The best survival games

 

Surviving in video games is one of the fashions that have hit the hardest in recent years. We review some of the best titles in the genre.

Surviving in this world of video games is getting more difficult with so much launch, announcement, and downloadable content. The digital entertainment sector has changed and so have genres. With this, for a few years, a current of games has been incorporated into this part that leads us to try to survive in different ecosystems, situations, and moments. These are called games of survival or survival that bloom both PC and the consoles: PS4 and Xbox One (all backward compatible with PS5 and Xbox Series X / S, sometimes optimized for these), Nintendo Switch, and even mobile phones and tablets.

It is a genre much loved by gamers, a category of titles that can pose great challenges for the community playing both alone and in the company of friends over the Internet. Sometimes they represent long gaming sessions that have us trapped for hours and hours trying to solve tricky situations. Here we leave you with the best survival games.

Astroneer

Astroneer enters through the eyes thanks to its colorful low-poly aesthetic, but it is much deeper than it seems. The title of System Era Softworks takes us to explore seven planets full of dangers whose terrain, both on the surface and in the depths, we can modify to discover all their secrets. It is a survival title that becomes much more fun with three other friends, cooperating to build futuristic machines (and tinkering with them by connecting them together) that allow us to travel to other planets.

Available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Among Trees

Most survival games are based on being trapped in a dangerous ecosystem or doing crazy constructions with friends. Among Trees is just the opposite. This is a relaxing survival game without any fantastic elements of any kind. Here we will move to a beautiful forest with its stream to build the cabin of our dreams and make a living by fishing, hunting and planting tomatoes in our greenhouse. Even dangerous animals can be disabled.

Available on PC.

Ark: Survival Evolved

If your thing is the universes set in prehistoric territories, without a doubt you should try Ark: Survival Evolved, one of the most played survival games both on consoles and on PC and mobile phones. It is an adventure with great multiplayer options where we will control our avatar in the land of dinosaurs. Surviving is not easy, but if you manage to fit into the mechanics you will even tame these extinct creatures.

Available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, Nintendo Switch, iPhone, and Android.

Conan exiles

Few survival games are set in worlds derived from cultural works appearing in literature or movies. One of them is Conan Exiles, the latest work produced by Funcom that has become a commercial success. Survive in the lands of Hyboria controlling your avatar in one of the toughest worlds and less grateful to those players who are not able to maintain the intensity of the games.

Available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S.

DayZ

The thing is about zombies with DayZ, one of the forerunners of multiplayer survival games in infected territory. Their games can have us trapped for hours as we try to survive both the undead and the actions of other players. It is a game that teaches us not to trust anyone in multiplayer, a lesson we learn quickly when we have played a couple of hours.

Available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Don't starve

Don't Starve is one of the great classics of the survival genre, a title created by Klei Entertainment with a very personal aesthetic with clear inspirations for Tim Burton and a story starring Wilson, who must survive in a dark world so much alone as in company through their cooperative with Don't Starve Together. It is one of the survival games most recommended by players.

Available on PC, Switch PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox One, Wii U and iOS and Android mobiles

Frostpunk

The survival genre is frequently associated with first-person titles where what matters is the survival of the player, and in certain cases, their friends. Frostpunk, from the creators of This War of Mine, proposes something very different: ensuring the survival of the last city on the planet, New London, under extreme weather conditions. As leaders, the players will have to make decisions such as the working hours of the inhabitants, the health system, the distribution of food, scientific research, and many other aspects that can have unexpected consequences on the progress of the game. With an infinite mode Customizable, the 11-bit Studios artwork offers another mode of survival.

Available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Grounded

Do you remember Honey, I shrunk the children? Well, something like this is what the survival of Obsidian Entertainment raises. Up to four players play miniaturized children trapped in a garden where a brick of juice looks like an impossible tower to climb and where a spider is a beast that laughs at the cleric Beast. The objective is twofold: on the one hand, to build weapons, buildings, equipment and tools to defend against the giant insects; and on the other, exploring the garden and discovering its secrets to find out why we have shrunk in size.

Available in early access for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S.

Minecraft

Minecraft is a basic classic in this survival game although sometimes it is one of the great forgotten on these lists. Mojang's work is the best-selling game of its genre, an indispensable title in the catalog of consoles and PC if what you are looking for is originality when building your own inventions within a randomly generated world. You have to try it at least once in your life.

Available on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS. The Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, and Nintendo 3DS versions are no longer updated.

Neo Scavenger

The role and shift the survival brutal shake hands in Neo Scavenger , an original title collecting postapocalyptic aesthetic games like Fallout for mixing with folklore and mysterious creatures. The art design of the game is undoubtedly opaque and a barrier for some players, but its game systems based on correct decision making and resource management that does not go through the heavy collection of items will conquer many others. The realism of its systems and statistics contrasts with its graphics typical of a board game adapted to the video game.

Available on PC, iOS, and Android.

No Man's Sky

For many, if this game had appeared on this list a couple of years ago they would have considered it a joke in bad taste. In 2021, No Man's Sky is a game that not only fulfills its promise in its beginnings but goes much further. The survival systems are very entertaining, there is the ability to mold planets and build huge bases on them and the four-player cooperative is very well integrated, allowing us to explore an endless galaxy with our friends.

Available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X / S, and Xbox One. Compatible with PS VR and computer virtual reality.

Outward

Outward is an old-school role-playing game that we can play cooperatively with another player. With the old school role, we mean that it is a tough adventure, to the point that it has all the components of the survival genre except for permanent death: here we will have to be aware of hydration, nutrition and other physical needs of our avatar.

Available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Oxygen Not Included

From the creators of Don't Starve we received a new proposal called Oxygen Not Included in May 2017. This is a space society simulator that will propose to keep alive a colony with characters inside an asteroid. Not only will we have to collect resources such as food, oxygen, and water, but we will also have to meet other social needs to get the community to perform at its best.

