After the release of DayZ, the gaming industry was swept by a wave of Survival genre games. Many of them forever stuck in early access, turning out to be uninspired clones. However, among the sea of sameness, there are games that stand out for their style or gameplay mechanics.
Many have forgotten that originally DayZ was a mod for ArmA 2—however, it turned out to be so notable that it evolved into a standalone project. Developer Dean Hall introduced a post-apocalyptic world that fell under the onslaught of zombies. Nonetheless, the main danger for the survivor comes not from the walking dead, but from other people, ready to kill for a can of food.
Interestingly, the game still has plenty of problems, and the amount at launch was downright shocking. Gamers complained about the technical state, balance issues, and unpolished mechanics—however, even behind a pile of flaws, a huge potential was visible.
Essentially, it's a typical survival game where you need to move forward, look for better equipment, take care of your character, and heal injuries that can be acquired even from falling off a low ladder. However, threats are everywhere so much so that gamers trembled at every rustle and tried not to make noise. After all, if you died, everything started over—there were no saves or respawns in DayZ.
In the end, few other games made one so nervous and immersed deeply into the post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Gamers loved DayZ for this and overlooked its problems.
Icarus—another game from DayZ creator Dean Hall. The story tells of a distant future where humanity attempted to terraform the planet Icarus but faced a fiasco. There is water, trees, and animals, but the air is poisoned and not suitable for humans. However, valuable resources were found on Icarus, for the extraction of which corporations send various daredevils. You are one of them.
Overall, Icarus is a typical survival game. The player needs to gather spears from sticks and stones, warm up by the fire, feed the hero meat, kill wolves and bears, and build structures where they can survive a storm or rest until morning. Noteworthy features include a skill upgrade system that gradually makes the hero stronger and braver, as well as a story campaign.
The corporation sends the hero to Icarus for important missions. The bosses order to explore the distant part of the map, install reconnaissance equipment, extract valuable resources, and much more. After that, the most valuable goods can be placed in a capsule and flown into orbit. Meanwhile, when you return to the planet for the next quest, you have to start from scratch.
Icarus turned out to be a decent survival game, however, it deserves criticism for the lack of fresh ideas, poor optimization, and an underdeveloped setting where people of the future run around the planet with bows and clubs. Nevertheless, fans of the genre are unlikely to be disappointed.
Valheim was developed by a modest team of five people. Surprisingly, their efforts were enough to create one of the main hits of 2021. The game led the Steam charts for many months, gathered a peak of 500,000 gamers, and earned 95 percent positive reviews.
Being in the world of Valheim is pleasant. Technically, the environment is simple, but the artists have done an excellent job with the design and biomes, making visuals one of the main strengths of the game.
The situation with other mechanics is similar. There aren't that many combat moves, but slashing skeletons and other nefarious creatures is engaging. The building mechanic is typical, but due to cool physics, constructing houses is fun. Chopping trees is a usual task, but when they realistically fall and crush the hero to death, it's surprising.
Moreover, Valheim has a storyline where a brave warrior must help Odin defeat mighty creatures. The story is simple but adds meaningfulness to the gameplay.
Another advantage of the hit is its cooperative play. You can slash through Valheim with up to ten people — in such a format, fulfilling Odin's will is even more fun.
Pathologic 2 is a remake of the cult game «Mor. Utopia» by the Russian studio Ice-Pick Lodge. The developers describe the project as a «survival simulator in the conditions of an epidemic.» The situation in the infected Town-on-Gorkhon is so grim that surviving or at least maintaining humanity will be extremely difficult.
Perhaps, humanity itself has become the main theme of the game. The hero will constantly have to maneuver between saving the townspeople and taking care of their own skin. Sometimes, theft or even murder will become the only way to survive another day. After all, dying is not an option — in that case, the infection will definitely consume the town.
Moreover, the hero and others have plenty of other problems. His father and another important townsman have mysteriously died, and the residents suspect that you are to blame. Plus, some devilry is happening in the town, and key characters clearly harbor terrible secrets. Unraveling the mysteries will not be easy.
Pathologic 2 is difficult to recommend to everyone. The game has a very specific atmosphere, the survival mechanics are very hardcore, and a significant part of the gameplay involves running around the city. However, if you immerse yourself in the spirit of the game, it will provide unforgettable emotions.
