The Best Survival Games

Update, : Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out added at rank #9.
1

Subnautica (2018)

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98
Review score
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Android Nintendo Switch Mac OS PC Windows Xbox One

Subnautica is a sci-fi survival game set on an alien ocean planet. You must explore the depths of this vibrant and mysterious world to uncover its secrets and find a way back home. With its hand-crafted environments, diverse creatures and engaging story, Subnautica is an explorer's dream come true.


Pros:
  • Engaging story
  • Lush environments
  • Rewarding exploration
  • Diverse creatures
  • Multiple game modes
Cons:
  • Navigation can be overwhelming at first
  • Some graphical weirdness from time to time
  • Base-building mechanics could be clearer

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

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

60 Seconds! Reatomized (2019)

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

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
  • hand-drawn
  • adventure
  • dark
  • text
  • difficult
  • remake
  • point-and-click
  • interactive
  • strategy
  • rogue-like
  • simulation

4

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

5

Don't Starve (2015)

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95
Review score
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PC Windows IOS iPhone Nintendo Switch Playstation 4 Xbox One Linux Mac OS

Don’t Starve is an uncompromising wilderness survival game full of science and magic. Enter a strange and unexplored world full of strange creatures, dangers, and surprises. Gather resources to craft items and structures that match your survival style.


  • survival
  • crafting
  • rogue-like

6

Rain World (2017)

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94
Review score
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Playstation 4 PC Windows Nintendo Switch Playstation 5 Xbox One Xbox Series X Android

Rain World is a grim industrial wasteland game where you take on the role of a vulnerable Slugcat, torn away from their family after a huge flood. Your mission is to reunite with your family while also surviving and navigating around the dangerous creatures in this world.


Pros:
  • Challenging platforming gameplay
  • Unique predator-prey relationships
  • Great music and sound design
  • Huge map with interconnecting levels and hidden areas
  • Creative use of hibernation chambers as save checkpoints
Cons:
  • Controls could be improved

  • survival
  • platform
  • post-apocalyptic
  • exploration
  • pixel
  • 2d
  • difficult
  • metroidvania
  • atmospheric
  • stealth

7

Kenshi (2018)

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94
Review score
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PC Windows

Experience the ultimate freedom in Kenshi, a unique open-world RPG that lets you forge your own path. Play as anyone, from a trader to a warlord, and shape your destiny in a harsh desert environment. Craft new equipment, build fortified havens, and research technologies to survive. With no limitations and a dynamic world, this is not just a game - it's a simulated life waiting to be conquered.


Pros:
  • Open world sandbox gameplay
  • Unique and interesting characters
  • High replayability
  • Immersive atmosphere
Cons:
  • Graphics could be better
  • Lack of a deep story

  • squad
  • survival
  • rpg
  • sandbox
  • open-world
  • post-apocalyptic
  • free-roaming
  • farming
  • management
  • open-ended
  • real-time
  • base-building
  • city-building
  • crafting
  • inventory

8

Don't Starve Together (2016)

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94
Review score
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Xbox One Nintendo Switch Playstation 4 Linux Mac OS PC Windows

'Don't Starve Together' is a standalone multiplayer spin-off of ' Don't Starve', a game that has had players hooked since its Early Access release. With the first expansion, 'Reign of Giants', incorporated into it, you and your friends can explore the wilds and craft items, while also fighting off shadow monsters. Experience all four seasons to get all of the content, with comprehensive world settings to customize your experience.


Pros:
  • Comprehensive world settings
  • Tonable down or remove giants
  • Shorten seasons to focus on progress over survival
  • Sustainable organic farm and spider mill for raw food year-round
  • Caves and beefalo taming added since original game's release
  • Revive players through multiple means with or without health penalty
Cons:
  • No Adventure Mode content from original game
  • Mouse and keyboard controls have sketchy hitboxes causing accidental deaths sometimes
  • Limited music depth & customization options for video setting

  • survival
  • crafting

9

Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out (2023)

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94
Review score
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Mac OS PC Windows IOS iPhone

Survive an apocalyptic world in Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out, where every decision you make shapes your clan's fate. Engage with gods, manage resources, and navigate a rich lore-filled saga. With stunning hand-drawn artwork and immersive storytelling, this game offers a unique blend of strategy and narrative gameplay.


Pros:
  • Engrossing lore
  • Unique resource management gameplay
  • Beautiful hand-drawn artwork
  • Immersive survival element
  • Excellent storytelling
Cons:
  • Limited access to rituals
  • Consequences of actions not always clear
  • Repetitive tasks

  • turn-based
  • choices
  • lore
  • survival
  • survival-storybook
  • strategy
  • system-driven
  • procedural
  • grand-strategy
  • socio-economy
  • stand-alone
  • narrative
  • old-school
  • simulation
  • combining

10

This War of Mine (2014)

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94
Review score
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Linux IOS iPhone Android Xbox One Playstation 4 PC Windows Mac OS

In This War Of Mine you do not play as an elite soldier, rather a group of civilians trying to survive in a besieged city; struggling with lack of food, medicine and constant danger from snipers and hostile scavengers. The game provides an experience of war seen from an entirely new angle.


  • survival
  • war
  • war-torn
  • crafting
  • resource-management
  • longer-term
  • stealth

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