Summary
Over the years, a player’s resilience has been tested through various survival games that have put a gamer to their limits on what they would do in the hope of living. While manysurvival games are quite straightforward, with mechanics that force the player to eat when they get hungry or hide away from the cold, others have thought of many more engaging mechanics.
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These survival games go a step beyond the basics of what makes up the genre to create a title that players are likely to fall in love with due to how in-depth its survival mechanics are. Therefore, these are by far the best video games with the most engaging survival mechanics for players.
8Don’t Starve – Stay Out of the Dark
Besides its incredible and eerie art style,Don’t Starveis an exciting video game that engages players through its unusual survival mechanics. WhileDon’t Starvehas the typical mechanics that require a player to eat regularly and a temperature gauge that only becomes important in the Winter, something it does differently is the dangers of the dark.
Players have the whole day to explore, but as the sunlight begins to dwindle, it’s essential for the player to have some sort of light source. Being in the darkness will outright kill the player as they get attacked by something they can’t see. A diminishing light will also cause theplayer to lose sanity, which also has its own dangers.
7Raft – Stranded at Sea
Simply being stranded at sea can be engaging, especially when players have to stay afloat in the indie gameRaft. While the main survival mechanics are eating and drinking once again, players must consider their mode of transportacross the oceanif they hope to stay alive.
Occasionally, a shark will come along that attempts to break away a part of the player’s raft, and therefore one of the main aspects ofRaftis protecting against these dangers. As the player expands their raft and unlocks different equipment, the number of things that are needed to survive will become greater as players may need to create fuel to power their rafts' engines.
6ARK: Survival Evolved – Surviving with Dinosaurs
ARKis another interesting video game that has engaged players with its various survival mechanics. Compared to other games in the genre, its survival aspects are simple to understand though they can remain a challenge as players search for clean water and food to consume.
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The challenge entersARK: Survival Evolvedwhen players must encounter or defend against the various dinosaurs that also roam the surrounding land. Players can get injured from these dinosaur encounters, which causes the player to look for ways to heal themselves if they hope to continue surviving.
5Project Zomboid – Pixel Sickness
Zombie games have been combined with plenty of other genres, with one of the most seen besides a first-person shooter being survival titles. This has led to some incredibly engaging gameplay where players not only have to look after their own needs but also avoid the hordes that lurk in every building and across every street.
Project Zomboidisn’t for the faint of heart, as besides the usual hunger, thirst, and sleep mechanics, there is a variety of other things a player must engage with too. While some games allow the player to be miraculously immune to zombies,Project Zomboidhas players tending to their injuries andavoiding bitesif they hope to survive.
4Green Hell – The Wild Hurts
Green Hellis one of the most authentic survival experiences that attempts to have many of its mechanics based in reality. Once again, a player must eat and drink to survive, though this goes a step further with a focus on getting certain nutrients such as fats or carbohydrates to improve the player’s condition.
Eating certain foods may cause the player to have food poisoning or parasites; part of the engagement in Green Hell is finding ways to deal with this, such as finding other foods like mushrooms or certain fruits. Other than this, players will also need to deal with all sorts of wounds they may receive from the dangers of the rainforest.
37 Days To Die – Realistic Survival with a Zombie Twist
LikeProject Zomboid,7 Days to Dieis anotherzombie survival titlewhere players must use everything in their power to stay alive and avoid the undead. This engages players through finding food and water and the necessary healing items needed for when they eventually find themselves cornered by zombies.
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As the name suggests, players will watch the days tick by, and although they can survive longer than the main seven days, the longer the game goes on, the more challenging surviving becomes. With plenty of biomes to explore too, temperature also plays a crucial role as getting colder will jeopardize the player’s health.
2Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey – A Blast From the Past
A large part ofAncestors: The Humankind Odysseyis the power of evolution and learning new things through discovery. Players may start the game feeling defenseless and unknowing of how to survive, but through trial and error, their decedents will feel stronger.
With the need for food and water, players will be testing anything edible they find to discover if it’s safe to eat or if it’s poison; yes, it may jeopardize the health of theplayer’s current ancestor, but it’s knowledge for the future. With no modern-day medicines or bandages, players will have to uncover different ways to deal with injuries if they hope to survive.
1The Forest – Surviving Against People and the Elements
The Forestis not only an unbelievable survival game, but it also has aplethora of engaging survival mechanics. Starting with the most basic survival mechanics, a player will need to find food and water to keep themselves alive; besides this, there are other mechanics that players will need to be aware of and manage if they hope to finally find their son inThe Forest.
These include but aren’t limited to armor that protects against the elements, managing the player’s sanity, and avoiding sickness or infections. On top of a player looking after themselves, they will also need to make sure that they have a suitable base to defend themselves against the various cannibals and mutants that hope to show the player they aren’t welcome.
