Survival games are thrilling projects that challenge players to persevere in adversity. With themes ranging from post-apocalyptic worlds to battling zombies and other catastrophic events, these games evoke a sense of determination and courage. Players must rely on their strength and resourcefulness to survive, imbuing confidence and self-reliance.
The Blix team has researched the best games in this field to inform our readers about the top of them. These games are a great way to test your mettle and experience the thrill of overcoming any obstacle.
We present our articles Best Multiplayer Xbox Games in 2024 or Best Co-op Games on Xbox (Game Pass), where you can find helpful information. If you’re a PS owner, check out The Most Popular Games for PS5 and Xbox Series X 2024.
Contents
Highlights
- The list of best survival games to play in 2024
- Detailed information about the games
- Game score and its trailers
Amnesia: Collection
Amnesia: Collection
Company: Frictional Games
Genre: Survival horror
Release Date: September 28, 2018
Price: $29.99
Game Score (Metacritic): 78
The player explores the castle rooms and solves puzzles to advance while avoiding monsters. To solve the puzzles, the player can sometimes use environmental items that he can interact with: pick up, move, and throw. The protagonist has no weapons and cannot fight the castle’s monsters, so he can only flee. To illuminate the room, you can light different light sources with chickens or use a kerosene lamp that needs to be refilled with oil periodically.
Dead Space
Dead Space
Company: Electronic Arts
Genre: Survival horror
Release Date: October 13, 2008
Price: EA Play or $69.99
Game Score (Metacritic): 89
The series of events occurs in the 26th century when humanity has exhausted its planet’s resources and is on the verge of extinction. The crisis was averted when Earthlings began mining resources from other planets. As a result, humanity found the Black Obelisk, which emitted an electromagnetic field, and on it was the genetic code of Necromorphs, which turn the remains of any other living creature into new Necromorphs. The player will be in the skin of Isaac Clarke, who encountered the Red Obelisk on the planet Aegis-7, which was created as a copy of the original and had the same properties.
Palworld
Palworld
Company: Pocket Pair
Genre: Survival, Monster-taming
Release Date: January 19, 2024 (early access)
Price: $29.99 or Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): TBD
This is a survival game set in an open world. Meet the “Pals,” fascinating beasts that roam the land and can be tamed for various purposes. They can be used as loyal companions in battles or ride them for quick transportation and take their help building bases. But that’s not allâwith the help of your “friends,” you can make the ultimate base and automate tasks effortlessly. And the best part? You can share this experience with up to 32 players on a single server!
Valheim
Valheim
Company: Coffee Stain
Genre: Survival simulator
Release Date: June 22, 2023
Price: $19.99 or Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): TBD
The action takes place in Valheim, a world where Vikings killed in battle are taken to prove themselves worthy of entering the halls of Valhalla. The player starts the journey from scratch and finds that he must defeat evil in the form of six bosses to reach the afterlife. The player must prepare for battle against Odin’s nemeses, aided by his instincts and a raven that provides various clues. Valheim itself is the tenth world described in Scandinavian mythology. Valheim uses its entire open world as a giant “dungeon”.
Frostpunk
Frostpunk
Company: 11 bit studios
Genre: Simulation, Strategy
Release Date: October 11, 2019
Price: $29.99 or Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): 84
The game takes place in 1886 when the world is gradually cooling down. The British Empire financed the construction of a secret observatory in the Arctic, after which the scientists working there concluded that the cooling was caused by the sun’s waning, and this process will continue. When the entire Earth is covered with ice and snow, the surviving city dwellers travel to the Arctic, where they find a powerful generator around which they must build their settlement, New London. All settlers can be divided into three classes: workers, engineers, and children, and the player can establish a dictatorship or a theocracy in the settlement.
Soma
Soma
Company: Frictional Games
Genre: Survival horror
Release Date: December 1, 2017
Price: $29.99
Game Score (Metacritic): 84
The game takes place on the underwater research base PATHOS-II in the year 2104, after the end of the world. The unfolding story touches on many science fiction themes and philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness, virtual reality, digital immortality, the symbiosis of technology and organics, and the creation of multiple copies of the same person. The player must hide from enemies, solve puzzles, and complete tasks. But, there is an interesting moment: the game has no map, no list of tasks, and only an inventory, which makes the game even more exciting.
This War of Mine: Final Cut
This War of Mine: Final Cut
Company: 11 bit studios
Genre: Survival
Release Date: November 14, 2014
Price: $19.99 or Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): 82
The game is set in a fictional war-torn city where civilians try to survive in a war zone. The game requires the player to make difficult and not always ethical decisions to save the characters’ lives. The player controls a group of inhabitants with 12 characters. All characters have their own story and different characteristics and skills. The game itself has two phases: day and night. During the day, the player is occupied with household chores, and at night various missions to get ammunition.
Don’t Starve Together
Don’t Starve Together
Company: Klei Entertainment
Genre: Survival
Release Date: April 21, 2016
Price: $14.99
Game Score (Metacritic): 83
The game’s main goal is survival in the random world as long as possible. The game has two main modes: Survival and Adventure. The player has an assistant named Maxwell, who advises on the game. During the day, the player collects items, explores the area, and interacts with other NPCs. At night, the real survival mode begins, where the character’s mind becomes fuzzy, and he slowly goes insane, but the night monster named Charlie will not let the player rest. As in all games, the player has Health, Satisfaction, and Sanity, which are mentioned above. If the sanity drops to a low level, nightmares start appearing, which causes a good amount of damage to the character.
