Pokemon has a simple hook that never gets old. You pick your first partner from three, walk into the tall grass and battle wild Pokemon until one is weak enough to catch. Your party holds up to six, and every type is strong against some types and weak against others, so building a team feels like solving a puzzle. Your monsters level up and evolve as you go, which makes them feel like yours. Then there is the criminal gang to stop, and a friend with a link cable waiting to battle your team.
Plenty of other games let you collect monsters, and some of them push one part of that idea much further. These are the 22 games players recommend most to Pokemon fans, ranked by how many different people named each one.
22 Games Like Pokemon Where You Catch and Raise Your Own Monsters
Digimon World: Next Order (2017)
Next Order gives you two partner Digimon and an open world to explore with them. You choose from ten starting companions, and they grow and evolve through battles and through the way you treat them. You can praise them, scold them and feed them to build your bond. The western version has 232 Digimon to raise, and the game had sold over 1 million copies by October 2024.
The big difference is how seriously it takes raising. If a partner misses the requirements for its next stage in time, it dies and comes back as an egg. Battles happen in real time, with your Digimon acting on their own while you step in with commands. Play it on PS4 or Switch.
Temtem (2020)
Temtem is the game on this list that wears its Pokemon influence most openly. It is a creature-collection game greatly inspired by the Pokemon series. You start as a novice Temtem tamer on the six floating islands of the Airborne Archipelago, and an evil organization called Clan Belsoto wants to take them over. You explore, capture Temtem and send them into battle against other tamers.
The big difference is that all battles are double battles, two against two, and other people share the world with you. It is a creature catching MMO, and you can battle another player as easily as a computer tamer. Fans paid for part of it on Kickstarter in 2018. Play it on PS5, or on Switch, where it came out with the full release on September 6, 2022.
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (2009)
Strange Journey sends a special task force from the United Nations into the Schwarzwelt, a spatial distortion in Antarctica that threatens to swallow the world. You explore it in first person and run into demons, and you can talk to them. Depending on your answers, demons can be bribed, scared away or recruited. Recruited demons can then be fused together into new ones that inherit skills from their parents.
The big difference is scale and mood. There are 300 recruitable demons, all inspired by world mythologies, and the story is grim science fiction. Many reviewers disliked the first-person navigation. Play it on DS, or play Strange Journey Redux on 3DS, which adds an extra character and story route.
Nexomon: Extinction (2020)
Nexomon: Extinction is the game players name when they want a classic Pokemon game on PlayStation. They call it the most Pokemon-like game on PS4 and say anyone who likes the classic games will enjoy it.
The big difference is size. It is a small indie game with its own monsters, and it plays like a tribute made by people who grew up on the Game Boy games. It suits a Pokemon fan who wants the old formula with no new twist. Play it on PS4 or Switch.
Dragon Ball Fusions (2016)
Dragon Ball Fusions lets you create your own character, build a team and collect Dragon Ball characters. Then you fuse them to make new fighters for battle. You can even take a photo of yourself or your friends and fuse that. You pick your race at the start, from human and Saiyan to Namekian, and recruit Goten and Trunks early on.
The big difference is the license. All the fighters you collect come from Dragon Ball, and the catching only works if you love that world. Game Informer gave it a 6.75 out of 10, praising the gameplay and graphics but calling the EX Fusion requirements time-consuming. The North American release replaced the swords in the game with sticks. Play it on 3DS.
Spectrobes (2007)
Spectrobes was Disney Interactive Studios' first original game, not based on any film or show. It was made by Jupiter, the studio behind Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. You play Rallen, and creatures called the Krawl are eating their way through the planets of the Nanairo star system. Your Spectrobes are the creatures you raise and send in to stop them.
The big difference is the setting. Spectrobes is a science fiction game, with planets to visit in place of towns and routes. It sold well, with more than 700,000 copies shipped in its first month. Play it on DS. The sequel, Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals, followed on DS in 2008.
Fossil Fighters (2008)
Fossil Fighters has the best twist on catching on this list. You dig up dinosaur fossils, clean them and revive them into "vivosaurs", then battle with them. Players call it a Pokemon-style game that still stands on its own.
The big difference is that you never meet a wild monster in the grass. Your whole team starts as rocks you have to dig out. Fossil Fighters reached North America on August 10, 2009, and Fossil Fighters: Champions followed on DS in 2011. Play both on DS, or Fossil Fighters: Frontier on 3DS, which came out in North America in 2015.
