4 games · updated May 2026

Best survival games

Scarcity, consequence, and other players who want your stuff.

Survival games work because loss is real. Time spent gathering is time you can lose, and that is what gives an ordinary resource run its tension. The online ones add the sharpest variable there is: someone else who has also been gathering, and who has done the maths on whether you are worth the ammunition.

Expect the harshest entries on this site. Also expect the stories, no genre generates them at the same rate.

What to expect

Full-loot PvP in several entries. Read the rules before you build a base.
Server wipes on a schedule, progress is seasonal by design.
A steep, unapologetic first few hours.

Start here

Where to begin with survival games

The entries we would hand someone new to the genre.

Sandbox

Minecraft

A block, a world, and fifteen years of people finding out what that means.

9.2/10

The ranking

All 4 survival games

Ordered by our editors' score across the whole library, so positions here match the main ranking.

Minecraft
9.2/10
Sandbox survivalPCMobileConsoleBuy to play2011
Place blocks, break blocks, survive the night. The most-played game ever made, and still the best multiplayer sandbox.
SandboxSurvivalMultiplayer
Terraria
8.7/10
Sandbox adventurePCMobileConsoleBuy to play2011
A side-on sandbox with the crafting depth of a survival game and the boss design of an action game. Eight-player co-op.
SandboxSurvivalAdventure
Rust
8.5/10
Survival sandboxPCConsoleBuy to play2018
A full-loot survival sandbox where the real threat is never the environment. Base building, raiding, and monthly wipes.
SurvivalSandboxMultiplayer
Albion Online
8.2/10
Sandbox MMORPGPCMobileFree to play2017
A classless sandbox MMO where the gear you lose was made by someone.