Video Games To Play If You Love DND

Dungeons & Dragons is an amazing tabletop RPG that has brought joy, frustration, and several interesting anecdotes for generations of gamers since the ’70s. D&D lets you create your character from the ground up, and it’s more than just deciding their race, class, and other features. You also decide what makes them the person (or creature) they are at their core.

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How their story ends is all in your hands — and the schemes of the Dungeon Master. With the right people, D&D can be an amazing experience, but sometimes it’s hard to get a session going for various reasons. But fear not, for there are plenty of games to play for those moments when you just can’t get the gang together.

Updated December 29, 2024 by Zackary Wiggs: While there are some video games out there directly using the lore and intellectual property of Dungeons & Dragons, there are plenty more that follow the same ideals as the fan-favorite fantasy TTRPG. Whether they also fall into the fantasy genre, have some great character building, or just have epic plots for you to enjoy, there are some great games out there if you want to jump the gap from tabletop to digital gaming in-between D&D sessions.

Elden Ring

Completionist Run: 95 Hours

RPGs are a fan favorite for the fantasy genre, and few do RPGs quite like FromSoftware. Elden Ring brought new life and new challenges to the concept with the adventures of the Tarnished in The Lands Between.

If you miss the grind of your weekly D&D session, Elden Ring is the next best thing, with plenty of bosses to fight and places to explore. It’s amazing how powerful you feel going back to Limgrave after you’ve bested some of the best fighters in the game, just like the power that level 20 gives you.

Wasteland Series

Completionist Run: 200+ Hours

• 	Wasteland	Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut	Wasteland 3
  Platform(s)	PC, Commodore 64, Xbox One	Switch, PS4, PC, Xbox One	PC
  Released	1988-01-02	2015-10-13	2020-08-28
  Genre(s)	RPG	RPG	RPG, Strategy
  Developer(s)	inXile entertainment, Interplay	inXile entertainment	inXile entertainment
  Publisher(s)	inXile entertainment, EA	Deep Silver	Deep Silver
  ESRB	T for Teen – Violence, Blood, Sexual Content, Use of Alcohol, Simulated Gambling	M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Drug Reference, Strong Language, Violence	m

The post-apocalypse may not be the go-to setting for a game to resemble D&D, but the Wasteland games take the concept and make something new of it. The variety of characters that you can both make and meet lead the charge in this series.

They’re an odd sort, but what would you expect from the apocalypse? Combine that with some great moral choices, strenuous quests, and some stellar turn-based combat, and you may find that it has more in common than not.

Dark And Darker

Completionist Run: N/A

Your changes have been saved

Action RPG

First-Person

RPG

Systems

Released

August 7, 2023

Developer(s)

Ironmace

Publisher(s)

Ironmace

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Violence

A big part of Dungeons & Dragons is the character classes and archetypes that you can create. Pulling from those very same characters, and some of the same classes, is the deadly multiplayer fantasy game Dark And Darker.

Delving into the dungeons of this fantasy world, not only must you fight off the skeletons and goblins that call the place home, but the enemy adventuring parties that also hope to loot these places. It’s a dark twist on your typical D&D dungeon that you won’t soon forget.

Dragon Age: Veilguard

Completionist Run: 75 Hours

4.0/5

Your changes have been saved

Released

October 31, 2024

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence

The Dragon Age series has been taking players to Thedas time and again. There, fantasy genre staples mix with whole new ideas to make the world live and breathe. There are few games that take it to the level that Veilguard does.

The typical D&D quest of saving the world is set up from the previous game, and a Rook of your choosing is ready to take the fight against the dark gods. But, not alone, thanks to a great adventuring party, the likes of which may remind you of some of your own characters.

Darkest Dungeon And Darkest Dungeon 2

Completionist Run: 120-150 Hours

If you like to get into the nitty-gritty and darker aspects of Dungeons & Dragons and what comes with dungeon exploring, then you’ll, more than likely, enjoy Darkest Dungeon and Darkest Dungeon 2. You don’t need to play the original game to understand the second.

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Both games have their own unique playstyles and experiences, with the original game rewarding a more planned-out experience and the second encouraging you to be more reactive with your play style. If you enjoy palpable tension and genuinely threatening encounters, both of these games should scratch your Dungeons & Dragons itch with ease.

Opus Magnum

Completionist Run: 40 Hours

Opus Magnum doesn’t have any dungeon exploration or any serious RPG aspects, but that doesn’t mean it can’t itch a very particular scratch: solving difficult puzzles. One of the best things about Dungeons & Dragons is being able to try and retry until you have fine-tuned your solution.

Opus Magnum allows you to take the role of an Alchemist and utilize mechanical elements to create new formulas, solve puzzles. It challenges you to think outside the box and use the tools available to you, and if you like working through puzzles in Dungeons & Dragons, you’ll like Opus Magnum.