Yo-kai Watch 3 (2018)
Yo-kai Watch 3 keeps the series' mix of exploring and turn-based battles. It moves Nate from Springdale to BBQ, an American-inspired town with 'Merican Yo-kai of its own. A second story follows Hailey Anne Thomas, who opens a detective agency with the Yo-kai Usapyon, and the two stories meet later on.
The big difference is the battle system. Battles move onto a grid called the Tactics Board, in place of the wheel the first two games used to rotate your Yo-kai. On random nights a bell rings in St. Peanutsburg and zombies rise for Zombie Night. It was a commercial failure outside Japan. Play it on 3DS.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (2006)
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is about a boy who dreams of becoming a famous monster scout, a tamer of wild monsters who uses them in battle. You recruit monsters from the Dragon Quest games and lead a party of up to three. You can give them direct orders or set them to one of 5 AI settings, and your hero stays out of the fighting except to use items.
The big difference is the look. It was the first Dragon Quest Monsters game in 3D, with cel-shaded art. Players who loved it nearly always name it together with Joker 2. A sequel, Joker 2, followed in 2010. Play both on DS.
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (2009)
Devil Survivor traps a group of teenagers inside a government lockdown in Tokyo after an invasion of demons. The story runs on an in-game clock across seven days, and the events you choose can unlock different endings. You fight with up to four units, each one a human with two demons.
The big difference is that it is a tactical RPG. Fights happen on a grid first, then switch to a first-person turn-based battle when two teams meet. Play it on DS, or the expanded Overclocked on 3DS.
Azure Dreams (1997)
Azure Dreams puts you in the town of Monsbaiya, next to the Tower of Monsters. You play Koh, who enters the tower at 15 and meets Kewne, a monster that can speak to humans. Inside, you catch monster eggs and hatch them into familiars. You also help build up the town and can chase a romance on the side.
The big difference is that the tower is a roguelike. The floors are randomly generated each time you go in, and Koh returns to level one on each trip. Familiars hatched outside the tower keep their level, so your monsters carry you higher. Players describe it as a monster taming roguelike with a town builder attached. Play it on PS1.
Digimon World (1999)
Digimon World is about raising one Digimon from an egg. You train it, feed it, let it rest and take it to the bathroom. Raise it well and it digivolves into a stronger form, but neglect it and it turns into Numemon. Your partner fades with age and returns to an egg, and you raise it again. Bandai marketed the game to compete with Pokemon Red and Blue.
The big difference is control. You cannot fully control an unintelligent Digimon in battle, and you gain more control as it gets smarter. It got mixed reviews but sold well enough to become a Greatest Hits title in North America. Play it on PS1.
Yo-kai Watch 2 (2014)
Yo-kai Watch 2 brings back Nate and Katie, along with Whisper and Jibanyan, in an open world full of Yo-kai to befriend. You can give an enemy Yo-kai a food it likes before or during battle for a better chance it joins you. Afterward, a Yo-kai may hand you its Yo-kai Medal. Like Pokemon Red and Blue, it came in two versions, and a third, Psychic Specters, added more content.
The big difference from the first game is polish. Players who have played both say the sequel is the better game. The games had sold 3.1 million copies by February 2015, and a remake, Yo-kai Watch 2: Haunted Domain, was announced in September 2026. Play it on 3DS.
Persona 5 (2016)
Persona 5 puts you in the shoes of Joker, a high school student living out a single year in modern-day Tokyo. In its dungeons you fight Shadows with Personas, and you gain new Personas by negotiating with them in battle. Battles are turn-based. Players name it fast when Pokemon fans ask for something new.
The big difference is that half the game is school life. You go to class, work part-time jobs and spend time with friends between dungeons. Critics count it among the greatest games of all time. Play it on PS3 or PS4, or Persona 5 Royal on PS4 or Switch.
Monster Rancher (1997)
Monster Rancher is famous for one trick. Put any CD in your PlayStation, music albums included, and the game makes a monster from the disc's data. Some Christmas albums even give you a Santa-type monster. Once you have two monsters, you can combine them into a new one with traits of both parents. Then you train it and enter it in tournaments.
The big difference is that you never control your monster directly in a fight. You can only tell it to close in or back off and choose from the attacks it has at that range. Players usually recommend the first two games together. Play it on PS1, or in Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX on Switch, which looks CDs up in a database.
