The Best Survival Games on PC (2024) survive the wild (2025)

Survival games have experienced a tremendous surge in popularity in recent years, evident by the multitude of titles dominating the Steam charts. There are many different kinds of games in this set, from basic survival horror to hard survival simulations. We made a list of the best survival games on PC to help people who feel confused by the number of options. Whether you want stories that change as you play or adventures that you didn’t expect, our list will help you find the right game.

If you’re determined enough to beat scary games like The Long Dark or the awe-inspiring depths of Subnautica, our suggestions will lead you to the most exciting PC games that make you fight for your life. Whether you like games about surviving the horrors of war or the new genre of games about managing hunger and disease, you should be ready for a lot of hard work and fight in these interesting survival games.

Best Survival Games on PC Comparison Table

Don’t Starve

Having to do it all by yourself is the scariest part of the thought of real survival. That’s what you have to do in Don’t Starve, which is a completely solo experience. The scary idea of having to survive on your own in the wild is made less scary by the beautiful Tim Burton-style 2D art and the strange creatures that live in this sepia-toned world. Werepigs, Beargers, Deerclopses, and a lot of other strange monsters are out there trying to make your life hard.

In Don’t Starve, making is a big part of your life, and just like in other crafting games, you spend a lot of time gathering raw materials. But instead of making houses like in Rust and Minecraft, this small game is all about making tools and other things. Before old wonders and the art of magic take over, the Science Machine and Alchemy Engine will become your best friends.

State Of Decay 2

In his assessment of State of Decay 2 the Best Survival Games on PC, Brendy states that he believes it to be an ever-expanding to-do list, which is a perfect description of what it actually is. But hey, if you don’t mind that, then you and your friends may have a great time playing this game together as you defend yourselves from flesh-eating monsters coming from all directions.

Hayden believes that the game’s usage of permadeath not only makes it the story of survival, but also the story of community, as repetitive activities frequently lead to interactions that have the potential to lead to the most memorable encounters.

Ark: Survival Evolved

Ark: Survival Evolved’s Best Survival Games on PC is how you slowly go from being a broke cave dweller to a legendary dinosaur tamer. If you like dinosaurs, this game has a lot to offer you. Eventually, you’ll be able to ride them and use them like combine harvesters. And if you like the classic first-person survival games, there’s a lot to like here as well.

Expect to spend a lot of time gathering fibers and fur to make boots and maybe a spear to defend yourself or your friends from other players. There are also a huge number of changes and add-ons for the game, so you shouldn’t run out of things to do. David Tennant is in it the last time I checked.

Valheim

It didn’t take the Early Access co-op Viking survival game long to start attracting players, and it’s not hard to understand why. The game features a large area that is generated randomly, challenging boss battles, and fantastic base-building mechanisms, all of which integrate nicely with survival components such as crafting and cooking.

The game is enjoyable when played solo, but it really comes into its own when played with other people in cooperative mode. Players may keep themselves occupied by building bases or venturing out on daring excursions over the ocean to discover terrifying new worlds.

Subnautica

Discover a strange new world beneath the ocean’s surface as you navigate a hand-built submarine over uncharted terrain below the water’s surface. You will have to collect resources and food, construct shelters and a fleet of submarines, and develop new technology in order to make it through the treacherous depths of the ocean.

Beautiful coral reefs and deep-sea caves and trenches are some of the environments you will explore. It’s difficult to avoid drawing comparisons to Minecraft, but the developer, Unknown Worlds, has put their own distinctive spin on the survival genre.

NEO Scavenger

Your relationship with NEO Scavenger the Best Survival Games on PC is binary. It’s either addicting or boring due to its outdated aesthetics, dense writing, and harsh difficulty. After adding personality attributes, your character awakens in a cryo-tube almost naked. Government and humanity won’t help. In post-apocalyptic Michigan, everyone’s desperate.

This game is brutal because you’ll have to kill for a T-shirt, shoes, or human flesh. Though frustrating, permadeath forces you to learn from your mistakes. Keep exploring different attributes and play styles.

Conan Exiles

In Conan Exiles Best Survival Games on PC, the player takes on the part of an outcast who has been sentenced to wander the dangerous and wild wasteland. The story doesn’t play a big role in the game. But you will be able to find out about the stories hidden in old books and ruins.

In the style of a survival game, you’ll travel through a big, open world. You will see savannahs, deserts, and mountains. You start with nothing, so you have to make your first, weak tools. But as you get better, you can build more complex tools and even houses. Aggressive animals and bandits will try to kill you, but you will have a lot of tools to fight back with.

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Carmelia Derby

Compsmag's Technology Editor, based in New York City, Carmelia Derby has been with the publication for a number of years. She discusses her thoughts on the most recent consumer electronics and offers pointers on how to get the most out of them. When Carmelia isn't obsessing over the next best thing, she's typically fuming about how the Los Angeles Lakers have failed to live up to her expectations.

Robert Barnes

Robert Barnes is a contributor to the Mobile section of Compsmag. His primary focus and area of expertise are investigating the more peculiar aspects of various smartphone designs, ranging from minuscule rugged phones to humongous gaming phones. Most of the time, you'll find him looking for leaks and rumors about new apps and devices that are about to be released for Android and iOS.