Best Survival Games On PS Plus

Sony's new and improved PlayStation Plus has been around since June 2022, offering subscribers three basic tiers filled with benefits. PS Plus Essential provides access to online servers and a few monthly PS5 and PS4 games that need to be "purchased" within their available weeks so they can be accessed after that point. Along with Essential's goodies, PS Plus Extra includes a library of PS5 and PS4 games that range in the hundreds, with this selection also being updated at a monthly rate. Lastly, there is PS Plus Premium, which has everything offered by Essential and Extra along with classic PS3 (or PS4 remasters), PS2, PS1, and PSP games. Combined, there are roughly 700+ titles on PS Plus, and they naturally cover a wide spectrum of genres and gameplay styles.

PS Plus has action, horror, story-driven dramas, comedies, adventure, strategy, sims, racing, and role-playing games, and that just covers the basics. Unsurprisingly, survival games are no exception, although this genre's selection is not as plentiful as some others. Still, subscribers craving intense experiences revolving around maintaining a character's basic needs and persevering in harsh environments have a few options at their fingertips.

Updated April 13, 2024 by Mark Sammut: Survival games on PS Plus are in short supply, and the service's March and April 2024 lineups skipped over the genre. Push comes to shove, fans might enjoy Deliver Us Mars or, at a very long stretch, Dave the Diver, but neither of them is remotely part of the survival genre.

Conan Exiles

Metascore: 68

Conan Exiles somewhat stumbled out of the gate when it debuted in 2018, but Funcom's survival game is nowadays well-established as a prominent minor player in the online scene. Obviously, it is never going to reach Overwatch 2 or Fortnite levels of exposure, and nor should it try to appeal to such a wide and casual audience. Conan Exiles stands out because it is fairly challenging and mature, even going as far as to incorporate a few mechanics and ideas that have attracted criticism over the years.

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In terms of survival mechanics, Conan Exiles has many of the genre's fundamentals, including resource and meter management, deep crafting, base building, and combat. Although primarily designed with community and online play in mind, Funcom's title does contain a story in an attempt to satisfy people looking for something closer to a single-player campaign.

Dysmantle

Metascore: N/A

Dysmantle lives up to its name. 10tons' open-world RPG is set during a zombie apocalypse, resulting in a fittingly lonely and dangerous world. While by no means terrible, the game's setting and story are fairly run-of-the-mill, even if they both feature a couple of unique touches that help distinguish them from their many peers. However, what really sets Dysmantle apart is its destruction, gathering, and crafting mechanics, which all combine to create a deeply satisfying gameplay loop that expands nicely and naturally over the course of a few dozen hours.

Basically, Dysmantle encourages players to break their surroundings to collect resources to craft things like food and tools. As a survivor's arsenal expands, so do their destructive capabilities, allowing them to tear apart aspects of the world that previously held strong. This system works really well and encourages experimentation, even if the selection of weapons is not especially vast. Visually, the title utilizes an isometric camera angle akin to something like Diablo 3, and that comparison also extends to its colorful presentation. Dysmantle also supports co-op.

This War Of Mine: Final Cut

Metascore: 82

11 Bit's This War of Mine focuses on civilians caught in a conflict they really have nothing to do with outside their citizenship. Rather than front-line heroics or sweeping tactical decisions to try and turn the tide of battle, players must guide a group of terrified and desperate individuals who only want to see the next sunrise. The war's conclusion will eventually arrive, but it has no specific date; consequently, survival is a constant struggle that feels almost endless.

This War of Mine utilizes a day and night cycle. In the former's case, the ensuing battle makes it too dangerous to step aside from a shelter, so players have to spend their time fortifying their weak stronghold. At night, characters can head out to find resources, a journey that is always rife with peril for both the people leaving the nest and the ones left behind. Each character has unique stats that grant them personality, and some figures will be detrimental to the group's survival rate. The Final Cut includes the expansion called The Little Ones, which adds children into the mix.

Stranded Deep

Metascore: 65

Is there a setup that screams "survival" more than a plane crash in the middle of a vast ocean? Stranded Deep is, in many ways, a prototypical survival game, albeit one that does the fundamentals so well that it succeeds in setting itself apart from the genre's many other offerings. After their emergency landing, players find themselves stuck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with only a lifeboat and some supplies to their name, and they will instantly have to make an important decision as they pick which of the islands generated for that playthrough they should visit first. Once there, they will have to start working toward satisfying a few survival staples: food, tools, and shelter.

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By  Gemma Johnson

While not devoid of accessibility options, Stranded Deep is arguably at its best with permadeath enabled. The game can be punishingly difficult since even seemingly small mistakes can send players spiraling toward an early grave, and while having to restart can be frustrating for newcomers who are still coming to grips with the mechanics, permadeath heightens the tension so much that it transforms Stranded Deep into a different beast. Still, if someone opts against this option, they will still be left with a well-done game that has style and substance.

