The Elder Scrolls 6 feels interminably far away, to the point that I’m not even convinced it’ll release within this decade. So much hype has been built around it, despite us having only ever seen one very brief and exceptionally vague teaser trailer, if only because of just how fond we all are of Skyrim. That legendary open-world RPG has set our expectations astronomically high, and Bethesda is clearly, or hopefully, taking its time to ensure those are met to the best of its abilities. After all, we don’t want another Starfield situation on our hands.
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Alas, this means that the aforementioned arduous wait for TES6 will continue to be arduous, forcing us to turn to other means of curing our Elder Scrolls cravings. Fortunately, over the past decade, the prevalence of Scrolls-likes has been building, games designed to replicate the awe and wonder that Bethesda’s seminal masterpieces deliver. These include everything from sprawling indie games to equally large AAA titles, one of which almost won, but was sadly snubbed for the best RPG award at the 2025 Game Awards. One can hope that these games, alongside those within this budding sub-genre, can keep us all entertained until The Elder Scrolls 6 finally releases.
5. Enderal: Forgotten Stories
If the uninitiated were to take one look at Enderal: Forgotten Stories, they may remark that it looks an awful lot like Skyrim. Of course, they’d be right. Enderal is a total conversion mod for Skyrim, one that doesn’t just add a few new weapons, companions, or even quests, but instead completely changes it, introducing a new world to explore, a whole new story, dozens of side quests, characters, mechanics, you name it. Enderal is, for all intents and purposes, its own game, even down to having an individual Steam store page; it just uses Skyrim as a base from which to expand exponentially.
Enderal: Forgotten Stories is, in many ways, a much better game than The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Its lore is richer, its world more detailed and packed with secrets, its narrative more prominent and certainly mature. On a mechanical level, Enderal introduces a whole host of features that greatly elevate combat, add a strategic flair to each encounter, and force you to rethink the way you typically approach an Elder Scrolls game. You can’t simply get away with being a stealth archer, nor can you spam magic to your heart’s content. Combat, exploration, and questing are all more challenging, but rewardingly so. If you want quite literally what feels like a sequel to Skyrim in many ways, then absolutely check out Enderal: Forgotten Stories on Steam.
4. Dread Delusion
Dread Delusion is a rather admirable attempt at replicating the bizarre alien landscapes and atmosphere of Morrowind on an indie game budget. It’s full of Lovecraftian-esque horrors, sprawling, detailed environments begging to be explored, and even an airship you can fly around the map on. While Dread Delusion borrows a lot from The Elder Scrolls, it also carves its own path, putting a unique spin on everything from its PlayStation 1-inspired visuals to its surreal storytelling.
Unlike Enderal, Dread Delusion is available on all platforms, making it fairly accessible (and relatively cheap, too). What makes Dread Delusion such a perfect Scrolls-like is its ability to simultaneously capture the cozy nature of exploring a world full of surprises and the tense horror inherent in The Elder Scrolls series. You really do feel as if Dread Delusion could be a lost Elder Scrolls PS1 game that Bethesda simply forgot about, it is that good. I highly recommend it, if only to experience its wonderfully weird and endlessly engrossing world for yourself.
3. Tainted Grail: The Fall Of Avalon
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon feels like the de facto Scrolls-like. It doesn’t just capture the essence of the series or offer a decent approximation; Fall of Avalon improves upon The Elder Scrolls in so many meaningful ways, ostensibly serving as what we all felt Skyrim was when it first came out, rather than what it actually is. That is to say, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is an extremely immersive fantasy adventure with a world so teeming with interesting quests, genuinely surprising emergent moments, and engrossing writing that you’ll quickly get lost in its occasionally harrowing landscapes for hours, if not days at a time.
I can absolutely see Questline, the game’s developer, quickly becoming a household name alongside the likes of Bethesda. The scale and scope it managed to accomplish with Fall of Avalon on a presumably fairly small budget is extraordinarily impressive and leagues ahead of what most AAA games are delivering today. Fall of Avalon may not always be the best-looking game (although it is incredibly striking at the right angle), but it is one of the most mechanically intricate and consistently surprising. If you want something that elevates the core Elder Scrolls formula with a better narrative, better combat, better exploration, and better immersion, then I highly recommend Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon.
2. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Kingdom Come: Deliverance and its sequel may lack the fantastical elements of The Elder Scrolls, but practically everything else about them, from the UI to the sense of astonishment and immersion one feels while exploring their vast worlds, feels ripped straight from Bethesda’s handbook. That’s not a slight against Kingdom Come: Deliverance, as it vastly alters and improves upon many of the concepts laid out in titles like Skyrim, offering a far more realistic and detailed world simulation coupled with an exhaustive list of role-playing mechanics that any other developer would have deemed unnecessary.
Warhorse Studios has delivered the ultimate historical simulator, and if you can buy into that (which I strongly suggest you do), then you’re in for a truly tremendous time. You can skip the first game if you’re keen to see what all the fuss is about with KCD2, but there are a lot of phenomenal gameplay and narrative moments that, while not necessary to understand the sequel, are nevertheless worth experiencing. On a personal note, Kingdom Come: Deliverance was the first game since I played Skyrim as a 14-year-old that brought back that immense sense of awe and magic I’ve been longing for. It is a truly phenomenal game, and one that I suspect will enjoy an enduring legacy as one of the best RPGs of all time.
1. Avowed
Of course, a list about the best Scrolls-likes to play while waiting for TES6 wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the hugely misunderstood Avowed by Obsidian Entertainment. It absolutely feels like Skyrim’s equivalent of New Vegas, a spin on a familiar formula that improves upon it in many ways and changes things up just enough to feel distinct. Avowed is easily the most stunning first-person fantasy game ever created, and its world, while small, is so beautifully detailed and packed with enjoyable things to do and see that it is impossible not to get lost in it all.
What truly sets Avowed apart is its combat. I didn’t quite buy into it being as revolutionary as it is before playing it, but after sinking dozens of hours into Avowed, I can firmly say that it is one of the most engrossing and fun combat models I’ve ever experienced. It feels endlessly satisfying whacking enemies over the head with axes and swords, and blasting foes away with pistols and rifles simply never gets old. There’s so much to love about Avowed, and now that it is available everywhere, it is more accessible than ever before. Avowed may not have the complex world simulation of Skyrim, but its narrative, combat, quests, environment design, visuals, and writing more than make up for it. It is a truly excellent fantasy RPG, and one well worth playing before The Elder Scrolls 6 eventually releases, whenever that may be.
What Scrolls-likes do you recommend? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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