Best Survival Games
September 2016 Update: We’ve added more games for you to enjoy!
Surviving in games is usually pretty easy. Death isn’t a big deal, continuing on your path just a reload away. In recent years however, a new – or some would say old – philosophy has taken hold in a growing number of games. Survival is no longer guaranteed in those titles, it is a thing the player has to actually work for. Death in these games has consequences that can’t be rectified with a simple quickload. Players have to pay much closer attention to the game, have to put a lot of effort into their characters well being, and are not pampered in any way. As such, these survival games are a lot harder, and usually less accessible and less appealing to a broad audience, however they have a steadily growing number of avid fans.
This trend harkens back to the old days of gaming, when games were not aimed at the broadest possible audience, when real men were still real men, hairy chests and all. It is in and on itself a part of the trend towards harder games in general that for example spawned titles like Super Meat Boy. To the days of Rogue, a game that birthed the roguelike genre. It harkens back to a harsher age. A darker age. Here are its champions.
Aug 29, 2017 This game was meant to be a survival game (and a bit of horror), most survival games are difficult, may get boring to play alone after time and this game has both. Having a second survivor in the story would mean to rewrite it again, but having a. This game was meant to be a survival game (and a bit of horror), most survival games are difficult, may get boring to play alone after time and this game has both. Having a second survivor in the story would mean to rewrite it again, but having a friend in an alien world would be better. The best 50 Survival games for Mac OS daily generated by our specialised A.I. Comparing over 40 000 video games across all platforms. This list includes Sheltered, Skyhill, The Long Dark, Subnautica and 46 more for Mac OS.
Note: Keep in mind that this list pertains only to survival games—ones in which you have to struggle to find resources and survive for as long as you can, as it were. This is in contrast to survival horror games, which consist mainly of running away from a deadly opponent that no amount of bravery or skill can hope to overcome.
If you like this list, you’ll probably enjoy our list of the best dinosaur games.
#15 The Flame in the Flood
Playing the role of a little girl and her companion dog, you must navigate through the treacherous and unforgiving waters of a land washed over by a flood. With few resources to spare, you have to find and forage what you can and seek shelter, or risk death by exposure. The game’s a lot more difficult than its visuals indicate.
#14 Crashlands
Quite unlike the other games on this list, Crashlands is a bit more forgiving in that you won’t die permanently, and everything you do in the game is an effort towards unlocking even more content. Even though there’s no permadeath, you’re still going to have to spend a lot of your time trying to survive and foraging materials to craft new weapons and utilities to ensure that you have the best gear available for every possible challenge.
#13 SubnauticaSubnautica invites players to dive deep beneath the ocean’s surface on an alien planet. It’s an underwater world filled with peril and wonder, providing players with endless opportunities to discover beautiful new environments and forms of life. Players can craft equipment, pilot futuristic submarines, terraform the terrain, and explore–all the while trying to survive. #12 Reign of KingsChop down trees, hunt wildlife, and live the life of a medieval peasant in Reign of Kings. Players can forge weapons and armor, construct massive castles, and participate in large-scale siege warfare against opposing groups of players–or armies. Players may form guilds and attempt to conquer the medieval world. #11 ZombiOriginally released as Zombi U for the Nintendo Wii U, this Ubisoft title introduces actual elements of the survival genre into the zombie apocalypse. Players take on the role of a random civilian who managed to survive the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse in London. In it, your goal is to survive for as long as you can and make your way through the city. If you succumb to death, you respawn as another civilian, and may perhaps find yourself fighting against your former self. #10 Rust
This game provides perhaps one of the best illustrations of what might truly happen in a post-disaster world. Players have to tend to typical survival needs of hunger, thirst, and shelter while either cooperating or fending off other players. Like Day-Z it is known for having one of the most bizarrely fickle communities in gaming, oscillating wildly between hostility and heart warming displays of humanity at any give moment.
