Insomniac Game’s Ratchet & Clank series has set the standard for third-person mascot action games since the release of the original Ratchet & Clank in 2002.
There have been 16 entries to the series including pre-smartphone era mobile games, so there is no lack of Ratchet & Clank games to play if your first exposure to the series was 2021’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on the PS5.
But, if you’re an older fan of Ratchet & Clank who has been there from the beginning and played every entry, you’re probably looking for other games like Ratchet & Clank.
If you are in this unfortunate position, there are a few suggestions for you on this list of the Best Games Like Ratchet & Clank.
If you’re ready to get into hijinx with a trusty companion, then grab your giant wrench, and let’s get started.
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10. Sunset Overdrive
If you loved the chaos caused by all the different weapons in the Ratchet & Clank games, then you will love the constant chaos of Sunset Overdrive.
As another game created by Insomniac Games, Sunset Overdrive shares Ratchet & Clank’s lighthearted spirit and comedic timing.
In the world of Sunset Overdrive, a new energy drink has changed the population of Sunset City into grotesque mutated monsters.
With the help of your new friends, you will use an array of weapons and expansive traversal skills to make your way across Sunset City and hopefully save its citizens.
The arsenal of upgradeable guns, platforming, and lively characters are all things that make Sunset Overdrive a game like Ratchet & Clank.
9. Tearaway Unfolded
Another Sony-exclusive platforming-action game is Tearaway Unfolded by Media Molecule, the development studio behind the LittleBigPlanet franchise.
Tearaway Unfolded is a game like Ratchet & Clank in several ways, chiefly in that they both have colorful, vibrant worlds to explore and traverse while you fight enemies.
Tearaway Unfolded takes place in an entirely papercraft world that can be directly manipulated using the inputs on your controller. Fold, tear, and twist paper into ramps and platforms for your character to use to get around.
The main mission of the game is to deliver a note to “The You”, which is the person holding the controller. The same portal that allows The You to peak into the world of Tearaway Unfolded is allowing aggressive entities called Scraps to spill in.
As Iota or Atoi, your job is to fight these monsters and make your way to the portal to deliver the message. Light environmental puzzles and intricate platforming sequences are more features that make Tearaway Unfolded a game like Ratchet & Clank.
8. Pumpkin Jack
As Jack, the Mythical Pumpkin Lord, you will travel through spooky environments on your quest to overpower Good and proliferate Evil.
Developer Nicolas Meyssonnier’s Pumpkin Jack is a game like Ratchet & Clank because it is also a third-person action-adventure game with a heavy focus on platforming.
In each level, Jack will fight hordes of enemies using an arsenal of creative melee and ranged weapons, much like Ratchet & Clank. Also like Ratchet & Clank are the companions that will join you throughout the game’s campaign.
There isn’t one quite like the lovable Clank, but the companions in Pumpkin Jack are very useful in combat. Puzzles scattered throughout the game will test your grasp of physics and pyrodynamics as you will be either manipulating objects or taking on Jack’s burning skull mode to light things on fire.
Another thing that makes Pumpkin Jack a game like Ratchet & Clank is the art style both games share.
While not exactly the same, both games go for a Saturday morning cartoon-style visual that is appealing to players of all ages.
7. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
At first glance, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order isn’t immediately similar to Ratchet & Clank. But, once you actually play the game, the similarities become clear.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order follows Cal Kestis, a former Jedi Padawan who is now on the run after exposing his powers to save a friend.
His only hope is to restore the Jedi Order, so with the help of new friends, Cal embarks on a journey to re-learn and master his latent skills, and hopefully find other Jedi along the way.
One of the aspects that make Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order a game like Ratchet & Clank is the frequent planet-hopping. In fact, the cutscenes that play when you pull up to a new planet even feel similar to each other.
This is a tactic both games use to introduce environmental variety into their gameplay and visuals. Another thing the two games share is platforming sections. The planets of both games have interesting topography and architecture that requires you to jump, float, and sprint over to get around.
6. Psychonauts
Another third-person action-adventure game is Psychonauts, which was created by Double Fine Productions. This game is like Ratchet & Clank in a number of ways.
