Although life right now can feel like one of the best survival games, there are plenty more digital adventures to explore that aren't quite as literally life-threatening.
There's some kind of odd pleasure that comes with dropping our (digital) selves into harsh, unforgiving environments with little but the clothes on our back, and being asked to survive against the odds. They're deliberately punishing, but that sense of stacked odds often leads to a more rewarding sense of progression that few other genres can emulate, especially once we've not just withstood our hardship, but conquered it entirely.
Something about being pushed to the edge of endurance and having to start with next to nothing in the best survival games thus makes for a wildly entertaining challenge. Turning the natural world from an adversary into an ally by harvesting what you need, and civilizing it to the point of sustainability, is some of the most fun you can have in a modern video game, and we've tracked down some of the best examples that let you get in touch with your primitive inner self.
15. Stranded Deep
It's weird to think that, given the popularity of island survival movies and the obvious thematic connection for the genre, few survival games have actually set their worlds in the context of playing as a castaway on a remote island. Perhaps that's what makes Stranded Deep so compelling.
Beam Team Games' debut indie first launched on PC five years ago, in 2015, but recently came to console following a protracted process that was delayed by the collapse of original publisher Telltale Games. In any case, Stranded Deep makes for a brilliantly atmospheric time, plonking you alone on a faraway blob of land in the middle of ocean, and seeing whether you can find a way out of it. Expect the usual slate of survival mechanics here, with the added benefit of some genuinely gorgeous island scenery.
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC
14. Subnautica
Most games rightly avoid underwater sections given players' historic distaste for them, but Unknown Worlds set itself the ambitious task of creating an entire survival game based around it with 2014's Subnautica. Thankfully, the result is a mesmerising (and sometimes terrifying) delight, full of awe-inspired sub-aquatic scenery anchored by a genuinely compelling story.
What's more, Unknown Worlds is already working on a sequel, Below Zero, which promises to up and improve every aspect of its already addictive survival formula. Just be warned: Subnautica's rich universe of alien ocean life is full of surprises, terror, and genuine danger.
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
13. Terraria
Terraria launched almost a decade ago, but Re-Logic's indie hit has only just reached the end of its post-release roadmap, showing just how much care and support has gone into making this 2D side-scroller survival game the best experience it can be.
Don't mistake its pixelated art style for a lack of depth, literal or metaphorical, as Terraria is as large and comprehensive as the most ambitious role-playing games out there, all oriented around spelunking, building, fighting, and surviving. It's honestly incredible that the game can still be purchased for less than $10/£10, as the sheer value for money is bare none.
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Android, and iOS
12. Conan Exiles
It feels a little odd, recommending a Conan game in 2018, but Exiles earns that strange honor with its brutal combat, deep systems, and unforgiving, varied world. The ease with which you can construct elaborate fortifications to defend your home against rogue players and savage tribesmen makes designing and building a hugely rewarding experience, and systems like capturing and converting your foes or summoning massive avatars of the gods mean a deep, wildly entertaining end game.
Best of all for those looking to explore and tame this vast world solo, Exiles gives players the opportunity to play offline, and customize everything about the gameplay down to how many materials each resource node yields. It's a tailored experience that can be tweaked to suit your appetites exactly, and one with enough depth to ensure you'll never run out of things to do and discover (or hack to bloody chunks with your freshly forged longsword).
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, and PC
11. DayZ
If you want to blame any game for the onslaught of sandbox survival titles, blame DayZ. Dean Hall’s surprise megahit started off as a survival mod for the hardcore military shooter, ARMA, but grew into a phenomenon bigger than the parent game. Set in a fictional Eastern European state overwhelmed by zombies, it has you scavenging and fortifying to keep the biters at bay.
As in The Walking Dead, however, it’s other humans that are, by far, the biggest worry. If you can’t make friends, you’ll need to play smart and be ready to pull a gun. DayZ has always been a bit rough and ready, but the team at Bohemia Interactive has added polish and content over the last five years. Providing you can take the challenge, it’s still a great survival game.
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, and PC
10. State of Decay 2
Some of the most tense moments I've had playing a survival game have come by way of State of Decay 2, Undead Labs follow-up to their 2013 zombie survival cult classic. Badly wounded, my stamina practically empty, limping between houses pursued by a horde of the dead, I was desperate to just make it to the relative safety of the truck I left parked on the road. Just a few feet more, and I could drive off, scavenged supplies intact, and know that I'd bought my little ragtag group of survivors a few more days.
On the other hand, if I was run down by the ravening monstrosities swarming all around me, I'd love not only valuable supplies, but a character I'd poured time into, building up their skills and watching them develop from shell-shocked newbie to hardened veteran, would be gone forever. State of Decay 2 is great at creating these moments with its punishing permadeath mechanic and the speed at which you can go from feeling like a zombie-slaying cyclone to helpless victim.
Available on: Xbox One and PC
9. Don’t Starve
Don't Starve and don’t be fooled by those charming hand-drawn, Tim Burton-esque graphics. This is as dark, brutal and unforgiving as survival games get, with strong roguelike elements that make slaying weird monsters – evil spiders and creepy pig-men a speciality – as important as collecting the materials you’ll need to craft tools, traps and weapons, or simply stay warm and cook your food. Don’t Starve is a game where you need to manage your time and resources carefully, and regard permadeath as another step on a learning journey. The longer you survive, the more seems at stake, and isn’t that what survival’s all about?
