State of Decay 3 is confirmed to be in development, though no release date has been given yet. For a genre that's pretty packed with games, State of Decay has always managed to do something pretty unique with itself, carving its own path in the gaming world.

That being said, State of Decay 3 probably isn't going to be here for a while. While the most similar games to play while waiting is going to be the previous two entries into the series, here are a few more that might help with the wait.

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7 Days To Die

Combat in 7 Days to Die

Another open-world survival game featuring zombies, 7 Days to Die, definitely has some similar flavor to State of Decay. While it's an altogether odd experience that's been in Alpha for more than seven years now, it's still a game that's kept a certain section of gamers busy for a lot of that time. An interesting mix of The Walking Dead and Minecraft, 7 Days to Die forces players to scrounge abandoned houses, towns, and cities, and nature for supplies. Players then can either fortify an existing structure against the waves of the dead, or build something entirely new that they think will get the job done.

As the name indicates, every 7 days is going to be a rough one for the player. Every seventh night spawns an increasingly difficult horde of zombies that attack the player, forcing the player to constantly be improving their defenses, lest they become fodder for the undead just outside their walls. Falling behind means that the 7th day is going to hit like a ton of bricks, making each and every day important to ensuring survival.

The Forest

Enemies attacking in The Forest

Swap zombies for cannibals in this one. Kind of the same thing, it's just that these things eat people but don't happen to be (un)dead. The Forest crash lands players in a, well, forest. Right from the get-go, this forest is likely not the most inviting that players have ever seen, with the opening cutscene featuring a cannibal kidnapping the protagonist's child and presumably lodging an ax in the back of some poor stewardess.

Throughout the game, the players builds shelters from these cannibals (and worse), all while scavenging/harvesting what they need to survive. There's also a story in this game too, and the player can choose whether or not to pursue it. Without spoiling anything, the further the story goes, the more interesting the island and its very unfriendly inhabitants become. This is an occasionally terrifying game, but also one of the most unique experiences that the genre has ever provided.

Subnautica

Underwater exploration

Another incredibly unique game, and incidentally another one that can be outrageously terrifying depending on the players' phobias, Subnautica puts players in an alien ocean. The underwater setting alone would make this game stand out from the crowd, but it also just so happens to be one of the best survival games ever made. There is a severe amount of polish here, at least on the PC version, and the world that it presents is very easy to become utterly immersed in.

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Subnautica benefits from a world that isn't procedurally generated; while that means the game isn't necessarily as replayable as something like Minecraft, it does mean that the world feels incredibly cohesive and alive. The biomes fit together beautifully, and the creatures inside of those biomes are some of the most inventive and occasionally downright horrifying that gaming has to offer. There's a story to follow here, too. One that unfolds the more of the world the player discovers, and the more advanced machines the player builds. It's one of the few games in the genre that has an ending, if the player chooses to pursue it.

The Long Dark

the long dark, steam screenshot, removed from geforce now

The Long Dark has had a long evolution, but the premise of the game has always remained the same. It attempts to be one of the most unique survival games out there, throwing players into the frozen wilderness to meet a cold and bitter end. This game absolutely does not hold players' hands, and now has an episodic story mode that players can enjoy if they'd rather do that than play in the sandbox open world.

The Long Dark is notoriously brutal in its mechanics, with even things like lighting being a precious commodity, at times. It's a game that largely presents the elements as the players' downfall, though there are some animals that can cause the player some real problems, such as wolves. It's certainly not a game for the faint of heart, but for those that are looking for a hardcore and somewhat realistic take on the survival genre, look no further.

Valheim

House Built Valheim

Lastly, there's the newest survival game to make a splash: the Viking co-op game Valheim. Valheim takes in a lot from other games in the genre, perhaps benefiting from having seen what other games have done right and what they've done wrong, but it also manages to feel like a very fresh take, at the same time. An entirely third-person experience, players are a warrior plucked out of Midgard by Odin's Valkyries and thrown into the 10th realm, Valheim. Their task in this realm is not only to survive, but to take down Odin's adversaries there, as well.

Valheim features heavily around combat, but its most important and impressive feature is probably exploration. The game has an absolutely massive world, and even though it's procedurally generated, it somehow doesn't seem like the world was made by an algorithm. It's a world that feels pretty alive, not to mention stunning-looking. Valheim has a unique mix of old-school graphics combined with an impressive lighting system and great water physics, making it an immediately recognizable game. And water isn't the only thing with impressive physics, this game has excellent physics all around, including trees that are actually quite dangerous. This is a game full of wonderfully inventive mechanics, presenting a world that the player can truly make their own.

State of Decay 3 is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.

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