In Stranded Deep, the hero survives a plane crash and finds themselves on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Don't wait for help — it's better not to waste time and start getting settled. If you hesitate, the hero will be overtaken by hunger, thirst, or sunstroke.
The poor thing has many tasks. Build a farm capable of providing food. Gain control over other islands where valuable resources are scattered. Create a luxurious raft for comfortable exploration of the ocean. Acquire weapons to fight sharks, snakes, and other fauna. In general, the amount of trouble is endless.
It's easy to get hooked on Beam Team Games' creation for a long time. The game features mighty bosses, a map editor, countless islands, cooperative mode, and so on. If you're looking for a worthy survival game with an abundance of mechanics, take a closer look at Stranded Deep.
Raft is another survival game about islands and the endless ocean. However, unlike Stranded Deep which at least tries to be realistic, in Raft you can find an island with a robot butler. This robot constantly zaps the hero with electricity and demands them to calm down.
Nonetheless, the heroes face traditional problems as well. A man-eating shark swims near the shore, there's a constant lack of resources for crafting, and food supplies are dwindling — they can be replenished, for example, by underwater hunting.
There's plenty to do in Raft, and the developers regularly add new content. Probably, gamers have forgotten that there hasn't been a full release yet. The game has been in early access for 4 years, but this fact hardly seems to bother anyone.
Breathedge is a space survival game developed by the Russian studio RedRuins Softworks. The story is about a Man who is transporting his grandfather's mortal remains to a funeral, but his plans are disrupted by a crash. Now, the Man must survive in conditions with limited oxygen and other resources.
The main feature of Breathedge is its humor. For instance, the hero is assisted by an immortal chicken, deceased hamsters, Russian folk songs about beards, and a quirky AI. Of course, not all jokes hit the mark, but sometimes they are spot on and make you laugh out loud.
Plus, the authors filled the game with a huge number of references. On the abandoned station, you can easily encounter the Alien, move through space on the «Normandy,» and among the debris, you can find a Tomb Raider cartridge where the charming Lara is replaced by a bearded man.
Otherwise, gamers will engage in standard genre activities. Monitor resources and parameters like hunger and oxygen levels. Gather materials to establish a base. Craft equipment that helps explore space more effectively. The mechanics are well-implemented.
Alas, the developers did not have the strength to make the entire game great. Towards the end, the humor becomes stale, the gameplay tiresome, and the spirit of exploration and survival fades. However, all this does not prevent Breathedge from leaving a pleasant impression.
In the world of Project Zomboid, a zombie apocalypse is about to unfold. Humanity has yet to realize what has happened, and homes still have water and electricity. However, the walking dead have already taken over one city and are preparing to wipe all humans off the face of the earth. Unfortunately, the hero finds himself right in the epicenter of events — he will try to survive as long as he can, but a grim fate is inevitable for him.
The developers aptly describe Project Zomboid as «a story of your death.» The game is filled with hardcore mechanics, and the difficulty keeps increasing.
To open a can, you need a special can opener. Food will spoil quickly if not stored in a refrigerator. If you plan to rest, don't forget to make curtains and cover the windows; otherwise, zombies will notice the sleeping unfortunate and devour him. There are plenty of such details, and each is important to consider.
While initially, quenching thirst is as simple as turning on a tap, and food can be conveniently stored in a fridge, over time, the benefits of civilization will disappear. Eventually, the hero will have to craft generators and find water sources.
A particular pleasure is to play Project Zomboid in co-op. On some servers, survivors form groups, fight each other, and have fun as best as they can.
Obsidian Studio is known for creating cool RPGs like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and so on. However, with Grounded, the creators proved that they can also excel in survival games.
The story is about children who have shrunk to the size of insects. Now, grass seems as tall as a three-story building to them, and ants reach up to their waist. Will the kids manage to settle and learn to survive in a world full of bugs? After all, while it might be possible to befriend insects like ants, malicious spiders will not hesitate to tear the whole group apart.
The setting became the main attraction of Obsidian's creation. After all, gamers have gotten used to hydrating their character from bottles and rivers, but collecting dew from blades of grass is an original idea. Moreover, Grounded features a beautiful environment, high-quality textures, and diverse biomes — making it pleasant to be in this charming yet dangerous world.
Alas, the project can be criticized for its abundance of bugs, but this doesn't change the fact: it turned out to be excellent. If you're tired of surviving in forests and deserts, give Grounded a look.
