What are the best crafting games on PC? It’s easy to mix these up with building games as they both involve an element of construction. The critical difference here, though, is that the best crafting games are all about making things like weapons or tools to help you survive in a harsh world, or thrive in a charming one.
Crafting games can be set in practically any type of environment, and from Minecraft to Elden Ring, even a lot of the best PC games around involve some form of crafting. That said, thanks to the genre’s broad range, this list contains something for everyone, from some of the best open-world games, to – naturally – survival games, and even zombie games. So, whatever your preference you’ll find something in this list of the best crafting games on PC.
The best crafting games on PC are:
One of Minecraft’s greatest strengths is its versatility. You’re free to craft practically anything, from the equipment needed to embark on whatever adventure you desire, to rigging your base with TNT to trap invaders. Are you feeling less mischievous? Why not create a rollercoaster with heaps of redstone.
Trove is similar to Minecraft, it’s a sandbox MMORPG with endless places to explore including different biomes and realms – and even dungeons. As well as exploring and collecting resources, there’s a whole lot of building and crafting that goes into making Trove a magical place for both you and your online buddies.
No Man’s Sky got off to a rocky launch, but it has landed on its feet wonderfully following a number of substantial content updates from developer Hello Games. Now you can build a single base to call home no matter where you travel to in the Galaxy, explore the universe in multiplayer, and voyage underwater in eerie, monster-filled alien oceans. If you’re looking for something different, you can also try any of these stellar No Man’s Sky mods.
You know what kind of gaming experience you’re in for straight off the bat with Stardew Valley. As you load in, a fantasy of leaving behind a busy and soulless city job to go and work on your Grandfather’s farm greets you.
Everything is out to kill you in Rust. If you aren’t hacked to bits by a rogue raider, then chances are the radiation and weather hazards will get you instead. Even meeting other players poses a risk, as there’s every chance they’ll beat you to death with a rock the second your back is turned.
Re-logic’s take on the humble crafting genre transports the block-by-block resource gathering of Minecraft to a 2D world replete with caverns and forest to explore, fight though, and harvest. Once you craft your very first base, you’re free to venture out and tackle whatever objectives you please, be it spelunking for treasure or slaying terrifying monsters.
Ark: Survival Evolved is a crafting game with one crucial difference: massive dinosaurs you can tame and eventually ride into battle. There are over 176 creatures in the game right now, and they range from real dinosaurs like the t-rex to mythical creatures like a phoenix.
Don’t Starve isn’t just a good crafting title, but it’s one of the best survival games, too. Being left in the wilderness to fend for yourself is a scary concept, and no crafting game on this list leans into that fact as hard as Don’t Starve. You’ll find yourself trapped by a demon on an island that oozes Lovecraftian horror, and where every day is spent preparing to battle the monsters that come out at night.
This crafting game puts you in the role of a mechanic who has crash-landed on a planet full of disorderly robots. Fortunately, you can strip those malfunctioning bots down for parts and use them to survive on this alien world.
Mysterious things lurk in the inky depths of the ocean, and after crash-landing in open waters, you must use the alien fauna and flora of planet 4546B to stay alive. The eerie, mysterious void that hangs in the depths beneath makes Subnautica one of the most disconcerting, yet atmospheric, first-person survival games. Safe to say, we don’t recommend this game to anyone thalassophobic, unless you enjoy feeling an overwhelming sense of dread.
A post-apocalyptic open-world game where zombies litter the landscape, 7 Days to Die makes you scramble and scavenge for your life to survive waves of aggressive undead that hunt you down every seven in-game days. To bolster your fortress against a horde that grows ever stronger, you’ll need to craft guns, traps, and armour by collecting resources to reinforce the walls between you and the shambling corpses that seek you.
In Valheim, you play a Viking warrior who has arrived in purgatory, and must prove their worth in order to please Odin and make it to Valhalla. The procedurally generated wilderness contains various treacherous biomes from dark swamps to snowy mountains, each containing fearsome Valheim bosses. You must defeat them in order to progress and unlock crafting materials to survive in the next area.
