Summary

  • Terraria offers community building via NPCs & friends.
  • Conan Exiles promotes forming clans for group survival.
  • Ark: Survival Evolved encourages teamwork for wildlife taming.

The majority of survival games tend to have players looking out for themselves with no hope of seeing any other person to aid them. However, some survival titles, both single-player and multiplayer, encourage players to look for other survivors in the hopes of banding together to create a community.

They then must protect and work together in the hopes of defending themselves against other survivors and possible NPC enemies who might also attempt to destroy the player and their community's base. With an assortment of survival titles for the players to challenge themselves with, these are by far the best survival games for building a community.

8 Terraia

Build A Home For NPCs With Plenty To Sell

Terraria
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Released
May 16, 2011
Developer(s)
Re-Logic
Genre(s)
Action, Adventure, Sandbox

Although Terraria is predominantly a sandbox title, it has a variety of survival elements to its gameplay that make it a great option to be mentioned in survival games that are great for players who want to build a community. Terraria can first be played with others, meaning players can choose to first grow a community through their friends, as they all work together to build various structures or give each other roles that they must stick with to help the community.

However, players can also build a community through NPCs. Players will likely encounter various vendors with useful items for sale. They can then make these vendors live with them by building them a home with their required furnishings. Survivors tend to create structures that mimic hotels for their community as they gradually collect the various vendors.

7 Conan Exiles

Form Clans With Players To Improve Their Chances Of Survival

Conan Exiles
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Survival
Action-Adventure
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Released
May 8, 2018
Developer(s)
Funcom
Genre(s)
Survival, Action-Adventure

The majority of multiplayer survival titles, like Conan Exiles, are some of the best for players who are looking for a survival game where they can build a community. Players can either get some friends together to join their clan or hope to get lucky while exploring the vast wilderness of their action-adventure title in the hopes of finding a few friendly players who may wish to team up.

By having a clan to support the player, they are far more likely to survive in Conan Exiles, not only against the various dangers within the game but also rival clans that may attempt to steal from them.

6 Bellwright

Establish And Expand Settlements In The Medieval Period

Bellwright
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Released
April 23, 2024
Developer(s)
Donkey Crew
Platform(s)
PC
Genre(s)
Survival, Open-World, RPG

Community is a large element of many medieval survival titles. This includes games like Bellwright. In this open-world survival RPG, players will establish various settlements in the Middle Ages and work to expand them to make a glorious home for each of their villagers.

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While a player may first start out on their own living off the land, eventually they will make enough of a name for themselves to focus on the town management aspects of Bellwright. Here, players will tend to their community, tasking the villagers with various jobs to collect food or resources, while also being able to train soldiers to protect their villages from possible attacks.

5 Ark: Survival Evolved

Work With Other Players To Tame The Wildlife

ARK: Survival Evolved
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Released
August 29, 2017
Developer(s)
Studio Wildcard
Platform(s)
Linux, macOS, PC, PS4, Xbox One, Stadia, Switch, iOS, Android
Genre(s)
Survival

Another potentially great survival game for building a community is Ark: Survival Evolved. Like Conan Exiles, players are able to take part in this survival title filled with prehistoric thrills with their friends or find other players on their server who may be looking to team up.

It is arguably far easier to tame the various dinosaurs of Ark: Survival Evolved when there is another player watching the tamer's back to avoid another dinosaur sneaking up on them or even a player that may be attempting to steal from the group. It is also far easier and quicker to build a base when the player has the help of others.

4 RimWorld

Build A Home For The Player's Colony That Shields Them From Dangers

RimWorld
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Simulation
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Released
October 17, 2018
Developer(s)
Ludeon Studios
Platform(s)
PC, PS4, Xbox One
Genre(s)
Simulation

Colony simulators are also able to implement various survival aspects of gameplay. A great example of this is RimWorld, which combines the genre of colony simulators with players having to make sure their group survives by building bases, fortifying defenses, and even recruiting more survivors to their group to expand their colony further.

RimWorld takes surviving within this growing community one step further through how players don't only have to manage food supplies, but also the relationships between their colonists. Fights can break loose between unhappy survivors, which means players will always be working to keep the community happy.

3 Rust

Team Up With Players To Make A Base To Defend Against Others

Rust
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Released
February 8, 2018
Developer(s)
Facepunch Studios
Platform(s)
macOS, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Genre(s)
Survival

Concluding the multiplayer survival titles for creating a community between players. Rust has been one of the greatest for players who wish to experience an intense survival experience that will usually require them to group up with others if they hope to survive.

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The community around Rust is incredibly serious about surviving, as players prepare for each reset out of the game by already forming alliances that will hopefully remain once they have gotten into the title. Players work together within their communities to create maze-like bases to prevent other players from stealing their things, while other members of their community work to advance their technology so they can build various turrets and other weaponry.

2 Stranded: Alien Dawn

Persevere On An Alien Planet With A Small Group Of Survivors

Stranded: Alien Dawn
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Real-Time Strategy
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Released
April 25, 2023
Developer(s)
Haemimont Games
Genre(s)
Real-Time Strategy

Out of all the survival games for building a community, Stranded: Alien Dawn is another worthy option for players to enjoy. In this real-time strategy game, players must survive with their stranded group of survivors on an alien plant filled with all sorts of dangers.

Surviving is more than fighting the aliens of the planet, as players will need to build up their base to create a community location for their survivors where they feel not only safe but can also find some enjoyment when they aren't being tasked with completing work. Discovering new things will only see the player's base grow, with each base created in Stranded: Alien Dawn feeling unique.

1 Medieval Dynasty

Build And Lead A Community In The Harsh Middle Ages

Medieval Dynasty
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Open-World
Strategy
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Released
December 17, 2020
Developer
Render Cube
Genre(s)
Open-World, Strategy

Like Bellwright, games that allow the player to build their own settlements within the Middle Ages are some of the best survival titles where a community can be fostered. Medieval Dynasty is no different. Players will gradually make a name for themselves within the Middle Ages until they can afford to start their own settlement to allow various families to make a living for themselves while also giving the player a profit too.

It is up to the player to help their community prosper by trading their produce with other villages and using the profit to expand even more. However, players will still need to remember that they must defend their village in Medieval Dynasty too, from various unlawful brigands.

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