In SCUM, gamers will take control of hardened villains who try to earn their freedom by participating in a bloody game. The thing is, in the future, people got tired of watching football and series — that's why a show was created where criminals are thrown onto an island and offered to survive. However, hiding in the bushes is not advisable, as viewers do not like boring episodes.
The key resource to fight for in SCUM is the love of the viewers. The higher the character's rating, the more bonuses and sponsorship contracts he will receive. This will help dominate over other players.
The viewer craves spectacle, which means the criminal will have to hunt more often, set up ambushes, and shoot competitors. Such a concept nicely refreshes the survival genre.
SCUM has its downsides too. Bugs lurk around every corner, running around the island takes too much time, and the need to relieve oneself seems excessive. Nevertheless, the game found its audience — maybe you'll like it too.
Rust has come a long way from being an alpha version of another DayZ clone in 2013 to becoming a standalone survival simulator. The basics of the game are standard for the genre. You wake up on a picturesque island without clothes (the game allows you to play with a completely naked character), and the only equipment you have is a rock and a torch. To avoid dying from the claws of predators or the hands of other players, you need to acquire food, clothing, and weapons. For comfortable survival, it's crucial to continuously develop your dwelling.
Moreover, your actions are not limited; you can become a peaceful hunter or the head of your own settlement, or join a clan of mad cutthroats who disrupt the peace for the entire server. However, before starting the game, you should know that Rust has an incredibly toxic community, so be prepared to endure a thousand and one unpleasant moments related to other players. But if you play with friends or manage to find reliable allies, you are guaranteed to experience many unforgettable moments in the game that are worth remembering.
Funcom's first attempt to create a successful MMORPG in Robert Howard's world was made at the dawn of World of Warcraft in 2008, creating Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Despite the initial surge of interest in the game, the developers failed to retain players in the world of Conan, which turned out to be quite an unrefined product. Later, the game was renamed to Age of Conan: Unchained, making it free-to-play, but by that time, it had lost much of its appeal. The next attempt to capitalize on the honorable name of Conan the Barbarian was made only in 2017 when Conan Exiles — a multiplayer survival simulator — was released into early access. To Funcom's credit, the game didn't spend years in early access like many other «survival» games, and it had its full release just a year later.
The game's setup is traditionally simple. You start your journey as a nameless ragged individual, nailed to a cross and doomed to certain death, if not for Conan himself passing by. In a rather noble act, he takes you off the cross, delivers a pompous speech, and leaves, leaving you to learn the basics of survival on your own. As with most survival simulators, your character has hunger and thirst indicators that need to be monitored, requiring you to periodically hunt and gather water, adapt to weather conditions, fend off enemies, and not forget about building and crafting. However, the game has its unique features. For example, you can sacrifice an enemy to the gods or enslave them. Moreover, you can summon an avatar of a particular deity to fight on your side for a minute. And if you prefer playing solo without occasionally running into other players, you can play in offline mode.
Take a standard multiplayer survival game, add elements of science fiction, throw it all on an island densely populated with dinosaurs of all kinds — and you get Ark:Survival Evolved. If in a regular survival simulator you get satisfaction from merely surviving the night without being eaten by beasts or killed by other players, here you have the opportunity to own your very own Tyrannosaurus, and that's not all.
Over time, you can build an entire farm with a multitude of dinosaurs. By the way, these giant lizards can significantly simplify gameplay. For instance, different types of dinosaurs are used for gathering and creating resources, transportation, or combat. In the game, you can build anything from a huge dinosaur farm to a futuristic base for your clan, where there's a place for any activity. But never forget about your physical condition. In ARK, it's very easy to die from thirst, hunger, or weather conditions.
Astroneer is a vibrant space sandbox with survival simulator elements that stands out for its presentation and gameplay mechanics. One of the game's main features is its space theme. This time, you won't start your adventure in the all-too-familiar settings like an island, forest, or city. According to the game's storyline, you crash-land on an unknown planet. To survive, you'll need to gradually transform your life support module into a fully-fledged base with its own power source, transportation, and laboratories.
Of course, you'll inevitably need materials, which you can find as you explore the planet. You have a resource gathering tool at your disposal, allowing you to terraform the planet calmly and reach its most inaccessible areas. And when that gets old — you can head to a neighboring planet, each with its unique features and materials. Unlike other projects where survival is the main goal, Astroneer plays much more relaxedly. The key is to keep an eye on your oxygen level, allowing you to immerse yourself in the game's atmosphere. The game also features a cooperative mode online.
