity, as Roblox is one big game-generation platform that provides endless crafting possibilities. If your favorite part of Minecraft is tinkering with the Minecraft maps and digging out the best Minecraft servers, then you’ll feel right at home in Roblox, but instead of creating maps, you’ll shape the player experience by creating mini-games themselves.
These player experiences can be anything from simulations like building the ultimate theme park to working in a pizza kitchen. It’s also become a bit of a hub for younger players; the game creation platform has hosted virtual appearances from the likes of Lil Nas X and Paris Hilton. With roughly 200 million monthly active users, there’s a lot of creativity for new players to sample in the best Roblox games. If you’re interesting in giving it a try, we’ve got loads of Roblox promo codes to get you started.
Unturned
Unturned is a Day-Z-like zombie game with the bright, blocky aesthetic of Minecraft. Players are dropped onto an enormous map where they can craft and build using gathered resources, always remaining aware of lurking zombies and other players out for their loot.
Being both gory and charming is no mean feat, but Unturned seamlessly mixes the grim reality of a zombie apocalypse with cutesy voxel art. It’s pretty easy to die, and finding the balance between scavenging for loot, avoiding zombies, and remaining quiet so you go undetected – all while keeping fed, watered, and well-rested, is really a challenge.
Unturned is still seeing free updates with the new Kuwait map taking the zombie-infested world to a land filled with oases, oil refineries, and weird floating monoliths. There’s also a bunch of bank vaults you can plunder with your team to challenge players to drag races in the open desert.
Robocraft
Robocraft is a sci-fi engineer’s dream, as you build robots that can fly, shoot, defend, and ultimately demolish. It doesn’t boast the open-world adventuring of Minecraft as it’s more of an arena shooter with a PVP focus as you pilot your creations in battle, taking on other player creations in multiplayer matches set on different planets. It’s like Robot Wars team matches set in space… what’s not to love?
That said, it’s still an impressive crafting game, and its building mechanics are very intuitive, allowing for an impressive amount of customization. There’s a practice mode available once you create your vehicle so you can get the hang of driving it. After all, that gun-mounted T-Rex mech you just built may look great, but if you can’t control it, then you’re in for a painful time in the arena. And there’s good news: the blocky sequel is in development now, and you can even sign up to join playtests on the Robocraft 2 Steam page, with an early access launch coming soon.
Creativerse
Creativerse is a voxel-based sandbox game with heaps of building mechanics, player-created worlds to explore, and the option to play online with friends or solo. Creativerse is completely free, and with Steam Workshop support, you can mod to your heart’s content.
Gameplay-wise, this is one of the most similar games to Minecraft on this list. You’ll start with just a stick but can quickly transform your map by gathering resources, hoovering up blocks, and crafting new items and tools using recipes. The creatures are also very adorable, and the cartoonish art style of Creativerse really brings creations to life.
It’s also worth noting that while Creativerse is free to play and there’s tons of stuff to do without paying a single penny, there are a couple of bundles available to give you extra items and additional functionality, such as creator mode and the ability to customize your game world.
Fortnite Creative mode
Aside from a similar target audience and brightly-colored aesthetic, you could be forgiven for thinking there’s not much in common between Minecraft and Fortnite, but ignore the battle royale mode and go straight for the Creative mode and you’ll find an increasingly impressive suite of tools and assets that you can use to build anything from sculptures and parkour challenges to multiplayer game rooms and racing games. If you’re not in the mood for flexing those creative muscles, then you can just jump in and play something another builder has toiled away on for hours on end, and even invite your friends to join you, too. Some of the best Fortnite death run maps even offer the same fun as Minecraft parkour maps.
Minecraft on Game Pass
OK, it’s not technically free, but if you already have a Game Pass subscription, do you know that Minecraft, Minecraft Legends, and Minecraft Dungeons are all available to play as part of your subscription?! The is arguably the best way to trial the original game and its two superb spin-offs without committing to the full purchase.
These are the best free Minecraft games that have a little of Mojang’s magic in them. If you want to go beyond Minecraft, check out our list of the best free Steam games, or even the best free PC games in general, if you’re willing to part with some pennies. Alternatively, peruse our roundup of the finest crafting games if you’re more interested in getting your hands dirty.
Additional contributions by Jordan Forward.