Sea of Thieves earns its devoted following by doing something rare: putting the fun in the hands of the players rather than the systems. There's no power grind separating veterans from newcomers — just sailing mastery, crew communication, and the electric uncertainty of a shared world where every horizon might hide an alliance or an ambush. Its pirate fantasy, cooperative ship operation, and emergent PvPvE tension are its DNA.
When fans look for games like Sea of Thieves, they're really chasing one or more of those threads: the pirate-and-ocean setting, the crew co-op loop, the open sandbox anarchy, or the shared-world PvPvE tension. The best alternatives nail at least two of these at once.
Top pick:Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the single closest match in the pool — it places you in the same Caribbean pirate world with the same broadside-cannon ship combat, treasure map hunting, and island-hopping freedom that defines Sea of Thieves, making it the essential recommendation for anyone who wants that core fantasy in a polished story-driven package.
Some store buttons are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
18 games like Sea of Thieves
88%
Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag 2013
Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag puts you on the same pirate-infested Caribbean seas as Sea of Thieves, complete with naval broadside combat, treasure hunting, ship upgrades, and an open world of islands to plunder. The sailing and sea-battle loop is the closest thing in gaming to SoT's core fantasy.
Key difference: Single-player story with naval upgrades replacing cosmetics-only sandbox.
Best for: Players who want a pirate narrative alongside the sailing.
Skip if: You only care about live co-op emergent chaos.
Skull and Bones is Ubisoft's dedicated pirate naval combat game built around commanding customizable ships, plundering trade routes, and battling rival captains across Indian Ocean waters — the most mechanically direct Sea of Thieves alternative.
Key difference: More grind-heavy progression and less comedic emergent chaos.
Best for: Players who want deeper naval customization over SoT's sandbox freedom.
Skip if: You dislike live-service grind or Ubisoft's structured systems.
Blackwake is a multiplayer naval combat game where crews of real players operate cannons, bail water, and board enemy ships together — pure team-based broadside warfare matching Sea of Thieves' ship-crew coordination loop.
Key difference: No open world or exploration; focused purely on ship-versus-ship battles.
Best for: Players who love SoT's ship combat most and want that in bulk.
Skip if: You want treasure hunting, questing, or open-world exploration.
Assassin's Creed Rogue keeps the Black Flag naval engine — boarding, broadside cannons, icebreaker voyages — while letting you play as a Templar hunting Assassins across Atlantic waters. The open-ocean exploration and ship combat directly echo SoT's loop.
Key difference: Story-driven solo experience; no multiplayer component.
Best for: Black Flag fans wanting more naval content with a twist.
Skip if: You need live co-op or PvP interaction with other players.
Deadfire is a deep RPG set on a tropical pirate archipelago where you captain a ship, manage a crew, board enemy vessels, and chart your own course across island-hopping adventures — Sea of Thieves' pirate fantasy in CRPG form.
Key difference: Turn-based RPG with heavy narrative; no real-time multiplayer.
Best for: Solo players who want rich pirate lore alongside the exploration fantasy.
Skip if: You dislike reading, stat-heavy CRPGs, or turn-based combat.
Destiny 2 is a shared-world co-op shooter where small fireteams complete bounties, raids, and PvPvE zones — a structural parallel to SoT's crew voyages and Athena's Fortune quests. Both reward co-op synergy over raw individual skill.
Key difference: Sci-fi looter-shooter with vertical power progression, not sandbox piracy.
Best for: Crew players who want a meatier endgame and build variety.
Skip if: You dislike number-based gear grind or sci-fi settings.
Atlas is a pirate survival MMO where crews build and sail ships across a shared ocean world, establishing claims and fighting rival companies — ambitious and buggy but scratching the same large-scale pirate sandbox itch as Sea of Thieves.
Best for: Players who want an MMO-scale pirate world beyond SoT's scope.
Skip if: You want polished, pick-up-and-play co-op without survival mechanics.
PC
53%
Tom Clancy's The Division 2016
The Division's Dark Zone is the closest thing to SoT's contested seas in a third-person format: shared-world zones where co-op squads can be backstabbed by other players at any moment, turning allies into threats. The emergent tension of trusting strangers mirrors Sea of Thieves almost exactly.
Key difference: Post-apocalyptic cover shooter; no exploration or sailing.