State of Decay may seem at first glance like a typical zombie apocalypse sandbox, but the main role here is played not by the undead but by people. You play as the leader of a small group of survivors, whose livelihood you now need to improve or at least maintain at an acceptable level. The survivors themselves are people with a set of characteristics such as melee combat skills, weapon handling, or survival. In addition, each character has their unique traits that provide bonuses and personality traits that need to be considered. You can also «inhabit» the body of any character, like a doll, if you complete their personal mission.
Your group can grow if you respond to the calls for help from other survivors. You also can't do without forays for supplies, and then you have to consider which of the characters is better to use now, who will be more useful to you in combat, and who will be more beneficial at the base.
In 2015, the game State of Decay — Year One Survival Edition was released. In 2018, State of Decay 2 came out, introducing a cooperative mode. The game evolved some mechanics from the first part and got rid of many bugs.
The Long Dark is a prime example of how to create an atmospheric survival game without involving zombies, mutants, cannibals, and other fantastical creatures.
In the story, you play as pilot William Mackenzie, who crashes in the snowy Canadian wilderness due to a strange geomagnetic storm. Finding himself in the winter wilderness of Canada, miles away from any human, Will faces a tough battle against nature. Mackenzie needs to gather berries, seek warmth by the fire, craft weapons for hunting, butcher animal carcasses, sew clothing, and fend off predators.
The game forces you to consider numerous details: you can easily freeze and catch a cold in wet clothes, water needs to be boiled or purified, fires cannot be lit in the wind, torches eventually extinguish, matches run out, and a heavy backpack or several layers of clothing significantly slow down movement. All these nuances make The Long Dark one of the most realistic survival games out there.
The game features several modes. Wintermute is an episodic story mode that fully unveils the plot (to date, two episodes have been released). There's a survival mode that offers a complete sandbox experience and challenge scenarios for those who want to test their mettle.
Despite its respectable age, Don't Starve stands out from the early «survival» games, which were mostly featureless sandboxes that became boring after 3-5 hours. For instance, the game features a storyline: Wilson, a mediocre scientist, was languishing in his cabin in the woods until a voice from the radio suggests he build a device that transports him to Maxwell's world. This world he must explore.
In the game, you can encounter many strange things, like killer bees, one-eyed birds, or aggressive pigmen zealously guarding their settlements from strangers. All of them (and not only them) will happily send you to the afterlife. The danger comes not only from the weird creatures around but even from the fragile sanity, which can abandon Wilson at the most inopportune moment, causing your character to slowly perish. In this case, resurrection is not an option, and you will have to start all over again. To survive in this unfriendly world, you have to gather various twigs, herbs, and pebbles, from which you can make the necessary tools and start setting up your household.
Nighttime is especially dangerous because new monsters appear in the darkness, which can only be avoided by using a fire or torch.
Three DLCs have been released for the game: Reign of Giants, Shipwrecked, and Hamlet, adding new elements to the game, as well as a full cooperative game Don't Starve Together.
Darkwood is another example of how to combine survival with horror brilliantly. The overly dark atmosphere, not too modern graphics, and top-down view might deter some, but all these aspects significantly contribute to the atmosphere.
You play as a certain doctor who wakes up in Darkwood — a rural area in Poland affected by a strange epidemic. The rest of the story details must be uncovered as you play. Darkwood incorporates classic survival simulator elements. Take, for example, the day and night cycle, where during the day you need to explore the area, look for supplies, repair, enhance the shelter and items using a workbench, and at night barricade the doors and pray that no monster or ghost climbs into the house. Also, your character can unlock new skills, for which you'll need to prepare special injections from the required ingredients.
The creators put a lot of effort into both the atmosphere and the terrain, making the «horror» label on the game anything but empty words, and it's not just about the monsters. For instance, you might stumble upon a small church surrounded by whispering ghosts, or find a location littered with human bodies. The deeper you go into the forest, the more frequent such episodes become, immersing you in an atmosphere of madness.
With an atmosphere reminiscent of Lovecraft's tales, Sunless Sea is a peculiar blend of a survival game and an interactive book. The game is indeed text-heavy, but the writing is of such high quality that it will captivate even those who aren't fond of reading a lot. The game's backstory is also unique. In the 19th century, the English queen gave London to the underground world, where it now resides along with all its inhabitants.
