Open-World Games Like Skyrim: 14 RPGs to Play on Steam

The best open-world games like Skyrim share one feeling: you spot a ruin on a hill, wander over without a reason, and come back three hours later with a new sword, a new grudge and a quest you never meant to start. Skyrim works because it never asks you to stay on the main road, and because your character becomes whatever you keep doing. Here are fourteen Steam RPGs that give you that same freedom, sorted by the kind of Skyrim player you are.

What makes Skyrim the game other RPGs are measured against

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is the version on Steam today, released on Oct 27, 2016 by Bethesda Game Studios. It bundles the original game with its add-ons, adds remastered art and effects, and supports Creations, the official system for new quests, armour, weapons and areas. It is single-player only.

What players actually mean when they ask for open-world games like Skyrim usually comes down to four things:

• Freedom to ignore the plot. The dragon prophecy can wait forever while you join a guild, buy a house or clear caves.
• Learning by doing. Skills rise as you use them, so swinging an axe makes you better with axes and sneaking makes you quieter. There are no locked classes.
• A world that feels handmade. Every cave and tower seems to have a note, a corpse or a small story inside.
• Immersion. You can play in first person, live in the place and treat it like a second home rather than a level.

No single game nails all four, so the picks below are grouped by which of those feelings they deliver best. If you want a broader starting point, our games like Skyrim list and our role playing games like Skyrim guide take slightly different angles on the same question.

Classic fantasy open-world games like Skyrim

These are the closest matches in tone: swords, spells, ruins and a world that lets you choose what kind of hero (or villain) you become.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

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If you only try one of these open-world games like Skyrim, make it this one. It is the previous Elder Scrolls game, rebuilt by Bethesda Game Studios with Virtuos, and it takes you to Cyrodiil, the imperial heartland of the same continent. The main threat is a Daedric invasion pouring out of gates to the realm of Oblivion, and you can close those gates or walk straight past them to do anything else.

You build a character the same open way: noble warrior, assassin, sorcerer or a blacksmith who never fights at all. The remaster includes the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine expansions. It suits anyone who has finished Skyrim and wants more of the exact same world, just with a warmer, greener, slightly stranger flavour. Single-player only.

Avowed

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Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, set in Eora, the world of the Pillars of Eternity series. You play an envoy sent to the Living Lands, an island where a strange plague is spreading, and your investigation turns personal as the land seems to recognise you.

The appeal for Skyrim players is the combination of first-person magic-and-steel combat with choices that change how the region and its people end up. Expect more dialogue and consequence than Skyrim, with a wild, overgrown setting rather than snowy mountains. It suits players who loved Skyrim’s feel but wished its stories went deeper. Single-player.

Hogwarts Legacy

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Avalanche Software’s open-world action RPG puts you in the wizarding world of the 1800s as a student who holds the key to an ancient secret. You explore Hogwarts and the lands around it, discover magical beasts, brew potions, master spells, upgrade talents and customise your character.

It fits if your favourite Skyrim playthrough was a pure mage, or if you enjoyed the crafting and collecting side of Skyrim as much as the fighting. It is more guided than Skyrim, and the world is built around a familiar setting, so it suits fans of that setting most. Single-player.

Risen

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Risen, from Piranha Bytes and THQ Nordic, is an older open-world RPG set on Faranga, an island shaken by mysterious earthquakes and full of monsters and treasure. You can fight with a sword, learn staff combat or become a mage, and the store page promises over 60 hours with many side quests.

It feels rougher than modern games, but it rewards the same curiosity Skyrim does, and early on it is genuinely dangerous to stray too far. Pick it if you enjoy older RPGs and a world that does not scale to you. Single-player.

Tougher fantasy worlds for combat-focused Skyrim fans

If Skyrim’s combat was the part you wished had more bite, these two keep the open fantasy world and ask more of your reflexes and planning.

ELDEN RING

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FromSoftware’s fantasy action RPG sends you across the Lands Between, where open fields and large, layered dungeons connect without loading screens. Like Skyrim, you choose where to go and build a character from a huge spread of weapons, armour, spells and items.

The difference is challenge. Fights demand timing, reading enemy attacks and choosing when to strike, and the bosses are famously hard. The story is told quietly through places and items rather than long conversations. It suits players whose favourite Skyrim moments were stumbling into a dungeon that felt dangerous. Steam lists single-player plus online co-op and online PvP, so you can call a friend in for help.

