Why These Games Really Test You
Survival games pride themselves on making you feel smart one second and crying the next. Throw you into a hostile world. Give you near nothing and watch you scratch your head trying to survive before you starve, freeze, or get eaten by a monster. Perfect if you like learning through trial and lots of embarrassing failures.
1. Don’t Starve
The game may look adorable, but don’t be fooled. Players find themselves fighting off hunger, insanity, and creatures that don’t hesitate to ruin poor campers. When nighttime rolls around and you’re nowhere near prepared, you’ll understand how cruel this game can be.
2. The Long Dark
Nature takes no prisoners here. It’s quiet, it’s desolate, and it doesn’t lie to you. Your battles are against the cold, starvation, and fatigue more often than not. Make one wrong choice and your mistakes will compound against you.
3. Green Hell
Surviving the Amazonian rainforest requires you to keep track of more than just your next meal and fire. Injuries, parasites, and psychological stress all play a factor in your survival. Your environment feels like it’s out to get you, which keeps you on edge the entire game.
4. Subnautica
Swimming in the vast ocean is fun, until you discover how deep it really is. Oxygen levels, crafting equipment, and not being eaten by a gigantic sea monster keeps you constantly thinking. You always feel like something big can end you at any moment down here.
5. Project Zomboid
Survival is treated with a realistic pace instead of some explosive action game. Zombies lurk around every corner, but boredom, disease, and bad habits can end you just as easily. When the inevitable comes, you’ll probably feel like you deserve it.
6. DayZ
You can’t trust anyone, and at any moment someone can decide to end you. Playing DayZ will have you camping items for hours, only to parish in a matter of seconds. It’s this feeling of dread that makes the game so addicting.
7. Rust
The worst threats come from other players trying to do the same as you. Besides just surviving you have to worry about protecting all your hard work. Logging out doesn’t guarantee your base will still be there when you log back in.
8. Ark: Survival Evolved
Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? Just wait till a pack of them is hunting you down while you’re running away in your underwear and starving. Gathering resources, taming Dinosaurs, and building a base all take a lot of effort. This world will make you feel small no matter how big you grow.
9. This War of Mine
Rather than be the heroes, you play as civilians trying to scrounge up to survive another day. While survival is key, you are faced with moral dilemmas that affect your decision-making. Your choices will haunt you long after you stop playing.
10. Frostpunk
How far will you go to ensure your town survives? From heat, to food, to making sure your people don’t revolt, your management skills will be pushed to their limits. Once the cold sets in, it’s only a matter of time before you start making sacrifices.
11. Oxygen Not Included
Managing an underground colony should be simple enough. Until your life-support systems start to fail. Oxygen Not Included will have you learn the hard way.
12. Valheim
Navigate Norway’s Viking-inspired world at your own risk. Exploring feels serene until you get ambushed by something big. There’s a lot of grind, but pushing through is rewarding. Don’t let the dragons or bulls get you though, they don’t go easy.
13. Raft
You should have never been lost at sea in the first place. Everything becomes a valuable resource you don’t want to lose. You’ll find yourself carefully balancing expanding your raft and staying alive. Not even while you're lounging around do you feel 100% safe.
14. Conan Exiles
If Minecraft was brutal it would be Conan Exiles. Fight to survive starvation, enemies, and the environment's hazards. Power grows at a pace and never truly feels safe.
15. SCUM
Want to know your character’s metabolic rate? SCUM has got you covered. You monitor eating calories, drinking your water intake, and even track body temperature. Sometimes survival is just about not ending your run because of thirst.
16. Escape from Tarkov
You could consider each raid into the dark world of Tarkov as Vegas odds. Every time you enter you are risking it all, the gear on your back and even your progress. It keeps you on the edge because there is no guarantee you’ll make it out alive.
17. Darkwood
Get haunted by the simplest of animations. Darkwood will have you questioning if you made the correct decisions. Night time is scary for a reason and every resource is precious.
Marita Kavelashvili on Unsplash
18. Metro Exodus
A survival game mixed with a fantastic story set in our post-apocalyptic world. Although not as scarce as food, ammo, heat, and chemicals are heavy on significance. You never really feel safe until you pass that next area warning.
19. Stranded Deep
Being stuck on a life raft between beautiful islands doesn’t sound too bad. Except once reality hits you it’s a whole different story. Gathering resources can be tedious but rewarding when you create that next something. Plus you’re still exploring the vast ocean you’re trapped in.
20. No Man’s Sky (Survival Mode)
Don’t let a planet's peaceful look fool you. Weather systems, animals, and bandits drain your health quickly if you're not careful. Exploring always feels rewarding because surviving each planet is an accomplishment in itself.