As the captain of a ship, you can transport goods, gather valuable information, complete quests, or simply explore the grim expanses of the underground world, discovering new islands and encountering unusual situations. Just remember to manage your logistics because without food, your crew will turn to cannibalism, and if they go mad, they might even mutiny.
Starbound is the second sandbox game from Terraria creator Finn Brice. This time, the setting is in space, where the main character, fleeing from a great evil, leaves their home only to suffer a disaster on a foreign planet. As usual, you start with nothing. But to repair the ship and simply to survive, you'll desperately need supplies.
This means you'll have to engage in the grey everyday life of a survivalist explorer. Look for food, materials, create necessary items, and explore the planet far and wide. Or you can follow the plot alone (it's not that great, but it's there). Or gather enough fuel, repair the ship, and set off to explore the galaxy, where every planet is open for exploration, each unique in its own way. The game offers a multitude of possibilities and activities.
What could be worse than being in a plane crash? Only to land in a forest inhabited by cannibals reminiscent of distant relatives of mutants from the movie «The Hills Have Eyes»! The Forest skillfully combines elements of a survival simulator and horror games. In the game's plot, you and your son are in a plane crash. Your plane crashes over a peninsula. You wake up in the middle of the forest and learn that a strange man has taken your son in an unknown direction. Moreover, the forest is home to a tribe of cannibal mutants thirsting for your blood. So, before you can save your son, you need to learn how to survive.
The day and night cycle plays an important role in The Forest. During the day, you explore the forest, hunt, gather food, and build shelter. Sometimes you'll notice cannibals observing you. They are not very active during the day. But at night, the cannibals become bold and start a bloody hunt. It's better to spend the night at home, fortifying it and setting traps. Your enemies are not mere dummies, and killing them is not as easy as it seems. The plot is not just for show. It's a full-fledged storyline with two endings, and if you find it boring to play alone, there's a cooperative mode available.
This War of Mine is one of those rare war games where the focus is not on the front-line events, but on the daily lives of ordinary people unlucky enough to live in a city suffering from war. This story is as much about survival as it is about the choices you have to make every day and their consequences. There's no plot as such, but there is a semi-abandoned residential building and three heroes living in it. From now on, their fates are in your hands.
Each hero has their own personality, which affects their strengths, fears, and desires. Ignoring the needs of your heroes is not an option, as the more you neglect their needs, the deeper they fall into depression, which directly affects their efficiency. The game is divided into day and night. During the day, you are busy improving the house, patching holes in the walls, building necessary items, stoves, rainwater collectors, and so on. Sometimes new people may join you, which means more supplies are needed, which are not always easy to come by.
Resources necessary for the normal life of your home need to be gathered at night. For this, you will have to venture into neighboring houses, where people just like you live, or try to get into a hospital or a warehouse, which are often teeming with enemies. Moreover, your hero (and you can only send one character out at a time) may not return from another outing. In this case, the remaining group will fall into depression. If you are not careful, you can easily lose all your characters. But if your characters survive a certain number of days, you will get an ending that reveals the fate of each character after the war.
An incredibly well-thought-out sci-fi survival game set in space. In the storyline, you have to lead a small group of colonists whose liner crashed on an unknown planet. The main «feature» of the game is that the storyteller here is artificial intelligence, which generates various events within the game world. There are three AI options. One focuses on construction and peaceful development of your colony, another is completely unpredictable, and the third is a golden mean and is perfect for beginners.
In RimWorld, you'll have to think not only about how to gather supplies, improve your base, fend off malicious pirate attacks, and survive the harsh winter, but also carefully monitor your wards. Colonists in the game can not only die at the hands of enemies but can also get sick, poisoned, injured, or simply become frail and weak. Moreover, each of them has their own backstory and character traits, which can make a character quite useful or, conversely, problematic. For example, a despondent pyromaniac can easily snap and start a fire at the base. If you can take this and many other small details into account, over time you'll be able to build a powerful civilization, conquering the planet with your will.
Frostpunk is a grim steampunk survival strategy game set in the conditions of an eternal winter, created by the makers of This War of Mine, who have prepared plenty of moral dilemmas for the player here as well. The game features several scenarios that affect the storyline, and a recently introduced survival mode for the bravest and most hardcore players.
