The survival genre can seem pretty intimidating if you’re not used to it; from hunger meters to permadeath, there’s a lot that these games can throw at you. For many, the genre’s reputation for punishing mechanics makes it hard to even want to dip a toe in.
Thankfully, however, not all survival games are built to break you. In fact, there are many survival games out there that focus on resource management, world building, or expanding unique mechanics instead of constant stress, or the dreaded copy/paste survival mechanics that seem to plague every other game in the genre.
All of the games on this list are unique in the sense thatthey’re approachable for even non-survival gamers.Whether it’s due to their relaxing natures or their distinctive characteristics, these survival games stand out in the genre.
10Among Trees
Cottagecore Survival Craft
Among Trees
There are a lot of intense survival games out there that make you feel like you’re always just one missed meal away from starving, or one snuffed campfire away from freezing to death. Thankfully, Among Trees is about the furthest thing from that as you can get.
Among Trees is a peaceful, open-world exploration game that takes players on a calming retreat through the wilderness. Instead of worrying about constantly needing to hunt to survive, building armor to keep yourself warm, or worse, dysentery,all you have to worry about is which sun-lit trail you want to take next.
Your main goal in the game is to build your own cozy little sanctuary in the middle of the woods. You’ll have to scavenge for materials, craft your own tools, and survive by fishing and growing your own food. Among Trees is like the ultimate “quit your job and run away to live in the forest” simulator (let’s face it: we’ve all thought about it at some point).
9Card Survival: Fantasy Forest
Card-Based Survival
WinterSpring Games
Release Date
February 28th, 2025
Card-Based Survival RPG
Card Survival: Fantasy Forest is a unique survival game in the sense that it revolves entirely around card-based mechanics. From hunting to crafting, everything in this game is determined by which card you draw from your deck.
It might seem complicated at first glance, but trust me: the simplicity in its card-based format is where this game truly shines. Instead of aimlessly wandering around miles of uninhabited wilderness, you’ll be able to manage all of your character’s needs, like hunger, fatigue, and sanity, simply by drawing and playing cards.
From foraging to hunting to cooking,the outcomes of everything you do will largely be determined by whatever cards you’re presentedwith in a given situation.
Sometimes you’ll get extremely lucky, while other times, you’ll be left wondering why you even bothered to try at all. A lot of it is left up to luck, but that just makes strategizing around all of the possible outcomes that much more satisfying.
Open-World Vampire Survival
If you love survival games but hate playing the same run-of-the-mill guy dropped into a survival scenario, then you’ll probably enjoy playing V Rising. Instead of playing some random guy, you get toplay the part of a recently reawakened vampire, learning how to survive as an undead creature of the night.
You’ll have to figure out how to hunt for blood while avoiding detection from local settlements, which is a lot harder than it sounds. You’ll also have to avoid the sun at all costs, while also learning how to use your nocturnal nature to your advantage.
10 Best Survival Games Where You Feel Powerless
You’ll need to defy the odds if you want to survive any of these horrific scenarios.
Making armies of human thralls, raiding bandit camps, pillaging settlements, and drinking the blood of everything in your path is only a fraction of your destiny in this game. In a world governed by the sun, become the being whose nocturnal reign strikes fear into everything the light touches.
Honey, I Shrunk the Characters
At face value,Groundedlooks a lot like other survival games on the market: foraging, base building, thirst and hunger meters, you name it, but what makes it really stand out in the genre is how it shrinks its players down to the size of ants and chucks them into the great unknown (a suburban backyard).
If you’re familiar with the cult-classic 1989 film, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”, then you already loosely know the plot of this game. Essentially, you and a handful of other kids are shrunk down under mysterious circumstances and are let loose into the backyard of Dr. Wendell Tully, a great scientist who mysteriously vanished while working on his revolutionary shrinking machine.
You’ll have tobattle giant bugs, monitor your hunger and thirst, and craft tools and weapons to help you survive the exotic wilderness that is an unkempt lawn. Trust me, after playing this, you won’t ever look at a lawn mower the same way again.
6Core Keeper
Mining Exploration Sandbox
Core Keeper
Where other survival games are all about trekking through dangerous forests and hunting wild animals to survive,Core Keeperfocuses more on mining, collecting rare materials, and unraveling ancient mysteries involving giant, glowing cores, instead. It’s pretty much the LOTR dwarf mining sim we never knew we needed.
In Core Keeper, you wake up in an underground cavern with nothing but a pickaxe, a flickering core, and an intense desire to avoid dying at all costs. From there, you’ll have to dig, craft, and explore your way through mountains of glowing mushrooms, ancient ruins, and some surprisingly intense boss fights to survive.
Mining for resources, establishing underground farms, and building a cozy home for yourself in a decrepit cavernmight not sound all that appealing, but trust me, it’s the wildest ride you’ll ever get from a survival RPG. What I think really makes it click for non-survival fans is its familiar mix of elements from games like Stardew Valley, Terraria, and even Minecraft, but in a way that doesn’t overwhelm you.
You can farm, fish, mine, decorate, battle giant cave spiders, you name it; whatever you feel like delving into, Core Keeper’s got you covered.
5Rain World
2D Slug Survival
Rain World
Rain Worldis by far one of the most charming survival games out there, and I’m not just saying that because I get to run around as an adorable little slugcat in a fantasy world. This game has a hold on my heart tighter than a pair of skinny jeans after Thanksgiving.
