If you’ve enjoyed roaming Los Santos and Blaine County but feel like things are starting to slow down, it’s understandable that you are looking for other games like GTA.
Let’s face it: many of us have been in this world since 2013, and if Rockstar continues to bother us with prospects for GTA 6, it’s still a long way off.
Meanwhile, there are several other ways to curb cravings by replacing them with GTA flavor, and we’ve picked our favorite games like GTA for you.
Here are 11 games like GTA that will keep you entertained until we know where Grand Theft Auto takes us.
1. Red Dead Redemption 2
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
It ranks number one on our games like GTA list, and you can probably guess why he’s here – after all, the GTA series and Red Dead are run by the same studio.
Despite the settings of the turn of the 20th century, Red Dead Redemption 2 (and its predecessor, if you want to take a step back) represents GTA’s gamer freedom values in a big open world that feels alive, a commitment to involving even the smallest details and morally questionable men and women who do ethically dubious things.
It would be an overly simplistic experience to call Red Dead Redemption 2 “Grand Theft Auto with Horses,” but it’s worth a look if you’re in the mood for GTA.
2. Saints Row: The Third
- Platforms: PC, Switch, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360
Saints Row started as a pale GTA coward, desperately mimicking Rockstar’s design. However, it is a good one to top games like the GTA compilation.
The result was a dazzling effort that gained a cult following in the two following games but failed to differentiate itself.
That all switched with Saints Row: The Third, who watched how dark and severe the GTA games got, he said, “that’s right”, and went numb like bullets against a wall.
It’s a game where your gang is so well known and loved that the opening mission leads you to a bank robbery dressed in silver clothes.
There’s a little zombie apocalypse, player abilities that matter, Burt fucking Reynolds, and measuring dildo guns.
Many, like GTA, take it seriously, while Saints Row is content to be as dumb as possible.
Granted, it’s a slightly older game, but it’s backward compatible with the Xbox One and ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2019, so you’ve got a great excuse to revisit Saints.
3. Just Cause 4
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Just Cause 4 enjoys unprecedented chaos, giving you, the player, ridiculous freedom. Wingsuit: check. Flight hook: check. The ability to ride cars when a massive tornado blows them up – check again.
If you’ve enjoyed the ragdoll physics of GTA 5, wait and see what you can achieve in the Republic of Medica.
To be clear, Just Cause 4 doesn’t have the kind of storytelling or mechanical polish of the Rockstar franchise but stands out for its (literally) excellent approach to large-scale carnage choreography.
4. Watch Dogs 2
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
The original Watch Dogs was so painful that Aiden Pearce’s revenge story eventually became almost unbearable, but Ubisoft has taken this review seriously for the sequel.
As such, the study’s continuation eschews the feel and tone of contemporary Grand Theft Auto titles much more, using its setting as a setting for sharp satire. Do you remember the “Life Invader” mission from Grand Theft Auto 5?
Watch Dogs 2 is essentially that but expanded to a full game scale. Rockstar’s Silicon Valley parody still has a few more hits than Ubisoft’s, but Watch Dogs 2 still gets many laughs from anyone who has had to attend an Apple conference or Facebook ad.
And hey, it’s pretty cool that you can use billiard balls attached to an elastic cord as a weapon.
5. Yakuza 0
- Platforms: PC, PS4
Grand Theft Auto is usually celebrated for bringing cities to life, filling their virtual world with dozens of side activities they can enjoy outside the central countryside. Yakuza 0 accepts this design philosophy and heads to town.
Where Grand Theft Auto 5 features tennis, yoga, and stock mediation, Yakuza 0 features karaoke, swimming, arcades, bowling, wrestling, dancing, gambling, and, uh, awkwardly looking at explicit material in the back of the video library.
As the latter can attest, not all accompanying activities are tastefully performed, but the range and various things to do are astounding.
The scale is not as wide as the GTA, but what the Yakuza lacks in quantity makes up for in quality (unusual, unusual).
6. Sleeping Dogs
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360
Much of its name by becoming a sleeper hit in 2012, Sleeping Dogs brings martial arts and stunts in B movies to open up global crime genre conventions.
The result looks like a Grand Theft Auto car game dressed in a classic Bruce Lee movie outfit, and it’s fantastic.
Sadly, the sequel, which included a collaborative campaign, was prepared while it was still in its early stages of development.