According to the storyline, in the 19th century in Britain, people discovered the power of steam, leading to an invention boom of previously impossible technologies, such as functional prosthetics and robots. It was during this period that a cataclysm occurred, leading to the planet's glaciation. The surviving people from around the world organized expeditions to the Arctic, where there is an abundance of minerals and generators that excellently heat buildings. Here, in the conditions of eternal winter, you will have to build a shelter for your people.
In your settlement, there's a generator producing life-saving warmth. Essentially, it acts as the heart of your settlement, its most valuable asset. The generator requires coal to operate the shelter and a bunch of other supplies. One of the game's features is that the temperature around gradually decreases, and if on the first day your settlers calmly collected resources scattered around, with their only need being to warm up near the generator, by the 10-15th day of the game, when the temperature hits all records of anomaly, resources are no longer sufficient, and people might start to grumble. Playing Frostpunk strictly as a city-building simulator won't work. The game regularly poses difficult questions to you. Is it worth using child labor? Can experimental treatment be used on sick workers?
In many «survival» games, there's an extremely grim, tense atmosphere where the sense of constant danger never leaves the player. Subnautica is one of those rare representatives of the genre, whose creators dared to replace the grim tones with bright, vibrant colors, thereby creating a world where you want to not only survive but simply live, exploring the ocean depths. The action takes place in the 22nd century. Your employer sends you to construct phase gates. But your spacecraft crashes on an alien planet, and you barely manage to crawl into an escape pod. It should be noted that the plot does not end with a simple setup; it's quite good here. Moreover, thanks to the unusual setting, the familiar elements of Survival games feel fresh and interesting.
For instance, besides hunger and thirst, oxygen supply is of great importance, which you must consider when diving into the underwater world. At the same time, the game has a very developed crafting system, so if your character cannot withstand long immersions in the ocean depths, you can build everything from a scuba tank to a whole submarine or a separate full-fledged base. But be careful — the water is inhabited by many predators wanting to eat you, especially aggressive at night.
To avoid dying from hunger, you'll need to constantly catch and cook fish, or consume plants that can be grown both on land and underwater (or in an aquarium). The main thing is to not forget to scan everything around. This unlocks new properties of items and access to blueprints.
A game that came out 10 years ago needs no special introduction. Its popularity is so vast that, as of now, 176 million copies of Minecraft have been sold worldwide. Hollywood is also keen to capitalize on the famous name and is preparing to shoot a movie based on the game.
First and foremost, Minecraft is known as the perfect sandbox game, where you can create almost anything. For those who don't feel like creators but love the thrill, there's a «Survival» mode. You'll have to engage in the usual survival chores: gathering materials, searching for food, crafting shelters, and necessary items. At night, local zombies — creepers, with the best intentions, will come knocking.
In such moments, don't forget about the possibilities that Minecraft offers you. Nothing stops you from building a real fortress, from which it's so convenient to kill enemies, or to construct an actual minefield, where the horde of the undead will find their eternal rest.
When your character is sufficiently leveled up and strengthened, you can fearlessly explore the farthest corners of the world and even battle particularly dangerous enemies like the Elder Guardian. Well, if you feel like everything has become boring — boldly build a portal and set off to conquer the Nether! Moreover, Minecraft supports fan mods, with which you can organize anything from attacks by killer tomatoes to playing «The Martian». It all depends on your imagination.
At first glance, seeing the screenshots of Terraria, many would call it a clone of Minecraft with 2D graphics, and they would be entirely wrong. This is precisely the case where you cannot judge a book by its cover. The gameplay begins with your character appearing in a randomly generated world of the game, having only a few items that will help survive the beginning of the journey.
To avoid spending nights on end fending off monsters, you'll need a more or less reliable shelter, and for that, you need to search for materials and craft. Besides setting up a home, it makes sense to build houses specifically for NPCs, who appear upon meeting certain conditions, and will sell you various items. Crafting in the game is simplified compared to Minecraft, and it's not surprising. The thing is, Terraria puts more emphasis not on building and crafting, but on fighting and survival.
The most interesting part of the game begins when you discover cave systems deep underground. There, you can find treasures as well as encounter new, interesting enemies. Thanks to the world's random generation, each new cave will be unique in its own way, allowing you to spend hours exploring dungeons in search of adventures and materials that will be useful for creating new equipment. And finally, with the materials found, you can assemble almost anything.
