26 Games Like Lord of the Rings Online
Games Finder’s assembled list of games like Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) features alternative MMOs with large fantasy game worlds packed with content and challenges.
Set within the Middle-earth universe LOTRO has become a popular MMORPG with its well-known fantasy setting, familiar locations, memorable characters and broad list of available MMO features. Launching as a paid title in 2007 but eventually converted to a free to play model the MMO has continues to expand its chapter based plots and maintain a dedicated player base of Lord of the Rings fans.
This main story line of Lord of the Rings Online is one of the best elements of the game with it drawing on a wealth of lore to create a lengthy and detailed epic quest line presented to players in a book format. Beyond the story LOTRO offers a diverse roster of race and classes to roleplay, a MMO game economy, deeds to complete, a fellowship party mechanic, the ability to play instruments and unique PvP where players take on the role of monsters.
The games like LOTRO collected below focus on MMOs where story and fantasy environments are at the centre of your adventure along with MMOs that have unique PvP challenges.
ArcheAge
In terms of fleshed out MMO experiences ArcheAge is near the top of the list with an impressive game world filled with adventures, secrets and features around every corner of the fantasy world. While ArcheAge innovates in a few areas of MMO gameplay much of the focus is put towards delivering vast content, quality and player choice over attempting to reinvent the historical MMO mechanics. Set in a fantasy game world the focus of ArcheAge is on being able to change the game world around you while...[Read Review]
Planet Calypso
Planet Calypso leverages the framework of Entropia Universe to create a science fiction MMO with a wealth of content, mechanics and sizeable community waiting to be explored. Most notably is the adoption of a game currency that is closely tied with real money that provides the potential for players to profit from their activities within the virtual game world. Starting in 2003 as the first planet of Entropia Universe (which now has more than half a dozen planets that offer different gameplay) Pl...[Read Review]
Neverwinter
Neverwinter is a free to play MMORPG released in 2013 for Windows with subsequent releases on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles. Set in and around the fictional city of the same name players will engage in quests, action orientated combat and social interactions with familiar MMO and Dungeons & Dragons mechanics. The framework for your adventure is the vast city of Neverwinter where chaos has taken hold after the disappearance of the city leader. With Neverwinter city and the su...[Read Review]
Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online (STO) is a free to play MMORPG that takes place within the Star Trek universe, bringing the decades of lore, characters, settings and alien races into a single large scale MMO world and populating it with science fiction fans. At launch Star Trek Online required a game purchase and monthly fee for access which provided the game a solid foundation of funding to develop a high quality adventure. Star Trek Online has been free to play since 2012. Star Trek Online takes place in the...[Read Review]
Rift
Offering vast fantasy MMO gameplay that stands up against the titans of the genre Rift is a MMO with subscription based history but has been free to play since June 2013. Important to note though Rift still offers a premium subscription called a Patron which offers currency bonuses, extra content, daily login rewards, boosts and convenience benefits. Free and paid players alike though will be treated to Rifts gameplay pillars which focuses on a massive world, large scale dynamic battles and dive...[Read Review]
Skyforge
Blurring the lines between fantasy and science fiction is Skyforge, a third person MMORPG that focuses on action, customisation, class swapping, region based servers and the ability to reach a whole new league of hero, a god. Launched in 2015 for Windows Skyforge has since expanded to the console market that feature the same content and regular content cycle. Venturing around planet Aelion where both ancient secrets and cutting edge technology live side by side players will perform the usual arr...[Read Review]
Revelation Online
Joining the ranks of MMOs with vast game worlds Revelation Online is now available to North America and Europe after originally claiming a foothold in the difficult Asian MMO market. With detailed customisation, a wealth of classes, your choice of control scheme and seamless connected world the foundations of Revelation Online promise a MMO experience of high quality. Set within the world of Nuanor players step into a seamless world of ancient fantasy with the usual array of cities, forests and ...[Read Review]
RuneScape