Firstly, both games feature hilarious, interesting characters that endear you to them immediately. Both Raz and Ratchet are plucky main characters who try their best to help their friends as well as those around them.
And that dedication to character doesn’t end with the main character, the casts in both games are teeming with memorable characters that could all stand alone in their own games. Psychonauts is also a game like Ratchet & Clank because of its combat.
Psychonauts doesn’t feature any guns, but the ways you use your various mind powers and skills to fight off diverse enemies feel very similar to fighting enemies in Ratchet & Clank.
There is also a sequel to Psychonauts that expands on the first game and modernizes its mechanics.
5. Uncharted
Joining Ratchet & Clank in the pantheon of incredible Sony games with mascot characters is Naughty Dog’s Uncharted.
The Uncharted series follows Nathan Drake, a loveable thief who goes on globe-trotting adventures with his friends Elena and Sully. In each adventure, what starts out as a seemingly normal undertaking takes a decidedly supernatural turn by the end, revealing that there is more to life than most people understand.
What makes the Uncharted series of games like Ratchet & Clank is their gunplay and interesting narratives.
Both Uncharted and Ratchet & Clank have you blasting away at enemies with a selection of weapons, though the weapons in Ratchet & Clank are decidedly more cartoony and colorful that the realistic weapons of Uncharted.
The stories each of the games in both series tell show how your favourite characters grow over time as the result of their experiences and the choices they have made.
The finale of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is every bit as affecting for most people as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
4. Spyro
The Spyro series is another iconic PlayStation series that was started by Insomniac Games. The series follows Spyro, a diminutive dragon, on his many adventures in a land full of other dragons that are both friendly and hostile.
What makes Spyro a game like Ratchet & Clank is its colorful, cartoony presentation. Spyro’s world is full of colour and funny characters, and the titular dragon stretches, compresses, and bounces in a way that wouldn’t look out of place in a cartoon.
This is a dead match for the worlds and characters of Ratchet & Clank, who are every bit as goofy as they are endearing.
And while Spyro doesn’t have the use of guns, he still runs and hops around while breathing fire and ramming enemies with his horns in a similar way to how Ratchet leaps and does backflips in combat.
Make sure to read our article about games like Spyro if you’re interested in discovering new games!
3. Sly Cooper
One of Ratchet & Clank’s contemporary series is Sly Cooper. The Sly Cooper games follow Sly, a raccoon thief, and his crew of animal cohorts as they pull off heists in a colorful cartoon world.
Created by Sucker Punch, Sly Cooper hasn’t been around in quite a few years, but all of the Sly Cooper games are a ton of fun and hold up to today’s standards.
As Sly, you will need to sneak through areas undetected to swipe the precious loot at the end of every stage. The Sly Cooper games are like Ratchet & Clank because their cast of characters are all incredibly fun and memorable.
As both games came out around the same time, their gameplay also feels similar despite having different goals.
2. Crash Bandicoot
The creators of Uncharted had their first big hit on PlayStation consoles with Crash Bandicoot. This action-adventure game has a strong focus on platforming, which makes it similar to Ratchet & Clank.
Crash jumps and spins over chasms in much the same way that Ratchet leaps from one floating area to the next.
The two games are also the best Crash Bandicoot games of the older PlayStation generations.
1. Jak and Daxter
The series of games that are the most similar to Ratchet & Clank are the Jak and Daxter games.
They were released around the same time and both feature the main character and a plucky companion. The gameplay of Jak and Daxter also makes it a game like Ratchet & Clank because both games focus on platforming as well as combat.
You don’t get a gun until fairly late in the game in the first Jak and Daxter, but from that point, you always have an interesting ranged weapon to fight enemies.
Jak II also takes place in a future world that isn’t dissimilar from Ratchet & Clank, full of flying cars and robots. These are a few of the things that make Jak and Daxter games like Ratchet & Clank.
Most of the games on this list are iconic PlayStation games, which is where Ratchet & Clank started and continues to exist.
A few series like Spyro and Crash have been sold to other publishers and are therefore cross-platform. Wherever you’re able to find and play these games, they all have the same fun spirit of Ratchet & Clank, and they are all great games to play.