Best for: Fans of SoT's PvPvE betrayal and tension above all else.
Skip if: You dislike military shooters or grind-heavy loot systems.
GTA Online captures the same organized-chaos energy as Sea of Thieves: roaming crews, player-driven mayhem, cooperative heists, and constant threat from other players in a shared open world. The naval Cayo Perico and submarine content even adds a nautical flavour.
Key difference: Modern crime setting; vehicular rather than sail-based traversal.
Best for: Players who love SoT's multiplayer anarchy more than the pirate theme.
Skip if: You want a fantasy ocean; modern GTA world is jarring by comparison.
Far Cry 3 drops you on a tropical island archipelago with boat traversal between landmasses, pirate/outlaw factions to fight, and optional co-op missions layered over open-world exploration — hitting several of SoT's thematic notes on land.
Key difference: Land-focused FPS with traditional XP progression, not a sailing sandbox.
Best for: Solo players who want a pirate-island setting with a story.
Skip if: You primarily want naval ship combat or persistent multiplayer crews.
Monster Hunter: World is built around cooperative squads taking on escalating hunts with shared objectives and emergent chaos — structurally the same squad-contract loop as SoT's voyages. Both reward communication and role coordination over power stat checks.
Key difference: No open world or sailing; hub-based session hunts against monsters.
Best for: SoT crews who want a deep co-op challenge loop on land.
Skip if: You dislike deliberate, weighty combat or prep-before-mission flow.
Minecraft's survival mode with friends echoes SoT's sandbox freedom: build ships, explore, gather resources, and create emergent stories with no scripted ending. Both games treat the world as a toybox rather than a theme park.
Key difference: Block-building survival sandbox; no dedicated naval or PvPvE systems.
Best for: Creative players who want total freedom over directed adventure.
Skip if: You want structured quests, ship combat, or a living multiplayer world.
FTL: Faster Than Light puts you in command of a spaceship where every crew member has a role — managing hull breaches, fires, and enemy boarding — a tense crew-management loop nearly identical to sailing a Sea of Thieves sloop through a storm and a cannon fight simultaneously.
Key difference: Turn-based roguelike in space; no open world or social multiplayer.
Best for: Solo players who love the ship-crew management stress of SoT.
Skip if: You need multiplayer co-op or third-dimensional open-world exploration.
Borderlands 2 is a co-op loot-shooter built around small squads running quests, fighting bosses, and dealing with environmental hazards together — the same four-player crew dynamic as SoT, with strong comedic tone and shared-world chaos.
Key difference: Cel-shaded sci-fi shooter with explicit power loot; no open ocean.
Best for: Crews who love SoT's co-op banter and want a content-rich shooter.
Skip if: You dislike loot grind or first-person corridor gunplay.
Red Dead Online shares Sea of Thieves' DNA of a vast open world that generates emergent stories — posse rides, player betrayals, and shared public sessions — built on the same sense of frontier freedom and player-driven chaos.
Key difference: Wild West on horseback, not the high seas; slower, more cinematic pace.
Best for: Players drawn to SoT's emergent multiplayer storytelling.
Skip if: You want fast naval action or a fantasy pirate aesthetic.
Warframe is a free co-op sci-fi action game where squads run missions across a solar system, accumulating cosmetics and mastery — its Railjack update literally adds a spaceship crew mode structurally identical to Sea of Thieves' galleon gameplay.
Key difference: Grinding progression and complex systems vs. SoT's flat skill-based play.
Best for: Players who want Railjack-style ship crew gameplay for free.
Skip if: You dislike dense menus, farming loops, or sci-fi settings.
A Way Out is built entirely around two-player co-op partnership, requiring constant communication and cooperation to advance — the same interpersonal chemistry that makes SoT's two-player sloop so engaging, in a compact story-driven package.
Key difference: Strictly two-player, linear narrative; no open world or PvP.
Best for: Pairs who love the co-op chemistry of SoT without the sandbox.
Skip if: You want multiplayer crews larger than two or open-world freedom.
Just Cause 2's vast tropical open world, physics-driven sandbox chaos, and emergent multiplayer mod let players create the same gleeful anarchy as Sea of Thieves — blowing up fuel depots instead of skeleton forts.
Key difference: Land and air action sandbox; no sailing or pirate theme.
Best for: Players who love SoT's chaotic sandbox feel above all else.
