The Survival Zone

Games about staying alive through scarcity, threats, crafting, and risk.

Latest Standouts

Recent releases that landed well, newest first, filtered to games with enough reviews to trust the score.

Denizen - Players say: Build a life in Cedar Shores by working jobs, meeting locals, managing daily needs, and growing into homes and businesses. Players like: Open-Ended Routine · Varied Ways to Earn · Business Ownership ·
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Make a living for yourself in a city full of opportunity while you meet a variety of locals, explore unique locations, and work your way to the top in this open-world life simulator.

Permafrost - Permafrost is a story-driven survival sandbox set in a frozen, post-apocalyptic world. Discover a vast lore-rich open world, alone or in co-op with up to 4 players. Explore, scavenge, craft, and build a network of shelters to outlast the cold.
Invokyr - A co-op survival horror game about a cursed board game. Play with up to 5 friends. Roll the dice, survive the horrors that are summoned, and beat the Gamemaster to win your freedom.
Piworld - Piworld is a unique multiplayer game where everyone can find something to do to suit their desires. Try out different roles: from a simple fisherman to an adventurer. Explore the world alone or with friends, fight evil, develop your skills, and create your own story.
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Oct 4, 2026
78% 👍
of 165
Survivor's Notes - Players say: A manga artist with apocalypse dreams and a soldier from the future shape a zombie outbreak’s story through choices and QTEs. Players like: Story and Characters · Cinematic Action Scenes · Branching Story Paths ·
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"Survivor's Notes" is an FMV . Players control two protagonists, using choices and QTEs to unlock different branches and endings. Follow a girl who foresees disaster and acolonel from the future as their stories reveal the outbreak's origins. Trust,rescue, or walk away. Survival is onlyone of them.

The Crust - Players say: Build a lunar colony by mining resources, automating factories, managing settlers, and trading with Earth in a story-driven sim. Players like: Lunar Atmosphere · Factory Planning · Earth-Market Contracts ·
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Build and automate a lunar colony that Earth depends on. Mine regolith, run conveyor-and-drone factories above and below the surface, manage colonists, trade with rival Earth factions — and play a story campaign with multiple endings.

Honeycomb: The World Beyond - Honeycomb: The World Beyond is a sci-fi survival adventure set on the vibrant alien planet of Sota7. Adapt by building your base and crafting essential tools. Explore diverse biomes and use your bioengineering experience to uncover mysteries and secure humanity's future.
Scavland - Players say: As a Vulture in Mist-ravaged Zalesye, scavenge, fight, take jobs and modify weapons to survive and push deeper into the wastes. Players like: Atmosphere and Audio · Exploration and Loot · Weapon Customization ·
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Scavland is a hardcore Top-Down Pixel Art survival RPG set in a Post-Apocalyptic Soviet world. Scavenge the wastes and forgotten bunkers, take dangerous jobs, build your reputation, and customize your arsenal as you fight to survive mutants, hostile survivors, radiation, and the deadly Mist.

Dungeon Settlers - Players say: Build a refuge on barren land, then train a four-person party to scavenge a shifting dungeon in pauseable real-time combat. Players like: Dungeon-Base Loop · Pauseable Tactical Combat · Squad Building ·
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A colony sim based dungeon crawler where you manage your expedition to build a settlement in barren land, provide food and shelter for your people, lead them deep into the merciless dungeon, overcome challenging combat by your strategy.

On Sale Now

Discounted 25% or more right now, limited to well-reviewed games, steepest cuts first.

Outward Definitive Edition - Players say: Play an ordinary adventurer in Aurai, planning survival-focused expeditions, fighting creatures, and exploring alone or in co-op. Players like: Immersive Exploration · Co-op Adventures · Preparation Pays Off ·
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No remarkable journey is achieved without great effort. In Outward, the cold of the night or an infected wound can be as dangerous as a predator lurking in the dark. Explore the vast world of Aurai solo or in Co-op. The Definitive Edition features both DLCs and quality of life improvements.

CPU Invaders - Players say: Defend your computer from invading enemies in a desktop-overlay shooter, dodging attacks and clearing ten stages. Players like: Desktop Overlay · Quick Arcade Sessions · Challenging Stages ·
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Invaders are living inside your computer. You shouldn't let that happen! Interact with your desktop while playing, watch Youtube videos, chat with your friends and more! CPU Invaders overlaps the game itself with your computer screen.

Endzone - A World Apart - Players say: Lead survivors back to a poisoned surface, building a settlement and balancing supplies against radiation and extreme weather. Players like: Survival Resource Planning · Post-Apocalyptic Atmosphere · Settlement Design ·
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Endzone is a post-apocalyptic survival city builder, where you start a new civilization with a group of people after an ecological disaster. Build them a new home and ensure their survival in a shattered world, threatened by constant radiation, toxic rain, sandstorms and droughts.

We Are The Dwarves - Players say: Lead three dwarf astronauts through hostile stone-space, pausing real-time combat to plan commands and combine their distinct abilities. Players like: Distinctive Space-Dwarf Setting · Tactical Pause Planning · Atmospheric Visuals ·
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We Are The Dwarves is a real-time tactical adventure where you take control of three Dwarven astronauts and lead them through the hordes of enemies in the depths of their Universe. Tactical Adventure Sci-Fi Space Dwarves

Beyond Contact - Players say: On Ketern, a Space Corps responder gathers resources, researches technology and builds to survive alien hazards and aid a planet in crisis. Players like: Story And Setting · Exploration And Biomes · Crafting And Progression ·
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A fiercely formidable sci-fi survival game, set on a hostile alien world that wants you dead! Alone, or with a crew, do you have what it takes to survive?

Green Hell - Players say: Stranded in the Amazon, anthropologist Jake Higgins must craft, hunt, treat injuries, and survive while searching for his wife. Players like: Layered Survival Systems · Jungle Atmosphere · Learning By Experiment ·
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Plunge into the open-world survival simulation set in the extreme conditions of the uncharted Amazon jungle. Use real-life survival techniques to craft, hunt, fight, and gather resources, set a makeshift shelter, or raise a fortress. Survive alone or team up with your friends and challenge the jungle together.

Kingdom Two Crowns - Players say: As a mounted monarch, spend coins to grow a kingdom by day, then defend its walls from nightly Greed attacks and conquer islands. Players like: Atmospheric Art and Music · Fun Co-op Play · Absorbing Strategy Loop ·
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Gather coins, build defenses and reclaim your fallen Kingdom. Explore and uncover secrets, unlock new technologies and protect your crown versus waves of Greed monsters that come at night. Kingdom is a solo or co-op micro-strategy and tower defense game set in an atmospheric pixel world.

Dead In Vinland - Players say: Lead a stranded Viking family through turn-based island survival, balancing camp needs, exploration, relationships, and combat. Players like: Character Stories · Resource Planning · Tense Survival Challenge ·
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DEAD IN VINLAND is a survival/management game, mixed with RPG and adventure elements, about a Viking family trying their best to survive on a mysterious island.

Feel The Snow - Players say: As a snow creature, explore a winter world, rescue your village, craft gear, build shelter, and battle dark creatures solo or in co-op. Players like: Cozy winter atmosphere · Cute pixel art · Co-op with friends ·
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Choose one of the characters and start your journey. The game has many interesting things in store: building, crafting, puzzles, bosses, mystery, laughs, quests etc.

Kingdom: New Lands - Players say: As a monarch on horseback, spend coins to grow a kingdom by day, defend it from nightly raids, and sail to new islands. Players like: Pixel Art and Music · Resource Strategy · Island Exploration ·
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Kingdom: New Lands builds upon the award-winning gameplay and mystery of Kingdom by introducing an abundance of new content to the IGF-nominated title while maintaining the simplicity and depth that legions of monarchs have come to experience and enjoy.

Dead In Bermuda - Players say: Direct eight plane-crash survivors on a strange island, balancing daily work, camp needs, relationships, and exploration. Players like: Tense Resource Planning · Distinct Survivor Stories · Island Mystery Exploration ·
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DEAD IN BERMUDA is a survival management game with RPG and adventure elements. Lead a team of 8 survivors from a plane crash. Assign them to tasks, gain experience, develop your survival skills, research and craft new items, explore the island and solve its mysteries.

Arctico - Players say: Continue your late mentor’s Arctic research by exploring an icy island with sled dogs, gathering samples, and building an outpost. Players like: Calm Arctic Atmosphere · Dog Sled Travel · Relaxed Exploration ·
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Explore Arctico with your dog sled, kayak, and up to 3 friends! Build and customize your base camp, gather resources and samples, set up labs, and take good care of your dogs in this peaceful island.

Hidden Gems

Well-liked but under-played: strong scores, small review counts.

Potato Survival - Potato Survival is a short story game about a character who lives alone on the open sea. Collect potatoes and try to survive for 21 days with the knowledge you gain daily. Unlock new skills to create a more meaningful day to day life!
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Oct 11, 2022
99% 👍
of 240
The Lacerator - Lose a limb? You’ll adapt in THE LACERATOR! A titillating mix of survival horror and trashy 80’s film.
Nautical Survival - Captain an armed sea vessel to fight off hordes of oceanic terrors! Navigate between outposts to upgrade your boat, equip powerful weapons, manage your economy and hire crew members to your aid in this unique take on the survivors-like formula.
DeadOS - DeadOS is an early access zombie outbreak simulator by Benn Powell that focuses on city-wide scenarios where you have access to fully customize your apocalypse experience from beginning to end. Simulation. Sandbox. Survival!
My Sweet! Housemate - Faced with the cruel and harsh reality of homelessness, you seek out affordable housing in your area. Luckily, it seems you've found the perfect rental, but something is very off about your landlord...
Garage: Bad Dream Adventure - You are thrown into a weird world by the machine Garage. Can you escape from it?
Survive or Thrive - Crikey, mate! You shouldn't be out here all on your own! There's big MONSTAS' runnin' about! And besides... It's not always the beasts that you gotta watch out for. Beasts are easy to predict! They just wanna kill and eat ya! Humans are much harder... They'll pretend to be your friend first!
Vermillion - VR Painting - Players say: Paint in a virtual oil studio, mixing wet colors, following references, and creating solo or with up to three others. Players like: Realistic Oil Mixing · Beginner-Friendly Tools · Tutorial References ·
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It’s time to discover your inner artist! With Vermillion, you get a fully equipped oil painting studio in your home, without any of the mess. Ready for the unrivaled sense of accomplishment from creating your first painting?

Time Flies - Time Flies is a little adventure about our limited time in this world.
Terraformental - Waking up alone in a derelict terraforming facility on an unknown (and distinctly not terraformed) planet, it's up to you to find a way to survive, learn what happened to the people who lived here and why you were abandoned in this narrative-driven incremental game.
The Heilwald Loophole - The Heilwald Klinikum used to be one of the most renowned medical facilities in Germany. That all changed when that curious loophole appeared...
Terminal 81 - Thanks to the financial crisis of 2008, Lorena migrated to Terminal 81 to work, but what seemed like a simple Latin American neighborhood, it was a dangerous region dominated by a mysterious criminal organization that carries out murders, kidnappings and human trafficking.

Top Rated

Defining examples of the genre, all rated 85%+ across 1,000+ reviews.

Left 4 Dead 2 - Players say: Four survivors battle through Deep South campaigns, sharing supplies and rescuing teammates as zombie encounters shift each run. Players like: Co-op Teamwork · Dynamic Replayability · Workshop Mods ·
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Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 is a co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns.

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Nov 16, 2009
98% 👍
of 1.1M
RimWorld - Players say: Lead three crash-landed survivors as they build a colony, manage needs and defend against events shaped by an AI storyteller. Players like: Emergent Colony Stories · Replayable Runs · Extensive Mod Support ·
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A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Generates stories by simulating psychology, ecology, gunplay, melee combat, climate, biomes, diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, art, medicine, trade, and more.

Factorio - Players say: Stranded on an alien world, mine resources, research technology, automate a sprawling factory, and defend it from hostile creatures. Players like: Factory Optimization · Satisfying Automation · Problem-Solving Depth ·
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Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really like you.

Iron Snout - Players say: A stationary martial-arts pig fends off waves of armed wolves with directional attacks, dodges, combos, and their own weapons. Players like: Fast, Satisfying Combat · Catch And Throw Weapons · Cartoon Humor ·
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Iron Snout is a fast, colorful and brutal fighting game in which you will be helping a piglet fight for its life against hordes of wolves.

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Jan 27, 2016
98% 👍
of 17k
WolfQuest: Anniversary Edition - Players say: As a lone Yellowstone wolf, hunt, find a mate, defend territory, and raise pups through a life that can span generations. Players like: Realistic Wolf Life · Generational Pack Raising · Yellowstone World ·
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Live the life of a wild wolf in a realistic ecological simulation set in Yellowstone National Park.

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Jul 22, 2025
98% 👍
of 13k
Your Turn To Die -Death Game By Majority- - Players say: Trapped with ten others, Sara explores a sealed facility, solves survival trials, and votes in death games where choices alter who lives. Players like: Memorable Character Writing · Emotional Death Votes · Twisting Mystery ·
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Your Turn To Die -Death Game By Majority- is a multi-ending horror adventure game. Sara Chidouin returns home from school late one night to discover that something's gone terribly wrong. When she comes to, she finds herself, her friend Joe, and 9 other people trapped in a mysterious place.

Grimshire - Players say: As a refugee in a plague-threatened mountain village, farm and preserve food to keep its animal residents supplied and alive. Players like: Meaningful Survival Stakes · Compelling Story and Characters · Food Preservation Strategy ·
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A deadly plague threatens the village of Grimshire. Manage your farmland, forage the bounty of the wilds, prevent your harvest from rotting away and keep the root cellar full. Can you help bring the community together and survive?

Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive - Players say: As the shattered moon wrecks Earth, guide a survivor through four days of scavenging, puzzle-solving, and nightly defenses. Players like: Story and Characters · Timed Survival Prep · Replayable Scenarios ·
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Survive through four days at the end of the world in this post-apocalyptic point-and-click thriller where your choices could keep you alive... or not.

NUKITASHI 2 - Players say: A data accident sends Junnosuke and three FS leaders to a parallel world, where branching visual-novel routes unfold around a new conflict. Players like: Absurd Comedy · Character Development · Emotional Romance ·
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A new battle begins for Junnosuke—backed by the FS Big Three! “This is what it truly means for the minority to get vengeance.”

Terraria - Players say: Explore a randomly generated 2D world, mine and craft gear, build a home, and fight increasingly dangerous monsters and bosses. Players like: Deep Gear Progression · Replayable Adventures · Creative Building ·
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Dig, fight, explore, build! Nothing is impossible in this action-packed adventure game. Four Pack also available!

Subnautica - Players say: Stranded on an alien ocean, gather, craft and build your way into deeper waters while managing survival and avoiding predators. Players like: Immersive Ocean Exploration · Tense Sound And Atmosphere · Beautiful Underwater World ·
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Descend into the depths of an alien underwater world filled with wonder and peril. Craft equipment, pilot submarines and out-smart wildlife to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, cave systems, and more - all while trying to survive.

Resident Evil 4 - Players say: As agent Leon Kennedy, fight through a hostile European village to rescue the president’s daughter with careful shooting and resource management. Players like: Knife Parries and Gunplay · Tense Horror Atmosphere · Varied Encounters ·
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Survival is just the beginning. Six years have passed since the biological disaster in Raccoon City. Leon S. Kennedy, one of the survivors, tracks the president's kidnapped daughter to a secluded European village, where there is something terribly wrong with the locals.

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Mar 23, 2023
97% 👍
of 278k