Crafting games have always been a beloved genre in the gaming community, offering players a unique blend of creativity, strategy, and exploration. These games challenge players to gather resources, craft tools, and build structures, all while navigating dynamic worlds filled with mysteries, quests, and adventures. In this article, we will explore the 11 best crafting games available in 2024, highlighting their unique features, gameplay mechanics, and the immersive experiences they offer.
No Man’s Sky
Release Date: Aug 9, 2016
Publisher: Hello Games
Developer: Hello Games
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, macOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Cloud Gaming
Metascore: 71
No Man’s Sky is a crafting game that offers players a procedurally generated open-world experience. After crashing on an alien planet, you are thrust into a universe filled with different planets, each with valuable resources and mysteries.
The game’s intricate crafting system allows you to gather plants, minerals, and craft elements essential for survival and progression. Every item plays a role in your cosmic journey, from building shelters on desolate planets to crafting recipes, tools, and weapons.
No Man’s Sky features a vast map and the option to play with friends, multiplying the fun as you collaborate, explore, and build together. Whether you prefer visiting alien planets, soaring through the skies in your spaceship, or simply marveling at the beauty of the cosmos, No Man’s Sky offers a fun and immersive experience.
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Release Date: Dec 20, 2018
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix, Koei Tecmo Games, Omega Force
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
Metascore: 86
Dragon Quest Builders 2 combines the Dragon Quest JRPG lore with a sandbox builder. In this game, you have the freedom to shape an island, ensuring unique creations.
The crafting system in Dragon Quest Builders 2 allows you to craft items from simple tools to grand architectural wonders. As you progress, you’ll embark on specific building quests, ensuring you experience everything the game offers. Combat also plays an important role, as you must kill monsters and enhance your character’s abilities.
The game world is filled with materials waiting to be transformed into crafted items, and the quests provide a structured way to explore this vast world. Dragon Quest Builders 2 offers a free-to-play demo, giving players a taste of the crafting, combat, and quests that lie ahead.
The Long Dark
Release Date: Sep 22, 2014
Publisher: Hinterland Studio
Developer: Hinterland Studio
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, MacOS, Linux
Metascore: 77
The Long Dark is a first-person survival game set in the frigid Canadian wilderness. You take on the role of a crash-landed bush pilot named Will Mackenzie, who must face the challenge of surviving a vast environment after a geomagnetic storm.
Unlike other survival games, The Long Dark offers an immersive simulation focusing on factors like body temperature, caloric intake, hunger, thirst, fatigue, wind-chill, and wildlife interactions.
In survival mode, gathering resources is crucial. You must hunt animals, craft weapons and equipment, and use fire for warmth and cooking. The game also offers a story mode where you follow an episodic adventure with survival elements.
The Long Dark features a day/night cycle, dynamic weather, and challenging environments that test your survival skills. With its realistic mechanics and immersive atmosphere, it provides a truly gripping survival journey.
Stardew Valley
Release Date: Feb 26, 2016
Publisher: Eric Barone, Chucklefish
Developer: Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, MacOS, iOS, Android, Linux
Metascore: 89
Stardew Valley is a farm life simulation game where you inherit your late grandfather’s run-down farm. The gameplay is open-ended, offering you the freedom to rear livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and build relationships with the residents of Stardew Valley, including the possibility of marriage and raising children.
The game’s world is rich and immersive, giving you the option to choose from various farm types, each with its advantages and challenges. As you progress, you can clear the land, plant and harvest crops, raise animals, and expand your farm.
Stardew Valley also allows you to gather resources from the world around you, which you can use to craft elements, tools, and more. With its versatile gameplay, romantic opportunities, extensive customization options, and multiplayer mode, Stardew Valley offers an engaging and rewarding crafting experience.
Sons of the Forest
Release Date: Feb 23, 2023
Publisher: Newnight
Developer: Endnight Games
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Metascore: N/A
Sons of the Forest is an open-world survival game set on an island named “Site 2.” You play as a military man with a companion named Kelvin, who is deaf and communicates through writing commands.
As the story unfolds, you uncover dark secrets, encounter cannibals and mutants, and meet unique characters like Virginia, a three-legged, three-armed woman who becomes a valuable ally in combat against other mutants.
To survive, you must harvest resources, gather supplies, and craft items. The crafting options range from basic weapons to advanced items. You can also find 3D printers throughout the map, allowing you to craft advanced items using resin.
Building a base and a campfire are crucial for survival. You can construct your base by accessing the building menu and choosing from various options. Sons of the Forest features multiplayer mode, allowing up to eight players to join your session.
Valheim
Release Date: Feb 2, 2021
Publisher: Coffee Stain Studios
Developer: Iron Gate Studio
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Linux, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S
Metascore: N/A
Valheim is rooted in Norse mythology, where slain Vikings are tested to prove their worthiness for the halls of Valhalla. In this game, you’ll face and defeat the sworn enemies of Odin.
