Black Desert similar games & best alternatives

Black Desert - Trailer
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Black Desert

Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox One • 2017

Should you play it?

Played by over 20 million Adventurers - Black Desert Online is an open-world, action MMORPG. Experience intense, action-packed combat, battle massive world bosses, fight alongside friends to siege and conquer castles, and train in professions such as fishing, trading, crafting, cooking, and more!

What works

  • Stunning graphics and character customization
  • Fluid and skill-based combat
  • Vast open world with diverse activities
  • Deep progression and life skills
  • Active community and guild systems

Things to keep in mind

  • Steep learning curve and overwhelming complexity
  • Heavy grind and rng-based progression
  • Pay-to-win elements and microtransactions
  • Some toxic pvp experiences
  • Confusing or weak story presentation

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • RuneScape ®

  • Summoners War: Chronicles

  • Conan Exiles Enhanced

  • V Rising

  • Anarchy Online

  • Dune: Awakening

Less idle-friendly

Games that feels like Black Desert but with less of an idle filler feel

  • REMNANT II®

  • DARK SOULS™ III

  • Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition

  • ELDEN RING

  • Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

  • Monster Hunter: World

Less competitive

Games that feels like Black Desert but with less competition against others

  • Dragon Age™ Inquisition

  • Warframe

  • RuneScape: Dragonwilds

  • Dungeons & Dragons Online®

  • Dying Light 2 Stay Human: Reloaded Edition

  • Remnant: From the Ashes

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Black Desert. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Black Desert. These titles are not in What to play next.

Black Desert: Less representative of its motivational profile, with noticeable differences. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Competition, Status, Fellowship, Domination. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Idle, Expression, Exploration.

Last update: 21/08/2026