Summary
Over the last 15 years, survival games have become one of the most popular genres on the market. Whether players are enduring harsh environments, building thriving settlements, or fighting off various dangers, survival games areimmersive and very addictive.
Every year brings a new crop of games for players to enjoy, and the 2020s have been no different. The last few years have proven that survival games still have a lot to offer, with developers pushing the genre into fun new places. From vibrant alien worlds to grim and frostbitten landscapes, these titles blend action, exploration, building, and crafting into engaging gaming experiences that are not easily forgotten.
InStranded Deep, players control a plane crash survivor marooned on a tropical desert island. The game delves deep into survival mechanics, where players must manage theirhunger, thirst, and healthwhile avoiding dangers such as poisonous animals, searing heat, or man-eating sharks. Players can also construct buildings and rafts to explore further.
As the player progresses, they will discover hidden secrets and explore deeper biomes, from vibrant reefs to deep ocean trenches.Stranded Deepwill appeal to fans of hardcore survival mechanics, as the game can be challenging for new players just starting out. However, with time,Stranded Deepis a satisfying gaming experience that genre fans will appreciate.
In this survival simulation game, players must manage the crew of a marooned spaceship who have settled on a distant alien world. Players must forage for food, build shelters, and assign tasks to the crew members.Alien Dawnoffers several difficulty levels where the game parameters can be modified, such as the level of alien aggression.
The game creates a procedurally generated world where the player expands the settlement, upgrading its technology as it grows.Stranded: Alien Dawnoffers strong building mechanics, satisfying progression, and an engaging alien world. Fans of base builder and management games will love this sci-fi take on the popular genre.
Set well after the events of theLord of the Rings, in the Fourth Age,Return to Moriafollows a group of Dwarves on a mission to retake their ancient mountain homeland. Led by Dwarven hero Gimli, once again voiced by John Rhys-Davies, players must explore the varied passages and dark halls of Moria.
To survive, players must scavenge for food, collect resources, andbuild bases while avoiding or fighting enemies.The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moriais a fun fantasy survival game that offers hours of fun base-building and exploration. The game is procedurally generated, meaning no two playthroughs are the same. While the game doesn’t innovate the genre, its simple survival mechanics and immersive atmosphere will appeal to all fantasy fans.
In this strategy-survival game, players control Racimir, a young man fleeing war and looking to settle in a new area close to his uncle. In the game, players must search for food and water and collect resources to build a home. The goal is to create a family to continue the player’s line.
Medieval Dynastyis an addictive survival role-playing game that fans of the genre will love. While the story is rather thin, the gameplay makes up for this withdeep immersion and freedom.
6The Eternal Cylinder
A Vibrant and Surreal Journey
This surreal sci-fi survival game puts players in control of a group of small alien creatures named Trebhum as a colossal sentient Cylinder slowly destroys their planet. Players must navigate hunger and thirst, solve puzzles, survive the elements, and fend off dangers by mutating the Trebhum through consuming specific foods.
The Eternal Cylinderis a fun and unique survival game with a surrealist design and storybook narration. Players must explore numerous semi-open world areas, ranging from blazing-hot deserts to frozen landscapes, while searching for food and escaping the Cylinder and its strange half-mechanical followers.The Eternal Cylinderwill appeal to survival game fans looking for something different from the norm.
This unique survival game takes players on a surreal journey as they attempt to escape the nightmarish Olympic Exclusion Zone in their trusty station wagon. Unlike most survival games, it is not the player character that needs to be maintained, but the car itself.
Players must scavenge for spare parts as they avoid dangerous anomalies. Once players find enough special items called anchors, they can be transported back to a garage, where they can make repairs to the car. Players can customize their vehicle in the auto shop and fix it by repairing or replacing broken parts.Pacific Driveis a unique, atmospheric take on the survival game formula, blending complex car maintenance mechanics and a strange horror setting.
In this fun survival adventure game, players are shrunk down to the size of an insect and must survive the dangers of the back garden. Inspired by the classic moviesHoney, I Shrunk the KidsandA Bug’s Life,Groundedis the ultimate backyard fantasy. Players must find food and water, craft weapons and armor, and build a home base while avoiding the dangerous insects and animals found in the world.
The stunning open-world game is filled with hidden secrets, and can be played solo or in cooperative multiplayer. The oversized landscape is vibrant and fun to explore with numerous puzzles to discover.Groundedwill appeal to all age groups and is an immersive and memorable gaming experience for the whole family.
This survivalcity-builder gameis set in an alternate history where a cataclysmic event plunged humanity into a never-ending volcanic winter. Set 30 years after the first game,Frostpunk 2brings players back to the frozen lands of New London, where the introduction of petroleum has changed society.
InFrostpunk 2, players can create a larger city than in the first game by creating various city districts. Each area serves a different function, as the city suffers from overpopulation. The game introduced a more complex political system, forcing players to make tough decisions as different factions push their agendas.Frostpunkfans will love this complex and addictive sequel that expands on the themes and gameplay of the original.
Sons of the Forest, the sequel to the horror-survival gameThe Forest, brings players back to the mysterious island filled with mutated monsters and savage cannibals. With a much larger map and expanded mechanics,Sons of the Forestdelves deeper into thelore of the first game, with numerous secrets to undercover.
Sons of the Forestwill appeal to all survival gaming fans. It blends hardcore survival mechanics, where players must build bases, find food and water, and survive the elements, with tense horror action. Fans of the first game will love this expansive sequel that improves on the first in almost every way.
V Risingis an action survival game where players control a recently risen vampire. The game is played across a detailed open world that is split into five unique biomes. Players must gather materials, suck blood from NPCs, and build their castle while avoiding the sun and battling enemies and bosses.
The game can be played in eitherPvP or PvEmodes, making this a great game to play either solo or with friends.V Risingis a fantastic game that blends elements of survival, shooter, and RPG mechanics in a fun, immersive experience that offers many hours of addictive gameplay.