Available on PC.

Pathologic 2

Pathologic 2 is a unique game for its mix of genres: it can be considered a reactive world in the style of Deus Ex, a survival game, a horror title, or even an RPG. Players have the goal of ending the plague that ravages a small town in 12 days, but at the same time, they will have to survive themselves: the situation can get so hard as to incite us to cannibalism, decisions can reach the point of that we have to save our life over that of a main character in the plot, and the setting, typical of psychological terror, will get on our nerves.

Available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid has been in Early Access since 2013. Almost a decade ago, the zombie survival title developed by The Indie Stone was a phenomenon, but its flame went out despite the fact that they have not stopped improving it in all these years. If the game is present in this list it is because at the end of 2021 it received another update. A huge. The graphics have changed. The online multiplayer is stable. Game systems have been improved, polished, or changed. Were added stories, behaviors enemies, systems wounds, dirt, bleeding ... Virtually is a new game. And it will surely continue, like zombies, changing and mutating as long as it remains in Early Access.

Available on PC.

Raft

If you liked Waterworld (and who didn't ?!), Raft is an online cooperative survival game that transports us to a similar world. There are no habitable islands here, but an endless ocean in which players will have to stay alive on a raft that they will gradually improve and build until they transform it into a large wooden ship, all while surviving the attack of the sharks and many other dangers.

Available on PC in early access via Steam.

Rimworld

Do not be fooled by its little-detailed cartoon visual style: RimWorld is a unique and infinite survival game where the important thing is not only to supply the three survivors of a small colony and make it progress but the relationships that are they create between the characters. But what makes this title unique is a script created on the fly by artificial intelligence that analyzes the situation to decide if at a certain point in the game it is a good idea to provoke a natural catastrophe, an alien invasion, or for a character to take the plunge. alcoholism.

Available on PC.

Rust

Born of the creativity behind Garry's Mod, Rust is a different bet within the multiplayer first-person genre. We move to a barren world where we have to create all the necessary elements to survive. Build, hunt, gather food and resources, and develop your territory with the care that other less friendly players end up destroying your precious buildings.

Available on PC. The Xbox One and PS4 versions will be out in 2021.

State of Decay 2

Again, a zombie survival game. Again, a survival game where you can manage a community. But although the premise is not exactly original, State of Decay 2 is a game where you have to manage resources, choose which survivors can enter our shelter and who we leave as pasture for the undead, which people are better to defend the camp and who they are more adept at raiding the open world when it is better to defend the settlement or look for another space where to place ourselves ... It is as much a game of survival as it is to make decisions on difficult occasions. And of course, there is a cooperative mode and even a narrative campaign of more than 10 hours.

Available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S.

Starbound

Few games in the survival genre dare to explore the space theme. One of them is Starbound from Chucklefish Games, creators of that huge hit called Stardew Valley. It has the same essence, especially in regards to its relaxing soundtrack, and it makes us travel to a beautiful and dangerous world in two dimensions where the random generation is one of our main enemies. Varied, demanding, and complete.

Available on PC.

Stranded Deep

Beam Team Games has opted for the survival genre with Stranded Deep, a proposal launched on PC that, using the random generation of scenarios, sneaks upon us in the middle of a plane crash that happens in the Pacific Ocean. It is a survival adventure with fresh touches due to its setting, but not free of dangers throughout the archipelago that surrounds these islands. All you need is a tennis ball named Wilson.

Available in early access on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Subnautica

We do not abandon the liquid element with our next invitation even if we travel to outer space. This is Subnautica, a game created by Unknown Worlds Entertainment that has become a pleasant surprise where we must survive on a watery planet after suffering an accident with our ship. Oxygen is the key to exploring this underwater universe that brings interesting playable mechanics under the sea to the genre. In addition, in 2021 Subnautica: Below Zero was launched, which lets us explore an arctic region of planet 4546B where we will discover new dangers and tools throughout a mysterious plot about a missing sister.

Available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Terraria

If what you are looking for is a two-dimensional experience from a side perspective, the best option that you can shoulder on your computer or consoles is Terraria from Re-Logic. It's a mix between Minecraft survival and resource management and classic Metroid side exploration. In our exploration, we will meet different types of enemies, including bosses who will try to prevent our survival.

Available on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and iOS and Android mobiles.

The Forest

Looking for a survival experience that has a strong storytelling component? One of the best options you can explore is The Forest, where you will have the mission to rescue your son in a strange territory after suffering a plane crash. The island is full of mutant creatures that will try to make our mission more difficult. Create your shelter, make weapons, traps and tools to complete this difficult mission.

Available on PC and PlayStation 4.

The Long Dark

We travel to the icy lands of Canada to try to survive a global catastrophe caused by a geomagnetic storm that causes our plane to crash and have to manage not to perish. Your only mission is to survive: hunt animals, confront wildlife, collect natural elements and travel through these cold lands from a first-person perspective to discover what has happened in these lands of The Long Dark.

Available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.

This War of Mine

This War of Mine -available on PC, Xbox One and PS4- is, without a doubt, one of the toughest survival games that we can throw at our faces today. Its theme focused on the warlike conflict of the Bosnian War, leaves aside the usual heroes of this type of conflict brought to video games to put us in the shoes of the survivors of the battle and become responsible for the management of a shelter. Not suitable for sensitive hearts.

Available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One, Android, and iOS.

We happy few

We Happy Few is one of those atypical survival games because it oozes personality in its setting and playability. Compulsion Games takes us to an alternative version of a fictional city in the United Kingdom after World War II, where society uses a drug to forget the conflict and our character rejects it by facing reality. Dystopian survival with hints of terror and paranoia.

Available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.