RuneScape has long been a popular free to play MMORPG and grown significantly since its original 2001 release date with regularly updated content delivered to its millions of registered players. It is widely regarded as one of the original and most popular browser based MMO games ever created. While RuneScape is no longer available to play in your browser it has expanded to be a cross platform adventure for computer and mobile gamers. Alongside this modern RuneScape version (also known as RuneSc...[Read Review]
Aura Kingdom
Aura Kingdom is a MMO title that uses an anime art style while combining action based and traditional MMO combat mechanics together to create a fluid hybrid approach to gameplay. With a world in need of a hero before players you’ll spend hundreds of hours adventuring, questing and helping various towns while role playing one of over a dozen classes that bring their own talents to the fantasy world. Starting its closed beta in December 2013 and transitioning into open beta a month later Aur...[Read Review]
Perfect World
Perfect World offers a 3D fantasy MMORPG that original launched on the Asian market in 2005 and eventually found its way to an international setting in 2008 under the name, Perfect World International (later rebranded to simply PWI). With over a decade of experience in the MMO market PWI has a wealth of player content which has continued to expand with nearly expansions that build further on the world, classes and race options for players to select from. While the core of the MMO game is your us...[Read Review]
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) is a free to play MMORPG developed by BioWare that aims to bring the story and lore of the Star Wars franchise to the MMO realm. Designed to offer a focus on the story of your character players will craft their own adventure through their character choices and actions which can be further expanded with a paid subscription to access additional content, increase your level cap, improve your levelling speed and other benefits. Star Wars: The Old Republic of cours...[Read Review]
Dungeons and Dragons Online
Attempting to capture the D&D 3.5 rule set and import it into the MMO environment Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) launched back in 2006 as a paid title. Eventually going free to play since 2009 the game has continued to maintain an audience of dedicated players, predominately made up of fans who enjoy the original D&D mechanics. While free to play there are a number of restrictions on free to play players both in terms of races and classes which will eventually push the dedicated the p...[Read Review]
DC Universe Online
DC Universe Online is one of the few MMO role playing games to make its way to a console platform. The game is also available on Windows and draws heavily from the fictional characters from DC Comics. DC Universe Online was developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment with a release in Q1 of 2011. The game is free to play but does also offer a premium account level (for users who purchase Station Cash) or legendary passes for users that register for a recurring subscription. DC Universe ...[Read Review]
The Secret World
The Secret World is a unique MMO set in a modern day game world with a focus on myth and conspiracy theory that draws inspiration from a range of popular media to create an interesting game world and associated game content. Originally launched in 2012 the game was relaunched as The Secret World Legends in 2017 that changed a number of core mechanics and also transitioned the MMO from its previous paid and subscription models into a free to play core. For those looking for a fresh adventure in t...[Read Review]
Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 (GW2) is a massively multiplayer online role playing (MMORPG) set in a fantasy universe and aims to separate itself from others in the genre by giving weight to player storyline decisions and pairing it with dynamically generated quests to offer a varied pathway of progression. Lacking a subscription fee Guild Wars 2 was originally a paid to play MMO on 2012 release before the base game transitioned to a free to play model in 2015. Sending players to the familiar Guild Wars fantasy ...[Read Review]
Runes of Magic
Runes of Magic offers players a free to play alternative to World of Warcraft and draws obvious inspiration from the MMORPG giant in the genre. Released in 2009 Runes of Magic continues to deliver one of the largest amounts of content and quest opportunities which has been built up slowly over the games time online. While this does mean it can be difficult for new players to come to terms with all of the possible mechanics it ensures there is a wealth of depth to invest your time into. Set in th...[Read Review]
Vindictus
