Summary
- Survival games can offer tough gameplay experiences where exploration can be exhausting.
- Sometimes, the tiring exploration adds to the realism, challenge, and enjoyment of a survival game.
- Stealth and caution are essential in games like Green Hell and This War of Mine to survive the dangers encountered on the journey.
Exploring a new game world is usually fun. Immersing in the unique culture, meeting NPCs, discovering secrets, and finding a few surprises along the way can all enhance the enjoyment of the game massively. Even survival games can provide such thrills, despite their goal being to keep the protagonist, party, or community alive, which is quite a sobering task.
8 Best Survival Games For Low-Stakes Playthroughs, Ranked
These low-stakes survival games offer engaging gameplay paired with fairly relaxing objectives, making for low-stress playthroughs.
Still, not all games are exhilarating to navigate, causing a great deal of stress or proving to be deadly even in the most mundane circumstances, which can result in player fatigue and burnout. That said, this feeling can often add to the enjoyment of these survival games, and many of the best feature exhausting exploration.
This ranking is based on each survival game's overall quality and popularity.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead
Sneak Around & Stay Completely Silent
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead
- Released
- October 17, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Stormind Games
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror, Horror
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
Every sound matters in A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead, meaning that stealth and silence are a must if players have any hope of survival. A spin-off of the popular horror movie franchise, players take control of a young woman who must navigate the world with very careful sound management as she sneaks past and hides from terrifying monstrosities.
Adding to the challenge are various environmental factors, like creaky floorboards, but also the struggle the protagonist has with her chronic asthma. This means that absolute caution and concentration are required at all times, which can be mentally draining. A microphone integration system even allows for a more immersive experience in which players themselves must physically remain silent throughout the proceedings.
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
Either Rewarding Or Tiresome Exploration
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
- Released
- February 4, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Techland
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Much like its predecessor, the open-world of Dying Light 2 Stay Human can be a chore to explore, especially during the night and in the early game. 22 years after the events of the first game and set in the city of Villedor, players are encouraged to scour the city for inhibitors in order to improve protagonist Aiden Caldwell's health, as well as find other survivors.
Rewards are greater during the nighttime, but the Volatiles that infest the city are much quicker, stronger, and more numerous, meaning that those who are unprepared will be easy fodder. The stamina-based parkour can be both satisfying when it goes smoothly and frustrating when players panic while hordes of rapid zombies pursue them in the darkness.
Miasmata
Meticulously Chart Routes & Manage Resources
Miasmata
- Released
- November 28, 2012
WHERE TO PLAY
Placing an emphasis on slow-paced exploration, Miasmata can be a struggle for many who expect a survival game with more urgency. Navigating the island can be a tedious exercise, since the landscape must be mapped out using cartography methods, tasking players with taking note of recognized landmarks in order to plot courses and remember routes.
8 Best Open-World Games Where You Are The Only Human Character, Ranked
These striking open-world games create a fascinating combination of exploration and isolation due to the player being the only human character.
Combining this rudimentary mapping system with the need to carefully manage resources and craft medicine to keep the protagonist's mysterious ailment at bay can be very tiresome, especially when some tasks become repetitive. Still, there is plenty to keep Robert Hughes on his toes as he hunts for the cure to his strange illness and scavenges for resources.
ARK: Survival Evolved
Travel Is Fraught With Potential Dangers
ARK: Survival Evolved
- Released
- August 29, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
Given the large maps and diverse biomes in ARK: Survival Evolved, players can easily feel somewhat fatigued while traversing the land. Taming and riding various mounts can really help ease these feelings, especially when using flying mounts, but there are still plenty of hostile creatures roaming the landscape and other potentially unsavory players in multiplayer servers.
Survival in itself can be somewhat taxing, since nutrition, hydration, and temperature are important, making travel over long distances and far from the safety of the home base risky. Weather and the day/night cycle present challenges, too, since the patterns are randomized and unpredictable, and creatures will be more active at night when visibility happens to be lower.
Green Hell
Realistic Gameplay Can Cause Fatigue To Players And The Protagonist
Green Hell
- Released
- September 5, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Crude Humor, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Creepy Jar
- Genre(s)
- Survival
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Often praised for its realistic survival mechanics, it's certainly not easy to keep anthropologist Jake Higgins alive in Green Hell. Everything in the game is out to kill the player-character in the Amazonian jungle, from belligerent tribes and wild animals to disease and poor nutrition, so caution is advised when venturing too far from the safety of the home base.
A balanced diet is vital, as Jake will experience various issues if he does not consume enough of certain nutrients, plus good-quality sleep is important to maintain stamina. Even walking calmly can negatively impact energy levels, so it's easy for players to feel stressed and overly burdened when playing Green Hell, adding to the challenge and immersion.
This War Of Mine
Demoralizing When Things Go Wrong
This War of Mine
- Released
- November 14, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Mild Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
- Genre(s)
- Survival
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Inspired by the siege of Sarajevo, This War of Mine is a deliberately harrowing gameplay experience, designed to simulate the horrors of war and its impact on regular civilians. In the daytime, the survivors use their scarce resources to try and live another day, staying warm, finding nourishment, and aiming to boost spirits in troubling times.
8 Stealth Games Where Making Noise Matters
These stealth games are going to challenge players with their every move by making sure that they don't make too much noise.
During the night, one survivor may venture out to scavenge for supplies, which is always a draining experience. Encountering friendly NPCs is rare, and even in those cases, players may steal from them, which can lead to guilty feelings and depression in characters down the line. Killing hostiles has similar consequences, and the player-character can easily be wounded or murdered, too. On top of that, returning empty-handed is even more demoralizing.
The Long Dark
Challenging Gameplay In The Canadian Wilderness
The Long Dark
- Released
- August 1, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Blood, Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Hinterland Studio
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Masochistic players may choose to enable permadeath if they desire more of a challenge and higher stakes in The Long Dark. Over 50 square kilometers of Canadian wilderness await as players seek to survive in the harsh conditions, with extreme cold, changeable weather, rugged terrain, and unsympathetic wildlife all presenting barriers to avoiding death.
Resting and maintaining caloric intake helps to keep energy levels high so that players can traverse the adverse landscape, and low energy levels can quickly lead to a grisly end. Whether playing through the story campaign or attempting to stay alive as long as possible in the sandbox-style survival mode, it's tiring for both players and their in-game character while adventuring in the frozen north.
Don't Starve
Especially Tough Early In The Game
Don't Starve
- Released
- April 23, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Fantasy, Violence, Crude Humor
- Developer(s)
- Klei Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Management
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PS Vita, Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PC
Exploration is a risky but necessary part of gameplay in Don't Starve, and it is especially challenging for beginners and in the first few days of a new playthrough. Starting with nothing and being given no real instructions, players must venture out into the enigmatic and whimsical world to find resources that can help them survive and thrive.
Maps are randomly generated, so each new world is both vast and unfamiliar, making those first few in-game days the most difficult. There is an urgency to craft a sustainable shelter, too, so there really is no time to rest, especially since the encroaching winter makes death an even more likely outcome if the proper preparations haven't been made.
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