Solasta: Crown Of The Magister

Completionist Run: 67 Hours

Systems

Released

May 27, 2021

Developer(s)

Tactical Adventures

Publisher(s)

Tactical Adventures

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Violence, Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Language

A crucial part of Dungeons & Dragons is, of course, rolling the dice and seeing where luck lands your character. Solasta: Crown of the Magister implements that dice system into its gameplay, adding that extra bit of suspense and spontaneity that D&D has. You have a party of four characters, and you get to choose their races, classes, builds, and actions.

Use them to navigate dungeons that harbor dazzling rewards and dangerous monsters. Solasta is a tactical turn-based RPG, but the world around you can also cause damage to your foes if you play your cards right. And if being a DM is more your style, you can even make your own dungeons for others to explore.

Tyranny

Completionist Run: 53 Hours

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Tyranny

Systems

Platform(s)

Linux
, Microsoft Windows
, macOS

Released

November 10, 2016

ESRB

t

Tyranny is one of those uncommon games where you aren’t forced into the role of the good guy. As a Fatebinder, your job is to keep the tyrant Kyros’ people obedient and fearful under his iron fist. You can do that, but you also have the power to turn it around and dismantle Kyros’ tyranny from the inside, or even ignore both sides entirely for your own goals.

Either way, you’ll make enemies. Defeating them in tactical real-time combat is necessary to achieve your objectives, no matter what they are. Tyranny is different from other games in that you already start as someone with a lot of power. But with that power comes responsibility; every choice you make comes with a consequence.

Completionist Run: 230+ Hours

Skyrim has been around for a long time, and it’s still one of the most entertaining games you can play if you’re at all into RPGs. The story revolves completely around what you want to do, whether that’s staying true to typical fantasy scenarios and slaying dragons, or joining and betraying all kinds of different groups just to see what will happen.

There are countless quests you can help NPCs with for a variety of rewards, though you can also just kill them if you’re feeling particularly sadistic. Skyrim offers a world of possibilities, and its community has been expanding it even more with the creation of all kinds of mods. The game will definitely stay in your memory for a while.

Baldur’s Gate Series

Completionist Run: 300+ Hours

• 	Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition	Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhanced Edition	Baldur’s Gate 3
  Platform(s)	Switch, PS4, PC, iOS, Android, Xbox One	Switch, PS4, PC, iOS, Android, Xbox One	Xbox Series X, PS5, PC, macOS
  Released	2012-11-28	2013-11-15	2023-08-03
  Developer(s)	Overhaul Games	Overhaul Games	Larian Studios
  Publisher(s)	Atari	Atari	Larian Studios
  Genre(s)	RPG	RPG	RPG
  ESRB	t	t	M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

Anyone who’s been a fan of D&D since the ’90s probably already knows about the original Baldur’s Gate PC game. In 2012, the game was remade as Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, and that began the revitalization of the Baldur’s Gate series. It includes the original adventure, as well as the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion, and a lot of brand-new content.

The first two games in the series make up a wonderful duology that spans an incredible amount of hours. There’s so much to do and NPCs to meet – you’ll never want to leave the stunning world created by these games.

Taking a slight detour from the originals, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the well-received third installment of the trilogy. This game has tons of content to keep you happy just in the main storyline alone, and there’s plenty beyond that.

Its story deals with a number of notable characters who are captured by Mindflayers and have baby tadpoles inserted into their heads – if they cannot remove the tadpoles, they will turn into Mindflayers themselves. BG3 sustains the high quality of the original games’ writing while featuring a ton of modern quality-of-life changes, with a combat system reminiscent of one of Larian’s previous outings, Divinity: Original Sin.

Disco Elysium

Completionist Run: 40+ Hours

One of the biggest draws to Dungeons & Dragons is the narrative side of things – it’s fascinating to see how a world is built around the imagination of the storyteller. Disco Elysium takes this idea and runs with it, crafting an intricately detailed world with a gripping story to tell.

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In this game, you play a down-and-out cop on a murder case, and you have to deal with unhelpful NPCs, alcoholism, and a mind filled with individual personalities who love to chip in. You choose which skills to put your points on, and how you solve problems revolves around that. Charm a bouncer with words or outright fight them; it’s up to you.

Dungeons 3

Completionist Run: 50 Hours

If you are a Dungeon Master, you might get a real kick out of Dungeons 3, which lets you create and run an entire dungeon of your very own. This is a lot more strategy game than the usual RPG, but thematically, you have to agree it’s pretty spot-on.

Dungeons 3 has a long campaign that has you playing the evil side for once (though, if you’re a regular DM, you’re used to that), and it’s terribly fun to recruit and experiment with all the different nasty creatures the game has to offer. With a wonderfully quirky sense of humor, the game will also make you laugh.

