Summary
- Co-op survival games require teamwork for success against enemies and dangers in vibrant worlds.
- Titles like 7 Days to Die offer intense horror experiences for groups of friends to survive the undead hordes together.
- Green Hell challenges players to monitor health, food, and other aspects while exploring the jungle to survive as a group.
Survival is one of the most popular genres of video games in the modern era. Blending action, crafting, exploration, and construction, these games offer hours of gameplay with in-depth mechanics that offer deeply immersive experiences. While many of these games can be played solo, they are often best when played with friends.
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Co-op survival games require strong communication from their players. From finding food and resources around the open world to constructing a base against the game's enemies, players must work together to succeed. Often set in vibrant fantasy worlds, filled with diverse biomes, creatures, and resources, these titles are addictive gaming experiences where friends can connect and survive for hours on end.
1 7 Days To Die
Survive The Zombie Apocalypse
7 Days to Die
- Released
- June 28, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- The Fun Pimps
- Platform(s)
- Linux, macOS, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
This tense post-apocalyptic survival horror game pits players against both the elements and ravenous hordes of zombies. Up to eight players can spawn in either a randomly generated world or Navezgane, Arizona, the game's pre-set location. Here, players must survive for as long as possible. Players can construct simple buildings and craft various tools, which degrade over time. Hunger and thirst must also be regulated, as well as injuries or illness.
For groups of friends who love intense horror experiences, 7 Days to Die is a great survival simulation. In multiplayer, players can choose to either work together or become hostile to each other to survive the endless hordes of undead while exploring the shattered remains of the world.
2 Conan Exiles
Explore And Survive In The Scorching Desert
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
- Developer(s)
- Funcom
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Action-Adventure
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
In this fun, open-world survival game, players create a custom character who is a condemned convict at the start of the game. Crucified and left to die, players are eventually saved by the legendary warrior Conan, thus starting their lives in the Exiled Lands.
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Conan Exiles offers large groups of players the chance to adventure in a vast desert landscape. Public servers can host up to 40 players, while private servers can even reach 200. Players must manage their hunger and thirst while fending off various dangers, such as prehistoric beasts. If on a PvP server, players must also contend with other players. Conan Exiles is an underrated survival experience that fans of the genre will love becoming immersed in.
3 ARK: Survival Evolved
Hunt & Tame Dinosaurs
ARK: Survival Evolved
- Released
- August 29, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
This popular online action-survival game drops players into a large open world, filled with dinosaurs, mythical monsters, and robotic enemies. The game’s dedicated servers allow up to 70 players in either PvP or PvE modes. However, for groups of friends looking to experience the game alone, up to four players can dive into a non-dedicated server.
Players must monitor their hunger, thirst, health, stamina, and oxygen, and build their home base. Experience points used to level up the player's stats are gained from crafting, harvesting, or hunting. While surviving against the many dinosaurs, players are also able to tame various creatures, which will require additional scavenged food. ARK: Survival Evolved is an original game with a dedicated player base. Blending action and survival, this is a brilliant game for friends to get deeply immersed in while living out their prehistoric dreams.
4 Green Hell
A Hardcore Survival Experience
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
In this hardcore open-world survival simulation, players must work together to survive the dangers of the jungle. Up to four players at a time can be invited into a game, where they must each monitor their health, a balanced diet of food, and thirst. Players can sustain injuries or illnesses, or even be poisoned by venomous snakes. Medicine or bandages must then be crafted.
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Green Hell is a challenging survival experience, where almost every aspect of the player's wellbeing must be monitored, from sleep to shelter. While the game can be played solo, groups of friends up for a survival challenge will love this immersive experience to the heart of darkness.
5 Grounded
Explore The Dangerous World Of The Back Garden
Grounded
- Released
- September 27, 2022
- ESRB
- Teen // Blood, Mild Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Obsidian Entertainment
Highly inspired by the movies A Bug’s Life (1998) and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Grounded is a fun survival game where players control a group of kids who have been shrunk down to the size of an ant and are now lost in the back garden.
Up to four players can join together and explore the vibrant, oversized world of the game. Players must craft tools, weapons, and armor to survive the various creatures and manage hunger and thirst while exploring the world and building their base. Grounded is a fun survival game that is both addictive and family-friendly. Small groups of friends will love exploring the fantastically designed world that is immersive and filled with hidden secrets to discover.
6 The Forest
An Immersive Survival Horror
The Forest
- Released
- April 30, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
Blending tense open-world horror with hardcore survival mechanics, The Forest is a challenging and immersive game for up to 8 players. Set on a large forest-covered island, the game follows a father's search for his missing son in a remote and mysterious region.
Filled with hidden secrets, roaming cannibals, and disturbing mutants, players must effectively work together to find safety, food, and protection. The many caves scattered across the land hide numerous resources, but are some of the most dangerous areas in the game. Cooperation is the key to success, as mutant enemies are fast and deadly. The Forest is one of the best survival games on the market, and is best suited for smaller groups of friends looking for a heart-pounding experience.
7 Raft
Work Together To Survive The Ocean
Raft
- Released
- June 20, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Raft offers players the opportunity to experience a vast apocalyptic ocean, filled with hidden secrets and dangers. Groups of players must work together to build, forage, craft, and hunt their way from island to island, as they search for habitable land.
Raft is the perfect survival game to play with friends, where working together as a team will lead to success. From planning and building the raft’s structures, growing or hunting food, or gathering resources for crafting, the game is a detailed sandbox experience that offers hours of immersive gameplay. While there is no hard limit on the number of players that can join a game, Raft is best suited for smaller groups.
8 Valheim
A Dynamic & Diverse Fantasy World
Valheim
- Released
- February 2, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- r
- Developer(s)
- Iron Gate AB
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- Platform(s)
- Linux, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
In this hardcore open-world survival game, players control a fallen Viking warrior who has awoken in a vast and dangerous land. To be proven worthy and ascend to Valhalla, players must defeat several bosses scattered across the game.
Players must build homes, craft tools, and scavenge or hunt for food to survive the game’s various biomes. Valheim offers hours of gameplay where up to ten players can work together to construct large settlements or defeat bosses. The slower pace and large world are ideal for friend groups who want to explore and adventure, with in-depth mechanics and challenging encounters.
9 V Rising
An Addictive Action Survival RPG
V Rising
- Released
- May 8, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Blood, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Stunlock Studios
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
In this fantastic isometric survival RPG game, players control a newly awakened vampire, who has grown hungry after centuries of sleep. As players explore the large open world, they must gather resources to build and find sources of nourishment to survive. Players can claim land across five unique biomes. Claimed land allows the player to construct a castle, where they grow stronger, readying themselves to take on the various enemies and bosses of the world.
V Rising can be played either solo or as a multiplayer game and offers both PvP and PvE servers. Players looking to play with friends can create a private game where friends can be invited. V Rising is one of the best action-survival games around and a fun way for friends to bond over some good-old-fashioned bloodshed.
10 Minecraft
Limitless Possibilities
Minecraft
- Released
- November 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
- Mojang
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- Platform(s)
- 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time and remains as popular today as ever. Its simple gameplay of construction, exploration, and survival has captured the imaginations of millions of players worldwide and is perfect for players of any age.
In the game, friends can create huge buildings, explore vast lands, or dig deep underground for valuable resources. Players must arm themselves with weapons and armor against roaming enemies that live underground and emerge at night. While different game modes allow for different player numbers, Minecraft is the perfect place for friends to hang out and reconnect in a safe, fun environment.
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