Survival games can be rage-inducing and difficult, or they can sit on the more relaxed side of things. Some of them test every single part of a player by making surviving one of the most challenging things possible and not telling them anything. Others might help players craft and hold their hand in telling players what they need to do to survive. Both can be enjoyable at different moments in life.
These survival games have brought about some of the best mechanics in the survival genre. They have revolutionized the survival world from within, and many of them were made by smaller companies or started as indie games.
10 Minecraft
Minecraft has a survival mode that can be extremely difficult under certain settings. This is amplified if players make that survival mode into a hardcore mode where they will have to start fresh if they die. The only thing about this survival mode is that there is not as much to do as there is in other survival games in terms of actually surviving.
The enemies are difficult, and players have to keep an eye on hunger, but players won't be dying left and right from natural causes. They also won't need to worry about combating different environments much. Minecraft might not be the best in its survival elements, but it provides a lot of fun in its spelunking in survival mode.
9 No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky is a game that went from being something no one would ever pay money for to one of the largest games to have ever been created. They've turned the game around, and now it's a lot of fun. No Man's Sky spans 18 quintillion planets that are all full of life.
The game has a lot of survival elements, and while they can be a little difficult to manage when players first start, they get a lot easier as the game progresses. No Man's Sky focuses more on travel and exploration rather than survival elements. It does what it does well, while survival is a somewhat unimportant aspect later on.
8 Raft
Raft allows players to witness the growth of the plank of wood that they start on. Players must survive on what seems like an endless ocean on a wooden plank, initially, until they can start making it bigger. Players unlock different story elements as the game goes on. The survival elements in this game can be kind of sink or swim on different difficulties.
On easy, the game feels like it's missing the survival substance, but sometimes on normal -- and especially on hard -- the game can feel like it's tugging a player along. Normal is great, but gathering food and water can feel like a chore more than a natural progression of survival.
7 Rust
Rust is a very different game since its 2013 release. The gameplay has dramatically improved over the years. All the guns feel natural to use yet difficult to master as a lot of them are made of scrap -- and they feel like it. The game enthralls players in trying to survive its post-apocalyptic setting.
Gathering resources in the late game gets easy and can become a non-issue if a player joins a clan. The hardest way to survive is alone as other squads will gang up on solo players and constantly kill them. The game is rough but a lot of fun in co-op.
6 Breathedge
Breathedge is a science fiction game that mainly takes place in outer space. The game heavily relies on large amounts of narrative to drive it forward. It makes for a captivating time to go through. The game can feel slow at first, but the pace quickly picks up after the first section.
There is always some puzzle for the player to figure out as they try and collect resources to keep themselves alive. Sometimes, the game can feel unfair with the oxygen system, but the difficulty can be turned down if needed to make that less of a problem.
5 Don’t Starve Together
Don't Starve Together, as its name implies, is about not starving. Players have to be careful with how they choose to take on their journey as the game is unforgivable when it comes to killing players off. This game is full of ways to try and kill the player. Every season aims to destroy any semblance of hope that the player has.
The game is difficult, but it never feels unfair, and it rewards players who understand the different methods of survival. It's a difficult and satisfying game to play alone or with friends.
4 The Forest
The Forest doesn't have one of the most difficult survival systems. It is mainly based around uncovering the mystery that surrounds the island, but it makes survival a horrific experience for anyone brave enough to play it.
The Forest is full of anxiety-inducing areas as the player tries to find food while mutated cannibalistic monsters roam the map.
There are interesting uses for gathering materials and trying to be better prepared for caves, which add to a nice aspect of the game. Players must have enough resources to survive their adventures in dark cave systems such as objects that cast light, ammo, and food. It's a must-play game for all horror fans and survival fans.
3 Valheim
Valheim is a beautiful game that feels like players are playing a survival dungeon-crawler. The mix of Viking and fantasy elements are well-placed and something the likes of which many people had never seen in a game of this type before. It's exciting to see what a game like this did with the genre.
Every time a player dies, they aren't forced to start from scratch as they can build bases. Their bases are not long-lived, however, as players will play with a nomadic lifestyle in search of the bosses that the game revolves around hunting down.
2 Subnautica
The survival aspects of Subnautica are some of the best that survival games have to offer. The game makes it so that players are constantly upgrading their character to be able to handle different challenges. Players might start hungry but then learn to manage that. As soon as a player learns to manage something, some new complication crops up.
Players will be constantly learning how to survive in different underwater areas on top of managing their survivability. Theyneed to learn which of the sea life is threatening and which of it is not. A lot of other aspects of how to navigate underwater life compel players to want to learn more.
1 Green Hell
Green Hell is the survival game connoisseur's survival game. The game requires players to manage many aspects of the main character's life like fatigue, insanity, hydration, and keeping a balanced diet. On top of this, different aspects of trying to survive in a forest need to be managed.
Players can lose their sanity and see things that aren't real. They can get lesions on their bodies that must be dealt with, or a killer infection will appear. Everything in the game is out to kill the player, and while it does have a very high learning curve, the game has an easier mode that allows new players to test out the mechanics without having to worry about being hunted down by cannibals. It's hard but worth playing through its intriguing story about love and the dangers of different drug markets.