Icewind Dale

Completionist Run: 50 Hours

When it comes to playing Dungeons & Dragons, many people opt for the more traditional setting of Faerun. If that’s a region you have played, then it wouldn’t come as a surprise if you recognized the chilly and often deadly Icewind Dale. There are some wonderful campaigns set there, and because of that the lore only gets stronger.

So, why not explore more of this interesting location in video game form? Icewind Dale is a wonderful battle-heavy experience, one that sees you traverse the lands you know so well and meet legendary faces from the world of D&D. It also lets you play to the forgotten Second Edition rules.

Neverwinter Nights

Completionist Run: 70+ Hours

Taking Dungeons & Dragons video games to a new and more obvious level, Neverwinter Nights is the perfect game for any fan of the classic tabletop experience. It’s an older game, but one created by the same people who made the Baldur’s Gate series — so you just know it’s going to be good.

Thankfully, Neverwinter Nights manages to hold up as an exciting, tense, and enthralling game, where you traverse recognizable landscapes to become the hero your D&D character always dreamed of. As whatever class you’ve chosen, you must find a cure to a plague that has taken over Neverwinter. But it won’t be easy, as different foes stand in your way. The game supports multiplayer and mods, so there’s never a dull moment.

Tabletop Simulator

Almost infinite play time!

It’s common knowledge that most Dungeons & Dragons fans are lovers of tabletop games. So, you may enjoy a board game or two if the session is canceled, or if certain players just can’t make it on that day.

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Luckily, if one party member can’t make it, or if the D&D party just plays online normally, you can still enjoy the thrills of tabletop games virtually. Tabletop Simulator allows you and your friends to play classic games you all love, as well as have the ability to create your own. It’s an ideal game to play if your session hasn’t gone to plan.

The Witcher Series

Completionist Run: 250+ Hours

• 	The Witcher	The Witcher 2	The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  Platform(s)	PC	Xbox 360, PC, macOS, Linux	PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox One
  Released	2007-10-30	2011-05-17	2015-05-19
  Developer(s)	CD Projekt Red	CD Projekt Red	CD Projekt Red
  Publisher(s)	CD Projekt, Atari	CD Projekt Red	CD Projekt Red
  Genre(s)	RPG	Action RPG	Action, RPG, Adventure
  ESRB	m	M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs	M for Mature: Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content

There are many things people love when playing D&D games. They love the roleplaying, the challenging combat, and the incredibly rich lore behind each story and every location. Such plot devices will bring you into the experience and hold you there, as you go through the twists and turns of the people you meet and the lives you save or end.

If lore and a rich story are one of your favorite elements, then The Witcher series of games is a must. It’s still got that tricky combat everyone loves, but comes with lore you can really delve into, through video games, a TV show, books, and so much more. Each game is a thrill to play, and is perfect for lovers of both fantasy and D&D.

Shadowrun: Dragonfall

Completionist Run: 40+ Hours

Any big fans of tabletop RPGs will definitely recognize Shadowrun by name. However, what’s less known about this popular series is the fact that it also has a few PC titles. All the lore and details from the original Shadowrun role-playing books are included, and they form a wonderful cyberpunk and magic-themed campaign.

Shadowrun: Dragonfall is a fantastic conclusion to the PC-based series. It adds even more content that builds upon what was contained in Shadowrun Returns. It’s also played in a more traditional turn-based style.

Arcanum: Of Steamworks And Magick Obscura

Completionist Run: 80+ Hours

Arcanum might look old, since it came out almost twenty years ago. However, for any nostalgic lovers of the fantasy RPG genre and any old-school D&D players, this game is a real treasure. It’s absolutely worth picking up due to its almost Diablo-style look.

Arcanum drops you into a world of both magic and tech. Depending on the build you go for, either or both can be exploited. There are tons of classic D&D character-building elements, and you can even choose whether you’d like to fight in real-time or experience turn-based combat.

Etrian Odyssey

Completionist Run: 90+ Hours

For those who prefer their games on handheld consoles like the Nintendo DS, Japanese RPG games like Etrian Odyssey deliver a surprisingly good D&D-like experience. This series in particular has been around for a while, with its first three games being released as a collection on the Nintendo Switch.

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Much of the games’ content is dedicated to classic dungeon crawling, with a whole host of character classes to choose from. This includes more special classes such as shogun, ronin, and ninja. In true RPG fashion, the game is also turn-based.

Planescape: Torment

Completionist Run: 60+ Hours

Some games, like D&D itself, started off small but then grew to a cult-like status. In the RPG world, Planescape: Torment is one such game. It may be an older one, but it is still well-worth your time for its surprising depth.

Turn-based and with all the classic RPG elements, it’s hard not to love this game. While it might be old, it continues to hold up surprisingly well. If you’re familiar with the Second Edition ruleset, you’ll be particularly comfortable with this game.