5 Best Elder Scrolls Spin-Off Games, Ranked

It would be great to play something ‘new’ aside from the existing five mainline games, especially for hardcore fans of the Elder Scrolls series. The latest Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim games garnered intense critical acclaim. However, it’s been over a decade, and there are still no signs of a new release. 

Meanwhile, The Elder Scrolls Online has kept the community somewhat busy. There is no denying the effort put into fixing the many bugs of the game. It’s also worth noting that Elder Scrolls Online never really got to what makes mainline Elder Scrolls games such fun to play. 

Thankfully, there exist spin-off games that are well worth your time. Most of these games offer nostalgia in exploring Tamriel's history. Others fall short in gameplay and a sea of malware. Though there isn’t much free-form gameplay, it’s worth looking back through them to explore Tamriel’s history further. 

In this article, we are exploring five of the best Elder Scrolls spin-off games, ranked. So let’s dive right in.

5. The Elder Scrolls Travels, 2003

There exist four mobile games in The Elder Scrolls Travels series. These include Stormhold, Dawnstar, Shadowkey, and Oblivion. Stormhold was playable on Java-enabled flip phones. Here, you had to escape from the Stormhold prison. 

The gameplay was pretty simple and included randomly generated dungeons. At the moment, finding it is hard. You’d have to scour the deepest parts of the internet to find Stormhold. 

Dawnstar wasn’t much different. It was released in a similar period, featuring a first-person dungeon crawler. These two games were pretty much unplayable and had mediocre graphics compared to the mainline predecessor, Morrowind. They did make for a good pastime, though. 

In contrast, Shadowkey took a step further to feature a compressed version of the Morrowind soundtrack. Further, the game was available on the Nokia N-Gage handheld phone, an averagely good phone at the time. Subsequently, the gameplay and graphics were nearly bad, given the platform and technical constraints. Despite this, Shadowkey was closest to Elder Scrolls’ free-form gameplay. It featured free-roaming gameplay with two multiplayer co-ops via Bluetooth. Moreover, the game was outright immersive in its plot settings and characters. 

Oblivion was pretty much what you would expect from a mobile version of the mainline Oblivion game. The only exception is worse graphics and frustrating controls. Overall, the Elder Scrolls Travels series is a solid effort. Perhaps with robust platforms and technology, these installments would have been superb.  

4. The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, 1998

Unlike the Elder Scrolls role-playing take on Tamriel, Redguard takes a different action-adventure third-person approach. Here, players don’t create their characters. Instead, the game assigns a premade protagonist with his backstory.

It gets more enticing when the game features an intriguing storyline. A young Redguard must find his missing sister, only to find himself in the middle of a civil war.  From the beginning of the story to the cutscenes between main and side quests, the game incorporates explosive storylines and simple gameplay that make up a fun game to play.

Additionally, Redguard is the first Elder Scrolls game to incorporate a 3D world. Even though the characters and environs resemble chunky blocks, fans found its aesthetic quite pleasing.   

3. An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire, 1997

Battlespire was the first spin-off full game released soon after Daggerfall. In fact, it was an expansion pack to Daggerfall but was later developed as a complete game and released as a spin-off. That said, it carries some of the cons of its predecessor. Still, the game was the first to introduce multiplayer. It also allows character creation with six races, similar to Daggerfall. 

Nevertheless, it was a first-person role-playing game quite different from other Elder Scrolls games. Instead of open-world free-form gameplay, Battlespire featured an action-adventure crawler on a single multi-level dungeon. These linear explorative quests were quite odd. Given the time of release, the game's graphics were nearly good, save for the creepiness in navigating what feels like a pixelated wax museum. 

Battlespire can be worth going back to for hardcore Elder Scrolls fans. For newcomers or least bit curious players, well, um, let’s explore the next one on the list.

2. The Elder Scrolls: Blades, 2018

In recent times, Bethesda rose to the cross-platform, free-to-play era with a mobile first-person game. Blades can be an excellent pastime for fans and newcomers, with its intuitive swiping or tapping gameplay options or using virtual joysticks on Nintendo Switch.

The game follows a Fugitive who returns to his hometown to find it up in flames. He must then help rebuild his home amidst fighting mercenaries and hostile creatures like dragons. It is free-to-play, so there is pretty much a non-existent incurred cost. It is also a spin-off with better graphics, content and gameplay modes. 

The abyss mode allows you to challenge yourself to face a never-ending stream of enemies in a dungeon. You earn crafting items and supplies or weapons and armor with each win. Alternatively, you can try out the Arena mode and compete against non-player characters or other online players in one-on-one combat. 

1. The Elder Scrolls Legends, 2016

At the top of our Elder Scrolls spin-off games is The Elder Scrolls Legends for its innovative approach to a spin-off series. Legends fully stepped away from the norm by taking on a new strategy card game. Here, players earn digital cards through ranked quests or spending soul gems. 

Though the game's graphics are not entirely impressive, Legends makes up for it in excellent gameplay modes, mechanics, and fresh card innovations. Players get the best of both worlds, from the compelling Elder Scrolls universe to a fun card game to play. Besides its competitive experience and strategic depth, the game is free-to-play. Hence, a deserving worthwhile mention among the best spin-off Elder Scrolls games to look out for.

That’s it for the five best Elder Scrolls spin-off games of all time. Do you agree with our listing? Are there other spin-off games you enjoyed playing more? Do let us know in our socials here or in the comments below.

Looking for more content? You could always check out these other listings.

5 Best Detective Video Games of All Time, Ranked

Grand Theft Auto V Remastered: 5 Key Features You Need to Know About