With some cracking additions like the Reign of Giants expansion or the nautically themed Shipwrecked, Don't Starve is a game that just keeps expanding, adding features, and getting more engrossing as the months pass. And the Hamlet DLC coming later this year promises to continue the trend, with the addition of housing, new shops, and a load of new items to play with.
Available on: PS4, Switch, PC, iOS, and Android
See also: Don't Starve Together for the co-op version.
8. The Long Dark
Where other survival games involve elements of fantasy or horror, The Long Dark plays things straight; just you, a downed bush pilot, and miles of freezing, wolf-haunted Canadian wilderness in which to stay alive. Battling cold and starvation is tough enough, and you’ll need to eat, drink and rest in order to survive.
Yet go hunting and exploring and you’ll find there’s so much to discover for yourself. The team has bolstered the core sandbox survival game with a two-chapter story mode, where you’re searching for a doctor stranded in the wild, and both are crammed with tense, even terrifying moments and scenes of strange beauty. The Long Dark has grown into a survival great.
Available on: PS4, Swtich, Xbox One, and PC
7. The Forest
The Forest is the place where survival and survival horror meet. It’s bad enough being the sole survivor of a plane crash, stranded deep in a sinister forest. Worse still, when that forest is haunted by flesh-eating cannibal mutants who want nothing more than to eat you alive.
This is a game with a serious day/night cycle, where you spend your daylight hours repairing the camp, setting traps and scavenging for food, getting ready for the nightly onslaught from the creepy cannibal hordes. They’re ferocious and smart and they work together, but you can explore their settlements and take the battle back to them. The Forest is dark and genuinely scary solo, and not much easier on the nerves in co-op mode.
Available on: PC and PS4
6. Rust
It’s safe to say that Facepunch’s survival sandbox game isn’t for everyone. It’s legendarily challenging and hardcore in its nature, and the biggest question isn’t whether you’ll die, but whether it’s the wolves, the bears, the patrolling helicopters or the other players that will get you first.
Everyone spawns naked in a random male or female avatar, and you’re stuck in a desolate landscape where nearly everything that moves wants you dead. Yet for some players, nothing beats Rust’s brutal, unforgiving nature and fraught combat, or the bonds it creates between players once they learn to trust one another. It’s always going to be divisive, but Rust keeps evolving in interesting ways.
Available on: PC
5. Valheim
Currently in Early Access on Steam, Valheim is taking the world by storm. One of the best tree-punchers on the market right now, it adds a sense of overall purpose to your overall challenge of, you know, not dying. You're a battle-slain warrior whose soul has been ferried to Valheim, the 10th Norse world. You must slay Odin's ancient rivals and bring order to Valheim, but also try and reach the final world and find rest. It offers co-op for up to 10 people, ship-building and sailing, and tonnes of mythology among the usual best survival games affair too.
Available on: PC
4. Minecraft
These days we think of Minecraft as a kiddie-friendly creative wonderland, so we forget that at its core there’s a brilliant survival game. Mining for materials, crafting tools and building a shelter is still as tense as it ever was, with one eye watching for sundown and one ear cocked for the moans of zombies.
Forging your first decent weapons feels a big achievement, and there’s plenty of excitement to be had in farming and foraging in an epic, unknown landscape, or fending off exploding creepers before they can breach your fortifications. We love Minecraft for its creativity, but there’s still a thrilling game underneath.
Available on: Everything
3. Frostpunk
Part survival game, part city-builder, Frostpunk is far from a walk in the part - as you'd hope for one of the best survival games. You are the leader of a alt-history late 19th century community, and you'll need to build and then maintain a city during a worldwide volcanic winter. Managing your resources and making choices about how to survive is key, and utterly utterly bleak at times, especially as not everyone will survive. Exploring will help, as you'll be able to find additional resources, other survivors, and other useful items, but it's a risk too. It's a beautifully balanced game that takes a while to master.
Available on: PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Mac
2. Raft
For a game to limit its play space to a few square feet seems like a bad idea. What are players going to do to fill the time? On the contrary, says Raft, if they want more room to explore, they're going to have to build it.
Set almost entirely on the makeshift watercraft of the title, Redbeet Interactive's survival game is all about life at sea, tasking players to upgrade their vehicle, explore mysterious islands, fend off ocean-faring predators, and hopefully find their way back home before its too late. Think Fortnite meets Subnautica, and you get the idea, not to mention the reason for its inclusion on this list of best survival games.
Available on: PC
1. ARK: Survival Evolved
Take survival, add sci-fi and dinosaurs, and you have the bare bones of Ark: Survival Evolved. The game’s built a huge fanbase despite dated visuals and a harsh difficulty level, just because it makes the business of staying alive so exciting, no doubt helped by the fact that beyond the giant reptiles and other hostile beasties, it’s other players that pose the biggest threat.
Build and upgrade your base and set traps and you’ll live a little longer. Join forces with a tribe and wage war on others, and you’ll live longer still. It’s not every game where you can tame a Sabre-tooth or ride a Megalodon, and no other game does survival on quite this T-Rex scale.
Available on: PS4, Xbox One (also on Game Pass), Nintendo Switch, PC, and Android
You can also read more on the game's newly announced sequel here in our Ark 2 guide.
