Survival games are one of my favorite genres. These games just hit differently. There’s nothing quite like the mix of panic and satisfaction that comes from scavenging your last scrap of food, building a shelter before dark, and somehow, somehow making it through the night.
But “survival games” don’t hold the same meaning as they did 15 years ago (and trust me, I’ve been playing them for a long while). Some are all about crafting your way to a big kingdom, some throw you into a frozen wasteland with zero hand-holding, and some just want you to survive the next zombie swarm without losing your base.
So instead of one messy list, I broke this down by style like crafting-heavy, story-driven, zombie survival, co-op chaos, you name it. This way you can jump straight to the kind of suffering you’re into.
Editor’s Note: I update this list regularly with new titles and more games I played. The most recent update, on August 6th, 2026, I added Palworld, Grounded, and a few other newer picks, and reorganized everything by category so it’s actually easy to browse.
The Best Survival Games Compared
Here’s a quick overview of every game I talk about here, along with all the basic info you need about them. If you care to know more, just click on the name of the game, and you’ll skip right over to its section!
| Game | Platform(s) | Solo / Multiplayer | Difficulty | Best For |
| Minecraft | PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series, Switch, Mobile | Both | Easy | Beginners, building, creativity |
| Palworld | PC, Xbox One/Series, PS5 | Both | Easy–Medium | Creature collecting, co-op, base building |
| Valheim | PC, Xbox One/Series, PS5 | Both | Medium–Hard | Exploration, co-op, survival |
| Terraria | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series, Switch, Mobile | Both | Medium | 2D building, exploration, progression |
| Subnautica | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series, Switch | Solo | Medium | Exploration, atmosphere, underwater survival |
| Grounded | PC, Xbox One/Series, PS4/5, Switch | Both | Medium | Co-op, base building, adventure |
| Don’t Starve Together | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, Switch, Mobile | Multiplayer | Hard | Hardcore co-op survival |
| Satisfactory | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S | Both | Medium | Automation, factories, building |
| Conan Exiles | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series | Both | Medium–Hard | Building, combat, multiplayer |
| 7 Days to Die | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S | Both | Hard | Zombies, base defense, co-op |
| Raft | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S | Both | Easy–Medium | Relaxed co-op, exploration |
| V Rising | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S | Both | Medium | Action combat, co-op, PvP |
| This War of Mine | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One, Switch, Mobile | Solo | Hard | Story-driven survival, resource management |
| Frostpunk | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series, Switch | Solo | Hard | Strategy, city building, difficult decisions |
| Sons of the Forest | PC | Both | Medium–Hard | Horror, co-op, exploration |
| The Long Dark | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series, Switch | Solo | Hard | Realistic survival, exploration |
| Project Zomboid | PC | Both | Very Hard | Hardcore survival, simulation |
| DayZ | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series | Both | Very Hard | PvP, realistic survival |
| State of Decay 2 | PC, Xbox One/Series | Both | Medium | Zombies, co-op, community management |
| Rust | PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series | Both | Very Hard | PvP, base building, competitive survival |
| Windrose | PC | Both | Medium–Hard | Pirate adventure, co-op, exploration |
How I Picked These Games
My earliest memory of playing survival games goes back to Lost: The Video Game back in 2008. Exploring the woods and having to hide from black smoke was one of the scariest experiences of my childhood. Since then I’ve invested countless hours into playing survival games. Some of them were real stinkers but so often came a real gem that I would obsess over. Those are actual good survival games that I’ve decided to put on this list. There’re a few that I forgot about but will add later for sure.
Best Survival Games Overall
Cutting down this list to just a few games was probably one the most difficult tasks in all my years of gaming. There were so many games that were popping in my mind that should go there but in the end I’ve landed on these games as best overall:
Minecraft
Minecraft is an absolute legend of the gaming world. It’s not only the best survival game but one of the best games in general. I feel like everyone knows what Minecraft is about but also on other hand I feel some of you might judge it too harshly, call it a kids game and for that reason avoid playing it. You couldn’t be more wrong.
