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The best survival games know how to keep you on your toes. They might have different formats and gameplay styles, but each of the high-stakes experiences on this list are as testing as they are iconic. From base-builder games like Palworld to the more lore-driven, comprehensive likes of Valheim, the goal of the best survival games is not just to stay alive, but thrive (if you dare).
The punishing genre pulls from many others, from the calculated planning required of the best strategy games to exploring vast, usually hostile territories in the best open world games. Throw in some story or character-building elements as seen in the best RPGs, and you're left with an incredibly flexible framework. Whether you're a veteran or just starting out on your high-stakes journey, we've pulled from a range of subgenres to make sure there's some survival fun to be had for everyone here.
Article continues belowThe best survival games to play right now are...
10. Enshrouded
Developer: Keen Games
Platforms: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC
One of the biggest breakout hits of 2024 is Enshrouded, and it's fast becoming one of the best survival games ever. The dark fantasy adventure sees players stepping into the role of the Flameborn as they explore a vast open world, filled to the brim with all manner of hulking foes to vanquish while constructing a new life for yourself. It's an online multiplayer offering, meaning you get to band together with up to 16 friends or strangers on your perilous journey.
It sounds like the perfect blend of action RPG and survival game epic, so be sure to add it to your wishlist if that sounds like a good time. Like most survival games, though, there is a challenge to this one, so be prepared for a tough journey, but also a rewarding one if you choose to pick it up.
9. Don’t Starve
Developer: Tencent Games, Klei Entertainment
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, Android
Don't Starve and don't be fooled by those charming, hand-drawn, Tim Burton-esque graphics. This is as dark, brutal, and unforgiving as survival games get, with strong roguelike elements that make slaying weird monsters – evil spiders and creepy pig-men a specialty – as important as collecting the materials you’ll need to craft tools, traps, and weapons, or simply stay warm and cook your food. Don’t Starve is a game where you need to manage your time and resources carefully, and regard permadeath as another step on a learning journey. The longer you survive, the more seems at stake, and isn’t that what survival’s all about?
With some cracking additions like the Reign of Giants expansion or the nautically themed Shipwrecked, Don't Starve is a game that just keeps expanding, adding features, and getting more engrossing as the months pass. And the Hamlet DLC coming later this year promises to continue the trend, with the addition of housing, new shops, and a load of new items to play with. Read our Don't Starve review for more details!
8. Palworld
Developer: Pocket Pair Inc.
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S
The Palworld craze has gripped many, turning it quickly into not only one of the best survival games out there right now, but one of the top Game Pass offerings. The Pokemon-like involves catching and battling Pals across a large open world, using them to help build out camps and outposts that later must be defended from PvE raids. There's a multiplayer component too, largely involving teaming up with guildmates to venture out into the wilderness together.
It's something of a sensation right now, so be sure to check out Palworld if you're looking for a great new survival game with a thriving playerbase to get involved in. However, don't be fooled by its cute looks; this game is pretty dark. In fact, during our Palworld review, we wrote: "Palworld is a strange and obliviously cruel game that nonetheless shows effort and some real thought running through its core design." If you are after a wholesome affair, stick to classic Pokémon for sure.
7. Atomfall
Developer: Rebellion Developments
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
What if Fallout 4 had a baby with BioShock and was raised by a kindly old dear from the Northern British countryside? You'd get Atomfall, that's what. Rebellion's stunning survival-action game broke new ground for the genre when it launched in early 2025, notable not only for its charming portrayal of a sci-fi-drenched dystopian 1960s England, but for its non-linear story that's yours to shape.
Instead of having a main mission quest with a bunch of side content tacked on, Atomfall sees the player stumbling upon "leads" across a vast yet confined quarantine zone in the wake of the Windscale Disaster. The story unfolds as you pursue the leads in any order you find them, meaning there's no right or wrong way to play Atomfall - as long as you avoid the hostile cult and zombie-like Infected you meet on your journey. It's not only one of the best survival games we recommend you play right now, but one of the best games of 2025 for a reason! Check out our Atomfall review for even more information.
