The Best Survival Games

Update, : The Pale Beyond added at rank #24.
1

Valheim (2021)

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89
Review score
Logo of Valheim Screenshot of Valheim Screenshot of Valheim Screenshot of Valheim

early access PC Windows Android Xbox Series X Xbox One Linux

Valheim is an epic, Viking-tinged survival-creation game with blocky graphics and a modern twist. You are dropped in a wild forest with runes to guide you on your mission to conjure and defeat supernatural beasts. Players must craft weapons and armor, puzzle out how to summon the beasts, and build structures for shelter along the way.


Pros:
  • Simple default building system
  • Instant rebuilding/repairing
  • Randomly generated 3D universe
  • Easy-to-read color highlights for structural integrity
  • Level up abilities by repeating actions
  • Robust physics engine underlies all actions
Cons:
  • Wonky battling system
  • Limited traversal over rivers and oceans at this point

  • survival
  • crafting
  • open-world
  • cooperative
  • base-building
  • exploration
  • building

2

60 Parsecs! (2018)

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98
Review score
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PC Windows Nintendo Switch Playstation 4 Xbox One IOS iPhone Mac OS Android

60 Parsecs! is a successor to 60 Seconds! Reatomized, a game that puts you in control of a space station crew member who must collect supplies and crewmates in order to escape the fallout of an incoming missile. With only 60 seconds to pick up your things, you must make wise decisions and manage resources carefully if you want to survive.


Pros:
  • Easy to pick up and play
  • Lots of freedom in how you approach problems
  • Characters have unique personalities and designs that are easy to get invested in
  • Crafting station for creating items
  • Special challenge stories with different criteria for completion
Cons:
  • Lack of puzzles and difficulty

  • survival
  • comedy
  • very-much-permadeath
  • crafting
  • space
  • adventure
  • cold
  • sci-fi
  • simulation
  • post-apocalyptic
  • strategy
  • dark
  • point-and-click
  • resource-management
  • atmospheric

3

Grounded (2020)

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87
Review score
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PC Windows Android Xbox One Xbox Series X

Grounded is an exciting survival game that sees you playing as one of four teenagers who find themselves miniaturized and exploring the backyard of Dr.Tully, the inventor of the SPAC.R shrinking device. You'll need to hunt for resources, craft tools and armor and build shelters in order to survive the hostile creatures that inhabit this new world. With a great variety of biomes to explore, landmarks to discover and surprises around every corner, Grounded provides an epic adventure in a surprisingly small space!


Pros:
  • Unique setting
  • Varied biomes to explore
  • Visually impressive sights
  • Great character development and story telling
  • Challenging yet accessible difficulty levels and accessibility options
Cons:
  • Occasional glitches and bugs
  • Lacklustre quest design at times
  • Quests requiring backtracking

  • survival
  • crafting
  • sandbox

4

Astroneer (2019)

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91
Review score
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Xbox One Android Nintendo Switch PC Windows Playstation 4

Astroneer is a sandbox adventure game that allows players to explore, build, and craft in an expansive outer space setting. There are six different planets to explore, with a wide variety of resources to discover and use. Players can create their own goals or just enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of exploration.


Pros:
  • Easy-to-use crafting system
  • Stunning visuals
  • Enjoyable co-op experience
  • Relaxing atmosphere
  • No need for constant status checking
Cons:
  • Occasional bugs and glitches
  • Grinding can be tedious

  • survival
  • crafting
  • sandbox
  • exploration
  • cooperative
  • space
  • resource
  • open-world
  • drop-out
  • drop-in
  • adventure

5

Endling (2021)

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83
Review score
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PC Windows Xbox One Android IOS iPhone Playstation 4 Playstation 5 Nintendo Switch Xbox Series X

Endling puts you in the role of the last fox on Earth. Driven from her forest home by a devastating fire (started by humans), our poor vulpine heroine is forced to find a makeshift den in which to deliver her pups, while simultaneously trying to track down her kidnapped baby. As each night falls, you'll need to venture forth from your makeshift den and forage or hunt for food, while also protecting your brood from trappers and other opportunistic humans.