Skip if: You need sea combat or a persistent co-op crew structure.
Post-apocalyptic cover shooter; no exploration or sailing.
PlayStation, PC, Xbox
Grand Theft Auto V
52%
Adventure, Action
Modern crime setting; vehicular rather than sail-based traversal.
PlayStation, PC, Xbox
Far Cry 3
48%
Adventure, Action
Land-focused FPS with traditional XP progression, not a sailing sandbox.
PlayStation, PC, Xbox
Monster Hunter: World
47%
Adventure, Action
No open world or sailing; hub-based session hunts against monsters.
PlayStation, PC, Xbox
Minecraft: Java Edition
47%
Simulator, Adventure
Block-building survival sandbox; no dedicated naval or PvPvE systems.
PC
FTL: Faster Than Light
45%
Simulator
Turn-based roguelike in space; no open world or social multiplayer.
PC, Mobile
Borderlands 2
43%
Action, Open world
Cel-shaded sci-fi shooter with explicit power loot; no open ocean.
PlayStation, PC, Mobile, Xbox, Nintendo
Red Dead Redemption 2
42%
Adventure, Action
Wild West on horseback, not the high seas; slower, more cinematic pace.
PlayStation, PC, Xbox
What makes a game feel like Sea of Thieves?
Three elements define the Sea of Thieves experience that alternatives rarely combine: crew-operated sailing (everyone has a job — wheel, cannon, sails, bilge pump), a shared open world where player encounters are unpredictable, and a cosmetics-only progression that keeps the power floor flat. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag nails the first two in single-player form, while Tom Clancy's The Division's Dark Zone is one of the few PvPvE spaces in gaming that generates the same white-knuckle betrayal tension as SoT's contested seas.
For pure crew co-op chemistry without the sailing, Monster Hunter: World and Borderlands 2 deliver the same squad-synergy satisfaction — small teams of friends completing dangerous contracts through communication rather than power creep.
Best options if you love the ship crew management specifically
FTL: Faster Than Light is the hidden gem here: a solo roguelike that perfectly replicates the chaos of running a ship under fire — crew members suffocating in vented compartments, fires spreading to the engine room, shields failing while you scramble between stations. It's every stressful SoT emergency compressed into a rogue run. For a more direct multiplayer equivalent, Blackwake (in our additional picks) puts real players at every cannon and bilge pump in dedicated naval battles.
If you want the open-world pirate sandbox but more content
Skull and Bones is the most content-rich pirate naval alternative, offering deeper ship customization and progression than Sea of Thieves at the cost of its breezy accessibility. Meanwhile, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is the pick for solo players — a richly written RPG set on a pirate archipelago where ship battles, crew management, and island exploration form the backbone of a lengthy adventure that Sea of Thieves' narrative never attempts to be.
Is there anything exactly like Sea of Thieves but with more progression?
Skull and Bones is the closest structural match with deeper ship customization and a progression system, though it sacrifices some of SoT's sandbox freedom. Destiny 2's Railjack-adjacent structure in Warframe also offers crew-ship gameplay with heavy progression if you don't mind the sci-fi setting.
What's the best game like Sea of Thieves for solo players?
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the definitive answer — same pirate seas, naval combat, and treasure hunting in a fully realized single-player campaign. FTL: Faster Than Light captures the ship-crew management stress in a compact roguelike format.
Are there any Sea of Thieves alternatives that are free to play?
Warframe is the strongest free option, especially its Railjack content which adds literal crew-operated spaceship gameplay. Its Corpus Sea of Thieves-adjacent missions involve coordinated crew roles on a ship-like craft. Destiny 2's base game is also free and offers structured co-op PvPvE.
What game has the best pirate theme similar to Sea of Thieves?
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the gold standard for pirate atmosphere — shanties, naval battles, island exploration, and treasure diving all present. For a deeper narrative in the same setting, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is an acclaimed CRPG set entirely in a pirate archipelago.
Is Red Dead Online similar to Sea of Thieves?
In spirit, yes — Red Dead Online is built around the same emergent shared-world multiplayer concept where posses roam a vast open world, take on contracts, and encounter other player groups who may cooperate or attack. The tone, setting, and traversal are entirely different (horses and guns vs ships and cannons), but the social sandbox feel is a close parallel.
88%