#9 ARK: Survival Evolved
This Early Access title you must hunt, grow and harvest crops, craft items, build shelters, the usual: but with DINOSAURS. Really, what more do you need to to know. Over time the player character, a man or woman stranded on a “mysterious island”, learns to fend for themselves as well as tame and ride these magnificent beasts. You can kill them too but frankly, we’re more interested in pretending to be pre-history Mario astride our mega-Yoshi.
#8 The Forest
In The Forest, you play a lone survivor of a passenger jet crash and kind of like the TV series LOST, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of creepy cannibalistic mutants who want nothing more than to devour you. You have to build, explore, and survive in this terrifying first-person horror simulator.
#7 NEO Scavenger
Ever wanted to kill someone with a crummy crowbar, steal their pants, cut the flesh from their corpse and throw it into your kiddie sled filled with broken bottles, alcohol and firearms to later cook and consume it alongside some jelly beans and dirty water? No? Just me? Okay, if you’ve ever wanted to do that (which you shouldn’t do because it’s preeetty illegal) then NEO Scavenger may just be the game for you. This hardcore post-apocalyptic survival game is incredibly addictive, and playing it makes for some strange and hilarious stories.
#6 theHunter: Primal
Players will hunt, explore, and survive a realistic prehistoric environment in theHunter: Primal. Developed by the makers of Just Cause series, theHunter: Primal features a wide open Cretaceous environment populated by some of the most fearsome dinosaurs the world has ever seen, ranging from the Triceratops and the Velociraptor to the fearsome T-Rex.
#5 Shelter & Shelter 2
In the Shelter series of games, players assume the role of a mother animal who must nurture her offspring in a harsh, and unforgiving environment. As a badger in the first game, and as a lynx in the second, players must struggle to survive out in the wilderness while raising a litter of baby animals. Players undertake various activities, including hunting to kill and feed, making sure the cubs drink water, and lifting and carrying cubs to safety.
The second game is much larger in scope than the first, offering more freedom than ever before. Weather and seasons change, and the world offers many challenges.
#4 Minecraft
At its core, Minecraft is about building things. Yet, the game offers an aptly named Survival Mode that forces you basically to brave the wilds and survive for as long as you can. Dying doesn’t equal the end of your life, but it does mean you’ll lose everything you have in your inventory, and then some.
The game gives you good incentive to stay alive, and forces you to collect resources, build structures, and do battle against the creepers and zombies who would like nothing better than to lay ruin to your creations. There’s even a need to maintain your hunger levels and continuously explore the land in an effort to stay alive.
#3 Don’t Starve
The goal of Don’t Starve is as the name suggests—to not starve to death. The game asks you simply to not starve, find food for yourself, and have some form of light at the end of every day and survive the night. The game just gets more complex from there, as you are able to scavenge a wide variety of resources to further improve your odds of surviving, and you can even develop new items through science.
In many ways, the game takes the concept of survival to its very core by asking you simply to survive, while offering you adventures and the chance to do something beyond feeding yourself.
#2 The Long Dark
The Long Dark is an introspective, exploration-focused survival simulation set in the Northern North American wilderness in the aftermath of a global disaster that decimates much of humankind. Players must brave the elements and other survivors while hunting for supplies, exploring the world, and answer the question as to how far they’ll go to survive.
#1 Day Z
Day Z is a mod for Arma 2 that’s managed to gain a cult following all on its own because of its gameplay, which involves surviving the wilderness—which consists mainly of zombies—and other players. Players must find sustenance in order to survive, and doing so requires that they make forays into the city, which is, as you can already guess, filled with the walking dead.
The game makes full use of Arma 2 as a realistic combat simulation, so you’ll be able to bleed out or lose the use of your legs if you shoot yourself in the foot, for example. It has everything you could ever expect from a survival game, and like any true story of survival, it’s about man against man against the wild.
There are literally hundreds of games that have the 'survival' tag, yet only a bunch are really worth purchasing. We've played through many of them and will now run through a select few we feel you should add to your game library.