Pros:
  • Heart-wrenching story
  • Stunning visuals
  • Powerful soundtrack
  • Adorable fox pups that grow and learn skills as they explore with you
  • Tough decisions between food or rescuing pup
Cons:
  • Can feel like stuck in a rut without making much progress

  • survival
  • skill

6

Subnautica: Below Zero (2019)

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90
Review score
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Playstation 4 Mac OS PC Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X Nintendo Switch Playstation 5

Subnautica: Below Zero is an underwater exploration game that takes you on a journey of discovery, adventure and danger. You explore the depths of a frozen ocean world, encountering stunning creatures and uncovering secrets that have remained hidden for centuries. With its beautiful visuals and thrilling encounters, Subnautica: Below Zero will keep you coming back for more.


Pros:
  • Stunning visuals
  • Thrilling encounters
  • Variety of creatures
  • Deep story
  • Unique exploration mechanics
  • Endless surprises
Cons:
  • Limited survival gear at the start
  • Risky excursions can lead to death
  • Can get turned around in underwater networks

  • survival
  • underwater
  • crafting
  • exploration
  • open-world

7

The Eternal Cylinder (2021)

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83
Review score
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Xbox Series X/s Xbox One PC Windows Playstation 4 Xbox Series X Playstation 5

The Eternal Cylinder is a deep narrative-focused game that pushes the creativity of game design to its limits. You play as a species known as the Trebhum, which have an ability to rapidly evolve by consuming certain items. You must explore the strange foreign world and find a way to stop the Eternal Cylinder from destroying everything.

Buy

Pros:
  • Over 50 unique mutations
  • Gorgeously detailed visuals
  • In-depth story
  • Creative puzzles and challenges
  • Helpful accessibility options
Cons:
  • Linear progression limits player choice
  • Some puzzles can be difficult or frustrating

  • survival
  • puzzle
  • exploration
  • surreal
  • platform
  • narration
  • open-world
  • story

8

The Forest (2018)

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96
Review score
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PC Windows Android Playstation 4

The Forest is a survival horror game set on an island filled with cannibals. Players must scavenge supplies from the wreckage of the plane, craft items and fortify their position in order to survive, while also attempting to find their child who was taken by a creepy figure.


Pros:
  • Creative latitude in interacting with cannibals
  • Sophisticated crafting system
  • Multiple objectives and endings
  • Polished and nerve-wracking experience
Cons:
  • Coming into contact with blood of cannibals can have adverse affect on your character
  • Escalation if you kill a single cannibal in plain sight
  • Micromanagement required to survive

  • survival
  • horror
  • crafting
  • survival-horror
  • open-world

9

The Riftbreaker (2021)

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84
Review score
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Xbox Series X PC Windows Xbox One Playstation 4 Playstation 5 Android

The Riftbreaker is a base building, survival game with action RPG elements that borrows from a lot of other games. Play as Ashley S. Nowak and enter the hostile planet Galatea 37 in your powerful Mecha-suit to build a base and defend yourself against thousands of creatures trying to eliminate you. The Riftbreaker offers high-quality graphics, great sound and music, flexible custom difficulty settings, varied biomes, and hours of gameplay that provides endless replayability.


Pros:
  • Good storyline and rewarding gaming experience
  • Customizable gameplay options
  • Hours of gameplay with almost endless replayability
  • Exciting and balanced base building, resource gathering, and combat
  • High-quality graphics, great sound and music
Cons:
  • Fairly demanding on PC
  • Lacks gameplay depth in research and weaponry
  • Cumbersome weapon and armor upgrades

  • survival
  • base-building
  • tower-defense
  • resource-management
  • mech
  • real-time
  • strategy
  • rpg
  • bullet-hell
  • aliens
  • top-down
  • action
  • resource
  • shooter
  • arpg

10

60 Seconds! Reatomized (2019)

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98
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Xbox One Playstation 4 Nintendo Switch IOS iPhone Android

60 Seconds! Reatomized is a remastered version of the original game that released back in 2015, set in the 1950s and following the McDoodle family as they try to survive a nuclear apocalypse. The game is split into two parts - scavenging for supplies where you have 60 seconds on the clock and survival mode, making decisions inside a bunker to keep the family alive. Challenge modes give an additional layer of strategic gameplay.


Pros:
  • Replayability
  • Wacky moments
  • Strategic challenge mode
  • Hand-drawn style visuals
Cons:
  • Clunky controls when scavenging

  • survival
  • comedy
  • choices
  • post-apocalyptic
  • text
  • dark
  • adventure
  • remake
  • simulation
  • hand-drawn
  • difficult
  • point-and-click
  • rogue-like
  • funny

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