Dark Souls similar games & best alternatives

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Dark Souls

PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch • 2011

Should you play it?

What works

  • Deep and rewarding combat system
  • Vast interconnected world with secrets
  • High player autonomy and customization
  • Challenging but fair difficulty
  • Unique online asynchronous multiplayer features

Things to keep in mind

  • Steep learning curve may frustrate some players
  • Opaque mechanics like humanity system
  • Limited direct multiplayer communication
  • Some technical issues and frame rate drops
  • Minimal hand-holding and guidance

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED

  • Bloodborne

  • DARK SOULS™ II

  • Demon's Souls

  • Nioh: Complete Edition

  • ELDEN RING

More relaxing

Games that feels like Dark Souls but with a more relaxing feel

Less competitive

Games that feels like Dark Souls but with less competition against others

  • Descent: Road to Legend

  • Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

  • Planet Alcatraz 2

  • Risen 3 - Titan Lords

  • Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy

  • Wizardry 6: Bane of the Cosmic Forge

More intimate

Games that feels like Dark Souls but with more focus on close relationships

Choose your own criteria ->

From the same developer

From the same developer, ranked by motivational fit.

  • Bloodborne

  • DARK SOULS™: REMASTERED

  • DARK SOULS™ II

  • ELDEN RING

  • DARK SOULS™ III

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Dark Souls. 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 Dark Souls. These titles are not in What to play next.

Dark Souls: 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 Exploration, Story. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Relaxation.

Last update: 21/08/2026