Spanning a massive 19 million players across its Xbox and Steam base, developer Pocketpair somehow managed to get its controversial — and expensive — monster capture and base management sim, Palworld, proving that it doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel or have infinite money to spend to make a hit game.
Of course, for all its controversies, perhaps you wanna play something that feels a bit… less controversial in a similar vein. This is exactly that, from solely base management to creature captures to an amalgamation of the two, these games you should check out if you like Palworld.
Craftopia
If you’re looking to stay in the realm of Pocketpair, its other game, Craftopia might be up your alley. It contains much of the same stuff that Palworld has, including monsters to hunt, while also coming out the gate with crafting, farming, creature capture, and factory management sim stuff. It also added flare with its own mechanics, like instead of rideable creatures, you’ve got a bike.
To be frank, if you’re not looking to play Palworld but want the same experience from the same dev, Craftopia is probably the safest bet, but it’s also by the same Japanese dev, so it’s kind of hard to put it any higher.
Rust
Omitting the creature capture element, Rust is a very well-established indie game with roots in the DayZ and ARMA 2 communities. Survive the procedurally generated land and build yourself up from a nobody with a rock and torch to a somebody with a sprawling base.
Much like Palworld, it features mainstay survival elements like hunger and warmth status. You need to survive the landscape and maintain your stats or else you perish. It might lack creature capturing elements, but its legacy in the survival genre more than make up for some differing features between the two.
Cult of the Lamb
Not so much a creature capture as much as it is a creature converter. Cult of the Lamb is a base management roguelike focused on building up your very own cult, with all the cute and cuddly acolytes being just as susceptible to becoming the next offering to your God.
Keep your followers happy and indoctrinated in order to keep up your happy little critter cult and continue to venture out, slaying the non-believers and those who stand in your way.
Temtem
Why have a double whammy when it comes to copyright dubiousness? Temtem is obviously distinctive enough to Pokemon to the degree it even has a place on the eShop, but thanks to its creature capture mechanic, stylistic design, and the general vibe of the game, I felt it was fitting to touch on it.
Capturing Tems, the game’s equivalent of Pals, with Temcards, you have to be mindful of its own unique stat system with new typings that resist and are strong against each other. You capture them and face off against tamers and the wildlife of the area.
If you’re looking for something to double as the way to scratch the creature capture element of Palworld and Pokemon itch, you can’t really go wrong with Temtem.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus
In good conscious, I can’t just not bring up an entry of Pokemon, while mainline entries might fare just as well, when playing Palworld, it reminds me a lot more of Game Freak’s spin-off, Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
Not only is it an open-world creature capture, but it also has more style and charm that seem parallel with Palworld. It might not be a 1-to-1 comparison, as in the end, Palworld has guns and more distinctive crafting and combat systems between the two, but there’s no shot that you can’t look at Legends: Arceus and not understand what I’m getting at.
I mean, it even has a watered-down base management mechanic where you can upgrade Jubilife Village, adding more facilities and help it grow into something much more than a quaint town in the middle of the region.
