The survival game genre has witnessed a resurgence. Survival games are as popular as ever, with constant new arrivals on PC, Xbox, Steam, and web browsers. We’ve created this guide to help you find the best survival games among the numerous options available. Read on to learn more about these games and their unique features.
Great survival games for PC
A PC is one of the best mediums to play survival games. With high processing power, you can play sophisticated games and have fun playing solo or with friends.
Many survival games are cross-platform, so you can play alongside friends regardless of their device type. Below are the best PC survival games available.
- The Forest 2: Sons of the Forest
In this first-person game, you’re sent to find a missing billionaire on a remote island. Upon arrival, it’s a cannibal-infested hellscape where only the strong survive. Find your way through this island, alone or with friends, and find the missing person.
The Forest 2: Sons of the Forest allows you to navigate the open world as you wish. You decide what to do, where to traverse, and how to survive while dodging cannibals. This game’s immersive world is best experienced on a PC.
Build a small cabin or a large seaside compound. Break sticks to make fires or use axes to cut wood and build houses. You’re in control of your fate.
- ARK: Survival Evolved
You’re stranded on the shores of a mysterious island and must learn to survive. Some fierce creatures roam the island, so you must strategize how to kill or tame them. You’ll encounter other players and must cooperate or dominate to survive.
ARK: Survival Evolved is the ultimate survival game with an expansive open-world experience and numerous challenges. You must hunt and grow crops to eat, build shelters to avoid freezing to death, and kill, tame, or breed the fierce dinosaurs roaming the island. You can team up with other players or battle them to survive. The choice is yours.
- Green Hell
Take your survival skills to the jungle. Deep in the harsh, unforgiving Amazon terrain, you must learn to craft, hunt, and gather resources to survive. Fight off wild animals and maintain your physical health in challenging circumstances. Go solo or team up with other players to survive in uncharted territory.
Green Hell provides an uncompromising survival experience with a strong storyline. It’s perfect for survival game veterans who want a new challenge in their toolkit.
- Rust
Rust is built around one thing: survival. Everything else wants you to die, and you have to prove them wrong. Fight against the island’s wildlife, the environment, and other players for survival.
Released fully in 2018, Rust has expanded continuously for several years, with new worlds, challenges, and storylines to keep players engaged. This top-10 survival game delivers a hardcore experience and is perfect for competitive players.
- Valheim
Valheim is a brutal survival game for one to ten players. It’s set in a virtual purgatory inspired by Viking culture, and players must battle it out to survive. A PC lets you enjoy this game’s expansive world and stunning visuals.
Craft sophisticated weapons, construct boats, sail open seas, and fight ferocious monsters. Build and defend your settlement and prove yourself worthy of Odin’s mercy to make it out of the purgatory.
Great survival browser games
You can play fun survival games on web browsers like Chrome and Firefox. The best ones include:
- Starve.io
Collect resources to survive hunger and cold in this game. You need wood to create campfires and crops to feed yourself. Craft weapons or live together and boost your chances of survival.
Starve.io is an indie game you can play on any browser. It’s one of the best ways to have fun and pass the time.
- Zombs Royale
Zombs Royale is a raging multiplayer Battle Royale game. Up to 100 players fight on a large map, with each hoping to be among the last survivors. The simple 2D graphics and top-down perspective make Zombs Royale a thrilling game.
Parachute onto the map, find weapons, and conquer other players. An average gameplay round lasts five minutes, so you don’t have much time to play around. Get to action!
- Hordes.io
Hordes.io is a browser-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). You’ll create a character and pick a class and faction. Then, you’ll team up with your faction against other factions. This game features player vs. player (PvP) combat, so get ready to show others who the boss is.
You can trade with other players to obtain resources or fight head-on for it. You’ll also fight against monsters to claim rare loot. Hordes.io gives a competitive feeling you’ll hardly find in other browser games.
- Noob Miner 2: Escape from Prison
In Noob Miner 2: Escape from Prison, you play as a miner trying to escape from prison. You need to work in the mines and obtain resources to help you escape. Discover prison secrets to help you formulate the perfect escape plan.
This game has 40 unique levels where you dodge deadly traps, avoid falling earth, and sneak around to avoid being caught by cameras. Hone your reaction speed and strategic thinking with this fun game.
- Isleward
Isleward is a charming browser-based survival game. It combines multiple elements from popular survival games to give you an engaging experience. This game centers on forming a clique and exploring different islands for treasure. Find resources and equipment to level up as you navigate the islands.
This game is cross-platform, so you can team up with people playing from a PC or mobile phone. It’s open-source, so players can identify bugs and contribute new features if they love it enough.
- DarkOrbit Reloaded
DarkOrbit Reloaded is a competitive multiplayer game set in outer space. You’ll control a spaceship and battle against other players. Defeating enemies brings rewards, and the objective is to gain wealth for yourself and your company.
This game uses a real-time combat system with diverse weapons. Experience space battles like never before and garner resources to dominate the galaxies.
- BlockWorld – the Adventures of Nubik
BlockWorld – the Adventures of Nubik is similar to Minecraft. You’ll explore a large world and let your imagination fly by building magnificent structures. You can build, break, and create everything you think of.
This Playhop game has free and survival modes. In free mode, you can play around and build things, while survival mode requires fighting off other players for resources. Have fun with this engaging game.
- Monster Evolution Simulator
Monster Evolution Simulator puts you on the path toward becoming a legendary creature. You’ll navigate a thrilling world as a monster and test your strength by battling other monsters. Evolve your creatures strategically and fight against other creatures for dominance.
