Games like Elite Dangerous
If Elite Dangerous is your kind of game, the closest matches are Star Conflict, No Man's Sky and EVE Online — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers single out its atmospheric, challenging and contemplative. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.
Get personalized picks →Elite Dangerous, released in 2015 by Frontier Developments, is a space simulation game set in a 1:1 scale representation of the Milky Way galaxy. Players can explore, trade, mine, and engage in combat across a persistent universe, with faction politics and powerplay systems that shape the galaxy over time. The game offers deep buildcrafting and engineering upgrades for customizing ships, alongside a flight model that rewards mastery. Frontier supports VR and the game runs playable on Steam Deck, with reviewers noting an atmospheric experience at a $19.99 price point. Players describe feeling a sense of freedom to pursue any goal or none at all, with the galactic scale and faction systems creating what they describe as an immersive, living universe. The game holds a Metacritic score of 80 and maintains 77% positive reviews from over 52,000 Steam users.
About Elite Dangerous: Take control of your own starship and blaze your trail in an ever-changing galaxy. Master the arts of combat, mining and trade or venture out into the unknown across a 1:1 scale universe.
Players who liked Elite Dangerous also play
Steam players who put hours into Elite Dangerous also tend to own these titles — a signal called collaborative filtering. imho.run cross-references millions of library ownership patterns to surface games whose real audiences overlap, regardless of whether their genre tags match.
Star Conflict
WHY THIS
Top pick for Elite Dangerous fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
Star Conflict is an action-packed, massively multiplayer space simulation game that puts players in the role of elite pilots engaging in a widespread interplanetary skirmish. The whole world for PVP and PVE!
No Man's Sky
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Second-strongest match for Elite Dangerous fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
No Man's Sky is a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe.
EVE Online
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Third-strongest match for Elite Dangerous fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Strategy with Elite Dangerous.
Over 20 years of legendary space battles! Explore a massive living universe of danger and opportunity in a challenging and highly rewarding space adventure. Fight, trade, build, and connect with a universe driven and shaped directly by players.
SpaceCraft
WHY THIS
Ranked #4 for Elite Dangerous fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Adventure and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
The Universe is yours. SpaceCraft is an online space exploration and building game. Explore a vast galaxy of solar systems and planets, mine and craft resources, design and build ships, automate planetary bases and interplanetary logistics, trade and cooperate.
House of the Dying Sun
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Ranked #5 for Elite Dangerous fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
House of the Dying Sun is a tactical space shooter that puts you in the cockpit of the universe's most terrifying starfighter. Hunt the enemies of the Empire and bring ruin to their people.
PULSAR: Lost Colony
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Ranked #6 for Elite Dangerous fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
The co-op open-world space sim where everyone has a role! Pilot the ship. Reroute power. Launch nukes. Explore alien planets. Research new talents. Work together to find the Lost Colony! ...or just deliver some biscuits
Empyrion - Galactic Survival
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Ranked #7 for Elite Dangerous fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Strategy and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
Build and explore in a true space sandbox survival adventure. Construct mighty capital vessels, sprawling planetary settlements, and vast space stations in your galactic journey to discover the mysteries of Empyrion!
Star Trek™: Bridge Crew
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Ranked #8 for Elite Dangerous fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Simulation and RPG with Elite Dangerous.
Star Trek™: Bridge Crew, playable in both VR and non-VR, will immerse you in the Star Trek universe. In co-op, form a crew of four players to serve in the roles of Captain, Helm, Tactical or Engineer. Make strategic decisions and coordinate actions with your crew.
Reviewers mention these as similar to Elite Dangerous
Surfaced from review text: when other players write 'if you liked X, try Y', we catch the name and resolve it back to a Steam game.
Starfield
WHY THIS
Shares faction politics and an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Reviewers of Elite Dangerous cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares RPG with Elite Dangerous.
Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4.
No Man's Sky
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Reviewers of Elite Dangerous cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
No Man's Sky is a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe.
American Truck Simulator
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Reviewers of Elite Dangerous cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Experience legendary American trucks and deliver various cargoes across sunny California, sandy Nevada, and the Grand Canyon State of Arizona. American Truck Simulator takes you on a journey through the breathtaking landscapes and widely recognized landmarks around the States.
Euro Truck Simulator 2
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Reviewers of Elite Dangerous cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Travel across Europe as king of the road, a trucker who delivers important cargo across impressive distances! With dozens of cities to explore, your endurance, skill and speed will all be pushed to their limits.
Rebel Galaxy
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Reviewers of Elite Dangerous cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
Rebel Galaxy is a swashbuckling space adventure, with action-packed combat, exploration, discovery, trade, and “negotiation” with the outlandish denizens at the edge of the known universe.
My Summer Car
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Reviewers of Elite Dangerous cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
My Summer Car is the ultimate car owning, building, fixing, tuning, maintenance AND permadeath life survival simulator. You start the game with hundreds of loose parts and assemble both car and engine.
X4: Foundations
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Reviewers of Elite Dangerous cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Strategy with Elite Dangerous.
Your journey to building a vast space empire begins behind the controls of a single ship. Explore, trade, fight, and build as you rise to command fleets, stations, and entire economies in a living, fully simulated universe that reacts to every decision.
X3: Terran Conflict
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Reviewers of Elite Dangerous cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Strategy with Elite Dangerous.
It is the year 2938. The long wished-for encounter of the X Universe and the Earth holds both joy and sorrow for the people. Despite flourishing trade, the clash of the diverse races, cultures and life forms creates new tensions, mistrust and open conflict that need to be overcome!
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Elite Dangerous at current Steam store prices.
