Compare free games like Valheim
Find the features you want to keep and the compromises you can live with. No invented similarity scores—just sourced differences.
Showing all ten games. Scroll the table horizontally on a smaller screen.
| Your priority |  Muck |  Wurm Online |  Haven & Hearth |  VoxeLibre |  Veloren |  Unturned |  Once Human |  Ryzom |  UnReal World |  Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free access | Free on Steam | Free with progression limits | Free with optional paid benefits | Free & open source | Free & open source | Free to play · optional purchases | Free to play · in-app purchases | Free with level and equipment limits | Free legacy version | Free & open source |
| Closest fit | Co-op survival | Deep building | Settlement life | Survival building | Fantasy exploration | Co-op survival sandbox | Modern survival | Fantasy RPG and crafting | Solo survival | Solo survival decisions |
| Platforms | Windows (Steam) | Desktop; see official client downloads | Desktop Java client; see official play page | Luanti desktop clients; check engine downloads | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS and Linux (Steam) | Windows (PC listing reviewed) | Windows, macOS and Linux | Windows, macOS & Linux legacy downloads | Windows, Linux, macOS and Android builds |
| Play mode | Single-player, online co-op & PvP | Persistent online MMORPG; PvE or PvP servers | Persistent online MMORPG | Single-player or multiplayer | Single-player, multiplayer & self-hosting | Single-player; online and LAN co-op/PvP | Online MMO; co-op & PvP features | Persistent online MMORPG | Single-player, turn-based survival | Single-player, turn-based |
| Building | Gather resources & build a base | Terraforming, houses, roads & ships | Land claims, buildings, crops & villages | Dig, place blocks, farm and craft structures | Admin build mode; not a normal survival building loop | Shelters, bases and fortifications | Territory-based house construction | Equipment crafting; not freeform survival base construction | Shelter and wilderness living | Crafting, construction and survival preparation |
| Progression | Run-based survival, crafted gear & powerups | Crafting and other skills; free skill cap of 20 | Skills and settlement development; paid acceleration available | Resources, tools, farming and enchanting | Equipment, weapon skills & dungeon exploration | Scavenging, equipment and survival resources | Equipment, weapons & survival progression | Classless combat, magic, harvesting and crafting skills | Survival skills in a low-fantasy roguelike | Survival knowledge, skills and scavenged equipment |
| World | Procedurally generated island | Persistent, player-shaped medieval world | Shared wilderness inspired by Slavic and Germanic folklore | Generated voxel sandbox | Procedural fantasy world | Open-world zombie survival maps | Post-apocalyptic open world | Science-fantasy world of Atys | Iron Age northern wilderness | Procedurally generated post-apocalyptic world |
| Main caveat | A survival roguelike, rather than a long-form fantasy RPG campaign. | The developer states that free accounts have a skill cap of 20; premium raises the ceiling to 100. | Paid verification and subscriptions offer inventory and character-development benefits. The developer also warns that worlds may be reset during development. | Minecraft-inspired rather than a Valheim-style action RPG. Install both Luanti and the VoxeLibre game; the project labels itself beta. | It is an RPG-first alternative. Do not choose it expecting Valheim’s everyday survival base building. | A zombie sandbox with firearms, rather than a Norse fantasy RPG. The store lists optional purchases and a paid Gold upgrade; online servers can have different rules. | The setting and gun-focused combat differ substantially. The Steam listing includes in-app and chance-based purchases. | Free accounts stop at character level 125 and equipment quality 150. Premium raises limits and adds benefits; this is not a freeform base-building replacement. | The official page explicitly says 3.71 is not the latest version. Current commercial releases are listed separately. | No Valheim-style real-time co-op or third-person combat. Use the project’s free stable downloads; commercial community distributions are a separate route. |
| Official route | Official download | Official download | Official download | Official download | Official download | Official download | Official download | Official download | Official download | Official download |
Choose by the part of Valheim you enjoy
If you want fantasy action and travelling with friends, look first at Veloren. If you want resources, a base and co-op pressure within a survival run, look at Muck. Wurm Online and Haven & Hearth are worth examining for persistent settlement projects, with their account conditions understood.
Once Human is a modern, online survival alternative with a different setting. UnReal World offers a solo northern wilderness RPG through a clearly labelled free older release. The table keeps these distinctions visible instead of treating a shared genre tag as proof of equivalence.
Read “free” carefully
Veloren and Muck have current no-cost routes. Wurm Online has a free skill ceiling. Haven & Hearth sells account benefits. Once Human includes purchases. UnReal World’s free build is a legacy release.
What the alternatives actually costEach game name opens a full guide with original source links. This comparison is an editorial interpretation of those sources; it is not a benchmark or a claim that every feature is identical.