Sleeping Dogs is a rare gem that deserves a more significant appreciation for the new ideas it has generated.
The game was even re-released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2014, so Sleeping Dogs has no excuse to stay on the store shelf (sorry).
7. Mafia 3
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
There’s still no Grand Theft Auto game that, to some extent, doesn’t involve a Mafia showdown, which naturally leaves the 2K Mafia serves as a good starting point for open-world enthusiasts with a taste for organized crime.
These games seem to have more foundation than the GTA series, but the echoes of titles like San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto 4 shine through their design.
Mafia 3, the latest release in the Hangar 13 studio series, approaches Rockstar to focus on side activities and a story centered on a war veteran trying to escape a demon from his past (Niko Bellic, anyone who).
Still, the meaty, slow narrative is inspired by characters like The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Grand Theft Auto.
It’s written so effectively that you’ll sometimes forget to play a video game and not watch a Scorsese movie.
8. Lego City Secret
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, Switch
There’s a good reason almost every game in Grand Theft Auto is labeled as intended only for adult audiences, but what about us who want to take advantage of cops and thieves without sex, drugs, or rock and roll?
Fortunately, in 2013, TT Games came up with the next best option. Is “Lego Grand Theft Auto” a cliche? This is a persuasive speech for Lego City Undercover, but this adorable open-world platformer hides more than just a knockoff in its plastic sleeve.
The brick-based visuals are lovely, the litany of side quests and collectibles are deceptively polished, and the story, laden with pop culture references, is a memory.
For those who can access the game’s recent reboot, the Lego City Undercover can now be enjoyed as a shared experience or even convenient for traveling with the Nintendo Switch.
9. Payday 2
- Platforms: PS4, PC, Xbox One
If you mainly enjoyed Grand Theft Auto 4’s infamous “Three Leaf Clover” mission or Grand Theft Auto 5 flights, Payday 2 is for you.
Overkill Software’s collaborative multiplayer game lets players loose in a series of high-risk thefts, but it’s not as straightforward as scooping up money and losing it.
Like Michael, Trevor, and Franklin’s pranks, Payday 2 encourages players to think strategically and rethink their game plans in detail. It even allows them to explore the location before starting the act later in the day.
The emphasis on online collaboration within the game team is reminiscent of the multiplayer flights introduced to GTA Online in 2013, but Payday 2 happily arrives without those tedious load times.
10. The Simpsons Hit & Run
- Platforms: PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube
Yes, it’s a lot older than most of the entries on this list, and the popular animated comedy isn’t the first script I can think of for a GTA-style video game.
Still, Radical Entertainment has made it happen, the unthinkable with this classic cult 2003.
Homer and the gang can’t commit crimes on the same level as someone like Nike or Trevor, of course; however, you can still cause all kinds of mayhem in Springfield by hitting and punching at will.
The Simpsons: Hit & Run is a game for Simpson fans as much as Grand Theft Auto veterans alike, as they play clever chili peppers on their serial namesake throughout the campaign.
The Simpsons Hit and Run is widely accepted as one of the Simpsons video games, if not the best of all time. If you can afford to play it and haven’t already, do it now.
11. Far Cry 5
The Far Cry series has changed little since the release of the groundbreaking Far Cry 3, which took this series in an exciting new direction.
In the final part of this franchise, you are a one-person army attacking dozens of bad guys simultaneously. In the end, you will escape unscathed no matter what the odds.
Ubisoft has changed a few things here and there, improved some mechanics, and introduced more exciting elements to the game, but the basics remain the same. You have a vast open world with many baddies waiting to be killed.
Far Cry 5 has undergone some welcome changes since the last release of this franchise. You don’t have to climb the towers to discover exciting places on the maps. You must explore every corner and talk to people to get missions.
Chances are, you won’t come across any content just because you haven’t spoken to a particular group of people. It’s an exciting approach that makes the game more engaging.
You can also find similar freedom of choice in their struggle. If you want to be loud, plenty of deadly weapons are available to you.
If stealth is your favorite approach, grab one of the many silent armaments and go hunting. You will come here for a good story and stay for a solid showdown.
Stealth is a hit or miss because AI usually behaves stupidly. That’s why the stealthy approach isn’t entertaining. The game can be repeated because the enemy and the mission lack variety, but it is still a pleasant experience.
