X-Plane 12 similar games & best alternatives

X-Plane 12 - Trailer
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X-Plane 12

Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac • 2022

Should you play it?

Ultra-Realistic Flight Simulation

What works

  • Highly realistic flight physics and systems
  • Extensive modding and customization options
  • Strong learning and skill development focus
  • Stable and well-optimized performance
  • Good value for price with ongoing updates

Things to keep in mind

  • Graphics and scenery less detailed than competitors
  • Atc and multiplayer features are limited and sometimes buggy
  • Steep learning curve may deter casual players
  • Requires powerful hardware for best experience
  • Some bugs and performance issues remain

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • X-Plane 10 Global - 64 Bit

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition

  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) 40th Anniversary Edition

  • Kerbal Space Program

  • RealFlight Evolution

  • X-Plane 11

More violent

Games that feels like X-Plane 12 but with more combat and destruction

  • Project Wingman

  • Nuclear Option

  • VTOL VR

  • IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad

  • Falcon 4.0

  • Fleet Command

More fantastical

Games that feels like X-Plane 12 but with more imaginative fiction

  • QANGA

  • IRON REBELLION

  • Evochron Legacy SE

  • Scavenger SV-4

  • The Powder Toy

  • Vehicle Simulator

More story-driven

Games that feels like X-Plane 12 but with deeper narrative immersion

  • Reentry - A Space Flight Simulator

  • Aviassembly

  • Hardspace: Shipbreaker

  • Juno: New Origins

  • Train Sim World® 5

  • Train Sim World® 3

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

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).

X-Plane 12: Less representative of its motivational profile, with noticeable differences. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Fantasy, Story, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Survival, Cooperation, Fellowship.

Last update: 03/08/2026