Systems & Characters
Games Like D&D - What to Play Next
The best game like D&D depends on which itch D&D stopped scratching: Pathfinder 2e if you want deeper builds, Dragonbane if you want faster nights, Shadowdark if you miss being scared of dungeons, Daggerheart if the roleplay is the point, and Forbidden Lands if your party keeps asking what's over the next hill. All five keep the parties-and-peril shape you already love. So the question isn't "what's like D&D," it's "what do you want more of?" Pick your complaint below.
"I want more character-building crunch": Pathfinder 2e
The obvious first stop, and the deepest. Feats at every level, a three-action combat economy, math tight enough that your wild build idea works, and every rule free online. If your group's fix for 5e boredom has been homebrewing complexity back in, PF2e is the game you were building anyway. We wrote the full head-to-head for exactly this decision.
Skip it if rules lookups are already your table's least favorite part.
"I want faster, punchier sessions": Dragonbane
Sweden's oldest RPG, reborn in a brilliant boxed set. Roll under your skill on a d20, no levels, characters in minutes, and combat that resolves in half the time 5e takes. The tone is what its designers call "mirth and mayhem": adventures with teeth and a wink. And the box is genuinely complete: solo tutorial, campaign, maps, dice, done.
This is our default recommendation for lapsed groups with less free time than they had at twenty. Same fantasy adventure, half the calories.
"I miss dungeons being scary": Shadowdark
Old-school dungeon crawling with modern manners. Torches burn in real time (yes, real time; the table gets genuinely nervous at minute fifty), darkness is lethal, treasure is XP, and death is a rules-supported outcome rather than a failure state. It plays like the stories older gamers tell about 1981, streamlined by someone who also likes modern design.
Perfect for one-shots and West Marches-style open tables. Pair it with a horror one-shot mindset: losing beautifully is a skill worth acquiring.
"The roleplay is the point": Daggerheart
From Critical Role's studio, and built for tables whose favorite sessions had no combat at all. The Hope/Fear dice mechanic pushes story consequences on every roll, character creation is fast and flavorful, and the GM tools nudge scenes toward drama instead of attrition. It's the closest thing on this list to "what actual-play shows feel like."
If your group came from actual-play shows and keeps bouncing off 5e's combat math, start here. Really.
"We want to explore, not follow plots": Forbidden Lands
The wilderness-survival sandbox: hex crawls, resource dice that degrade as you travel, strongholds you can claim and rebuild, and a world with history baked into every ruin. The party drives; the map is the campaign. It scratches the same itch as a survival video game, except your friends are there and the GM is the biome.
How to actually try one
Don't buy five rulebooks; that's how shelves of regret happen. Pick the complaint that sounded most like your table, then get one session of that game under a GM who already knows it (that's what system listings are for), or run the free quickstart (every game above has one). One real session beats a month of comparison threads.
And your dice already work for all five, though Daggerheart wants a second d12 and Forbidden Lands is happiest with extra d6s, d8s, d10s, and d12s in distinct colors. Any excuse, really.
Frequently asked questions
What's the most popular alternative to D&D?
Pathfinder 2e, by community size and table availability. Call of Cthulhu is the giant outside the fantasy genre, and Daggerheart is the fastest-growing of the newer wave. All three are easy to find games for online.
What's like D&D but simpler?
Dragonbane and Shadowdark both deliver classic fantasy adventure with far less rules overhead; our beginner systems guide goes lighter still. Simpler than 5e is a crowded, high-quality category these days.
Can I use my D&D dice for other RPGs?
For everything on this list, yes; the standard 7-die set covers them with minor system-specific extras (a second d12 for Daggerheart, more d6s generally). New system rarely means new dice, whatever the dice wall whispers to you.
Will my group hate switching systems?
Groups hate losing characters more than they hate new rules. Frame it as a one-shot side quest, not a divorce from the campaign, and let the session argue for itself. Half the time the one-shot becomes the campaign; the other half you go home to 5e appreciating it more.
Do these games have fewer players than D&D?
Every game has fewer players than D&D; that's the ecosystem. Online tables make scarcity irrelevant though, and niche-system players tend to be the most enthusiastic tables you'll ever join. Scarcity breeds fervor.