15 Clones: Games Like Rust

Rust is one of the biggest hits in the survival genre, where every session ends either with victory over your neighbors or death at their hands. An open world, resource gathering, base building, weapon crafting, and brutal PvP — this exact mix keeps millions of players hooked. If you want to try something similar or simply take a break from endless wipes, we have collected the best games like Rust: from hardcore PvP survival titles to cozy co-op adventures. The selection was updated for 2025–2026, taking into account new releases and the current relevance of each game.

These are the games where you will find what people love Rust for: harsh online multiplayer, a constant threat from other players, and a high price for every mistake. The projects in this category are a great choice for those who care first and foremost about the PvP element.

Originally, DayZ was a mod for ArmA 2, but the modification turned out to be so remarkable that it grew into a standalone project. Developer Dean Hall created a harsh post-apocalyptic world with an Eastern European feel, one that had fallen to a zombie outbreak. However, the main threat to a survivor is not the walking dead, but other people ready to kill for a can of food.

At its core, this is a fairly traditional survival game where you search the area, look for better gear, build a base, take care of your character, and treat injuries that can happen even after falling from a low ladder. However, there are so many threats everywhere that every rustle makes you tense up.

High difficulty is probably the main thing DayZ and Rust have in common. You can collect junk, build fortifications, and craft valuable gear in many survival games, but few other titles make you this nervous. That is exactly why players came to love DayZ and learned to overlook its problems.

In SCUM, the player takes control of a hardened criminal trying to earn freedom by taking part in a bloody game. In the future, people have grown tired of watching football and TV shows — that is why a new show appeared, one where criminals are dropped onto an island and told to survive.

The key resource you have to fight for in SCUM is the viewers' affection. The higher your character's rating, the more bonuses and sponsorship deals they receive. This helps you dominate other players. The audience wants a spectacle, which means the criminal has to go hunting more often, set up ambushes, and gun down competitors.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of downsides too. Bugs wait around every corner, and running across the island takes too much time. Still, players who have already mastered Rust may want to take a look at SCUM.

The success of early Rust clearly inspired the developers of Subsistence. As in the Facepunch Studios project, players find themselves in a huge open world where they need to gather resources, craft weapons, build a home, and establish a steady food supply. At the same time, other characters roam the area and also try to survive — they are ready to attack you for a piece of bread and a handful of resources.

Subsistence deserves praise for its varied biomes, changing weather conditions, and elaborate farming. It is hard to name another game where tending a garden and growing crops feels just as engaging.

The problem is that enemies can attack your base at any moment. To survive an assault, you will have to find allies, build settlements, and plan your defense together.

Subsistence focuses specifically on co-op play: solo progression is too slow. In a group, however, the gameplay changes dramatically, which makes Subsistence one of the best co-op games.

Conan Exiles is probably the closest game to Rust in spirit, with an open world, base building, PvP servers, raids on enemy strongholds, and a brutal struggle for resources. The difference is that all of this is placed inside the world of the legendary Conan the Barbarian.

The building system here is much deeper than in Rust. You can construct huge castles with multiple floors and traps. Add to this a thrall system with captured NPC craftsmen, religious mechanics, and giant bosses, and you get a survival game with far more content.

The game received an 8.4/10 user score on VGTimes. It is available on PC, PS4/PS5, and Xbox. If you want Rust, but with deep fantasy lore, Conan Exiles is exactly what you need.

You do not always want to fight other players in a post-apocalyptic world. The games in this section take the survival formula and place it in unexpected conditions — Norse mythology, a world of dinosaurs, the micro-world of insects, and even Pokémon. Well, almost. You can find more unusual survival games like these in our large list of the best survival games on PC.

As in Rust, the heroes of Ark: Survival Evolved wake up on the shore of a body of water wearing only a loincloth. To survive, they have to do the usual genre routine: gather junk, craft weapons, build a home, and punch aggressive players in the face. The complication is that huge dinosaurs roam everywhere — some of them are friendly, but others will kill the hero the moment they notice them.