Rain World puts you in the slime-covered shoes of a nomadic slugcat,making your way through a broken ecosystemto try and find your family. Hunting for food, braving industrial wastes, and avoiding hungry predators are only half of the harrowing acts you’ll need to partake in if you want to survive.
8 Most Brutally Realistic Survival Games
Staying alive: a great song, but a hard task in these survival games.
Through torrential downpours, you’ll need to constantly be on the lookout for shelter, food, and safety along your journey, none of which are in large supply. Despite its difficulty, this game draws in even the most stubborn non-survival gamers.For players who don’t usually vibe with the survival scene, this one really sneaks up on you.
Yes, it’s tough. Yes, you will get eaten. But you also won’t find another survival game like it on the market.
4Subnautica
Exploring an Alien Ocean
Subnautica
Subnauticais definitely one of the tougher games on this list in terms of survival difficulty, but it’s also one of the most visually impressive. The scenery in this game looks like it belongs in an alien museum; seriously,if you don’t buy it for its survival mechanics, then at least buy it for the visuals.
Subnautica is an open-world survival craft game that dumps you in the middle of an alien ocean, nothing to call your own besides your rapidly sinking ship and the few meager supplies you managed to scavenge from the wreckage.
You’ll have to learn to survive in this new, waterlogged world full of breathtaking foliage and creatures, which is a lot easier said than done. Especially since most of the world’s creatures are covered in spines, fangs, and mouths full of razor-sharp teeth all too eager to find out what human tastes like.
Subnautica is infamous for its difficulty, but don’t let its reputation deter you; it’s easily one of the most unique and breathtaking survival games in the genre.
3No Man’s Sky
Extraterrestrial Survival
No Man’s Sky
If you’re tired of playing survival games that all feel like copy-and-paste versions of each other, then you’re going to love the procedurally generated, alien worlds ofNo Man’s Sky. This is theinfinitely replayable astronaut simulatorwe never knew we needed.
The universe is your oyster in this game, with every world and every galaxy at your fingertips to explore. The planets you’ll encounter are as varied as they are endless, with each of them containing landscapes and lifeforms that you’ll never see anywhere else.
The planetary views that this game presents you with are breathtaking, but don’t let its gorgeous scenery fool you;with every new planet comes new enemies and new obstacles, and that’s not even counting the space pirates and bounty huntersthat’ll be after your ship’s tail. Survival is a complicated thing in No Man’s Sky, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth investing in.
Your continued survival will rely heavily on consistent upgrades to your suit, your ship, and your weapons. The farther you go, the stronger you become, but what will you find at the very center of the universe?
Pokémon + Survival
Nearly everyone in the gaming community is at least somewhat familiar withPalworld, whether it be from playing it, hearing its countless Nintendo lawsuits, or just taking notice of its morbid take on the creature-collecting genre.
However you’re familiar with it, you have to admit that it’s easily one of the most entertaining survival games on the market, even for non-survival fans.
Palworld is as ridiculous as it is oddly intriguing. In this game, you’re thrown into a world filled with mysterious creatures called “Pals”, which are animal-like beings that each have their own, often elemental-based, powers and abilities. If you’re familiar with Pokémon, then you’ll get the general idea of this game.
Unlike Pokémon games, however, the Pals in Palworld can actually hunt you down and kill you, so you’ll need to stay on your guard if you want to survive.
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Explore vast worlds with environments, both strange and familiar.
Of course, you can always kill them first, or simply capture them and use them as slaves around your base. It’s not the most ethical method in the world, butjust because you can become a tyrannical Pal dictator, you don’t have to if you don’t want to(though the game does make it very easy).
Surviving in this game is pretty unique, considering you have an endless supply of mysterious creatures at your disposal to defend you at all times. Defending yourself and your allied Pals (Pal-llies) is only half of the survival fun in Palworld, however.
You’ll also have to worry about building and maintaining farms, shelters, tools, weapons, gear, you name it: if you need it to survive, then you’ll need to have it in Palworld.
1Minecraft
Beginner-Friendly Survival
Minecraftis just one of those games that literally anyone can enjoy. Whether you’re into fighting off undead monsters, mining for rare ores, or spending six hours building a perfectly accurate replica of your childhood home, this game has something for every kind of gamer, even the ones who normally pass on survival games.
Minecraft thrusts its players into procedurally generated worlds that are filled to the brim with mobs, unique biomes, and special structures to explore. Yes, there is a survival mode, but you’re in full control of how difficult it gets.
you’re able to put it on peaceful mode, if you don’t feel like dealing with hunger meters and hostile mobs, or you can put it all the way on hard mode, if you really feel like crying yourself to sleep at night.
Whether you decide to play the game on peaceful, easy, normal, or hard mode is up to you, but regardless of difficulty, this survival game will offer you a sandbox experience like no other.
In Minecraft,the world is literally your cube-shaped oyster.Want to go to the end of the world and fight an interdimensional dragon?Sure. Want to build a 3-story mansion out of nothing but beehives? Go for it. Feel like playing it completely normally with simple crafting and survival? Okay, but you’re definitely in the minority.
And if you really don’t want to stress about survival? Just flip over to creative mode and go nuts. Minecraft’s magic lies in just how incredibly flexible it is; it lets you dip your virtual toes into survival gameplay without ever overwhelming you or forcing you to play a certain way.
Whether you’re playing it for its survival aspects, itstimeless crafting mechanics, or its innumerable building features, Minecraft makes surviving feel fun instead of stressful.
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How can I survive off of grass and dropped frames?
