Most Brutal Survival Games

300,000 years of human progress has led people to the point where most no longer have to kill for food and fight to bang rocks together for survival. However, that urge is often considered to remain in the back of one’s prehistoric lizard brain. Essentially, many still crave some ancestral activities but without the consequences. And what better way to experience that than through the (relatively) harmless simulation of video games?

Survival games have become among the most popular genres in gaming; and there’s no shortage of both old and new survival romps. The genre’s known to be a tough one — though not all of them tap into that old primeval emotion. Still, some are more forgiving and don’t quite instill that fragility of human life as well as others.

Hence, these games will surely make one appreciate their modern-day comforts for a more brutal digital field trip that most players won’t survive.

Updated on January 6, 2025, by Mehrdad Khayyat: What most survival games have in common is to deliver realistic gameplay mechanics about the basic needs of human beings, as staying alive is, in most cases, the primary goal of the player.

The need for food, shelter, and energy is almost shared between all survival experiences, yet each game manages to deliver a unique experience thanks to different world-building, creative gameplay loops, and the level of difficulty.

22

We Happy Few

Roguelike Elements, Disorienting

This ambitious (albeit rough-around-the-edges) adventure from Compulsion Games truly puts gamers’ survival skills to the test. It places them in a grim, dystopian alternate future of a war-torn England, which has been consumed by a Fascist system post-WWII. Players must keep their head down and try to survive in this poor, downtrodden society as best they can.

Not only this, but they’re required to ingest a “feel good” drug meant to mask their dismal surroundings with a whimsical — and far trippier — overlay, Brave New World style. If one of the three distinct antiheroes doesn’t keep up with their dose of happy fiction, they’ll be mercilessly pursued by swift, ravenous guards prowling the streets. This twisted, colorful journey is as intense and maddening as it is fun.

21

Subnautica

Limited Oxygen, Permadeath (Hardcore Mode)

Crafted by Unknown Worlds Entertainment, this underwater journey combines peaceful solitude with heart-pumping survival gameplay. Players assume the role of a spaceship crash survivor Ryley, forced to scour a vast ocean planet with no knowledge of what dwells in the waters beyond.

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Despite a relatively serene aura, it becomes apparent how threatening this locale can be, as it’s rife with dangerous sea creatures. At the same time, players must explore these alien regions while dealing with hunger, thirst, and oxygen. If one finds themselves meeting their end, certain items are wiped from their inventory.

This doesn’t even touch on hardcore mode, which gives no warnings of low oxygen and inflicts permadeath on gamers.

20

ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)

Heavy Roguelike Elements, Trial And Error

• Release year: 1994 (2015 re-release)
• Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Amiga, MS-DOS, and Mac operating systems

While more RPG/roguelike than survival, the heavy resource management — and countless factors leading to death — warrants ADOM‘s position as a genre standout. Starting as a simple ASCII graphics game, the fleshed-out re-release of this roguelike is as grueling and cryptic as ever. Even compared to others of its ilk, ADOM is known for truly tough, unpredictable gameplay.

Players must fight through the hostile land of Ancardia, as they try to hit one of the multiple endings that include either closing the “Chaos” gate, becoming a demigod, or sacrificing themselves to stop the dark Chaos forces. Explorers will need to weigh and toy with a near-endless slew of factors, customizations, and quests — often walking on eggshells just to stay alive.

The open-world nature of ADOM allows many paths to victory — but there are far more that lead to certain doom. Players can meet their permadeath doom in mere minutes, simply by using cursed equipment, walking into a trap, or failing to use the right counter on a monster.

19

Project Zomboid

Punishing AI, Steep Learning Curve

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Project Zomboid

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Released

November 8, 2013

Developer(s)

The Indie Stone

It might not look as involved or as shocking as first-person zombie games due to the top-down, isometric perspective, but Project Zomboid can be every bit nerve-wracking. It’s one of the toughest survival games out there due to the steep learning curve and many punishing enemies.

Project Zomboid places a stalwart focus on realism and the sandbox nature of its world. The zombies also don’t run but they do come in frightening swarms that will punish any small mistake or indecision on the player’s part. On top of that, players also have to deal with depression and boredom on top of their physiological needs.

18

Stranded Deep

Starting From Scratch, Dangerous Sea Creatures

If players want to get a taste of what it’s like to have a similar predicament to Tom Hanks in Cast Away, then Stranded Deep is a good trial run. It’s a game where players are stranded on an island. But they soon realize that they’re not Polynesian islanders who are adept at surviving such environments, so this paradise might as well be hell.

