The best games for surviving against the odds.
The lasting appeal of survival games is simple to understand. Fighting to stay alive is hard-coded into our DNA, so it’s easy to see why we’d become engrossed in experiencing it in games. The best survival games on PC push players to their limits, presenting them with tough problems and challenging them to find creative solutions.
Beyond just a simple health bar, in survival games players need to manage their well being when it comes to elements like hunger, thirst, extreme temperatures, disease, and other threats. Exploring, gathering resources, crafting tools and gear, building shelters, and hunting, fishing, cooking, and farming are other common features in survival games. And some survival games aren’t just about taking care of yourself but guiding a colony or settlement safely through extreme circumstances by managing resources, passing laws, and solving societal problems.
In such a popular genre, which games provide the best survival experiences? Below you’ll find our favorite examples of simulated survival on PC, whether it’s among the stars, deep underground, and in other dangerous environments packed with monsters, mutants, zombies, dinosaurs, or the deadliest enemy of all: other players. Here are the best survival games on PC. Palworld
In a sentence: Kinda like Ark: Survival Evolved, but with Pokémon-like critters instead of dinosaurs
Status: In early access since January 18, 2024
Link: Steam
We knew this Pokémon-with-guns game would draw a crowd, but we didn’t expect it to become the mega-hit of 2024. The mixture of survival and collectible creatures drew millions of players overnight, and you know what? It’s fun. Build a base, add to your creature collection by battling monsters, make them work for you… cook and eat them… there’s lots of stuff you can do, not all of it savory.
Further reading: Palworld is the Pokémon this sinful world deservesSons of the Forest
In a sentence: Plane crash survivor angers cannibal tribe. Again!
Status: Released February 23, 2024
Link: Steam Store
After picking through the wreckage of the plane crash that stranded you here, you’ll quickly discover you’re not alone. You share a mysterious island with a tribe of terrifying cannibals, and while you struggle to stay fed and hydrated, build structures from simple tents to log homes, and construct traps to snare animals, you’ll have to defend against the hungry and determined locals. Best of all, you’ve got an AI-controlled pal, Kelvin, to help you out.
Further reading: Sons of the Forest review is the funniest game on the internetValheim
In a sentence: Exploration and base-building in the Viking afterlife.
Status: Released in Early Access on February 2, 2021
Link: Official site
It didn’t take long for Early Access co-op Viking survival game to draw a crowd, and it’s easy to see why. A massive procedurally generated world, fearsome boss fights, and excellent base-building systems mesh wonderfully with survival elements like cooking and crafting. Solo play is great, but it really shines in co-op, and players can busy themselves with base construction or set out on perilous journeys across the sea to find dangerous new continents.
Further reading: Valheim is making me love survival games againSubnautica
In a sentence: Survival, crafting, and building—underwater.
Status: Released January 23, 2018
Link: Offical site
Explore an alien, underwater world while piloting your hand-crafted submarine through mysterious submerged landscapes. From beautiful coral reefs to deep-sea caves and trenches, you’ll gather resources and sustenance, build habitats and a fleet of subs, and craft new tech to help you survive the depths. It’s hard not to compare it to Minecraft, yet developer Unknown Worlds has put their own unique stamp on the survival genre.
Further reading: Subnautica: Early impressions of Minecraft under the seaProject Zomboid
In a sentence: The deepest and most complex zombie survival game, period.
Status: Released Nov 8, 2013
Link: Steam
If you’re looking deep and complex survival systems in a massive sandbox sim, there’s only one game that truly fits the bill. There’s a big learning curve in this zombie survival game but once you’ve got a handle on how the various systems work you’ll find an unending and engrossing challenge in the harsh post-apocalyptic world. Loot buildings, craft gear, farm and fish, fight zombies (or better yet, avoid them) and struggle with everything from injuries to disease to boredom to how much noise you make while moving around.
