Summary
- Dune: Awakening is an open-world survival MMO with sandworms as enemies.
- Last Oasis offers a desert survival with wind-powered contraptions and unique mechanics.
- Ark: Survival Evolved has a tech-tree system, base-building, and dinosaur taming.
Dune: Awakening is the new open-world survival MMO from the creators of Conan Exiles, that will transport players to the merciless world of Arrakis, to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of the Fremen. The world is filled with dangerous scavengers, but the main enemy will be the heat and dehydration, as well as the gigantic sandworms that will try to eat players the second they enter open sands.
How to Claim Dune: Awakening Twitch Drops
Here’s how you can claim the Dune: Awakening Twitch Drops and get a bunch of freebies.
Few games have similar settings, stakes, and game mechanics to Dune: Awakening, but players will be able to find some of the best examples of these titles in this list. From a game where players will have to survive in a huge desert world filled with dangerous monkey-like creatures and travel across the sands on board of walking boats, to a game that combines the best of Ark: Survival Evolved with Fallout and pits players against each other in a time-travel situation where they are sent to suppress a tyrannical regime before it conquers the world.
1 Last Oasis
A Desert-like World, The Scorching Sun As Your Main Enemy
Last Oasis
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood, Partial Nudity, Use of Drugs, Violence
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Open-World, RPG
Last Oasis is the perfect example of a Sci-Fi Dystopian survival, that falls closely to what can be considered a post-apocalyptic game, with some unique mechanics such as the construction of enormous walking boats (Walkers) powered by wind sails and torque, that can be used as moving homes and battle stations, as players explore each of the islands of an enormous desert world.
The concept of the sun as the main enemy and water economy as the main survival element are aspects that it shares in common with Dune: Awakening. I t even has its own sandworms (that are more like boss-raid battles that need to be tackled with a huge clan of Nomads), but that's where the similarities end. The game doesn't have high-end tech, but proto-tech, wind-powered contraptions, wingsuits, and primitive weapons made of bone, obsidian, and cast metal. Its setting is something between Planet of the Apes and Mad Max, and players will have to fight against Rupu (anthropomorphic apes) for the scarce resources, and keep themselves safe from other players
2 Conan Exiles
A Huge Sword And Sorcery Open-World Survival
Conan Exiles
- Released
- May 8, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Nudity, Use of Alcohol
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Action-Adventure
Conan Exiles shares not only a common developer with Dune: Awakening but several details about its gameplay style, like the same climbing/traversal type of gameplay across an unforgiving desert-like world, though in this case, the Exile Lands have lots of different biomes besides a huge desert. The setting is based on the Hyborian Age and the universe created by Robert E. Howard, the precursor of the sword and sorcery genre.
It's an interesting game, with tons of things to do, and an intricate base-building system, with the addition of the 'enslave' mechanic that allows players to knock down and subjugate human NPCs to keep their base safe and also work in the different crafting stations, automating resource management as they explore this dangerous world.
3 Ark: Survival Evolved
Start From Scratch And Dominate The Lands
ARK: Survival Evolved
- Released
- August 29, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Crude Humor, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Survival
In Ark: Survival Evolved, players will have to start from scratch, scavenging whatever resources and abandoned tech they can get their hands on, and learning new ways to turn those resources into weapons and gear to survive a land plagued with primitive beasts. And though there are no Sandworms in this game, there are many other dangerous creatures that will make players' lives miserable if they are not careful.
Luckily for them, there's a way to tame these dinosaurs (and other prehistoric beings) into powerful allies that will help them defend their bases from enemy players, hunt for more resources, or raid others in colossal battles that will make their GPUs tremble. Ark has a similar tech-tree system to that of Dune: Awakening and many other Open-World Survival games, so if players feel comfortable with the idea of leveling up and learning tech, then this game will fit them like a glove.
4 The Front
Transported Back In Time, To Defeat An Evil Regime
The Front
- Released
- October 11, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Open-World
The setting of The Front is a strange mixture of dystopian diesel-punk, with some sprinkles of guerrilla fighting and survival game. Players have to level up their characters and unlock new technologies while following a main quest that will force them to face an evil faction trying to overthrow the world order. Of course, there are PvE and PvP servers, and the lands players need to explore aren't exactly safe: They are swarming with deranged lunatics, bandits, monsters, wild animals, and zombies.
7 Open-World Games That Are Difficult For Beginners
This list showcases some Open-world games you shouldn't try as your first time in the genre, due to their extreme difficulty.
All in all, it's a fun game to play, especially with friends. It has some of the charm of Rust, but it also has some parts of the core gameplay of games like Dune: Awakening. So if players enjoy PvPvE, then The Front is definitely one of their best options.
5 SCUM
A Huge Prison-like World, Populated By Dangerous Criminals And Zombies
SCUM
- Released
- June 17, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Survival
SCUM combines some of the best elements from a post-apocalyptic zombie game and a battle royale, in an intense yet fun survival open-world where players will have to battle merciless enemy players and undead inmates as they scavenge resources for base building, and self-protection. Players will have to hone their skills associated with the four main attributes of their characters: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Constitution.
It has some similarities with Dune: Awakening's core leveling system, but it has a lot of additional complexity, and the settings are miles apart from each other. However, SCUM is ideal for players who like hardcore PvP, as it is known for its intense battles where any mistake can make players lose everything.
6 Once Human
A Dark Sci-Fantasy Dystopia
Once Human
- Released
- July 9, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Shooter, Open-World
Once Human combines some of the best aspects of a survival Open-World game and base-building elements, and adds that MMO vibe to the mix with tons of PvE content, which includes dungeons, a main story quest, Raids, and seasonal map rotations that add extra flavor to the mix. With lots of unlockables, weird powers, and even weirder enemies, it catches that eerie vibe that games like Dune: Awakening have.
The PvP in the game is optional, and there are full PvE servers, although hybrid servers that are less Hardcore can also be picked, and they restrict PvPvE action to certain end-game zones in the maps (just like Dune: Awakening).
6 Open-world Games With Reverse Villains
This list showcases some of the best open-world games with allies and antagonists that represent the Reverse Villain trope.