3:11

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The worst part is that players are encouraged to leave their island since their starting plot of land doesn’t have all the resources available. Gamers will need to venture to other islands to complete their hierarchy of needs. That would have been easy if not for the sharks and other violent sea critters looking for a meal.

17

Green Hell

Realistic Gameplay, Psychological Conditions

Green Hell grabs the low-hanging fruit among survival games and places the players smack-dab in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. The place is known for its dizzying humidity and hostile locals (whether animals, plants, or humans) and the game will let players know that one way or another.

It’s best known as a rainforest simulator especially if players crank up the difficulty level to how the developers intended. Players will need to attend to insect bites, numerous kinds of poison, and other jungle illnesses to find their missing wife in the story mode or perhaps last as long as they can in the sandbox mode.

16

7 Days To Die

Tough Feral Enemies At Night, Randomly Generated World Makes Planning Difficult

Much like Project Zomboid, 7 Days to Die is a definitive zombie survival experience where players can roam around and create their own survival stories. Interestingly, it was released on early access at the same time as Project Zomboid.

The difference is, that 7 Days to Die presents a more intimate view of zombie slaughter. Thus, it has more pronounced horror elements and the zombies look more visceral and distinct. Players can also craft some rather ridiculous melee weapons and try to McGuyver their way into survival, though that won’t make the experience any less intimidating.

15

Subsistence

Gritty Realism, Lack Of Hand Holding

• Release year: 2016
• Platforms: Microsoft Windows

If players want a simple survival game with Stone Age tendencies but modern equipment, then Subsistence is the game. There are no supernatural threats here, just the usual human doubt and greed. Players must defend themselves against wildlife, nature, and AI hunters who also behave the same way as they do.

It’s a pure sandbox setup where players can even build their own communities and develop their mini-communal civilizations. It’s similar to Rust but with less wackiness and with more available modern technology. The game is also famed for its difficulty as it often tries to simulate real-world rules.

14

This War Of Mine

Limited Resources Early On, Must Tend To Other People

It’s set in the modern world but that doesn’t mean This War of Mine ceases to be as unforgiving as survival games that start with Stone Age tech. At its core, This War of Mine is similar to The Sims, except all the Sims are in war-torn Eastern Europe and they’re all depressed and are a couple of missed meals away from dying.

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That’s how bleak the situation is in This War of Mine. Players are tasked with managing civilian survivors in a city under siege where every member must be kept alive. The problem is, that some are better than others when it comes to certain tasks and looters are everywhere, turning the whole city into a free-for-all.

13

Ark: Survival Evolved

Gritty Realism, Limited Tools To Start

It’s the player against the world in this perilous, prehistoric survival epic. Developed by Studio Wildcard, the game drops players in the middle of a vast, seemingly bare land where dinosaurs and other attacking players roam.

Explorers must start from scratch, starting fires, crafting weapons, and assembling bases on the fly, all while watching out for incoming threats. Ark has become one of the more punishing open-world games of late, thanks to its realistic style that demands much time and resources, as well as its large PvP format.

12

Kenshi

Tough, Hostile Environment From The Outset

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Kenshi

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Released

December 6, 2018

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Kenshi is a strange and epic post-apocalyptic video game where Mad Max and anime seemingly had an unholy union and gave birth to the game’s peculiar aesthetics. It’s a sandbox survival title where players are allowed to do whatever they like in a world where frequent storms and giant anomalies can squish people-sized objects like bugs.

In essence, Kenshi‘s developers consider this unique, memorable survival an RPG but it’s so blatantly savage that most consider it a fitting part of the genre. Since gameplay is freeform, players can become merchants, traders, slavers, or just roamers. Of course, the strongest always survive in that kind of society and that’s where the bulk of Kenshi‘s survival experience lies.

11

Don’t Starve

Punishing Roguelike Gameplay At Night, Many Ways To Perish

Don’t be fooled by the simple and popup storybook art style. Don’t Starve can really be a nasty business. The game pits players and the character of their choice against unknown and alien elements and creatures of a dreary Lovecraftian world where they must shore up their base defenses while also exploring for better opportunities to live.

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Don’t Starve has a day and night cycle where the latter provides an intense challenge since the dark makes the grotesque monstrosities bolder and hungrier. Part of the reason why the game’s difficult is that it’s also a roguelike. Death means starting over again from scratch.

10

Sons Of The Forest

Discovering Dark Mysteries Beneath A Cannibal Island

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Sons of the Forest

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Released

February 23, 2023

Developer(s)

Endnight Games

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

The sequel to The Forest delivers the same core gameplay loop, but it features significant improvements to the original game. Sons of the Forest expands the map by adding more weather styles, it gives players an AI companion and lets them find and craft some new means of traversal that make the exploration faster and easier.