Zombie apocalypse games have long become stale and no longer evoke the excitement they once did, yet Dying Light exploits the same theme of an infected city teeming with hordes of the undead but does so much more effectively than its predecessors. The game was developed by Techland, who previously brought the world the cooperative zombie action game Dead Island, where killing zombies was more fun than ever. From it, the game inherited a melee combat system, where you can dismember the undead in almost any way you like, watching limbs fly. However, the main feature of Dying Light is parkour. Here, you can dash across rooftops and other surfaces as well as any seasoned assassin, and doing so in co-op with friends is doubly interesting. The game also has a full-fledged storyline.
It all starts with operative Kyle Crane being dropped into a city infected with the zombie virus to retrieve a file on virus research from a local terrorist. But everything goes to hell, Kyle gets ambushed and, to make matters worse, is bitten by one of the zombies. He is rescued by people from a local community of survivors. To earn their trust and achieve his goal, he will have to complete many tasks.
While completing missions and gathering supplies, you will often find yourself in the city, packed to the brim with zombies. There's no need to fear them during the day; individually, they are quite slow and make easy targets. They only become dangerous when gathered in a crowd.
But at night, it becomes genuinely dangerous, as not only do all zombies become faster and more aggressive, but Volatiles—real monsters—also appear, from whom it's better to stay far away. From the supplies found on the streets, you will be able to assemble various weapons and combine them, or exchange unnecessary junk for more useful items.
In 2016, an expansion Dying Light: The Following was released, featuring a new story, a trial system, and a vehicle.
No Man's Sky — one of the most notorious flops in recent years. A game that promised to be the ultimate space adventure burst like a bubble, turning out to be a beautiful yet astonishingly empty product, unable to fulfill any of the pre-release promises made to players. The amount of hate poured out on the developers from Hello Games and personally on Sean Murray would have been unbearable for anyone. Other developers would have quietly disappeared into oblivion, or, for example, committed harakiri, unable to bear the disgrace. Instead, they decided to continue working on the game, releasing new patches and updates all this time. At this point, the game still has room to grow, but already now you can see the game it was supposed to be after its release.
If you think you'll be allowed to jump into a spaceship from the get-go and start roaming the vast cosmos, think again. Everything starts in the best survival traditions: You appear on a random planet, your equipment is broken, and the starship is also inoperable. You'll need to repair all this technology, starting from the visor and multi-tool, and ending with the spaceship. After that, you can head off to explore the universe. Meanwhile, the game includes typical simulation elements.
For example, depending on the planet's surface temperature, you will have to spend resources to operate the cooling or heating system. Landing on another planet, you might encounter an acid or sandstorm, which can significantly reduce the durability of your suit. And if you get tired of constantly gathering resources, you can embark on the main mission, do quests, or even switch to creative mode, where you can engage in creativity with much more comfort.
No Man's Sky is not the same game it was three years ago; developers continue to work on improving the world, introducing new major updates. Overall, the game still has a number of issues, but considering the developers' diligence, perhaps one day we will get the promised dream game.
7 Days to Die — a typical survival simulator set in a zombie apocalypse atmosphere. The game has been in early access since 2013, and one might think that players could have lost any interest in it by now, definitively burying the game. However, playing 7 Days to Die with friends is still fun, despite the glitches, bugs, and protracted development cycle.
There's no real storyline to the game, so your character randomly appears in one of the biomes and starts actively surviving. If you're unlucky, you could be thrown into, say, a snowy biome, where it's quite possible to freeze to death in the early stages of the game, or stumble upon a thick-skinned ice zombie who will finish you off in no time.
During the day, you might encounter small groups of zombies, but at night their numbers increase significantly, so building a house becomes a priority. Moreover, you can even make a shelter underground, where you can build entire mining tunnels and extract useful materials. If the dead sense your character, they will start actively attacking the dwelling, gradually destroying it in the process, so after a hectic night, you'll need to repair the damaged areas. To prevent enemies from breaking through, the shelter needs to be fortified and several rows of stakes placed around the perimeter, on which the undead will happily perish on their own. But the real fun begins on the 7th night of your survival, because not only zombies will be coming for you, but also other unpleasant creatures like a dead girl capable of summoning new hordes of monsters, zombie spiders, and aggressive bees.
Periodically, a supply crate will be dropped into a certain area, which you need to reach within a certain time. Once you get the hang of crafting, you'll be able to collect not only weapons and equipment but also real transport. The game is quite interesting if you play with friends.