When it comes to games like Runescape, we're looking for three things: depth, challenge, and replayability. The cult classic MMORPG has been around since 2001, developer Jagex striking gold with its heady combination of dynamic online multiplayer, open world sandbox gameplay, and complex lore to sift through.
Luckily, though, plenty more contenders have entered the scene in the 24 years since Runescape launched. Some of the games on this list count among the best MMORPGs, sure, but more specifically, they make excellent Runescape alternatives if you're looking to fill your time between all the new games coming in 2025. That means you'll find one or two isometric RPG-shaped entries that fall a few inches shy of the MMO mark - but with so many incredible facets defining its unique DNA, who says all the games like Runescape have to be constrained by genre? Let's dive into them.
10. Legends of Aria
Platform(s): PC
Developer: Citadel Studios Inc
A solid alternative to Old School Runescape, Legends of Aria Classic was created by some of the team behind Ultima, an early pioneer of the MMORPG genre. If you're looking for that timeless isometric perspective, purely skill-based leveling system, and high-risk PvP, you'll definitely want to check out Legends of Aria from Citadel Studios. There's plenty of content to enjoy in Legends of Aria's tremendous world, but the growing community is still on the smaller side for an MMORPG. Even so, there's a risk in leaving safe zones and trusting strangers that evokes a nostalgia specific to the early days of the genre. Plus, there are player-created servers to offer something for everyone.
9. Ultima Online
Platform(s): PC
Developer: Electronic Arts
Of course, sometimes there's no replacement for the originals. If Runescape has consumed most of the time you have for MMORPGs, there's a good chance you missed out on arguably the most influential of the genre. It's a good thing then that Ultima Online is still alive and well today, with an intensely loyal, if modest, community. Ultima Online was the first MMORPG to reach 100,000 subscribers, and it did so by giving players an immense sense of freedom to play precisely how they please, and at risk of falling victim to another player's freedom to play exactly how they please. If you die, everything you were carrying is your assailant's to carry off and sell. What's remarkable is how similar Ultima Online is in 2020 to its state in 1997, and maybe that's exactly why it's held such a tight grip on its cult following.
Making an MMO is like "founding a city" says Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies veteran
8. The Elder Scrolls Online
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
Developer: ZeniMax Online Studios
For those of you more than happy to leave the past in the past, The Elder Scrolls Online is one of the best modern MMORPGs you can play. For fans of Runescape looking for a similar sense of community and social aspects, The Elder Scrolls Online has one of the most active player-bases in the genre, and you're constantly being encouraged to join guilds and quest with other players. You won't find as many holiday events, and there aren't quite as many life skills to level up as in Runescape, but for a more cinematic, action-focused MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online's epic scale, intricate dungeons, and calculated boss fights never fail to delight.
7. Valheim
Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox One
Developer: Iron Gate AB
If you're looking for something with a similar vibe to Runescape that isn't an MMO or ARPG, we'd recommend checking out Valheim. Look past the differences in genre and you'll see a lot of similarities between the two games. The experience system, for example, gradually rewards you for tasks like mining and woodcutting, and there's a distinctive sense of freedom and openness to the world reminiscent not just of Runescape, but of early-2000s MMOs in general. Valheim is also incredibly polished for an Early Access game, so it's a great time to buy in before the inevitable price increase comes with the full launch.
6. Neverwinter
Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Developer: Cryptic Studios
Neverwinter is a free-to-play MMORPG with one of the most active player bases in the genre today. Since it first launched back in 2013, Neverwinter has persisted at the forefront of the genre for its excellent combat, in-depth character customization and leveling system, player-created quests, and of course, immersive lore based in the fabled Dungeons & Dragons universe. For a (mostly) free-to-play game, Neverwinter benefits from extraordinarily-substantive updates that come on a consistent basis, and never require payment for access. It doesn't exist on a scale as large as heavyweights like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy 14, but fans of Runescape will feel right at home in Neverwinter's rich, complex fantasy world.
5. Black Desert Online
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One
Developer: Pearl Abyss
Free-to-play Black Desert Online is a game like Runescape that's been garnering hype since its 2025 release - and with prequel RPG Crimson Desert in the works, there's no time like the present to check it out. If what you love about Runescape definitely isn't the combat, Black Desert Online offers something new and refreshing that requires more than the right skills to defeat enemies. And Black Desert Online deviates from the MMORPG rulebook in more ways than one, with elements like infrastructure-building and a day/night cycle there to make for a unique experience. Add to that a gorgeous, expansive world and extensive character customisation options, and Black Desert Online makes for a formidable alternative to the same 'ol, and an MMORPG more than worth a download.
4. Project: Gorgon
Platform(s): PC
Developer: Elder Game LLC
Part of what makes MMORPGs - and certainly Runescape - so attractive, is the freedom their worlds and systems afford. Project: Gorgon is a Steam Early Access title that takes boundaries and throws them to the wind. Just like Runescape, the only progression you achieve is by levelling and acquiring new skills, except here you're presented with an unprecedented number of skills to choose from.
You can also choose to play as a play as a barn animal, write a book and donate it to a library, or jump into a lake when you catch yourself on fire. There's a near-limitless number of things to see, do, become, and practice, making Project: Gorgon the only clear option for anyone looking for a game like Runescape that's packed with even more to do.
3. Diablo 4
Platform(s): PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
One game like Runescape to really scratch that big boss battling itch is Diablo 4. The latest Blizzard MMORPG darling just keeps getting bigger and better, taking all the best things about predecessor Diablo 3 and elevating them to blistering new heights. If crafting deep builds down to the nitty-gritty percentiles is what makes your loot goblin hart sing, you won't be disappointed, though of course there are plenty of build calculators and similar tools out there to help you play the character you want to, however you want to play it. Diablo 4 might not have the old school charm of Runescape, but there's a beautiful kind of poetry in how this game might not have even existed without Jagex's original there to popularise the fantasy MMO genre.
Read our Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review
2. Path of Exile 2
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X
Developer: Grinding Gear Games
The long-awaited sequel to Path of Exile launched into Early Access for PC and current gen consoles in December 2024, and it's already more than impressed. Path of Exile 2 is the perfect game like Runescape for anyone looking for a more modern MMORPG challenge that can be played on a variety of consoles, and thanks to crossplay and cross-progression, you never have to choose only one. Grinding Gear Games has six of its 12 character classes currently available in the Early Access build, each an asset to any dungeon-crawling, loot-grabbing party on a quest to discover everything the fantasy realm has to offer. Whether or not it's a tried-and-true MMO is a bit of a hair-splitter, but if you love the isometric likes of WoW or LoL, you'll be right at home in Path of Exile 2.
Read our Path of Exile 2 review-in-progress
1. World of Warcraft Classic
Platform(s): PC, Mac
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
If you want to raid, loot, and PvP like it's 2004, you probably already know about Old School Runescape, but did you know Blizzard gave World of Warcraft the same retro treatment with World of Warcraft Classic? Rewound to the state of things before the first expansion came in January 2007, it's the purest example of an MMORPG from what many consider the golden era of the genre. Better yet, the massive community that poured in at launch, reunited after so many years of changes, adds a palpable nostalgic magic that you won't find anywhere else. GamesRadar+ was so impressed with what Blizzard was able to recapture with World of Warcraft Classic that it was awarded the coveted Golden Joystick PC Game of the Year for 2019.
Check out all the best free Steam games to add to your rotation next.