At the same time, the world can hardly be called prehistoric. Something strange and technological is embedded in the hero's arm, there are plenty of cyborgs among the dinosaurs, and with enough persistence, the character can craft highly advanced weapons. Ark's main feature is dinosaur taming: turn them into pets and train them to gather resources.

In 2023, Ark: Survival Ascended entered early access on Unreal Engine 5, with improved graphics and crossplay. The game is also available on PS5. By the way, if you are interested in games like this on consoles, do not miss our selection of the best survival games for PS4 and PS5.

Valheim was developed by a modest team of five people. Surprisingly, their efforts were enough to create one of the biggest hits of 2021. For many months, the game topped the Steam charts, reached a peak of 500 thousand players, and earned 95 percent positive reviews.

Valheim's world is a pleasant place to be. Technically, the environments are fairly simple, but the artists did an excellent job with the visual design and biomes. There are not that many combat moves, yet chopping down skeletons and other undead is still engaging. The building mechanics are typical for the genre, but thanks to strong physics, constructing houses is genuinely fun.

Co-op is another major strength of the game. Valheim can be played with up to ten people, and carrying out Odin's will is even more fun in that format.

If characters in Rust can chop down trees, drink water from a stream, and fight other people, the heroes of Grounded cannot do anything like that. They are so tiny that they can only collect dew from blades of grass and tremble in fear at the sight of insects. For survival games, this kind of concept still feels unusual.

The story follows children who have shrunk down to the size of insects. Grass looks as huge as a three-story house, and ants seem bigger than elephants. This kind of setting became the main strength of Obsidian's hit.

The game left early access in September 2022, and its final version received high scores from critics and players. If you are tired of surviving in forests and deserts, pay attention to Grounded — millions of players have been spending time in it for quite a while now.

A 2024 sensation: Palworld from Pocketpair set a Steam record by attracting more than two million concurrent players at launch. The formula is simple: survival and base building from Rust, plus creature taming — Pals — in the spirit of Pokémon.

Captured Pals work at the base, guard it, gather resources, and take part in battles. The building mechanics are not as deep as in Rust, but production automation through Pals makes the gameplay unique. There is co-op for up to 4 players and PvP servers.

The game is still in early access, but it is actively updated. It is available on PC and Xbox and is included with Game Pass.

Another major 2024 hit among survival games. Enshrouded from Keen Games offers a huge fantasy world with voxel physics: you can carve a tunnel through a mountain with a pickaxe and build a base inside it. The entire landscape is destructible, which opens up enormous possibilities for building and sieges.

Compared with Rust, Enshrouded has far more RPG elements: character progression, quests, bosses, and NPC allies. Combat resembles soulslikes, with dodges and parries. Co-op supports up to 16 players on a server.

The game is in early access, with the full release planned for 2026. It is available on PC.

If a naked neighbor with a rock does not scare you, it may be time to try games where fear is part of the gameplay. Cannibals, zombies, and bloodthirsty bugs will make survival far more tense. Fans of the genre should also check out our list of the best co-op horror games.

The Forest has plenty of horror: after all, it tells the story of an unlucky survivor — or several, if you play with a friend — who ends up in a forest full of cannibals. On top of that, terrifying creatures roam the area, eager to feast on human flesh.

During the day, the gameplay is traditional: run through the forest, gather resources, build a base, and craft weapons. However, once the sun sinks below the horizon, the forest creatures start hunting the survivor. If you have not taken care of fortifications and traps, they will easily reach the poor soul.

Players who love Rust for survival and world exploration but want something that puts their nerves under even more pressure will definitely enjoy The Forest.

A direct sequel to The Forest from the same studio, Endnight Games. Sons of the Forest reached its full release in February 2024 and immediately climbed to the top of the Steam charts. Once again, you are dropped into a forest full of cannibals — this time while searching for a missing billionaire.

Compared with the original, the sequel improves everything: building is more flexible, enemy AI is smarter, and the world is larger and more varied. There is also an NPC companion named Kelvin, who helps gather resources and carry out orders. Co-op for up to eight players is essential.