Rise Of The Tomb Raider (Endurance Mode)

Metascore: 88

PS Plus has the full Tomb Raider survivor trilogy, but only one game tries to live up to that moniker. While the base game is a fairly straightforward action-adventure title, Rise of the Tomb Raider has an Endurance Mode that fits well into the survival genre, and it is a positive enough experience that the franchise might want to consider adapting this gameplay style again in the future. This mode drops Lara Croft in the Siberian wilderness, and she must survive long enough to be extracted. Generally, she has to monitor two meters: hunger and warmth. Both of these go down rapidly, so Lara must always be hunting for food and setting up heat sources.

Endurance Mode's core mechanics are not extremely deep for a survival campaign, but they combine well enough with Rise of the Tomb Raider's progression and combat to create an overall positive experience. Like the core game, Lara also unlocks new skills and weapons as she tries to withstand the cold. Endurance even includes a few neat touches like a day-and-night cycle along with a card system that allows players to tweak loadouts and runs. Ultimately, Rise of the Tomb Raider can only be recommended if someone is interested in playing through its main story; however, Endurance Mode serves as a fun distraction that can kill a few hours.

Far Cry Primal (Survivor Mode)

Metascore: 76

Except for perhaps Far Cry 2, none of Ubisoft's main entries truly qualify as survival games, even though they drop players in inhospitable worlds filled with armies of people who want them dead. However, Primal is not a typical Far Cry experience, and that goes beyond just its 10,000 BC setting. Obviously, this shift removes modern weaponry and vehicles, limiting players to things like a bow and arrow and ridable beasts. These changes lend themselves to a survival twist, even if they are surface-level since Primal otherwise retains many of the typical mechanics associated with the main entries. The game also does not overemphasize its story, preferring to encourage players to explore the world as they steadily try to establish their tribe as the region's dominant one.

Primal's standard mode might be able to scratch a player's survival itch, but they can also just try Survivor Mode if they want a significant challenge. Released as a free update, this mode introduces things like permadeath for both the player and their animal companions, removes the minimap, introduces a stamina bar, limits resources, and makes predators more dangerous and unpredictable. This mode turns Far Cry Primal into one of the best survival games on PS Plus, although anyone who is just looking for a prehistoric open-world romp should just stick to the vanilla version.

How To Survive 2

Metascore: 67

How to Survive 2 is a pure survival experience, in the sense that the only goal is to exist within a zombie apocalypse. There is no chopper waiting on top of a building or a complex narrative that ponders if humans are the real monsters. Whether solo or with a few friends, players will spend their time exploring the map in search of resources, crafting items, and fortifying their base of operations to withstand the undead hordes.

As basic as all this might sound, How to Survive 2 succeeds since it is built on a strong gameplay loop that is tailor-made for co-op. The game utilizes a mission system that transports players into self-contained areas, a change from its predecessor's open-world structure. In theory, this alteration does not seem ideal for a survival game, but How to Survive 2 uses it to cut the fat and provide a stronger overall package.

Unturned

Metascore: N/A

Unturned has enjoyed a surprisingly long shelf life, with the game still averaging a player count of over 20,000 on Steam. While not necessarily bringing a lot of innovation to the zombie sandbox genre, Unturned's appeal lies in the freedom its gameplay provides. After spawning into a map, players have to fend for themselves, which means managing their food supply, finding and upgrading weapons, and avoiding radiation.

Now, Unturned is at its best on PC due to its robust modding scene. However, the PS4 version is more than decent, especially for solo play sessions. While dated in some ways, Unturned is still one of the best survival games on PS Plus Extra.

Frostpunk: Console Edition

Metascore: 87

In most survival games on PS Plus Extra, players only have to protect themselves. However, Frostpunk goes a hundred steps further by putting players in charge of an entire group and, before long, a city. Set in a grueling winter, The Captain has to manage productivity and morale while making tough decisions such as which buildings should be kept closest to the steam engine and, by extension, the heat.

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Frostpunk is unforgiving, particularly during its opening few hours. Mistakes will be made and as things start to circle the drain, players will have to decide what lengths they are willing to go to in order to survive.

Fallout: New Vegas (Hardcore Mode)

Metascore: 82

On normal difficulty, Fallout: New Vegas is a story-driven action RPG with almost no survival elements except for the typical challenges found in most sandbox projects. However, Obsidian included a Hardcore mode that pushes the gameplay toward the survival genre, even incorporating mechanics like Dehydration and Starvation that are absent in a standard run. Meter monitoring is one of the central components of survival games, and Hardcore brings this element to Fallout: New Vegas.

This option also changes the way a few items work; for instance, Stimpaks heal the Courier over a short period rather than instantly. While Hardcore does not impact the story, the mode greatly alters the flow of gameplay as players are given a lot more to think about than just outlasting enemies. Prepping becomes crucial to surviving the Wasteland.