There is an unmistakable thrill of looking for loot in a zone with other players and risking a firefight for a chance to get a huge haul. Since Escape From Tarkov gained popularity, players have realized the potential fun of extraction shooters and clamoured for more games like it. Many games since then have followed its formula and added their own unique spin to the genre. Here are some of our best picks for extraction shooters.

Hunt: Showdown

Hunt: Showdown is a first-person extraction shooter for PC and next-gen consoles released by Crytek in 2018. In this game, you play as a bounty hunter in a Wild West-style setting, looking to kill marked monsters and claim their cash reward.

What makes this game stand out from the rest is that there is a limited amount of bounty marks on the map, and their location starts off unknown until you find enough to track its location. You are not alone on the map; you must compete with other players to claim the kill. When the target is dead, the player must enact a ritual to banish it, which reveals your location to everyone on the map. Even if you banish it and claim its bounty token, other players can kill you and steal your mark. Once extracted, the one who carries the token will receive Hunter Dollars. In this game, progression is done through buying Legendary Hunters that come with 3 randomized traits. The kicker? These Hunters could be permanently lost if they die before reaching the extraction zone.

The game also has a more traditional battle royale-style mode called Soul Survivor, where players start with an underpowered Hunter with sub-par equipment. As the match goes on, players can gain traits for their Hunter and better weapons in the field, much like a battle royale would go. New weapons and traits earned by this Hunter can be used in Bounty Hunt mode if they successfully extract with this character.

If you’re looking for a unique twist on extraction shooters and enjoy the cowboy Weird West aesthetic, Hunt: Showdown is the game for you.

Dark and Darker

Dark and Darker is the first fantasy-themed extraction game developed by Korean studio Ironmace. Released in August of 2023 and currently on Early Access, this game takes all the quintessential elements of sword-and-board fantasy and old dungeon crawlers into the extraction shooter genre.

Players can choose between classic fantasy classes such as Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Ranger, Cleric, Warlock, and Bard. Once a class has been chosen, they can enter a variety of dungeons and ruins and fight against enemy NPCs and other players who lurk in the dark for treasure and enchanted gear. Unlike other extraction games, melee combat is a major focus in this game, hosting a variety of melee weapons to choose from, though there are still ranged options with bows and spells. Gear progression is more akin to Diablo, as you can find weapons and armor of varying rarities from Common to Unique. Dungeons are filled with plenty of chests, monsters, and secret treasure rooms to loot. There’s also a myriad of traps that can seriously hurt you. To top it all off, an ever-present Death Swarm constantly circles in the dungeon, which works like a battle royale death circle that encourages you to fight your way out.

Fantasy fans and loot goblins have much to enjoy in Dark and Darker, as there is plenty of gold, jewels, and magical gear to chase in the game. Should you wish to purchase the game, visit their website and install their launcher from there.

Marauders

Marauders is a sci-fi dieselpunk-styled extraction shooter made by Small Impact Games, released in October 2022 for PC. Its setting is based around the end of the Cold War era, with guns ranging from WW2 up to the Cold War. Players take the role of a space pirate known as a Marauder, contracted by three powerful factions, the Central Empire, Kingdom Alliance, and the United Allies.

What sets this apart from other extraction shooters is that players can pilot a ship in space and dock in stations where the core extraction loop takes place. In Marauders, progression doesn’t only lie in gear and character level, but through ship upgrades. Beyond just the ground combat, space battles can also occur while trying to extract, and you can even commit boarding actions on enemy vessels to capture or destroy from within. The game takes a more accessible approach to Escape From Tarkov, doing away with realistic mechanics like localized area healing and more arcade-ey shooting mechanics. Movement is more fast-paced and thus, spurs more aggressive fights than in Tarkov. Stations are compact in space, so close-quarter fights happen more often than usual. Extraction does not end at leaving the station, as players must also pilot their ship into an Escape Gate, which does not open until activating one inside the station.

Overall, Marauders is a streamlined take on EFT without sacrificing its core identity as an extraction shooter. If you want a fun and accessible version of Escape From Tarkov in space, you might like Marauders.

Quasimorph

Quasimorph is a wholly singleplayer variant of online extraction shooters with elements of the roguelike genre. Developed by indie studio Magnum Scriptum, unlike all the other games mentioned here, Quasimorph plays like a turn-based RPG in terms of combat and looting. Still, it borrows many of the extraction shooter tenets, like losing gear on death, vertical item progression, and, of course, extracting with all your gear. Every run in Quasimorph is timed, with a meter called Quasimorphosis rising with every kill and action, shortening the timer. The higher this Quasimorphosis meter rises, the more likely that enemies will turn into a powerful, unspeakable horror, so finishing missions fast is important.

Despite its singleplayer nature, the gameplay is still quite difficult and hardcore in design, with firefights ending in death or serious injury that isn’t easy to heal. In Quasimorph, you play as the manager of your PMC, sending out your own cloned soldiers and controlling them in a raid. Unique to this game is the ability to retrieve the items from the body of your previous run, and since you’re not competing with other players, death in Quasimorphosis is not as punishing. If you’re worried about losing items on death, the game has blueprints for most items in the game that, when brought back to the ship, allow you to print that item for free permanently.

If you’re a fan of roguelikes, sci-fi and want to experience the intensity of EFT in a singleplayer environment, give Quasimorph a shot.

Zero Sievert

Zero Sievert, like Quasimorph, is a single-player twin-stick extraction shooter with pixel graphics made by CABO Studio. The game is set in a nuclear post-apocalyptic landscape, where players explore procedurally generated levels for every raid, adding in a layer of unpredictability. Fans of Zero Sievert compare this game to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R franchise where irradiated mutants and wildlife are constant threat to players, alongside bandits and other human enemies. Since the game is a top-down shooter, going into fights is easier thanks to the view. The game makes some concessions with survival mechanics, making them simpler to understand and remedy while keeping consumables valuable. Zero Sievert provides players with the option to change the game’s difficulty, with values for each aspect of the game, from trading to health and damage values.

Zero Sievert is a great game for experiencing all the fun bits of extraction shooters without dealing with any players. Casual players will have a blast with Zero Sievert’s top-down shooting mechanics and survival systems paired with its playful pixel graphics.