The 16 Best Games Like ‘Escape From Tarkov’

First-person shooters have been around for a long time and for most of that time, the games revolved around campaigns or typical team deathmatches. Escape From Tarkov took things to the next level. The game boasts some of the most realistic mechanics out there, including locational damage, refilling magazines manually, and losing everything you were carrying upon death. The game has a tough learning curve but for those that it’s made for and those that stick with it, it can be a fabulously rewarding experience. For fans of the game who have been playing it for a few years now and want a dose of something similar, or those that like particular elements and want to see how other games do with them, below we’ve compiled a list of the 16 best games like Escape From Tarkov.

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Developed by Crytek, Hunt: Showdown sees players battling it out to be the first to defeat a monstrous creature. As well as other players, there are NPCs to worry about, making for a dynamic fight. Just like the game's setting, the gunfights feel old-school and set it apart from Escape From Tarkov a little. You will lose all of your gear upon getting killed, so that sense of difficulty is there for gamers who value it.

Call of Pripyat is the third game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, following Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky. If you’re set on fully appreciating the story, you’ll want to play those first, but Escape From Tarkov fans who wish to the gameplay can skip straight to Call of Pripyat. The difficulty here comes with battling radiation, poisons, hunger, thirst, and more.

On the contrary, if you like Escape From Tarkov but wish it wasn’t so difficult, try Insurgency: Sandstorm. It will give players some of the same atmospheres as Tarkov but is a little more forgiving with letting players keep their loot. It centers around a war between two factions and the gameplay is typical of a military shooter, which makes it worth delving into if you're looking for less stressful games like Escape From Tarkov.

DayZ sees players spawn in a world infected by a zombie outbreak where they must do whatever they can to survive. It started as a mod for ARMA 2 but has since become its standalone game. Of course, this is a sandbox game, which means that as well as the infected, you have the threat of other players, which is part of what makes Escape From Tarkov such a thrill.

Deadside and Escape From Tarkov share a bunch of similarities, including but not limited to building a base, gathering loot, and battling other players. The map here is absolutely colossal and makes things feel that much more immersive. You’ll drop any loot that hasn’t been stowed upon death, so being tactical and efficient is vital.

Developed by 4A Games and published by Deep Silver, Exodus is the third installment in the acclaimed Metro series. It’s a sandbox game so those elements are in there, but it’s also similar to Escape From Tarkov in terms of its fast pace and realistic gunplay.

You might already be aware that this is a battle royale and if the likes of Fortnite and Fall Guys turn you off, know that this one will still very much appeal to fans of Tarkov. You land and have to loot everything, including attachments for your guns and different armor. Of course, survival is the name of the game too. Watching the number of players in the game steadily decrease is also pretty intense.

If your favorite element of Escape From Tarkov is survival, 7 Days To Die, as the name suggests, lives in the same lane. The game is about lasting a week in the apocalypse where zombies are the primary antagonist. Naturally, the more nights you survive, the harder the enemies get to defeat. Navigating through a world plagued by the living dead is a different type of vibe this title delivers for fans of survival games like Escape From Tarkov.

As far as open-world survival shooters go, Fallout 4 is up there with one of the best experiences out there, even if hardcore Fallout fans don’t consider it one of the better games in the series. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world and the story here is gripping and will keep you very invested from the start until the end.

Escape From Tarkov fans might just enjoy Warzone, but the perfect game mode for them is definitely the game’s new DMZ mode. It’s an extraction game mode that sees you going up against other players and other A.I. and trying to exit the area with loot. It got immediate comparisons to Tarkov upon release.

Released on Windows in 2013 and on OS and Linux in 2015, Arma 3 is a tactical shooter that takes place in the near future in several real-life locations. Just like in Escape From Tarkov, the root of the narrative here is a war between two factions that you’re put right into the center of. Some of the best fun here comes in driving vehicles like helicopters and motorboats from one end of the battlefield to another to get a better position on the opposition.

Post Scriptum is like Escape From Tarkov in the same way many games on this list are, but it has a key difference that fans might be welcoming toward – it rewards teamwork and cooperation. For that, it sacrifices some of the hardcore realism, but if that sounds like a fair trade to you, definitely give it a try. The combat is large scale and the game is set during the Second World War, so it’s immersive.

Released right before the summer of 2022, The Cycle: Frontier is a game multiple reviewers have referred to as Escape From Tarkov in a sci-fi setting. That’s not to say it can’t stand on its own two feet though. It’s basically a more accessible version of the game with a battle pass system and a growing player base, so definitely worth a try. It takes place on "Fortuna II," a dangerous planet in a time when interstellar travel is possible.

For gamers whose favorite part of Escape From Tarkov was teaming up with other players against a common enemy that wasn’t another player, then Payday 2 may be perfect for you. With up to three friends, the aim of this game is to perform various heists in Washington, D.C. You can rob banks or shops and even rig political elections, which is the kind of meticulous detail that fans of Tarkov will certainly be able to appreciate.

Another game that’s set in World War II, Hell Let Loose features large-scale battles on maps that actually have been made with real-life data so that they are as realistic as possible. Just like Tarkov, it has incredibly realistic gun physics and the proximity chat ties it all together in a fun way. The game is inspired by old-school Call of Duty online firefights, so despite the realism, the gameplay is the focus here.

Last but not least on our list of the very best games like Escape From Tarkov is Vigor, developed and published by Bohemia Interactive. The goal here, as well as surviving, is to maintain and upgrade your own shelter to protect you from threats like other players – although you don’t ever have to engage in battle if you don’t want to. You might find that it’s better to keep your resources as much as possible and only fight when it’s for a care package or in defense.

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