Best Early Access Games Out Now

Summary

• Here are 15 open-world base-building games you can try:
• Palworld - A mix of Pokémon and Rust, where you can catch cute and cuddly creatures as well as ferocious dragons and monsters, and build your base in the wilderness.
• Valheim - A Viking-inspired survival game with procedurally generated open-world exploration, hunting, and base building.

The best games are the ones that aren't even out yet — but you can get a sneak peek at these titles! They're available in "Early Access," which means that they aren't quite finished yet but are substantial enough that players can enjoy. If you can handle a few extra bugs, you'll get the game at a discount.

The difference between an Early Access game and a game in its Beta phase is that people are paying to get an Early Access game, whereas Beta games are usually free to a select number of people. If you have a few extra bucks left over in your budget this month, consider picking up these spectacular titles!

Updated July 2, 2024, by Zoë J. Osik: Early Access games are a fantastic way to play new and exiting titles without a large financial investment, but they're also constantly in flux. We've updated this article to keep it fresh by removing games that have moved out of Early Access and adding new games that you should check out! This time, we'd like to congratulate the teams behind Disney Dreamlight Valley, Fabledom, and Coral Island on their 1.0 releases!

Phasmophobia

Horror games aren't usually the kind of game you'd think would be in early access, but why not? Phasmophobia is a co-op horror experience, in which you and up to 3 friends try to solve a paranormal mystery! As an added bonus, the game can be played cross-platform and even in VR.

Supposedly, each time you play the game it will be different since there are more than 10 types of ghosts that can appear. It boasts a bunch of cool features for ghost-enthusiasts, like the fact that the ghosts are actually listening to your conversations and that you can use lots of different ghost-hunting tech, including Night Vision and EMF Readers.

Thrive

Available on...

• Steam
• Itch.io

In this sandbox simulation game, the player must raise their unique species on an alien planet. The planet is full of competing species, though, so you'll need to fight to find your niche and survive.

Thrive might remind you a little bit of the 2008 game Spore, and that's for good reason! Thrive just has a much more in-depth system for evolving at the cellular level. From the reviews, it seems that people with an interest in biology are especially enjoying this game, and that the developers clearly have a deep understanding of biology themselves.

Craftopia

Available on...

• Steam

Craftopia is an open-world survival indie game that's available in English, Japanese, and Simplified or Traditional Chinese. It's had some bad reviews due to misunderstandings. Fans thought the game was being dumped by the company, but they just announced another game that will be worked on by a totally separate team.

Gameplay will involve all your favorite hobbies from other cozy games like Stardew Valley or Minecraft, including hunting, farming, spell-casting, and exploring! Though reviewers have noted that it's a bit clunky and/or buggy in places, they usually insist that it's to be expected of an early access title and that the time they spent enjoying it was still worth the price.

Diplomacy Is Not An Option

Available on...

• Steam

It's exactly what it sounds like. You may be the King of the castle here, but you're not up for friendly negotiation. Instead, you'll spend your time in Diplomacy Is Not An Option defeating the hordes of enemies attacking you.

It takes elements from lots of genres, including simulation, tower defense, and action games. There are lots of things to keep track of, so it's got a low skill bar, but a high skill ceiling - the perfect mix!

Ready Or Not

Available on...

• Steam

Ready or Not is a first-person shooter that asks you to take on difficult tactical situations as a member of a SWAT unit. You not only need to handle whatever threat is on-hand, but also get civilians to safety and choose the right gear for the job.

Ready or Not focuses heavily on the realism in the game, with authentic weapons and equipment to choose from. There's not necessarily one right way to approach a situation; there are always different angles to consider. You can take on missions alone and let AI control the rest of your team, or play cooperatively with friends.

ToGather: Island

Available on...

• Steam
• Itch.io

ToGather is a lesser-known early access title. This survival game asks you to journey across a series of islands covered with puzzles. The developers describe it as a "science fantasy" world since you'll travel alongside a "golem" (a little robot) while also encountering mystical and wonderous things on your adventure.

As the player, you collect blueprints for crafting items, search for valuable materials to advance, and upgrade your golem buddy. While ToGather is exclusively single-player for the moment, multiplayer is expected to arrive shortly, and the game looks like even more fun in co-op!

Palworld

Palworld is the infamous Pokémon look-alike that took off early in 2024. Early Access is promising, as there's plenty to do and see across the Palpagos Islands. You'll catch Pals that are cute and cuddly, as well as ferocious dragons and monsters. You can even team up with friends as you explore the wilderness and build bases.

It's easy to lose track of time with Palworld, especially since you can customize the world settings to your liking to earn more experience and alter respawn conditions. There's something for everyone in Palworld.

Valheim

If there's one game on this list that you've already heard of, it's probably Valheim. This title soared to be among Steam's best sellers recently! It asks you to play as a Viking in a procedurally generated open world. Everything from hunting and base building all the way up to the end goal of the game: defeating 5 bosses inspired by Norse mythology.

No need to be intimidated; the survival in Valheim isn't as hard as in other titles (like Rust or Ark: Survival Evolved). Resource gathering and the other survival elements don't overshadow the other gameplay aspects that players love, namely, the mystery and discovery of players having their own unique experiences in each playthrough.

Becastled

Available on...

• Steam
• GOG

Are you, like so many of us, entranced by medieval castles? Then you'll be thrilled to hear that Becastled is a game that allows you to build and defend your very own fantasy castle! Build your base and the surrounding village from the ground up with the help of your workers and defend the "Kingdom of the Sun" from the opposing "Moon Warriors."

You'll need to train an army and learn to survive against sieges from your enemies. Reviews warn to be careful of optimization problems (using way too much of your CPU) and a few bugs, especially during the night phases. But they usually still enjoyed the game, regardless.

Timberborn

Available on...

• Steam
• Epic Games
• GOG

Timberborn is a city builder game that's full of beavers. Intrigued? After the fall of humanity, beavers have become the dominant species on Earth and must build up their society to thrive. Since you're playing as, well, beavers, the city-building process focuses on things that other city builders don't, like maintaining the rivers and using timber as a primary resource.

There are so many detailed aspects of the beavers' lives that you'll find it hard to get bored - you need to keep them healthy, make plans for different seasons, and organize work during the day and night. However, if you get so good that just running the cities has become boring, there's also a map editor! You can create your own landscapes, share them online, and use other people's maps in your own games.