This is a rare case where a survival sequel does not simply repeat the formula, but genuinely develops it. If you liked The Forest, or if you enjoy Rust for its atmosphere and horror elements, Sons of the Forest is a must-play.

Unlike Rust, Project Zomboid uses an isometric camera, and its events unfold not on an island, but in a city. However, when it comes to survival difficulty and the sheer number of mechanics, this zombie game fits Rust's standards perfectly.

In the world of Project Zomboid, a zombie apocalypse is about to happen. Humanity has not yet understood what is going on, and houses still have water and electricity. The developers do not call Project Zomboid “the story of your death” for nothing. The point is that the game is packed with hardcore mechanics: to open a can of food, you need a specific tool; food will quickly spoil if you do not keep it in a fridge; curtains should be closed before sleep, or zombies may notice the poor survivor.

The game is still in early access, but it continues to evolve actively — updates arrive regularly, and multiplayer gets better with every patch.

Rust takes place on an island, and some of its alternatives develop this idea specifically, making the ocean, islands, and the elements key parts of the gameplay. Less PvP, more exploration and struggle against nature.

In Stranded Deep, the hero survives a plane crash and ends up on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There is no point waiting for help — it is better to start building a life there. If you hesitate, hunger, thirst, or sunstroke will catch up with the hero.

The poor survivor has plenty to do: build a farm, gain control over other islands with valuable resources, create a raft for ocean exploration, and get weapons for fighting sharks and snakes.

It is easy to lose many hours in Beam Team Games' creation. There are powerful bosses, a map editor, countless islands, and a co-op mode. If you have already explored every corner of Rust's island, take a look at Stranded Deep — it has plenty of landmasses available for exploration.

Raft is another survival game about islands and the endless ocean. While Stranded Deep focuses on realism, Raft takes place after an apocalypse, and during your adventures, you can even find an island with a robot butler.

A man-eating shark swims near your raft, crafting resources are always in short supply, and food reserves keep running out — you can replenish them, for example, by fishing or creating a small garden.

Raft spent four years in early access, but finally reached its full release at the end of June 2022.

A legend of the genre. 7 Days to Die spent more than ten years in Steam Early Access and reached version 1.0 in July 2024. The concept is simple and brilliant: you survive among zombies, build fortifications, and every seven in-game days repel a massive assault by a horde of the dead.

Building in 7 Days to Die is a pleasure of its own. Every block has durability, and zombies break through walls if they find a weak spot, so the base constantly needs to be reinforced and rethought. You can play solo or on PvP servers in the spirit of Rust.

The full version received high scores and finally came to consoles: PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

In terms of PvP survival and building mechanics, DayZ and SCUM come closest. If horror atmosphere matters, choose The Forest and Sons of the Forest. If you want a calmer co-op experience without harsh PvP, try Valheim or Raft.

Yes, almost every game in our list supports co-op: Valheim supports up to 10 players, Sons of the Forest supports up to 8, Grounded supports up to 4, while Subsistence, Stranded Deep, and Raft also offer co-op play. DayZ and SCUM are full online multiplayer games.

Yes. Valheim, Grounded, and Raft focus on co-op and exploration without mandatory PvP. Ark: Survival Evolved can be played on PvE servers. Stranded Deep and Sons of the Forest are fully single-player or co-op games without PvP.

Project Zomboid and Stranded Deep are not demanding and will run on most PCs. Valheim also has modest system requirements despite its pleasant visuals.

Yes — Sons of the Forest received its full release in February 2024 and became one of the best survival games of the year. Enshrouded is also gaining an audience: it is a fantasy survival game with RPG elements, and it is set to leave early access this year.

Which games would you recommend to Rust fans? Share your picks in the comments!

The survival genre continues to evolve actively. If you have already explored classic Rust inside and out, our list has an alternative for every taste: hardcore PvP in DayZ, cozy co-op in Valheim, horror in Sons of the Forest, or an unusual setting in Grounded. We have collected more games like Rust in the following articles: