Best Survival Games on Steam
Games about staying alive through scarcity, threats, crafting, and risk.
Browse all Survival →
1Terraria
- 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!
May 16, 2011
In this game, you can…
- kill one world-changing boss and watch new biomes appear, new ores rise up, and the whole map turn into a deadlier version of itself.
- hunt down specific triggers to summon absurd bosses, like catching a rare worm just to call up a sea monster that can wipe you.
- fight a boss rush that starts with a cult leader, escalates into world-invading pillars, and ends with a final boss dropping in immediately after the last pillar falls.
- build a tiny shelter before night, then hold out until dawn against monsters that suddenly flood the surface.
- dig so deep you stumble into giant underground landmarks like beehives, buried pyramids, and hidden mushroom biomes.
- build a custom arena with platforms and buffs, then use it to fight bosses on your own terms instead of wherever you happen to meet them.
- build a hotel-like tower of houses to attract dozens of NPC residents, then watch them move in and sell new gear and services.
2Left 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.
Nov 16, 2009
In this game, you can…
- play as the infected in multiplayer, coordinating ambushes and hunting your friends as special monsters.
- have a giant brute show up mid-fight and start throwing cars at you in the middle of your escape route.
- run the same campaign twice and get different enemy spawns, item placement, lighting, and even weather, changing every fight and route.
- rip through a crowd with a chainsaw, then swap to a frying pan and keep clearing zombies up close.
- get grabbed by a long tongue and dragged around a corner while your team has to sprint after you.
- startle a crying witch, and she instantly mauls the nearest survivor.
- get vomited on, and it immediately calls a horde straight onto your whole team.
- race to fill a generator with gas cans while the other team tries to stop you, turning the match into a frantic objective sprint.
3Among Us
- Players say: Crewmates race to finish spaceship tasks while hidden Impostors sabotage the ship, kill in secret, and evade votes. Players like: Friend-Group Fun · Bluffing and Deduction · Easy to Learn
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An online and local party game of teamwork and betrayal for 4-15 players...in space!
Nov 16, 2018
In this game, you can…
- crawl through vents and pop out somewhere unexpected.
- kill someone, then report the body yourself and lead the investigation away from you.
- get killed or voted out and still keep doing tasks to help your team win from beyond the grave.
- find a body, report it, and instantly drag everyone into a meeting to reconstruct who was where.
- lock doors to trap someone in a room, cut off their escape, and kill them in private.
- trigger an oxygen or reactor emergency that forces everyone to sprint to fixes while you pick off someone separated from the group.
- pretend to do tasks while everyone watches the task bar for proof you're actually helping.
- watch security cameras or the admin map to spot suspicious movement without being in the room.
4The Forest
- Players say: After a plane crash, search for your missing son while crafting shelter, exploring caves, and surviving cannibal mutants. Players like: Base Building · Co-op Chaos · Cave Exploration
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As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.
Apr 30, 2018
In this game, you can…
- get knocked out, dragged through the forest, and wake up trapped in a cave you have to escape.
- watch cannibals scout your camp, retreat to call reinforcements, and come back as a coordinated raiding party.
- fight off a base siege where mutants smash your walls and one rips up a whole tree to use as a weapon.
- wake up after a plane crash and hunt for your kidnapped son by following clues through caves, boats, and survivor camps.
- build treehouses, cliff forts, and spiked walls, then have a falling tree smash your own structure to pieces.
- craft gear by gluing teeth to your axe, wearing bones as armor, and turning skulls and bodies into lamps and defenses.
- creep through pitch-black caves, squeeze through flooded passages, and surface missing gear with enemies still hunting you.
- turn the crash site into a long-term fortress, or build rafts and dock houses into a whole river-and-coast base network.
5Unturned
- Players say: Scavenge a zombie-overrun world, craft gear and shelter, and try to survive alone or with others in co-op and PvP. Players like: Nostalgic Memories · Playing With Friends · Open-Ended Survival
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Unturned is an open-world zombie survival sandbox game. As one of the few not yet turned, you must fight to remain among the living.
Jul 7, 2017
In this game, you can…
- arrest other players with handcuffs and blindfolds instead of killing them, then stage prisoner captures on roleplay servers.
- find a tank, stock ammo for it, and use it to raid other players' bases.
- pose as a killed player, talk your way into their squad, ride in their truck, then shoot the front seats and take everything.
- build a silenced, scoped marksman gun from junk parts, including duct-tape optics and a campfire-made muffler.
- shoot out of vehicles, cram friends into a truck, and do drive-bys as a rolling squad platform.
- fortify rooftops and hillside bases with barricades and traps, or even build on a vehicle to make a moving fortress.
- recruit a beach full of kids into your crew, make yourself the leader, and roll up on bases as a growing mob.
- explore huge maps for hidden bunkers, military zones, and radioactive deadzones, then hop into custom workshop maps built for totally different modes.
6Valheim
- Players say: In a procedurally generated Viking afterlife, gather, craft, build, sail, and defeat biome bosses alone or with friends. Players like: Creative Base Building · Co-op Adventures · Atmospheric Exploration
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A collaborative exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally generated afterlife inspired by Viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage!
Sep 9, 2026
In this game, you can…
- build a house with a fireplace and die if you forget ventilation.
- drag a cart full of ore across the wilderness, then end up building roads and supply routes to get it home.
- ship ore and even livestock across islands by building docks and running maritime trade routes.
- hunt sea serpents on purpose at night for food.
- watch enemies from different regions start fighting each other while you just stand back.
- build with structural support so big halls and towers need real beams, not just stacked walls.
- sail in a night storm, guide a friend's ship to port by torchlight, then sprint to the walls when a raid warning hits.
- tear down a bad build and get all the materials back, so you can rebuild freely.
7Don't Starve Together
- Players say: Gather, craft, and build in a strange wilderness, balancing food, sanity, and seasonal threats to survive alone or with friends. Players like: Co-op Survival Stories · Distinctive Hand-Drawn Art · Replayable Survival Loop
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Fight, Farm, Build and Explore Together in the standalone multiplayer expansion to the uncompromising wilderness survival game, Don't Starve.
Apr 21, 2016
In this game, you can…
- get turned into a ghost when you die, then haunt specific items to resurrect yourself back into your body.
- steal a giant bird egg, keep it from overheating by the fire, and hatch it into a baby that follows you around.
- discover a friendly pig village, use it as a safe base, and then watch the pigs turn into werepigs later.
- turn a tiny camp into a real settlement with farms, spider dens, bee hives, and even a beefalo herd.
- build a trap-filled room just to protect a stolen egg from spiders until it finally hatches.
- bring friends back from death with things like a heart, an amulet, a touch stone, or the starting portal.
- watch a one-eyed giant arrive in winter with ground-shaking footsteps, smash your camp, and force you to survive in the dark.
8Dying Light
- Players say: Trapped in zombie-stricken Harran, an agent races across rooftops, scavenges supplies, crafts weapons, and faces deadly nights. Players like: Fluid Rooftop Parkour · Tense Night Chases · Satisfying Melee Combat
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First-person action survival game set in a post-apocalyptic open world overrun by flesh-hungry zombies. Roam a city devastated by a mysterious virus epidemic. Scavenge for supplies, craft weapons, and face hordes of the infected.
Jan 26, 2015
In this game, you can…
- swing across the skyline with a grappling hook that opens up entirely new routes.
- outrun night hunters, flash an ultraviolet light to buy seconds, then hide in a pipe until the chase ends.
- dropkick enemies off rooftops so they ragdoll down six-story drops.
- chain parkour into kills by vaulting a zombie and instantly drop-attacking for a finisher.
- turn the city into a weapon by luring zombies into spikes, fires, and exploding barrels.
- risk going out at night for bigger rewards, then sprint safehouse-to-safehouse when the world flips into hunt mode.
- craft melee weapons with elemental effects that set zombies on fire or shock them on hit.
- join a friend in co-op and race rooftops together, turning escapes into shared, chaotic near-misses.
9Palworld
- Players say: Capture versatile Pals, survive an open world, and build a base where your creatures fight, farm, craft, and automate. Players like: Rewarding Exploration · Base Automation · Useful Pals
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Fight, farm, build and work alongside mysterious creatures called "Pals" in this completely new multiplayer, open world survival and crafting game!
Jul 9, 2026
In this game, you can…
- hand a sheep a rocket launcher and let it wipe out a bandit camp for you.
- lasso a fire-breathing duck and hook it up to your base generator for electricity.
- put cute creatures on an assembly line to mine ore and mass-produce ammo around the clock.
- craft guns after starting out with nothing on a beach.
- catch creatures, then assign them to fight, mount, and work at your base before everyone eats and sleeps together.
- use your creatures to run your whole base: smelt, harvest, haul, build structures, and keep production going as long as they're fed.
- ride creatures across land, sea, and sky to reach places you can't access on foot.
- enter a boss portal that tells you what's inside, kill or capture the boss, and bring it home in a loot explosion.
10Project Zomboid
- Players say: In a zombie-overrun Kentucky sandbox, create a survivor, scavenge and fortify a home, manage daily needs, and try to outlast the horde. Players like: Emergent Survival Stories · Detailed Survival Systems · Tense Atmosphere
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Project Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customisable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..
Nov 8, 2013
In this game, you can…
- look down from a skyscraper roof at thousands of zombies swarming below, then get trapped inside and survive by rationing food.
- trade Sonic fan fiction for gasoline in multiplayer, then crash the car and die four minutes later.
- kill your bitten friend after he turns into a zombie, using a frying pan on the side of a highway.
- load a car with supplies, drive out for a VHS-store run, and find a pristine video store packed with tapes after clearing the street.
- press one wrong key, accidentally shout, and pull the whole neighborhood into your base like a siren.
- turn a lumber mill into a fortified co-op settlement with roof crops and water projects, then lose it to a kitchen fire and a converging horde.
- loot a gun store, get chased deeper into the city by a helicopter, fight from a rooftop until the door breaks, then jump off and keep going on a shattered leg.
- level skills by doing physical work like dismantling furniture and electronics, stripping car parts, and even practicing first aid by bandaging your own injuries.