Jade Cocoon (1998)
Jade Cocoon puts you in the role of Levant, a young Cocoon Master who captures and purifies monsters called Minions. You can send them into battle, spin them into silk for money or fuse them with other Minions. Fused Minions take on the looks of both parents. Elements work like Pokemon types, with Wind beating Earth and Fire beating Wind.
The big difference is the world. Levant travels through four forests, named after the Beetle, Dragonfly, Spider and Moth, and after the story the Eternal Corridor opens up with new monsters to find. Players call it a monster catching RPG. Play it on PS1, or the digital release on PS3 or PSP.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (2011)
Ni no Kuni follows Oliver, a young boy who sets out to find a way to bring back his mother. In battle you use magic and creatures called familiars, which can be captured and tamed. The art style was inspired by Studio Ghibli, and it looks like you are playing one of its films.
The big difference is the fighting. Battles take place on an open battlefield where you move your familiar around, a mix of turn-based and real-time combat. Reviewers praised its story and graphic design. It came out on PS3 in the West in January 2013. Play it on PS3, or the remaster on PS4 or the Switch version.
Shin Megami Tensei IV (2013)
Shin Megami Tensei IV puts you in the boots of Flynn, a samurai who protects the Kingdom of Mikado from demons. In battle you control Flynn and three demons, and the Press Turn system rewards you with extra turns for hitting weaknesses. Players who recommend it to Pokemon fans say the core idea is close, only you collect demons.
The big difference is difficulty. Players who send Pokemon fans here warn that it is far harder than Pokemon. If you keep dying, the game unlocks an easy mode. It came out in North America in July 2013. Play it on 3DS.
World of Final Fantasy (2016)
World of Final Fantasy follows twins Lann and Reynn, who can tame monsters called Mirages. Weaken a Mirage in battle and you can capture it, then give it any name you like. You can ride larger Mirages around the world and use others to solve puzzles. Players who played it say it reminded them of Pokemon, with Final Fantasy monsters.
The big difference is stacking. You pile your Mirages on top of each other in battle, which changes your stats and abilities. Critics liked the look and the stacking but found the pace slow. The original sold over 900,000 copies by 2018. Play it on PS4 or Vita, or World of Final Fantasy Maxima on Switch.
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015)
Cyber Sleuth starts like a Pokemon game. You pick Palmon, Terriermon or Hagurumon as your first partner, and more Digimon join you as you reach new areas. You play a human who commands Digimon, digital creatures with their own abilities, and digivolving your team to find forms you have not seen yet is a big part of the fun. Players say it is the best you will get if you want Pokemon on PlayStation.
The big difference is the story. You become a digital entity, and a detective recruits you to find out why. It reached North America on February 2, 2016. Play it on PS4 or Vita, or the Complete Edition on Switch, which adds the sequel, Hacker's Memory.
Monster Hunter Stories (2016)
Monster Hunter Stories turns Monster Hunter into a turn-based RPG. You play a Rider who befriends monsters by stealing eggs from nests and hatching them. You name your monsters, called Monsties, ride them around the world and fight beside them. Attack types beat each other in a triangle.
The big difference is how close you get to your monsters. You can change a Monstie's abilities and looks with the Rite of Channeling, moving Bond Genes into its slots. Long-time Pokemon fans say it is as much fun as Pokemon, and some like it more. It came out in North America in September 2017. Play it on 3DS, or on PS4 or Switch.
Yo-kai Watch (2013)
Yo-kai Watch is based on the Yōkai of Japanese folklore, ghosts that cause mischief in daily life. You play Nate or Katie, who frees the butler Yo-kai Whisper from a capsule machine on a bug-collecting school assignment and gets a watch that shows the Yo-kai. Then you explore town to befriend peaceful Yo-kai and battle the hostile ones. Jibanyan the cat joins early.
The big difference is the world. Players say it feels more alive than Pokemon and that hunting down Yo-kai to befriend is the best part. It sold over a million copies in Japan by November 2014, and it was not released outside Japan until 2015. Play it on 3DS.
Which one to play
There you have it, the whole list of games like Pokemon. Some copy the formula closely, and others build a new game around one piece of it.
If you love catching monsters in battle, start with World of Final Fantasy or Temtem. If raising one partner is your favourite part, go for Digimon World or Monster Rancher. If Pokemon feels too easy, play Shin Megami Tensei IV or Strange Journey. For a big story, try Ni no Kuni or Persona 5. And for a younger player, Yo-kai Watch and Fossil Fighters are a great place to start.
