The Best Co-Op Survival Games

The survival genre has taken off massively over the last decade, with a huge number of games coming in the wake of Minecraft after it ignited a passion in many gamers for base-building, crafting, and battle against enemies that come out during the night. Since that initial revolution, survival games have only continued to grow in popularity, with many of them focusing more on different aspects of what has helped make the survival game genre truly great.

One of the biggest innovations is the continued attempt to build immersive worlds that multiple players can partake in together. Cooperative gameplay has been a huge part of gaming for a number of years, but players being able to play alongside their friends, building bases, and tackling enemies as a team, has been a huge piece of what makes survival games so successful in the modern day.

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Updated on January 15, 2025, by Chris Harkin: The survival genre has continued to tick along in the gaming industry. While new releases are looking to shake up the traditional formulae that once defined this genre, standard and new survival games alike are still popular and are more focused on co-op play than ever. With big upcoming releases like Subnautica 2 adding co-op mode to the franchise for the first time, multiplayer in survival games has continued to grow more popular than ever. It is expected that the genre will continue flourishing in different ways, so pick up a new survival game and get some friends onto it today!

17 Conan Exiles

Brutal Unique Survival

• For 1-10 Players

The fascinating world of Conan the Barbarian has never been explored as deeply or as wonderfully as in Conan Exiles. With all the updates since the original release, adding new biomes and areas to the game, a group of players can easily join and find endless adventure now in the fictional Hyborian Age.

While players begin by being crucified (literally), they can work their way up as part of a faction of players that can contain up to 10 characters. This means that, on a server which can fit as many as 70, co-op play with friends can give some big advantages. In survival terms, the game isn't too bad. Gameplay focuses on on hunger, thirst, and an endless array of dangerous enemies. Making friends is a priority in such a deadly place.

16 7 Days To Die

Inevitable Demise But Hugely Fun

• For 1-8 Players

Although it might seem counter-intuitive for a survival game to almost certainly kill the player eventually, 7 Days To Die is all about how long crafty players can manage to keep going. With at least eight players able to fit onto a server together without causing issues in the gameplay, 7 Days To Die makes for one of the best co-op zombie experiences available on the market.

While many zombie co-op games are more like Left 4 Dead, this adventure is still very much a survival game. Players will need to help each other find food, water and shelter, in addition to trying to avoid or take down as many zombies as possible to make the world a little bit safer. And of course, they'll need to scavenge supplies.

15 V Rising

Control Vampires Alongside Your Friends

There are many survival games that allow players to control all sorts of beings, but V Rising finally lets players attempt to survive as a creature of the night instead of just playing against them. An action RPG survival game is a fascinating mix, and players get to live out many of their vampiric fantasies taking on a dark world in this game.

Finally released in full in 2024 after a long period in early access, V Rising has gone from strength to strength as an experience, and it features PvE and PvP servers, while players looking to simply join together in a more peaceful environment can host their own private server as well, giving all sorts of options for lone players or groups.

14 DayZ

A Mod Turned Incredible Survival Experience

Beginning life as a mod to ARMA 2, DayZ was eventually developed into its own game and it has done incredibly well, allowing players to feel a vibrant, brutal zombie apocalypse survival experience, and one where they are free to work alongside other players, or fight them at will.

Players begin with a small amount of resources and have to explore across a huge map in order to gain more. They can meet other players along the way and work alongside them to survive in this bleak environment, making the entire game and huge open-world feel far less empty. DayZ is an incredible experience which proves mods can be incredibly worth the time to try out.

13 Valheim

Amazing Visuals, Unique Progression System

• For 1-10 Players

As with many survival games, there are certain aspects of Valheim that require grinding, the mining of materials in order to craft items and build bases is a lengthy process. However, there isn’t a single part of the grinding that isn’t quicker and much more enjoyable with friends along for the ride, making coop the best way to handle this newer entry in the survival video game genre.

Up to ten players can join in together on Valheim in a fight against a harsh, Norse mythology-inspired environment. The world is set as one where fallen warriors come to prove themselves worthy of entry to Valhalla. Players start with nothing and are forced to go up against various evils on their journey through this beautiful open world, which is much easier and more entertaining if some friends are brought along for the journey.

12 Sons Of The Forest

The Sequel Which Improves And Fills Out The World

Sons of the Forest is the long-awaited sequel to The Forest which expands upon the world of the horror-survival experience. Set on a larger island and with plenty of new crafting items, weapons and enemies, Sons of the Forest is an amazing experience which may not match up to the original, but it certainly improves upon the cooperative options.

An incredible opportunity to adventure alongside companions on a dedicated server which is easy to set up, Sons of the Forest contains all the crafting, resource gathering, combat and great story that players could be looking for in their next true and brutal survival experience to have alongside friends.

11 Raft

Frantic & Hilarious Ocean Survival

• For 1-8 Players

A much less polished but equally lovable coop survival experience can be found in Raft. This game was in early access for a long time as more chapters were added, but players were finding this game and engaging in it with their friends from the very start. Initially, players are dropped with their friends on a tiny raft in the middle of the ocean, an experience that has been known to make or break friendships.

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The difficulty in Raft is keeping moving constantly. The pressure of sharks trying to eat pieces of the raft in addition to visiting islands and gathering resources without often being able to keep the raft from moving on means that groups of friends trying to play together may be able to accomplish a lot, but they will constantly be put under stress while attempting to do so.

10 Rust

The Most Savage Survival Game

• For 1-500 Players (Approx)

Rust is a very different type of survival experience, often much more focused on PvP than on PvE. Players have to advance from stick-wielding lost souls all the way to highly advanced military warriors, complete with huge bases and a vast array of loot and weapons that can be used to get even more loot and materials or to destroy other players who have tried to build their own empires on the same server, helping make the world brutal and immersive.

Rust is a difficult game to get into initially, with many servers presenting a fairly unfriendly atmosphere as other players are always ready to take advantage of a new group coming in. However, Rust can be hugely fun with a group of friends who are ready to back players up in any conflict they come into. Besides the PvP aspects, the progression in Rust is excellent and feels truly rewarding, and it is well worth trying for survival coop fans.

9 Ark: Survival Evolved

Excellent Breeding/Taming Survival Life

• For 1-4 Players (Local); 1-70 Players (Dedicated Servers)

Another highly praised game that is great for multiple players to come together for, Ark sets players down in one of the least friendly worlds ever created in the survival genre. Covered in historical and mythical creatures and possibly other players who are looking to kill, Ark presents players with an incredibly stressful world to navigate. Fortunately, it can be played with friends to make the experience much more enjoyable and less stressful.

Ark is all about crafting and taming animals, which can then be ridden around. So if players have always wished to ride around with their friends on dinosaurs, it is the perfect game. Generally considered less intense than similar games like Rust, Ark is the perfect experience for a more action-packed survival game that can be played in a co-op format.

8 Palworld

Beautiful Genre-Blending Action

• For 1-4 Players

Although dedicated servers can manage as many as 32 players, Palworld's normal co-op play allows a maximum of four. This is still plenty though, since the normal grinding requirements of a survival game are lessened greatly in this incredible world. The game is filled with all kinds of creatures that can be befriended, captured, and put to work doing the kind of tasks and building things that players would normally be stuck doing themselves in survival games.

This mixing of genres allows players to work together, get the full survival game experience, while additionally getting to have fun battling, chasing after creatures, and helping build each other's bases. Palworld still isn't finished, but it remains one of the greatest and most surprisingly beloved games of 2024, making for a brand-new corner of the survival genre.