As a sub-genre to the action video game setting, survival games often place gamers in a hostile setting, often one in an open-world environment. The thrill of a survival game comes from the fact that players often start with nothing but their wits and their curiosity, and will be required to craft tools, weapons, shelter, and collect resources to survive for as long as possible.
Many survival games have different goals in mind, but sometimes the hardest and the most challenging are the ones where the only goal is to survive. Lasting as long as possible is a reward in itself, especially when a game is throwing whatever it can at the player to make things harder and adds a terror aspect to everything.
8 Raft
Alone or together, players will find themselves in a sprawling, epic oceanic adventure. Players will awake on a small raft and must discover how they will survive as a team to perhaps one day make it back to civilization. The game has players battling to survive against the vast sea, exploring islands and ocean floors to further build their floating home.
The game’s goal is to survive, to continue without death in sight. Through the years, Raft has made many new developments. From enemy types to locations that involve bubbled cities. Raft has a loyal fanbase and, just recently in June, received the Final Chapter. Players should keep their eyes out for man-eating sharks and new tools to create.
7 Don’t Starve
With a very distinct style, Don’t Starve teaches players from the get-go that they should tread carefully and not play with fire. Fire is safety in Don’t Starve, as the dark is just as horrifying as starving. In this survival game, players will need to encounter an uncompromising wilderness filled with science and magic.
By gathering resources, players can craft items and structures to match their style of survival. The game is filled with strange creatures and dangers that are out to destroy the player and stop them from surviving, which is why wits are essential to surviving for as long as possible.
6 The Last Of Us: Factions
Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is often regarded as one of the greatest narrative games of all time. What many didn’t expect was the vastly different experience that could be found in the game’s multiplayer. Although The Last of Us Multiplayer may seem like a player-versus-player experience, it runs far deeper than that. Players will hold the responsibility of a Faction and will need to help them survive for 12 weeks.
Surviving the 12 weeks is essential to a “prestige” rank in The Last of Us Multiplayer. Players will need to play online and find the targeted amount of supplies to keep their clan healthy and thriving. Extra supplies can be used to increase clan numbers and endure the onslaught of infected and hunters that will try and quell the players’ numbers.
5 Rust
As a multiplayer-only title, Rust is a survival game where players can work together or against each other in a multitude of ways. Spawning with nothing but a birthday suit and a rock, players will need to brave the natural dangers of heat and cold, thirst and starvation, and other hostilities like creatures and players to survive and thrive in Rust.
Rust only has one objective, to survive. Everything on the sprawling island wants the player dead. It’s up to the player to either kill them first or build enough defenses and advancements in tools and technology that lasting another night seems easy in comparison.
4 The Forest
After a horrific plane crash, the player fills the shoes of the last survivor. Not only do players need to be wary of what they eat, drink, and their sanity in The Forest, but they will also need to be wary of the cannibalistic mutants that inhabit the deep forests.
This first-person survival horror game features a great number of thrills, especially at night. Players should find a great place to camp out and build a location safe from the horrifying hordes of cannibals, which make noise to further scare the player. As the night progress, so do the horrors.
3 The Long Dark
A thoughtful and intimate gaming experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves. This survival game has players explore the expansive frozen wilderness after a horrific geomagnetic disaster. The game does not rely on horror elements like cannibals or zombies to create a thrilling experience. Instead, the player must battle the cold and nature itself.
The game is all about surviving by any means. The Long Dark can be as long as the player has the willpower to survive, with things seeming nigh on hopeless other than the innate desire for survival plaguing every thought.
2 Call of Duty: Zombies
The goal of Call of Duty: Zombies is simple and has remained the same ever since Call of Duty: World at War, and will do so far beyond Call of Duty: Vanguard. Players need to survive for as long as possible. Round after round, the undead hordes will become stronger and angrier as they try to take the player down.
The one objective of Call of Duty: Zombies is no easy challenge, as players will find themselves with no room to escape until they succumb to the overwhelming numbers and strength of the undead. Surviving will require skill and great weapons in this game mode.
1 Minecraft
There are many things that Minecraft offers players, but the main one may well be the friendly and inviting aspect of the game and its style. As a survival game, players can truly choose how they experience Minecraft. They can build cool art and buildings or venture as a miner. The possibilities are nigh on limitless, but the goal remains the same: survive.
Minecraft is a great title, adored by many, and a steady stream of content resumes to keep the game feeling fresh. Surviving in Minecraft isn’t always so easy, as mobs like Creepers, Zombies, and Endermen will be in the way of a peaceful night’s rest.