6. Rust
Developer: Facepunch Studios, Double Eleven
Platforms: PS4, PS5, PC
It's safe to say that Facepunch's survival sandbox game isn’t for everyone. It's legendarily challenging and hardcore in its nature, and the biggest question isn't whether you'll die, but whether it's the wolves, the bears, the patrolling helicopters, or the other players that will get you first.
Everyone spawns naked in a random male or female avatar, and you're stuck in a desolate landscape where nearly everything that moves wants you dead. Yet for some players, nothing beats Rust's brutal, unforgiving nature and fraught combat, or the bonds it creates between players once they learn to trust one another. It's always going to be divisive, but Rust keeps evolving in interesting ways.
5. Valheim
Developer: Iron Gate Studios
Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One
Currently in Early Access on Steam (as it has been for years now), Valheim is still taking the world by storm. One of the best tree-punchers on the market right now, it adds a sense of overall purpose to your overall challenge of, you know, not dying. You're a battle-slain warrior whose soul has been ferried to Valheim, the 10th Norse world.
You must slay Odin's ancient rivals and bring order to Valheim, but also try and reach the final world and find rest. It offers co-op for up to 10 people, ship-building and sailing, and tons of mythology, among the usual best survival games affairs too. Despite its Early Access state, there is a ton for players to do, and the game is regularly getting updates as well. So even if it isn't technically finished just yet, it's still very much worth your time.
4. Minecraft
Developer: Mojang Studios
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch
These days, we think of Minecraft as a kiddie-friendly creative wonderland, so we forget that at its core, there's a brilliant survival game. Mining for materials, crafting tools and building a shelter is still as tense as it ever was, with one eye watching for sundown and one ear cocked for the moans of zombies.
Forging your first decent weapons feels like a big achievement, and there's plenty of excitement to be had in farming and foraging in an epic, unknown landscape, or fending off exploding creepers before they can breach your fortifications. We love Minecraft for its creativity, but there's still a thrilling game underneath. If you need more convincing about picking up this masterpiece, you can read our glowing five-star Minecraft review as well.
3. Frostpunk 2
Developer: 11 Bit Studios
Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Blending city builders with a story-rich campaign and combat base-building, Frostpunk 2 is one of the best survival games for its sheer effort to elevate its predecessor and then some. Taking place some years after the events of the first game, Frostpunk 2 tasks players with continuing to prosper in a barren, icy wasteland. Tactics are key to success, with the game expanding the player's arsenal of tools considerably to put it more in line with one of the best 4X games in terms of the size, scope, and breadth of gameplay potential.
In our Frostpunk 2 review we discuss how surviving in the sequel is a lot tougher too thanks to expansion of mechanics writing: "Though its moral quandaries don't pull at the heartstrings as hard as it did back in "simpler" times, it challenges the mind just as sternly thanks to the expanded management systems and scope, the need to manage factions and politics on top of individual needs, and a great story mode that taught it all to me." It may get tricky at times, but trust us when we say, this is one survival game experience that will be oh so worth your time and effort.
2. Raft
Developer: Redbeet Interactive
Platforms: PC
For a game to limit its play space to a few square feet seems like a bad idea. What are players going to do to fill the time? On the contrary, says Raft, if they want more room to explore, they're going to have to build it.
Set almost entirely on the makeshift watercraft of the title, Redbeet Interactive's survival game is all about life at sea, tasking players to upgrade their vehicle, explore mysterious islands, fend off ocean-faring predators, and hopefully find their way back home before its too late. Think Fortnite meets Subnautica, and you get the idea, not to mention the reason for its inclusion on this list of best survival games.
1. ARK: Survival Evolved
Developer: Studio Wildcard
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Android, PC
Take survival, add sci-fi and dinosaurs, and you have the bare bones of Ark: Survival Evolved. The game has built a huge fanbase despite dated visuals and a harsh difficulty level because it makes the business of staying alive so exciting. This is no doubt helped by the fact that, beyond the giant reptiles and other hostile beasties, it's other players who pose the biggest threat.
Build and upgrade your base and set traps, and you'll live a little longer. Join forces with a tribe and wage war on others, and you'll live longer still. It's not every game where you can tame a Saber-tooth or ride a Megalodon, and no other game does survival on quite this T. rex scale.
Next check out our list of the best city building games or head over to the comment section here and let us know what your top survival game is at the moment.
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