Terraria ($9.99) is a game that still manages to grab thousands of players at a time on Steam alone, even though the title was originally released seven years ago. What makes this game so popular (and managed to sell millions of copies) is how addictive the gameplay is. We have a stunning pixelated art style, matched with intense and fluid combat, unique bosses and enemies, expansive crafting system, Hardcore and Expert modes to add more of a challenge, and more.
The best of Terraria comes about when you have a few players on a private server. It's even better if you're all bloody useless at the game and continue dying to Cthulhu.
Subnautica
Subnautica ($24.99) is a game that blew me away on first firing up the title. It's a survival game with a twist: You're in the ocean. Not only will you need to go through the usual crafting processes, but there are beasts located beneath the surface that do not take kindly to your presence. It's just a shame you need to construct underwater bases, right?
The story revolves around your ship crashing on a strange planet, and there's a mystery surrounding what caused the accident and what happened to this world. The end goal is to make your way off the planet, but there are many dangers on your path to escape. I'm holding out for multiplayer.
Best Survival Games PcMinecraft
Sure, Minecraft ($26.99) isn't technically a dedicated survival game, nor is it really that difficult to survive. But you have to combat monsters in survival mode, and you are tasked with crafting items and building a home so we figured it was only right we added it to our round-up. Chances are, you already own a copy of Minecraft or already know what it's about, but should you be new to the game it's essentially a Java-based block building simulator and crafting-survival and multiplayer Frankenstein.
Minecraft is now owned by Microsoft and is continually updated with new improvements. Whether you wish to build a recreation of your hometown in a virtual world or gear up and take on the Ender Dragon, the block world really is your oyster.
The Long Dark![]()
The Long Dark (about $35) tasks you with surviving the aftermath of a global geomagnetic disaster. Located in the Canadian wilderness, you need to tackle aggressive animals, deal with blizzards and other dynamic weather patterns, plan for the nights ahead, and spend hours in the crafting system. While the survival elements of the game are pretty good, the story is a letdown in its current state.
It's also a very, very pretty game.
StarboundBest Survival Games Mac 2017 Download
Starbound (about $15) is an interesting and quirky little game that takes the similar formula of Terriara and takes gameplay to the stars and beyond. As well as being able to mine planets for resources, explore ruins, caverns and other points of interest, Starbound sports a story of sorts and quest generation. The game itself makes use of procedurally-generated worlds and other content, making each playthrough a unique experience.
When you've had enough of doing everything on your own, it's possible to fire up a server and invite a bunch of friends to join you on your adventures.
The Forest
After surviving a plane crash on a remote island, it's of great importance to survey the land, build shelter, hunt for food and craft items. The only problem is you're not alone in The Forest ($14.99), and I'm not talking about local wildlife. There are horrors that will leave you be, should you rather live in peace and not be disturbed (just try to steer clear of them and don't make it obvious you exist on the island) or you can venture into the unknwon.
But beware: A clan of genetic mutant enemies that has beliefs, families, and morals has already made this their home, and you're trespassing.
Rust
You wake up as a naked individual, and the aim of the game in Rust ($19.99) is to survive. You'll be tasked with building a home, hunting for food, collecting resources and forming alliances with other players. Rust was released in 2013 but has since been rebuilt from the ground up, had a bunch of improvements implemented, and it still hosts an active community.
From crafting items and weapons, to building a fortress, running a shop and launching all out warfare on an unsuspecting clan, if you need something a little more focused on surviving in a multiplayer environment, this is the game for you.
Don't StarveBest Free Survival Games
Don't Starve is an excellent title that really challenges you to make the most of a bad situation, and you will encounter many dire instances in Don't Starve. After the game was released, the community demanded multiplayer support and the developer responded with a separate game that offered online play. This is where the game gets really interesting as you team up with friends or random players to survive the night. And the night is terrifying.
All this is yours for $14.99 a piece (the multiplayer and single-player experiences are different listings).
How do you survive?
What are your favorite survival games? Do you agree with our shortlist? Sound off in the comments.
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