Minecraft is a game that is suited for all ages. If you’re looking to just chill and do nothing, you can. If you want to let your imagination run wild and build whatever comes to your brilliant mind, you can do that too. Do you need some sort of a challenge? Minecraft has that too. The great thing about it, it doesn’t force those options onto you. Instead they let you pick which path you want to take. Having that creative freedom while offering various challenges constantly is what makes Minecraft one of the best survival games of our generation.
Palworld
Palworld is basically “Pokémon with guns”. You explore, catch creature-like Pals, and then put them to work: farming, mining, hauling stuff, even manning turrets while you sleep. Combine it with base-building, crafting, and full co-op with friends, and you’ve got a game that you can easily pour thousands of hours into.
Palworld had its fair share of controversies from early stages but they’ve done nothing but to show us that it can be done. Yes, many players called it a Pokemon copy. Yes, they got sued by Nintendo. There were plenty of times where they could’ve tucked their tail and hide but they’ve decided to focus on players who supported it and work on their game regardless of everything.
With their recent Palworld 1.0 release I’ve decided to come back to it and I’m enjoying it so much. I’ve invested so much time into collecting new Pals, materials and improving my bases. At this point in time I might even consider putting it above Minecraft.
Valheim
Valheim is a survival-crafting game where you explore a procedurally generated world, gather resources, and build bases while fighting progressively tougher enemies and bosses. Progression is tied to defeating each boss, which unlocks new materials and areas to explore. It supports both solo and co-op multiplayer for up to 10 players.
Yes, the game can be hard but only if you go rushing into things. Take your time with exploring, be curious, check out everything and you’ll have a blast with it. Trust me, I speak from experience. I tried rushing things, looking up solutions/guides to my problems and I ended up being stressed more than I should have. Only when I slowed down and started playing the game “my way” is when I started having fun with it.
Terraria
Terraria is a pixel art survival sandbox where the possibilities are endless. You start off with basic tools and a world full of potential, but what you do with all of it is up to you. You’re not bound by quests or objectives (unless you want them).
The more you dig into Terraria, the more you’ll uncover: secret biomes, hidden treasures, and random events that keep the game feeling fresh every time you log in.
I’ve started relatively late playing Terraria but once I did, I couldn’t stop. It was a very confusing experience at first but the more I played it, the more I enjoyed it.
Plus, this is the kind of game you can play on literally any device without issues. Yes, even old, low-specs laptops. So, even if you don’t have a super cool new setup, this one will definitely work for you. Want more games like that? Check out my top choices for laptop/low-specs games.
Subnautica
My initial thoughts about Subnautica were that it is an overhyped diving simulator that I mainly bought to prove myself right. And in just an hour of gameplay I realised that I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s one of the most unique and immersive experiences I had in survival games.
For people who haven’t heard or tried it, the game kicks off with you in a pretty rough spot: stranded on an underwater planet with limited supplies and no way to contact the outside world. Your main goal is to stay alive. That means gathering resources, crafting new gear, and slowly but surely diving deeper and deeper into the ocean to unlock the mysteries of your surroundings.
I’ve even played it on Steam Deck, and if you’re someone who is fortunate enough to have one, I absolutely recommend it. It’s such a pleasant and relaxing experience (until it isn’t).
Grounded
Grounded is one of the games that had me hooked from the moment I first came across the cute ladybug and immediately right after I saw a spider and had to run for my life. Turns out being ant-sized in your own backyard is a lot more terrifying than it sounds. You’ll spend your time gathering resources, crafting gear, and building bases out of grass blades and pebbles, all while there’s a decent story running in the background explaining how you got shrunk down in the first place. It’s honestly even better with friends, nothing like screaming together over a spider ambush.
Don’t Starve Together
Don’t Starve is a whimsical survival game. You play as a guy named Wilson who, through some bad luck and a weird science experiment, gets dropped into a bizarre world full of strange creatures, creepy landscapes, and a constant, nagging hunger. As a bonus, you’ll need to manage your sanity and your health.