Vindictus is a MMORPG is set in the same universe as the popular Korean MMO of Mabinogi although dramatically shifts the focus towards action combat. While the anime themes and associated character outfits are there players will find a deeper MMO adventure that drives engagement through combat, quests and community. Set hundreds of years prior to Mabinogi Vindictus explores a darker place with players focused on clearing the way through the world for the fun and free Mabinogi world to thrive in ...[Read Review]
Aion
Aion is one of the growing number of subscription based MMO games that have gone free to play in recent years to ensure it can secure an ongoing player base. Despite the age of Aion (released in 2008) the free to play transition has mostly been successful with a consistent hundreds of players on the Steam client and thousands online outside of the Steam version. Accordingly if you originally considered getting into Aion but the price turned you away now is a great time to get into this highly po...[Read Review]
4Story
4Story explores a fantasy world where three warring factions fight between each other for domination. With a world with lore that extends back to the creation event over 3000 years before the current time of the three kingdoms 4Story offers a wealth of quests, mystery and fantasy lands rich in lore to unearth. While questing is one of the key pillars of 4Story you’ll also find PvP at the centre of the game to reflect the constant warring of the three factions. Launched in 2009 4Story conti...[Read Review]
Last Chaos
Last Chaos has been online since 2006 making it one of the longest running free to play role playing games in a competitive genre. With a solid array of class options paired with the usual array of MMO features the game continues to attract a regular community of players with its traditional style. Last Chaos offers this gameplay with a fairly typical fantasy world where the God of Darkness Eres and the God of Light Apollon created the world of the mortals with humans and elves made to inhabit t...[Read Review]
Eldevin
Aiming to bring the MMO genre back towards story driven gameplay is Eldevin a free to play title that is packed full of game content. Offering a familiar MMO framework that sees you meeting other players, exploring the vast realm with hundreds of locations, unique creatures, distinct factions and countless quests along the way. The story behind the kingdom of Eldevin is one of a peaceful land that over the past decade has slowly fallen into chaos upon the discovery of powerful Elemental Spheres....[Read Review]
Age of Conan: Unchained
Age of Conan: Unchained (originally Hyborian Adventures) seeks to stand out in the massively multiplayer online genre with a mature game in the same universe of Conan the Barbarian. Being thrown into a brutal and savage game world requires players to maintain their wits while engaging with the usual array of MMO mechanics. Originally a paid title Age of Conan: Unchained is now a free to play adventure for all players to enjoy with a freemium monetisation model. Loosely based on the Conan univers...[Read Review]
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (also known as Final Fantasy XIV Online) is the relaunched version of the 2010 Final Fantasy MMORPG adventure that addresses the key issues of the original. With vast enhancements players are finally able to experience the MMO and Final Fantasy universe that you’ve always craved. Set on the continent of Eorzea players have a wealth of ancient lore and locations to explore with the map split into various city states that have their own biomes and specialiti...[Read Review]
The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) brings the popular role playing series to the MMO environment with an adventure that sets out to create the ultimate Elder Scrolls adventure and fills it with other online adventurers like yourself. The greatest appeal to the Elder Scrolls Online is without a doubt to the long time fans of the franchise who will appreciate the expanded world before them although in order to break through into the competitive MMO market a number of decisions have been made that ensu...[Read Review]
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft (WoW) holds the largest subscriber base of any MMORPG, launching all the way back in November 2004 the game had peaked at 12 million subscribers by 2010 but has slowly dropped since that peak. World of Warcraft features a core game along with several expansion packs with the option for players to play through the first 20 levels for free (with some other restrictions as well) if you are just interested in seeing what all the fuss is about. To advance further players will need t...[Read Review]
Albion Online
Albion Online centres itself heavily on the guild and sandbox mechanics that often form secondary features in other MMOs. Originally released in 2017 as a paid MMO Albion Online’s free to play shift in 2019 and large 2020 update (Queen) has seen a resurgence of interest in the unique sandbox MMO pushing its daily active accounts into the six figure mark and nearly half a million monthly active. With a single server housing these players you can expect an overwhelming number of players in f...[Read Review]