It’s no secret thatPalworldhas garnered a lot of attention, both positive and negative, over this past week since its debut. The creature-capture title from Pocketpair - or thePokemonclone, whatever you want to call it - has become the definition of a hit game, particularly onSteamwhere it became one of the platform’s most successful titles.
Naturally, gamers who enjoyed the mechanics, the adorable creatures, and the overall vibe of this world will be on the lookout for other games of that ilk - and there are plenty of affordable alternatives on the market. Here are 10 of the best games to play if you love Palworld for under $30 - with some titles even dropping below $15.
ARK: Survival Evolved
Cult of the Lamb
Cassette Beasts
Digimon Survive
Best Palworld Price Deals And Cheapest Ways To Play
Palworld is the latest video game craze - albeit controversial - so we’ve compiled price deals to serve you the cheapest ways to play.
10. Minecraft
A blocky adventure awaits!
WHERE TO PLAY
Minecraft is a blocky virtual playground that allows near-limitless creativity. Randomly generated worlds, as well as player-created masterpieces, allow for endless fun in this sandbox survival game. Both the PlayStation Store and the Xbox Games Store have a copy for under $20 and the Nintendo eShop is also keeping the title under $30.
There’s no doubt thatMinecraftis one of the best-selling games of all time, and the active player count is still through the roof today, over 10 years after its release. Throughout its longevity, players have recreated some of the greatest fictional structures and real-life world wonders in the sandbox game’s signature, blocky style, not to mention how iconic the animals and monsters have become. Minecraft and Palworld have several mechanics in common, including crafting, exploration, and battling monsters, and the Pals and Villagers also share the samebase-building abilitiesthanks to their skills.
Open-World Survival Alternatives
9. Craftopia
Pocketpair’s predecessor
This multiplayer survival action game serves up hunting, farming, crafting, hack-and-slash combat, and much more within the open-world expanse. There are elements of Pokemon, Minecraft, and even The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s stylistic inspiration. Craftopia is available to purchase for $24.99 on Steam and the Xbox Games Store.
Craftopiais from the same developer that brought you Palworld, so the similarities in game mechanics and design are pretty close. Instead of Pal Spheres, you have Monster Prisms in Craftopia to catch creatures and keep them as companions. You can also customize your character, build intense factories to keep supplies high, and, of course, take part in multiplayer action and exploration. If you’re looking for a Palworld extension after playing the popular title, digging into Craftopia is a sound option.
8. Valheim
Explore the Tenth World
Designed for 1-10 players, Valheim is an exploration and survival game infused with the Viking culture. Set in purgatory, players battle, build, and loot their way across the expanse to become worthy in the eyes of Odin. Bag this hit game of 2021 for yourself on Steam or the Xbox Games Store for under $20.
In the same vein as Minecraft,Valheimbecame the talk of the town in 2021 for its crafting mechanics and gamers were taking advantage of these perks by building impressive strongholds. The game is visually striking and boasts several survival avenues to explore with enough fantastical interaction to keep you busy for hours. The bread and butter of Palworld is present in Valheim’s gameplay, but the Viking vibe is a little different from the rat-tat-tat ofPal guns.
7. Ark: Survival Evolved
Ark has a cracking musical theme
Primeval creatures roam a mysterious island that you must traverse, survive, and escape from. Dinosaurs, bears, and giant spiders cover the ecosystem where the basics of food, water, temperature, and weather have to be managed. Ark: Survival Evolved is available to purchase on all major platforms for under $20.
The Ark series is evolving very soon with the release date of Ark 2 situatedsomewhere in 2024. But until that debut,Ark: Survival Evolvedis available to play for dirt cheap on all major platforms, accompanied by musical themes filled with hope and exhilaration to make your heart race. Amid Pokemon fans pointing the finger, Palworld developer,Takuro Mizobe, actually namedthis Studio Wildcard title as the game with more mechanics in common with Palworld than Pokemon - and for good reason. Ark allows you to domesticate the beasts similar to catching Pals, and the basic survival techniques of scavenging and crafting are also present.
Beware of man-eating sharks!
It’s time to embark on a nautical adventure where you get to build your raft the size of a house - something Jack and Rose could have done with in Titanic. Repurpose debris, scavenge reefs, and manage your survival at sea with various resources - but beware of predators swimming underneath. Grab your copy of Raft on Steam for under $20.