What sets Don’t Starve apart from other survival games is its eerie art style and the way it blends dark humor with intense survival mechanics. I’ll be honest with you, I invested well over 100 hours into it since I got it and I feel like I’ve barely even scratched the surface. I’ve seen numerous people who invested 5k/10k hours and still have fun with it. It was such a unique experience where I loved the game so much but at the same time I was so bad at it.
Best Crafting-Focused Survival Games
Satisfactory
Satisfactory is a factory building game that has a smidge of exploration and combat. Sounds like nothing special but trust me on this, you’ll spend countless hours making your factory more efficient and better optimized in general.
There were times where I needed something that took a few minutes to make manually but I’ve spent hours creating a system that can make it automatically. I’ve seen people invest thousands of hours into it and swear that it’s still if not more then just as fun as the day they first started playing Satisfactory.
As someone who can easily obsess over things, I had to be very careful with Satisfactory and make sure I didn’t end up too deep so I stopped after the first few couple of hundred hours. Luckily this game didn’t come out when I was single and had no responsibilities, otherwise I would have had over 10k+ hours by now.
Conan Exiles
Conan Exiles is an open-world survival game set in the brutal world of Conan the Barbarian. You gather resources, build bases, craft weapons and armor, and fight off other players or NPCs, with an option to enslave and recruit followers to help defend your base. It supports both solo play and multiplayer servers, including PvP.
As someone who played it in early access and then later when it got upgraded, I must admit that I got my money’s worth. Sure the game has its ups and downs but at the end of the day I had an enjoyable experience. That’s only because mostly I stayed on the PVE side and ignored the wretched PVP. Which I also recommend for you also.
7 Days to Die
7 Days to Die is a survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies. You scavenge, craft, and build a base while managing hunger and health, with zombies growing stronger during a recurring “blood moon” event every seven in-game days. It supports both solo and co-op multiplayer.
Definitely one of the times where I found that playing with friends improves the experience exponentially. If you have someone to play with I highly recommend it. Don’t get me wrong, you can play it solo but it’s not going to be as much fun.
Raft
Raft is a survival game where you’re stranded on a small raft in the middle of the ocean. You gather materials by hooking debris floating past, expand your raft into a larger base, and eventually sail to islands to find resources and story content.
Unlike 7DTD, Raft is a great game whether you play solo or with friends. My personal experience was from a single-player viewpoint and I absolutely enjoyed my time playing it. Truth to be told, I think this will be a great game to play with my kids some day.
V Rising
V Rising is a survival-crafting game where you play as a vampire rebuilding your power after waking up weakened. You gather resources, build a castle, craft gear, and fight other players or NPCs, with mechanics like needing to avoid sunlight and feeding on blood for strength. It supports both solo play and PvP/PvE multiplayer servers.
I’ve played V Rising only on the Steam Deck briefly and I found it enjoyable but my wife? She says it’s one of her favorite games ever and plays it every chance she gets. So if you’re interested in what she has to say about the game, you can check out her review here.
Best Narrative and Story-Driven Survival Games
Let’s be honest for a moment here, survival games are not best known for their stories. There’s a handful of survival games that we can say have okay story and this is them:
This War of Mine
This War of Mine is a survival game where you must gather resources, manage your shelter, and struggle to stay alive during a war that drags on, for what seems forever . Also it so happens to have one of the strongest “stories” on this list. Without spoiling it, all I can say is that this game had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.
Frostpunk
The story comes from the choices you’re forced to make as a leader, not cutscenes. Watching your decisions slowly turn you into someone you didn’t expect to become is very uncomfortable, especially since none of the options are good. It’s a great survival city-management game that I enjoyed both on PC and SteamDeck. It’s a unique experience that I recommend trying at least once in your life. You can check full review here.
Subnautica
There’s no dialogue-heavy plot, it’s mostly environmental storytelling like logs, wreckage, and the reveal of what actually happened to your ship. The reason it works is because the mystery unfolds at your own pace.
