The 20 toughest survival games

The game may seem adorable, but don’t be fooled. Players find themselves battling hunger, madness, and creatures that will stop at nothing to ruin the poor campers. When night falls and you’re completely unprepared, you realize just how cruel this game can be.

Here, nature shows no mercy. It is quiet, desolate, and does not lie to you. Most of the time, you have to fight against the cold, hunger, and fatigue. Make one wrong choice and your mistakes will pile up against you.

To survive in the Amazon rainforest, you have to think about much more than your next meal and building a fire. Injuries, parasites, and psychological stress all play a role in your survival. You feel like your environment is out to get you, which keeps you on your toes throughout the game.

Swimming in the vastness of the ocean is fun, until you discover how deep it is. The oxygen level, equipment manufacturing, and not getting eaten by a gigantic sea monster force you to think constantly. You always feel like something huge could kill you at any moment here.

Survival is handled at a realistic pace, unlike some explosive action games. Zombies lurk around every corner, but boredom, illness, and bad habits can kill you just as easily. When the inevitable happens, you’ll probably feel like you deserved it.

You can’t trust anyone, and at any moment, someone may decide to eliminate you. When playing DayZ, you’ll spend hours searching for items, only to die in a matter of seconds. It’s this feeling of terror that makes the game so addictive.

The most significant threats come from other players attempting to do the same thing as you. In addition to simply surviving, you must be concerned with protecting all your hard work. Logging out does not guarantee that your base will still be there when you log back in.

Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? Wait until a pack is chasing you while you’re running away in your underwear and starving. Gathering resources, taming dinosaurs, and building a base takes a lot of effort. This world will make you feel small, no matter how big you are.

Rather than playing heroes, you play the role of civilians trying to survive another day. While survival is essential, you are faced with moral dilemmas that influence your decisions. Your choices will haunt you long after you stop playing.

How far will you go to ensure the survival of your city? From heat to food, to preventing a revolt among your people, your management skills will be pushed to their limits. Once the cold sets in, it’s only a matter of time before you start making sacrifices.

Managing an underground colony should be fairly straightforward. Until your life support systems start failing. Oxygen Not Included will teach you that the hard way.

Navigate the Viking-inspired world of Norway at your own risk. Exploration seems peaceful until you are ambushed by something big. There is a lot of work involved, but perseverance is rewarding. Don’t get caught by dragons or bulls, they are not easy to defeat.

You should never have gotten lost at sea. Everything becomes a precious resource that you don’t want to lose. You’ll find yourself having to strike a balance between expanding your raft and staying alive. Even when you relax, you never feel 100% safe.

If Minecraft were brutal, it would be Conan Exiles. Fight to survive famine, enemies, and environmental hazards. Power grows at a rapid pace, and you never feel truly safe.

Want to know your character’s metabolic rate? SCUM has you covered. You monitor your calorie intake, water consumption, and even your body temperature. Sometimes, survival is simply a matter of not letting thirst end your run.

You can think of every foray into the dark world of Tarkov as a gamble in Las Vegas. Every time you enter, you risk everything—your equipment and even your progress. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, because there’s no guarantee you’ll come out alive.

Let yourself be haunted by the simplest animations. Darkwood will make you wonder if you made the right decisions. The night is scary for a reason, and every resource is precious.

A survival game mixed with a fantasy story set in our post-apocalyptic world. Although they are not as scarce as food, ammunition, heat, and chemicals are of great importance. You never feel truly safe until you have passed the warning sign for the next zone.

Being stranded on a life raft among beautiful islands doesn’t seem so bad. Except when reality hits, it’s a whole different story. Gathering resources can be tedious, but rewarding when you create something new. Plus, you get to continue exploring the vast ocean you’re trapped in.

Don’t be fooled by a planet’s peaceful appearance. Weather conditions, animals, and bandits will quickly drain your health if you’re not careful. Exploration is always rewarding, as surviving on each planet is an accomplishment in itself.