Dragon’s Dogma 2

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Capcom’s single-player action RPG casts you as the Arisen. You pick a vocation (the game’s word for class) such as a sword fighter, archer or magick user, and travel with Pawns: AI companions with their own personalities. You design one main Pawn who stays with you, and you can hire up to two more created by other players through the network.

Combat is physical and showy, with big monsters you can climb. Travel feels like a real journey, which suits anyone who liked walking Skyrim’s roads instead of fast travelling. Pick it if you want Skyrim’s freedom with a party around you. Single-player.

Grounded medieval worlds with no dragons

Some players love Skyrim most for living in it: buying bread, picking locks, getting into fistfights in taverns. These picks keep that immersion and drop the magic.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

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Warhorse Studios’ story-driven action RPG is set in 15th-century Europe and follows Henry, a young man caught up in a much bigger conflict. It is a large, rich open world built on historical realism rather than fantasy, played in first person.

What links it to Skyrim is the sense of being one person in a living place, where how you treat people and how you look and behave matters. Combat with swords is deliberate and skill-based. It is one of the strongest open-world games like Skyrim for players who want immersion over spectacle. Single-player, with full controller support.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

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The first game starts Henry’s story. He is a blacksmith’s son in Bohemia whose village is burned by mercenaries during a civil war after the king is kidnapped by his half-brother Sigismund. You set out for revenge and get pulled into the struggle.

You explore castles, forests and villages, take quests that change outcomes and make choices that matter. It is rougher than the sequel and its early hours are harsh, but starting here gives the second game more weight. Single-player.

Bethesda-style freedom in a different setting

If what you love is the Bethesda structure itself (go anywhere, join factions, find a story in every building), these move it out of fantasy entirely.

Fallout 4

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Made by Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout 4 is the most direct relative of Skyrim on this list after Oblivion. You are the sole survivor of Vault 111, stepping into a Boston wrecked by nuclear war. The world is packed with locations, characters and quests, and factions to join or defy.

You shape your character with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system and hundreds of perks, playing as a smooth talker, a stealthy sniper or a tank in power armour. The extra layer is rebuilding: you help settlements grow as you explore. If you liked Hearthfire-style homesteading in Skyrim, this goes much further. Single-player.

Fallout: New Vegas

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Obsidian Entertainment’s Fallout takes you across the Mojave Wasteland, from small desert towns to the Hoover Dam and the neon Strip, while factions fight for control of New Vegas. You can pick a side in the coming war or take everything for yourself.

It is older and less polished than Fallout 4, but it leans harder on choices and faction politics. Pick it if Skyrim’s Civil War questline was your favourite part and you wanted it to matter more. Single-player.

Cyberpunk 2077

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CD PROJEKT RED’s open-world action RPG is set in Night City, a dangerous future city obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. Instead of mountains and caves, you explore streets, districts and towers packed with side jobs and characters.

It fits Skyrim players who want a first-person RPG with lots of build freedom and a strong main story, and who do not mind trading swords for guns, hacking and cybernetic upgrades. It is the only pick here that Steam also lists for macOS. Single-player.

Sandbox RPGs where you write your own story

Skyrim gives you a main quest and lets you ignore it. These three barely give you one at all. They suit players whose best Skyrim memories were stories they made up themselves.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

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TaleWorlds Entertainment’s strategy and action RPG drops you into Calradia, an empire torn by civil war with new kingdoms rising at its edges. You create a character, then trade, craft weapons, recruit companions, engage in politics and lead armies into huge real-time battles, fighting in first or third person beside your troops.

It is less about dungeons and more about rising from nobody to a lord with your own clan. Skyrim players who enjoyed the faction side and wanted to actually run a war will love it. Steam lists single-player, online PvP and Steam Workshop support for mods. If the strategy side hooks you, our best strategy games on Steam list goes deeper.

Kenshi

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Lo-Fi Games’ Kenshi is a free-roaming, squad-based RPG with no linear story. You can be a trader, thief, rebel, warlord, farmer or simply a victim, and you build a squad of characters who grow stronger through experience. The store page describes a seamless world of over 870 square kilometres, with bases to build and factions to help or oppose.

It looks plain and starts brutally, but it rewards patience with stories no other game will give you. It suits Skyrim players who loved roleplaying an unusual life. Single-player, with Steam Workshop mods. Fans of base management may also like our games like RimWorld list.

Enshrouded

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Keen Games’ survival action RPG is set in Embervale, a kingdom being swallowed by a corrupting fog called the Shroud. You explore forests, dunes, snowy peaks and ruins, using a grappling hook, a glider and swimming to reach hidden places. A deep skill tree lets you play as an armoured fighter, a ranger, a battlemage or a mix.