The Long Dark
The Long Dark
Company: Hinterland Studio Inc.
Genre: Survival simulator
Release Date: August 1, 2017
Price: $34.99
Game Score (Metacritic): 77
The game has an open world, and the action takes place on the Great Bear Island, where the player acts as a surviving pilot. The player can choose between three game modes: “Story Mode”, “Survival Mode,” and “Trials”. In story mode, the player can go back through the save ball when dying and cannot move freely around the game world. In Survival Mode, players collect resources and battle wildlife to prolong survival. In challenge mode, the player has a new opportunity – to complete tasks.
Wartales
Wartales
Company: Shiro Unlimited
Genre: Adventure, Indie, RPG
Release Date: April 12, 2023
Price: $39.99 or Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): 80
The action of the game takes place in a world that looks like medieval Europe and is recovering from the consequences of the plague. The player controls a squad of mercenaries whose main task is to survive. Your squad can rob passers-by, trade goods, and the most interesting thing – accept contracts for which they give rewards. Battles in the game take place in turn-based mode, and fighters are placed on a grid, with some characters occupying several squares, which forces the player to place fighters more flexibly. Also, you can go through tombs that have various puzzles and challenges, at the end there is treasure waiting for you, but you need torches to navigate the tomb.
Minecraft
Minecraft
Company: Mojang Studios
Genre: Sandbox
Release Date: November 18, 2011
Price: $19.99 or Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): 82
In this game, you can build the city of your dreams! The player can choose the type of world, super flat or extended, but by default, a small world with many different biomes is created. The world itself is built from cubes (blocks), and the author’s main message is to improvise during the game. The game involves mining resources to build structures and surviving during the night by fighting zombies. The player has a large inventory to store items that can be used for crafting, such as in other survival games, health, satiety, and experience points. If the player does not have enough satiety – health points will decrease; experience points are responsible for casting charms on various items.
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky
Company: Hello Games
Genre: Action-adventure, survival
Release Date: July 24, 2016
Price: $59.99 or Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): 83
The game begins on a randomly generated planet at the galaxy’s edge, where the player has crashed his spaceship. The game occurs in space, where each region and planet is unique. The planets themselves can be similar to Earth and have favorable conditions for life, or they can have high radiation levels or very low temperatures, posing a danger to the player.
Subnautica
Subnautica
Company: Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Genre: Survival simulator, adventure
Release Date: December 4, 2018
Price: $29.99
Game Score (Metacritic): 87
The player must survive in the ocean among various creatures, many extremely unfriendly creatures. As in many other survival games, there are indicators of health, thirst and hunger, as well as oxygen, the lack of which, with the constant need to dive deeper, is a huge problem. It can be partially solved by creating different volumes of scuba tanks or underwater transport. To progress through the story, you must create various new tools, such as food and transportation. The game features a crafting system through blueprints scattered around the world. Also, in the game, there are several types of transportation to explore the depths, and each device has its depth of immersion and strength of the hull, and predators can also attack transportation.
State of Decay
State of Decay
Company: Undead Labs
Genre: Survival horror
Release Date: June 5, 2013
Price: Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): 78
The action occurs on a rural lake as a zombie epidemic begins. Players are presented with an open world that changes dynamically based on their decisions. Here, you can build watchtowers to defend against the infected, infirmaries to treat the wounded, a kitchen to cook, a workshop, and other things necessary for survival. The player can play as a group of survivors living in the camp, with the ability to switch between characters. The ability to team up with other survivors is presented. Each character has its skills and specialization or diseases.
Grounded
Grounded
Company: Obsidian Entertainment
Genre: Survival simulator
Release Date: September 27, 2022
Price: $39.99 or Game Pass
Game Score (Metacritic): 82
The protagonist of the game is reduced to the size of an ant and must struggle to survive in the backyard of a house. The player character must consume enough food and water, or his health will begin to decrease due to hunger or thirst. Different insects have different roles in the game. For example, spiders are some of the game’s super-predators that will prey on the player; ladybugs can lead the player to food stores; and aphids can be roasted and eaten. As the game progresses, players will visit new areas of the backyard. The game’s difficulty gradually increases as more dangerous enemies are introduced.
Green Hell
Green Hell
Company: Creepy Jar
Genre: Survival simulator
Release Date: September 5, 2019
Price: $24.99
Game Score (Metacritic): 83
This is an open-world simulation game set in the Amazon rainforest. The player must survive by gathering resources and food. However, the character, Jake, cannot rely solely on gathering these essentials. The player must also create shelters and weapons from the collected materials. In addition, the player must maintain a balanced diet with the help of a smartwatch. The smartwatch will indicate which nutrients the character lacks, alerting the player to their health status.
Summary
Our team hopes that our readers liked this list and that many of them were able to find a suitable game to play alone or with their friends. The list will be updated regularly to bring you the latest survival games.
