I Try To Survive(al)... But I Just Can't!
I've died in many lives, so survival can't be my forte.
Some genres just never click—no matter how much you want them to. We all have one or multiple genres that we can’t ever get along with. Whether it’s a competitive shooter, a match-3 puzzle game, or a map game, like Hearts of Iron, you discover plenty of colors within their landscape, some of which won’t be your favorite. But for me, the genre that never stuck with me is survival games.
I’ve given them multiple shots throughout multiple years through multiple titles. The last game of its kind that I enjoyed was Minecraft, and I was around 12 years old. No, wait, it was Unturned. Still, there’s just something about this genre that doesn’t latch onto me. For me, a survival game has these key aspects:
Crafting: Harvesting, collecting, and expending resources is satisfying, especially in these types of games. The progression from a wooden axe to some rare mineral axes is feels rewarding because you can see your efforts paying off, as you become stronger and more efficient.
Building: If you can imagine it, and the game has the tools for it, you can make it true. Building a fortified base covered in spikes or making a simple cottage with a porch. These games usually give the player tools and the possibility to create their dream base.
Surviving: Manage your hunger, thirst, heat, bladder, avoid diseases, and many other day-to-day necessities that are easy to manage today, but not in the game. Progression usually makes it easier to manage, which gives that accomplishment feeling.
Exploration: The world is your oyster! And you’re going to have to crack it open to be able to craft, build, and survive.
What’s crazy is that all these elements by themselves are amazing to me, and I’ve played plenty of games that have these elements.
I’ve enjoyed building my house in The Sims, my floating home in Raft, and my empire in Schedule 1.
I’ve spent multiple hours crafting gear or gathering resources to sell in WoW and RuneScape.
I’ve managed my battery life in Outlast and my sanity in Darkest Dungeon to survive.
And who doesn’t enjoy some non-linear exploration from time to time, although I do want a straight line to tread sometimes.
But if you do like these types of games, then maybe these games would suit you. After all, just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean I’ll knock it.
Necesse
I stumbled upon Necesse when I was looking into Dwarf Factory and Rimworld, which is a story in itself, and I was drawn not only by its style, hecticness, and survival mechanics, but by its settlement system. You create your city, get people to produce resources, join you on expeditions, and it’s basically like you were playing with people. You can also play with people, but what if you don’t have friends? Then this may be it.
Raft
A good friend of mine is a big survival games fan, and he convinced me to play Raft with him. That was easy to do, thanks to its art style and its concept. While many survival games have you on dangerous ground, Raft has you floating around a sunken world.
Of course, you can get off the raft, discover abandoned cities, and explore islands, but look how nice you can get your raft? Just be sure to poke those pesky sharks away.
Solarpunk
After playing the demo of Solarpunk, I can say that it is a survival game I have my eye on. Besides its very warm and cozy visuals, there’s nothing to stress about in this game. And getting on your airship to explore other islands seems so cool. Trust me, my three-story house I built was pretty and did not have an odd porch hanging from the side.
Project Zomboid
If you ever thought you could survive a zombie apocalypse, then Project Zomboid could prove you wrong. Loot houses or establishments, find the best area to build your fortress, and await your end, because no one is coming to save you. Figure out how to survive without electricity in the wintertime, how to harvest food, and how to stave off the undead. A realistic take that answers the question of how long you could survive the zombie apocalypse?
For me, not even a week. This game is hard and requires a lot of patience—at least for me—to get the hang of. But I’ve seen so many cool videos online that I always think about giving it another try.
Sons Of The Forest
I like horror; it’s something I thoroughly enjoy. The idea of a survival game, where you are stranded on an island filled with cannibals and grotesque horrors in the caves, sounds pretty cool. Sons Of The Forest is a game that I bought and played at launch, yet I haven’t touched it again. I was a fan of the helper system, where you have a guy that will help you gather resources, the game looks great and scary, and the fighting was tense.
Like Project Zomboid, I wouldn’t mind jumping back into this game to give it another shot.
Grounded
In Grounded, you are a kid who has been shrunk to the size of an insect in a backyard. Who in their right mind would not find this concept and idea charming and fun? Fight off ants and spiders, create equipment out of bugs, build bases with leaves and mushrooms, and discover the sci-fi secrets because someone created the tech that shrunk you, and that someone must be the person who left those labs behind.
The same friend who got me to buy Raft also got me to buy Grounded. It was enjoyable for the time and makes for a great game with friends.
Abiotic Factor
I remember watching an interview where the developer said that he wasn’t a fan of survival games. His solution? He made his own, one that he would enjoy. Abiotic Factor seemed like the solution to my survival game rejection. The humor, the art style, and the story of being nerds in an overrun facility, and breaking office furniture to build beds, armor, and weapons.
Even as I enjoyed this game, I ultimately dropped it to feed my other addiction—competitive games. I still think about this game. I really do. Forgive me two other people whom I convinced to purchase this game.
Dune: Awakening
I’ve never watched the movies, read the books, and know much of the story. All I know is that there is a giant worm, and everyone wears gray. But as soon as this game came out, and a little bit before its release, all I saw were positive comments, which led me to watch videos.
The story looks hype, the environment and atmosphere look hype, the combat looks hype, and the building looks hype. The game just looks hype. But the sheer size of it makes me think that it would have to become my main game for me to truly enjoy it. I’ve heard people call it an MMO, and I just settled on FF14, so I don’t know.
Did I Make It Out?
To say that I will never play another survival game would be to lie to you. I’m drawn to the concept of building your base, decorating it, and fighting off hordes; it’s just weird that I can’t stick to any. But you never know, maybe Dune could be the one. Oh no, here I go again.
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The only survival game I've put a lot of hours into is Valheim, and even that, I've mostly enjoyed because it feels like an activity I've done with friends.
My husband and I put together a server with our old college friends back in 2021 when the pandemic still had a lot of people stuck isolated at home, and it's impossible for me to separate the role that getting to play the game with them played in real-world-survival in a tough time.
I've found that overall, survival games are too open-ended for me to enjoy them for a long time unless there's that social aspect (Valheim basically ended up as the thing we did "hanging out" together on video calls despite being stretched out across several time zones). Without that, I prefer games with more specific goals or plotlines or I feel restless.
While playing with the group, I had the sort of dedicated role of map-explorer. On my own, it would have felt like aimless wandering, but with the group, it felt like scouting ahead to help the group find new, interesting areas for building or resource-gathering, so it felt like a more dedicated/focused role and kept me enjoying it for far longer than I would have otherwise.
We share similar sentiments when it comes to survival games. I like them in theory, but I'm also too impatient for them. But that does not mean that I have to turn a blind eye to it!
I've had my eye on Solarpunk for quite some time now. I've always loved the concept of Solarpunk. So when I saw the game, I immediately wishlisted it. I haven't played the demo yet, but I'm looking forward to its release.
I tried out Grounded with friends, but we didn't get to the groove of it for some reason. It has a cool concept and a well made game, so maybe we weren't in the mood that day. Also, my friends teased me for scaling down the Arachnophobia mode lol. What can I say, I have nothing against spiders but seeing them that big would creep me out.
We played The Survivalists (fitting name, huh?) and it was a pretty fun time, so I can recommend you that one. I apparently have 14.5 hours on record for that game. It's a silly little game that we enjoyed.