The twist is survival and building: you hunt, farm and gather, rescue survivors and grow a settlement, and you can build almost anywhere in a world you can reshape. Steam lists its release date as Oct 15, 2026, with single-player and online co-op. It is the best pick here for Skyrim fans who want to share the adventure with friends. Our survival games like Don’t Starve list has more in this vein.

How to choose between these open-world games like Skyrim

The easiest way to pick is to name the Skyrim moment you miss most, then match it:

• “I want more Elder Scrolls.” Oblivion Remastered.
• “I want better stories and choices.” Avowed, Fallout: New Vegas or Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.
• “Combat felt too easy.” ELDEN RING or Dragon’s Dogma 2.
• “I loved just living there.” Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Kenshi or Fallout 4.
• “I want to play with a friend.” Enshrouded or ELDEN RING.
• “I only ever played a mage.” Hogwarts Legacy or Avowed.

A worked example

Say you have put a lot of hours into Skyrim as a stealth archer, you liked the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood far more than the dragons, and you mostly play in first person. Elden Ring would be a poor first choice here: its combat is the point, and its stories are hidden. A better path is Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which rewards sneaking, lockpicking and careful choices in first person, followed by Cyberpunk 2077 if you want the same approach in a modern city. If you then want fantasy back, Oblivion Remastered has its own famous guild questlines.

Trade-offs to know before you buy

Not all open-world games like Skyrim treat your time the same way. Bethesda’s games (Oblivion Remastered, Fallout 4) give you the most freedom but the least focused stories. Obsidian’s (Avowed, Fallout: New Vegas) talk more and branch more. FromSoftware and Capcom put action first. The Kingdom Come games are slower and more demanding about realism, and the sandboxes (Bannerlord, Kenshi) can feel aimless if you need a quest log to guide you.

Common mistakes

• Picking by setting alone. A snowy fantasy world is not what makes a game feel like Skyrim. Freedom and character building matter more.
• Quitting in the first hour. Kenshi, Risen and the first Kingdom Come start harsh on purpose. Give them a few sessions.
• Expecting multiplayer by default. Most of these, like Skyrim, are single-player on Steam. Check the player column in the table.
• Jumping into a sequel cold. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II stands on its own, but Henry’s story lands harder if you start with the first game.

For more ideas beyond fantasy RPGs, browse our best open world games on Steam, our best RPG games on Steam and the full games like the ones you love collection.

Questions and answers

What is the closest game to Skyrim?

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is the closest match. It comes from the same studio, Bethesda Game Studios (with Virtuos), and is set in Cyrodiil, another province of the same world. You build a character freely, follow guilds and side stories, and can ignore the main quest about the Daedric invasion for as long as you like. It released on Steam on Apr 22, 2025, and includes the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine expansions.

Are there open-world games like Skyrim with multiplayer?

Skyrim itself is single-player on Steam, but a few picks add other players. Elden Ring lists online co-op and online PvP alongside its single-player campaign. Enshrouded is built for solo or online co-op, with building and survival on top of exploration and combat. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord has online PvP multiplayer, though its sandbox campaign is a solo experience. Dragon's Dogma 2 is single-player but lets you borrow companions other players created.

Is Elden Ring like Skyrim?

In some ways. Both drop you into a huge fantasy world and let you head almost anywhere, with dungeons tucked into every corner and a character you build from many weapons, spells and armour pieces. The big difference is challenge: Elden Ring's combat is far more demanding, with tough bosses that reward careful timing. It also tells its story more quietly, with fewer quest markers and much less dialogue than Skyrim.

Are there new games like Skyrim on Steam?

Yes. Several recent releases suit Skyrim fans. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II arrived on Feb 4, 2025, Avowed on Feb 18, 2025, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered on Apr 22, 2025. Most recently, Steam lists Enshrouded with a release date of Oct 15, 2026, offering solo and online co-op exploration with base building. Dragon's Dogma 2 from Mar 21, 2024 is another fairly fresh option.

Is Fallout 4 like Skyrim?

Very much so. Fallout 4 is made by Bethesda Game Studios, the team behind Skyrim, and it shares the same structure: a large open world packed with locations, factions to join, quests you can tackle in any order and a character you shape with perks. The setting swaps dragons and swords for a post-nuclear Boston, guns and power armour, and it adds settlement building, where you help the wasteland recover.