Sons of the Forest is a game that rewards players for exploration, but it is also a horror adventure, where cannibals serve as the main enemies. Exploring the cannibal caves, however, will lead the player to some extraordinary facilities underneath the island, revealing more about the real evil behind the cannibals.

9

The Long Dark

Vast, Hostile Environment, Limited Resources

For players who want a winter apocalypse to see if they have a shot at surviving frostbite and hypothermia, then The Long Dark should more than satisfy (or perhaps traumatize). It’s a familiar-but-fun post-apocalyptic game where a geomagnetic disaster turned the world into an icy freezer.

There are no zombies, monsters, or ghosts in The Long Dark. The only enemies are the sheer coldness of Mother Nature herself and her starving four-legged Mammalian children. Players will have to manage not just their fitness, food, sleep, and hydration but also their clothing and temperature. It’s immersive enough that its players will likely feel their character’s spine-chilling predicaments.

8

Frostpunk

A Different Survival Experience With Difficult Decisions To Make

Unlike most of the survival games mentioned on this list that are either first-person or third-person, Frostpunk is a management game with a dark background about a group of survivors trapped in freezing weather conditions.

The game features both campaign and sandbox modes, and each one will require the player to make tough decisions in order to help people survive the cold while forcing them to work hard. Frostpunk is about making mistakes that cannot be undone easily, and may eventually lead everyone to death. So, it’s always suggested to think twice before making a move.

7

Rust

Building And Surviving From Scratch, Threats From Other Players

Rust is one of the oldest and most popular survival games that started as an early access title. It’s now at its best state and while the graphics and general gameplay have improved, the players remain mostly the same. Most are armchair Social Darwinists and Machiavellians who wouldn’t hesitate to shoot a kind stranger in the back if that meant a bit more loot for them.

To that end, Rust fosters and rewards every kind of playstyle, be it hiding from social contact to piling up bodies to make a throne. The tribal mentality is rampant among players and there’s a high-risk, high-reward element in the form of rare loot. Arguably this makes the game a lot of fun.

6

SCUM

Realistic, Many Conditions Need Tending To

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SCUM

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Released

August 29, 2018

Developer(s)

Croteam
, Gamepires

SCUM initially looks more like a DayZ clone but it’s quickly setting itself apart by piling up mechanics that have turned it into the most complex Hunger Games simulator but with zombies and mechs. Players will have to take care of their characters as if they were taking care of their newborn kids here.

Everything from macronutrients, micronutrients, defecation, urination, wetness level, and even musculature and body fat percentage has to be taken into account. It’s an intimidating collection of mechanics, to be sure.

5

Darkwood

Lack Of Hand Holding, Must Fight For Survival In Various Ways

7/10

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Darkwood

Released

August 18, 2017

Developer(s)

Acid Wizard Studio

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Darkwood is a horror game and a survival game rolled into one nightmarish package. Because worrying about starvation isn’t enough; players also have to worry about those creepy sounds and shapes at night. This all plays out from a top-down perspective.

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Even so, the fear and desperation are too palpable as Darkwood sets its own atmosphere masterfully. There are no quest markers or maps. Players have to commit locations to memory. Day areas are also randomly generated, so by night, players will know where to scramble back into once the initially static shadows start running toward them.

4

Outward

Player Is Vulnerable, Many Hostile Threats In A Vast Environment

Outward can be best described as Dark Souls except players don’t care about being a god and simply want to explore the wide-open world because they got evicted by their greedy, despicable landlord. Except, this world isn’t pleasant. There’s no map, their characters are lousy combatants, and monsters and bandits are everywhere.

These, however, are what make up the core of the game. Outward is all about journeying on foot in a magical land where players are about as strong as the typical hapless NPC. There’s also no traditional RPG progression here and players will have to gauge their progress by how skillful or clever they have become.

3

Neo Scavenger

Starting From Scratch, Few Resources

• Release year: 2014
• Platforms: Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux

Think of Neo Scavenger as Civilization meets Dungeons and Dragons — except the setting is a city that’s been turned into a trash bin of a ghetto and everyone takes the form of either a junkie or hobo. Some of its players even resort to calling it a “hobo simulator”. It turns out that kind of life isn’t easy as there’s a high chance of getting shivved during the night by a random meth abuser.

Neo Scavenger captures that atmosphere. The reason why it’s hard is that there’s too much RNG involved in fights, retreats, or just about anything. So even if players get too comfy by finding an iPad they can weaponize and having a garbage bag to cover their torso, the game’s numerous enemies will still smoke them.