Pokémon Scarlet similar games & best alternatives

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Pokémon Scarlet

Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch • 2022

Should you play it?

The Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet games, the newest chapters in the Pokémon series, are coming to Nintendo Switch later this year. With these new titles, the Pokémon series takes a new evolutionary step, allowing you to explore freely in a richly expressed open world. Various towns blend seamlessly into the wilderness with no borders. You’ll be able to see the Pokémon of this region in the skies, in the seas, in the forests, on the streets—all over! You’ll be able to experience the true joy of the Pokémon series—battling against wild Pokémon in order to catch them—now in an open-world game that players of any age can enjoy.​

What works

  • Open-world exploration with player freedom
  • Multiple engaging storylines with character depth
  • Four-player cooperative multiplayer and raids
  • Innovative terastallization battle mechanic
  • Large roster of pokémon and customization options

Things to keep in mind

  • Significant technical issues and performance problems
  • Lack of level scaling limits true open-world freedom
  • Sparse and bland world design in some areas
  • Repetitive or underdeveloped side activities
  • Limited social interaction depth in multiplayer

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

More violent

Games that feels like Pokémon Scarlet but with more combat and destruction

Less competitive

Games that feels like Pokémon Scarlet but with less competition against others

Choose your own criteria ->

From the same developer

From the same developer, ranked by motivational fit.

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Pokémon Scarlet. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Pokémon Scarlet. These titles are not in What to play next.

Pokémon Scarlet: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Cooperation, Fellowship, Intimacy, Leadership. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Status, Competition. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Violence.

Last update: 02/09/2026