The gameplay revolves around an open-world survival mechanism, where you must gather resources, craft tools, build shelters, and fight enemies to survive. From basic crafting like stone axes and hammers to more complex items, you’ll need workbenches to create better weapons, armor, and tools.
Valheim’s world is procedurally generated based on a map seed and is divided into various biomes like meadows, the Black Forest, and swamps. The game’s visuals and Norse mythology-inspired narrative provide an immersive experience as you navigate through the purgatory of Valheim.
Minecraft
Release Date: Nov 18, 2011
Publisher: Mojang Studios, Xbox Games Studios, Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Mojang Studios
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, MacOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Wii U, Nintendo Switch
Metascore: 82
Minecraft is a game that exploits your imagination and gives you endless possibilities to craft what you wish. It’s about building and crafting elements, transforming a blank canvas into a world filled with life, structures, and adventure.
Minecraft’s appeal lies in its simplicity. With craftable items ranging from simple tools to weapons and armor, you have the ability to shape your environment, defend against threats, and explore the game universe.
Beyond its solitary experiences, Minecraft offers multiplayer gameplay, allowing you to play with other players, share creations, and adventure together. The game provides opportunities for trading, building massive fortresses, and battling side by side, fostering a sense of community and collaboration.
Graveyard Keeper
Release Date: Aug 15, 2018
Publisher: Magic Cat
Developer: Lazy Bear Games
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Linux, MacOS, Android, iOS
Metascore: 69
In Graveyard Keeper, you find yourself in a distinctive world where you take charge of a small graveyard near a town. You can interact with various NPCs, fulfill their quests, and craft items or collect elements.
To start crafting food, weapons, potions, or tools, you must use workstations around your land. Each workstation specializes in different types of crafting, such as the alchemist workbench, carpenter’s workbench, and church workbench.
As you progress in the game, you’ll unlock new crafting stations and expand your capabilities. Graveyard Keeper’s unique visuals, dark and humorous tone, and open-ended exploration make it a captivating crafting game.
Ark: Survival Evolved
Release Date: Jun 2, 2015
Publisher: Studio Wildcard
Developer: Studio Wildcard
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android, iOS, Linux, Google Stadia
Metascore: 70
Ark: Survival Evolved scratches the crafting itch many people seek in the survival genre. Launched initially in early access, it has since become one of the best games in its category. In this game, you find yourself on an island filled with roaming dinosaurs, mythical creatures, and potentially hostile human players.
To survive, you must gather resources, craft essential equipment, and battle both creatures and other players. Ark: Survival Evolved offers stunning visuals, a skill-level system that impacts gameplay mechanics, and a diverse world filled with challenges, enemies, and bosses.
Whether you choose to play solo or team up with friends in tribes, Ark: Survival Evolved provides an immersive crafting experience where every decision matters.
Don’t Starve Together
Release Date: Apr 21, 2016
Publisher: Klei Entertainment
Developer: Klei Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Mac OS, Linux
Metascore: 83
Don’t Starve Together is a survival video game about a scientist named Wilson who finds himself in a dark parallel world known as the Constant. The objective is to keep Wilson alive, fed, and mentally stable while avoiding surreal and supernatural enemies.
In Don’t Starve Together, you can select and play with other characters like Willow, Wolfgang, Wurt, and Wes. The game features an action-adventure format with a randomly generated world, integrating survival and roguelike gameplay elements.
To survive, you must prioritize and manage resources carefully, maintain tools, preserve food, and navigate a world with new and unique experiences every time you play.
Scrap Mechanic
Release Date: Jan 19, 2016
Publisher: Axolot Games
Developer: Axolot Games
Platforms: Microsoft Windows
Metascore: N/A
Scrap Mechanic is a sandbox video game set in a machine-filled creative paradise. In this game, you start at the crash site of a spaceship equipped with minimal items.
The crafting experience in Scrap Mechanic revolves around building machines, vehicles, and buildings. As you progress, you unlock new crafting stations like the Mechanic Station, Dressbot, Refinebot, and Cookbot, each offering different crafting options.
Scrap Mechanic offers three modes: survival, creative, and challenge. Survival mode introduces mechanics like wildlife, scavenging, farming, and cooking. Creative mode provides unlimited access to all items for testing without restrictions. Challenge mode offers basic building functionality with limited blocks and parts, allowing you to create and share challenge maps.
With its dynamic world, vibrant visuals, and extensive crafting options, Scrap Mechanic provides a unique and enjoyable crafting experience.
Best Crafting Games – Summary
The world of crafting and survival games is vast and varied, with titles ranging from the cosmic exploration of “No Man’s Sky” to the sandbox creativity of “Scrap Mechanic.” Each game mentioned in this article offers incredible crafting experiences, ensuring that there’s a crafting game out there perfect for every player.
Whether you prefer exploring alien planets, tending to a farm, surviving in the wilderness, or building complex contraptions, these crafting games provide countless hours of immersive and satisfying gameplay. So grab your tools, gather your resources, and embark on your crafting adventure today!
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