This Playhop game tests your strategic thinking as you navigate a dynamic landscape that demands complex reasoning.
- Last to Leave Circle Obby
Only the most skilled players survive in Last to leave circle Obby. You’re trapped with 100 players in a giant circle and aim to be the last person standing. Stay inside the circle and overcome obstacles and dangerous traps. Prove yourself by dodging all the obstacles and being the last man standing.
Great survival games for Xbox
You can play immersive survival games on Xbox, whether solo or player vs. player (PvP). The best survival games on Xbox include:
- Grounded
This cooperative survival game allows you to explore a fascinating virtual world. You’re grounded to insect size and must survive against hordes of giant insects and ants. Cooperation is necessary in the miniature world, so no player stands alone. You must learn to work together for survival.
Grounded has stunning graphics, responsiveness, and load times. It takes advantage of the Xbox’s high processing power to provide an immersive experience at up to 120 FPS.
- State of Decay 3
A zombie apocalypse has nearly wiped out humankind, and you’re one of the few survivors left. There’s no time to rest, as a fast-growing zombie threat is taking over the landscape. You must carve out a life for your commune of survivors.
Your choices in State of Decay 3 affect the storyline, so think carefully when making decisions. Do all you can to prevent your community members from getting infected by the zombie horde. You’ll start with a team of four players in this game and work your way up from this level.
- Subnautica
Subnautica takes place in an aquatic world. Explore an expansive underwater world with remarkable creatures and fight to survive. Your world is full of wonders and perils, so navigate carefully.
Subnautica’s underwater world ranges from shallow coral reefs to deep-sea trenches with scary creatures, cave systems, and hot lava fields. Venture deeper to find rare resources and craft the tools necessary to survive.
- Conan Exiles
Conan Exiles is set in a world anchored by Conan the Barbarian, who rescues you and begins a cooperative survival journey on a vast island filled with treasures and traps alike.
This game’s expansive islands test the weak and the strong. You must hunt, cook, eat, and drink to remain alive. Gather woods to build campfires and find water to survive the scorching heat. Explore fascinating ruins with Conan as you try to leave the island.
- DayZ
The letter “Z” hints at zombies. Day Z is a hardcore survival game where you must navigate a punishing post-apocalyptic environment. Run from zombies in a terrifying yet scenic setting set in the post-soviet state of Chernarus.
Venture into unfamiliar territory and test how far your survival skills can take you. A server hosts up to 60 players battling for survival, and you can interact with them how you see fit. Be wary and trust no one.
Great survival games on Steam
Steam is a popular gaming platform with many exciting titles. The best survival games on Steam include
- Don’t Starve Together
Don’t Starve Together is a bio-rich world with endless puzzles and threats, so you must stay alert and harness the elements for survival. You can stick to the surface world or dive deep into the caves to explore the lurking creatures. Plant crops to help your cohort survive and stay ready for the challenges.
Cooperation is crucial in this dark-themed survival game. Farm, build, and bond with other players while navigating the harsh environment.
- Project Zomboid
Project Zomboid is a challenging zombie survival game. The environment keeps asking, “How will you die?” Hence, you must loot houses, build defenses, and gather resources to push back the inevitable death.
With no outside help, survival relies heavily on strategy in this game. Team up with other players and fight through hordes of zombies on an expanding map.
- No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky centers around exploration in a seemingly infinite universe. You have a limitless galaxy to explore, filled with beautiful planets and lifeforms yet constant danger.
Get to work building your life in this infinite procedurally generated universe. Explore, trade, and fight solo or with friends. You’ll never run out of interesting places to explore.
- Raft
Raft is a survival sandbox game set in the ocean. You’re trapped on a large ocean with nothing but a small raft and have to work your way up from there. Catch whatever debris floats by, scavenge the reefs, hunt for fish to eat, and dodge hungry sharks.
You can play solo or survive with friends. Expand your raft and fight through the ocean’s numerous challenges.
- 7 Days to Die
This unique game combines the experience of a first-person shooter and survival horror. 7 Days to Die is set in a brutal post-apocalyptic world overrun with zombies. You need many survival skills, including combat, mining, crafting, and looting.
Work with other players to build settlements or conquer other players’ bases to obtain survival tools. You can unleash your creativity with hundreds of survival tools. This game gives you considerable control over your fate.
Why survival games are so popular
Survival games are popular because they captivate players with the idea of overcoming harsh environments in virtual worlds. They provide a medium to collaborate with other players to pursue a common goal.
Players gain a sense of achievement by applying their creativity to crisscross obstacles in survival games. This genre offers the perfect blend of excitement, complexity, and problem-solving. Cross-platform survival games allow players to have fun from any gaming console, mobile device, or PC.
How to choose the right survival game
First, consider your platform preference, whether a PC, gaming console, or a web browser. Then, seek games that offer an immersive experience on your desired platform. The good news is that many cross-platform survival games let you enjoy the same experience from a PC or console.
You might prefer collaborative multiplayer games or competitive solo games. You might prefer complex gameplay over casual gaming or vice versa. Likewise, some players prefer high-performance immersive games over simple 2D or 3D games. Consider these factors when selecting survival games.
Conclusion
Survival games come in different forms. We’ve curated the best ones across various platforms and genres. You can try out the games best suited to your interests from this list.
Whether you prefer action, adventure, or first-person shooters, you’ll find a perfect survival game that fits your preferences. New free survival games get released frequently, so watch out for the latest ones on Playhop.