Garry's Mod
WHY THIS
Priced ~75% under Elite Dangerous on Steam right now. Shares Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Garry's Mod is a physics sandbox. There aren't any predefined aims or goals. We give you the tools and leave you to play.
Lethal Company
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Elite Dangerous on Steam right now. Shares Action and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
A co-op horror about scavenging at abandoned moons to sell scrap to the Company.
Left 4 Dead 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Elite Dangerous on Steam right now. Shares Action with Elite Dangerous.
Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 is a co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns.
People Playground
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Elite Dangerous on Steam right now. Shares Action and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Shoot, stab, burn, poison, tear, vaporise, or crush ragdolls in a large open space.
Fallout: New Vegas
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Elite Dangerous on Steam right now. Shares Action and RPG with Elite Dangerous.
Welcome to Vegas. New Vegas. Enjoy your stay!
Free alternatives
Free-to-play games that recommended players of this title also tend to enjoy.
Ultimate Custom Night
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action with Elite Dangerous.
Welcome to the ultimate FNAF mashup, featuring 50 selectable characters and custom difficulties!
Bongo Cat
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Simulation and Massively Multiplayer with Elite Dangerous.
Bongo cat needs your help. Bongo cat needz more hatz!!! Every time you press a key, Bongo cat will punch your taskbar. Type, click, play, work to collect more points. Which hats will you find?
ENA: Dream BBQ
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
Experience surreal environments and inexplicable characters as ENA in a new wild world.
Indigo Park: Chapter 1
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
Explore the abandoned childhood wonder of Indigo Park! Guided by Rambley the Raccoon, help restore power to the destroyed amusement park while you run from the reason it shut down.
The Looker
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
You wake up, alone, on a strangely familiar island full of puzzles that will frustrate and annoy you.
NGU IDLE
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Adventure and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
NGU Idle is a Free To Play Idle game that's full of weird humor, tons of upgrades and hundreds of hours of content! Try out NGU Idle today and experience the joy of Numbers Going Up!
The Expendabros
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Adventure with Elite Dangerous.
The Expendabros have assembled and set their sights on the forces of ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks in the forests of Eastern Europe.
The Lab
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
Welcome to The Lab, a compilation of Valve’s room-scale VR experiments set in a pocket universe within Aperture Science. Fix a robot, defend a castle, adopt a mechanical dog, and more. Still not sold? It’s free!
Narrow it down
Head-to-head comparisons
More from Frontier Developments
Other recommendable Steam games by Frontier Developments, ranked by review count so the studio's hits land first.
Planet Zoo
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Another title from Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Build a world for wildlife in Planet Zoo. From the developers of Planet Coaster and Zoo Tycoon comes the ultimate zoo sim. Construct detailed habitats, manage your zoo, and meet authentic living animals who think, feel and explore the world you create around them.
Planet Coaster
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Another title from Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous. Shares Action and Strategy with Elite Dangerous.
Planet Coaster® - the future of coaster park simulation games has arrived! Surprise, delight and thrill incredible crowds as you build your coaster park empire - let your imagination run wild, and share your success with the world.
Jurassic World Evolution
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Another title from Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Place yourself at the heart of the Jurassic franchise and build your own Jurassic World. Bioengineer dinosaurs that think, feel and react intelligently to the world around them and face threats posed by espionage, breakouts and devastating tropical storms in an uncertain world where life always finds a way.
Jurassic World Evolution 2
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Another title from Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Jurassic World Evolution 2 is the much-anticipated sequel to Frontier’s highly successful Jurassic World Evolution. This bold new era in the Jurassic World Evolution game franchise builds upon the ground-breaking and immersive 2018 management simulation.
Planet Coaster 2
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Another title from Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Build and customise thrilling roller coasters and incredible water slides, manage the ultimate theme park experience, and share your epic creations. Are you ready to ride the wave?
Jurassic World Evolution 3
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Another title from Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Build your own Jurassic World. Nurture generations of dinosaurs with the series debut of juveniles, create and manage sprawling prehistoric parks around the globe, and let your imagination roar with powerful new creative options.
F1® Manager 2022
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Elite Dangerous.
Another title from Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Make your mark on Formula 1® in the officially licensed F1® Manager 2022. Be the boss of your chosen constructor and pick from a roster of 2022 drivers and staff.
F1® Manager 2024
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Elite Dangerous.
Another title from Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous. Shares Strategy and Simulation with Elite Dangerous.
Lead your team to glory in F1® Manager 2024. A new Formula 1® season has arrived, and with it, the most comprehensive F1® management experience to date. Build a legacy with one of 10 official F1® constructors or create your own team for the very first time.
Frequently asked about Elite Dangerous
- Does Elite Dangerous run on Steam Deck?
- Elite Dangerous is rated Playable on Steam Deck — it runs, but expect some manual adjustments (control remapping, text size, or graphics settings) for the best experience.
- How much does Elite Dangerous cost?
- Elite Dangerous is listed on Steam at 19.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- Does Elite Dangerous have multiplayer or co-op?
- Yes — Elite Dangerous supports multi-player play according to its Steam store listing (Multi-player, Co-op).
- What games are most similar to Elite Dangerous?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Elite Dangerous are Star Conflict, No Man's Sky, EVE Online.
- Who developed Elite Dangerous?
- Elite Dangerous was developed by Frontier Developments.
imho.run ranks Steam game alternatives using a mix of collaborative filtering (ALS / iALS / EASE / LightGCN), content scoring over genres, categories, Steam tags, developers, and publishers, plus AI-extracted vibes mined from review text. The page above is generated in seed mode anchored on Elite Dangerous.
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