Raftis a colorful survival adventure to take part in, with soft graphics and beautiful locations to explore that take the sting out of your plight: enduring the predators on your tail. Alongside the classic survival mechanics and the open-world exploration, Raft and Palworld also share a defense strategy against creatures and a thrilling multiplayer mode you can activate among friends to navigate the great expanse in front.
5. Cult of the Lamb
This action-roguelike was one of the most popular in the subgenre during 2022, for its cute but terrifying design and its satirical theme of starting a cult within the woodland. Tasked with destroying the non-believers, spreading the word of your cult, and performing dark rituals to the gods, Cult of the Lamb is a wicked time and available to play on all major platforms for under $25.
Taking one look atCult of the Lamb, you wouldn’t think it had much to do with Palworld aside from the hostile animals running about. In addition to recruiting creatures into your team and crafting camps, thisthrilling roguelikealso gets your minions to do the hard graft for you, similar to how the Pals craft your bases and run factories for you in Palworld. Both games also have a sinister undertone, the titular cult and the gunning down of creatures and humans, which gives these games a similar vibe despite their art style being wildly different.
RPG Alternatives
4. Cassette Beasts
Adventure. Battle. Transform.
This open-world JRPG-styled game involves the collecting of monsters to use against others in turn-based combat, presented within pixel-art animation. Play couch co-op with friends, recruit human companions as your allies, and make unique monsters through the Fusion System for a rewarding experience. Steam and the Xbox Games Store are selling the title for under $20, but the Nintendo eShop has an even bigger discount.
The actual interface of Cassette Beasts has a lot in common with Pokemon, and despite being an open world the same as Palworld, Bytten Studio’s 2D adventure is very different stylistically and in combat. Instead of real-time battles, this title uses the classic turn-based combat from the JRPG genre, however, the basic premise of going out into the world and collecting monsters to fight on your behalf against others is the standard for Cassette Beasts.
3. Digimon: Survive
More 90s nostalgia
Visual novel meets tactical RPG in Digimon: Survive, following Takuma Momozuka who must fight his way back home from a Digimon-filled world through a thrilling narrative and turn-based combat. Pick up your copy on the PlayStation Store with a significant discount that brings the price under $20.
Alongside the rise of the Pokemon cards and anime in the ’90s,Digimonalso dropped alongside the Japanese IP, but didn’t quite achieve the same success. Naturally, the video games that were released for Digimon were of a similar concept to Pokemon, showing humans befriending cute monsters for battle - all of which had more powerful evolutions in store. Aside from the obvious Pal companions,Digimon Surviveand Palworld don’t have too much in common within the mechanics and genre, as Digimon is more story-based, but the idea of an adventure with your diverse group of creatures still stands.
2. Ooblets
Ooblets of fun
The casual farming-sim carries a unique style that’s part Animal Crossing part Stardew Valley, and offers gameplay about managing a relaxing farm within a seaside town. Grow your own Ooblets, participate in events and limited-time games, and also have a dance-off with your friendly creatures for under $30 on Steam, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
Probably the tamest game on this list isOoblets, designed for all the cozy gamers out there who want a break from combat. This creature collector puts casual management at the forefront and even includes spirit-lifting events, dance competitions, and thrilling escapades across the map to keep morale high. If all the Pals had been given a sedative - and the humans as well - in Palworld, you’d probably end up with something like Ooblets, where relaxed, town life has become the norm and everyone can get along.
Welcome to the Airborne Archipelago
Crema’s MMORPG creature collector is the cute-titled game with even cuter monsters, as you explore the Airborne Archipelago with your titular creatures, battle other “tamers” and join friends on adventures. Nintendo Switch is currently the only platform to offer the game for under $30, thanks to the eShop’s 50% discount.
Before the Palworld controversy, there wasTemtem. This turn-based tactile game was on the hot seat for leaning into Pokemon’s aesthetics and gameplay mechanics back in 2022, but it didn’t quite reach the acclaim that Palworld did. Offering another packed roster full of unique creatures to tame and fight with, Temtem gives a more competitive edge to combat through its PvP interactions, but the multiplayer, open-world aspect of Palworld is still very present in Temtem’s blueprint.
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