Shows Like
Shows Like Game of Thrones Worth Your Time
By Jordan A. · · 3 min read
Every network in the world has tried to make the next Game of Thrones and most of them have been expensive disasters. The good news is the ones that work aren't always the ones with the biggest budgets. Here's what actually holds up in 2026 if you're looking to scratch the Westeros itch.
The direct descendants
House of the Dragon is quieter than its parent and better for it. Season two finally finds its legs. If you bounced off season one, give it another shot.
The Rings of Power is Amazon's Tolkien show and season two is a real improvement. Worth checking in if you gave up early.
The Witcher is messy but the first two seasons are genuinely fun epic fantasy.
The political backstabbing without the dragons
Shōgun is the one. Ten episodes, zero filler, and it delivers the same cold political dread Game of Thrones did in its best seasons. Everyone who tells you this is the new GoT is correct.
The Last Kingdom is the Saxon-vs-Viking show BBC and Netflix co-produced and it ran for five seasons of steady, well-made historical drama.
Vikings (the first four seasons) is the one that everyone sleeps on. Travis Fimmel is a revelation.
The fantasy that actually works
His Dark Materials finally did justice to the Philip Pullman books and three seasons land the whole arc.
The Wheel of Time is Amazon's other big fantasy and the second and third seasons are a noticeable step up from the first.
Shadow and Bone got two seasons and was better than it needed to be.
For the scope and the scale
Rome ran for two seasons on HBO and it's still one of the best historical dramas ever made. Get it.
Spartacus is the show people make fun of until they actually watch it. Season two forward is genuinely great TV.
Marco Polo got cancelled after two seasons and deserved more.
For the cold cynicism
Peaky Blinders isn't fantasy at all, but it has the same operatic family-and-power energy Game of Thrones had when it was good.
Succession is the modern-dress version. Same dinner-table knife fights, different wardrobe.
Deadwood is the profane Western masterpiece and its language alone puts it next to Game of Thrones at its peak.
For the weird and wonderful
The Green Knight isn't a show, but if you want Arthurian atmosphere you should watch it.
Carnival Row is uneven but the worldbuilding is real.
Cursed got one season and had some good ideas.
Here's the honest truth about finding something like Game of Thrones. It's not the dragons, it's the dialogue. It's the willingness to kill a main character. It's the patience to let a subplot marinate for twenty episodes. The shows above have most of those things. BingeNext can rank them by what matters most to you, and cross-reference what you can actually stream tonight without paying for yet another service.
There's no second Game of Thrones. But there's a lot of good television that learned from it, and some of it is better than the back half of Game of Thrones ever was.
Topics covered: game-of-thrones, fantasy, epic, drama
About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and writes every guide on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu, and he still tests every pick the hard way: by watching it.