The Best Survival Games

Update : Sons of the Forest added at rank #21.
1

Subnautica (2014)

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97
Review score
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Mac OS Android Xbox Series X Xbox One osvr Playstation 5 Playstation 4 PC Windows Nintendo Switch

Plunge into Subnautica's alien ocean world, where survival hinges on your ability to adapt. Build, explore, and unravel mysteries in a breathtaking underwater realm. It's not just a game—it's an odyssey beneath the waves that will test your instincts and dazzle your senses.


What we like:
  • Gorgeous, immersive environments
  • Deep crafting and base-building
  • Compelling exploration and discovery
  • Rich storyline and world-building
  • Dynamic sound design enhancing atmosphere
What could be improved:
  • Occasional performance dips in deep areas
  • Limited inventory space can frustrate resource management

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

2

Don't Starve Together (2016)

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97
Review score
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Linux Android Nintendo Switch Playstation 4 Xbox Series X Xbox One PC Windows Mac OS

'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.


What we like:
  • 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
What could be improved:
  • 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

3

The Forest (2018)

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96
Review score
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PC Windows Android Playstation 4 osvr

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.


What we like:
  • Creative latitude in interacting with cannibals
  • Sophisticated crafting system
  • Multiple objectives and endings
  • Polished and nerve-wracking experience
What could be improved:
  • 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
  • survival-horror
  • crafting
  • horror
  • open-world

4

60 Seconds! Atomic Adventure (2016)

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95
Review score
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IOS iPhone Android PC Windows Mac OS

60 Seconds! is a dark comedy atomic adventure of scavenge and survival. Collect supplies and rescue your family before the nuke hits. Stay alive in your fallout shelter. Make difficult decisions, ration food and hunt mutant cockroaches. And maybe survive. Or not.


  • survival
  • post-apocalyptic
  • comedy
  • atomic
  • simulation
  • text
  • difficult

5

Oxygen Not Included (2019)

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95
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Linux

Oxygen Not Included is an innovative and unique colony-building game in which you control a crew of duplicants who start beneath the surface of a procedurally generated asteroid with nothing more than a ration box and cloning device. With its childlike art style and humour, Oxygen Not Included looks like less of a space simulator and more like The Sims in space, but don't let that fool you - it's brimming with complexity and depth.

Buy

What we like:
  • Child-friendly art style
  • Complexity and depth
  • Humor
  • Procedurally generated asteroid
  • Experimenting with contraptions
  • Retconning decisions
What could be improved:
  • Frame rate drops at the start of each cycle
  • AI occasionally getting confused

  • survival
  • simulation
  • colony
  • base-building
  • management
  • resource-management
  • sandbox
  • space
  • space-colony
  • resource
  • farming
  • building
  • colony-building

6

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

7

Card Survival: Tropical Island (2022)

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95
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Android

Card Survival is a card-based survival experience. Stranded on a desert island you must use your wits and skills to stay alive. Use cards and combine them together to explore, gather resources and craft useful tools.


  • survival
  • card
  • crafting
  • perma-death
  • rogue-like
  • mic

8

Astroneer (2019)

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94
Review score
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Xbox One IOS iPhone Nintendo Switch PC Windows Playstation 4

Embark on a cosmic journey in Astroneer, where you can shape worlds to your heart's content. Dig, build, and survive in a sandbox universe, creating bases and vehicles with friends. Uncover mysteries and enjoy a crafting odyssey across vibrant planets—your space adventure awaits!


What we like:
  • Engaging crafting and building mechanics
  • Vibrant, immersive worlds
  • Relaxing, open-ended gameplay
  • Satisfying cooperative multiplayer
  • Regular updates with new content
What could be improved:
  • Occasional control and camera issues

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

9

Rain World (2017)

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94
Review score
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Android Nintendo Switch PC Windows

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.


What we like:
  • 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
What could be improved:
  • Controls could be improved

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

10

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.


What we like:
  • Engrossing lore
  • Unique resource management gameplay
  • Beautiful hand-drawn artwork
  • Immersive survival element
  • Excellent storytelling
What could be improved:
  • 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

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