Sons of the Forest
Sons of the Forest is open world survival-horror primarily where you have to craft, build, and struggle to survive on a remote island. Underneath all of that there’s an actual plot buried, you’re searching for someone, and the world drops enough weird lore and audio logs to keep you curious. Pair it with an eerie atmosphere and you’ll be blinking less than usual just so you don’t miss anything.
The Long Dark
The Long Dark is a survival game set somewhere in Canada where a geomagnetic disaster wipes out all electronics. You’ll have to manage hunger, thirst, warmth, and fatigue while scavenging supplies.
There’s a Wintermute mode that gives you an actual narrative layered on top of the survival sim. You play as Will Mackenzie, a bush pilot who crashes in the Canadian wilderness during that geomagnetic disaster, and the whole story kicks off with you searching for Astrid, the passenger who was with you on the flight and got separated after the crash.
I’ve had my ups and downs with The Long Dark because I believe they failed to bring it home and the story should have had a better ending. Ultimately I’ve decided it’s overall worth playing.
Best Zombie Survival
I’ll be honest with you guys, this is not my favorite type of survival games but occasionally I’ve been known to enjoy them. Here are my top choices:
Project Zomboid
Project Zomboid is hands down one of the best zombie survival games ever made. It’s not known for being easy and don’t expect any handholding. You’ll get frustrated more than just one time but the experience is worth it. That’s me being modest. You’ll have to loot, build, craft, fight, farm and struggle to survive but you will fail. This game isn’t meant for people who are light of hearth and for the ones who expect to have an easy/relaxing time.
DayZ
DayZ drops you into a massive open world overrun by the zombies. The real problem is that they’re not your biggest threat. Other players are. You’ll have to scavenge for food, weapons, and gear while managing hunger, thirst, and disease. Oh, in case you were wondering, yes death is permanent. Which means you’ll lose your gear and you’re starting over from scratch. It’s almost entirely multiplayer-driven, and trust (or the lack of it) is the whole game.
State of Decay 2
State of Decay 2 is a zombie survival game where you manage a whole community, not just one character. You’ll also be scavenging supplies, building up a base, and assigning survivors to jobs like scouting or defense. Characters can permanently die, and losing key survivors actually hurts your community’s ability to function. It supports both solo play and co-op with up to three friends. The fighting feels impactful and actually rewards you, but man, those special infecteds like ferals or juggernauts will definitely have you panicking if you aren’t paying attention.
To make things better, State of Decay 3 is on its way, so if you “finish” this one, you’ll be able to jump straight into the next part.
Best Co-op and Multiplayer Survival Games
Some of you only love to play survival games with friends, tell me what’s that like? No, seriously, tell how good it is to have friends willing to play survival games with you? I wouldn’t know. Many of the games in this article can be played in co-op and you wouldn’t regret whatever you pick. Anyways, here’re my current top choices:
Rust
In Rust you start with nothing but a rock and a torch, then gather resources, craft weapons, and build up a base while fending off (or raiding) other players in a brutal open world. It will have you and your friends either bond over it or never speak again. There’s no middle ground. Rust isn’t a type of game where you can just log for a few minutes and simply log off and continue with your life. If you really get into it, it will consume every free second of your life. I can’t tell if I love it or hate it more. I don’t know if this is the worst or the best game I ever played. It just depends on which day you ask me.
Valheim
Valheim gets exponentially easier if you play with friends. It supports co-op with up to 10 players and if you somehow magically have 9 friends willing to play Valheim at the same time, share your secret with the rest of us. Splitting boss fights and base-building with a group is generally considered the best way to play and it’s so much fun.
Windrose
Windrose is the best pirate survival game on the web. There’s no discussion about it. It perfectly balances the exploration, base building, sailing and fighting in order to bring out the perfect pirate experience. The game is in early access and fairly new to mark but already has so much to offer. Playing with friends on a hard mode is such a unique experience, give it a try . It will force you to cooperate more, carefully strategize before making any move and every battle will feel truly rewarding.
