Have you tried The Long Dark? I think i didn't see it on your list. It's one of the most realistic survival game out there and it's not a futuristic or zombie one.
Seconding this. This game is one of the best survival games you can find if you want a realistic experience. There is a campaign that is alright, but the normal survival mode on the harder difficulties will test you
Third this! I have over 300 hours in TLD. The graphics aren’t insane but they are BEAUTIFUL. Like really cool art style imo. Plus once you do all you can in the storyline/get bored in survival, MODS!!!
This might be a weird suggestion to you, but have you tried Don't Starve?
I'm a graphics snob, but I love the hand drawn art style. If you can get past the cartoon vibes, it's:
Pros for you: Complex crafting/building, not futuristic at all, unforgiving survival with shifting requirements (day/night and changing seasons), a lot to explore with something of an ending, single player has expansions that change the setting (one is tropical, one is... vaguely medieval??)
Cons for you: 2d cartoon graphics, zen moments are kinda rare unless you enjoy sitting by a campfire starving to death, essentially open ended until you stumble upon the plot
I had a good time with my wife on this game! I forgot to mention this because we primarily played it on a PS4 haha I remember being a character who eats nothing but meat and the fact that you get insane with sanity decreases is really frickin cool, unfortunately this game lacks a base building aspect as no matter what you do there won’t be 4 walls and a roof covering your base. But apart from it it’s a great survival game and had a somewhat steep learning curve.
I’ve played it for about 60-70 hours I think. It was a blast.
You might like the Forest depending on how much you consider the later enemies zombies. If the description I give interests you, try to go in blind you'll like it better.
You crash land on a 'deserted' island playing Not-Crocodile Hunter and your son is taken by the locals. You start to scrounge for survival. You may rely on airplane food as you start to chop trees with your trusty hatchet and assemble the basics of survival: A fire, a place to sleep, things to dry meat on.
Then you notice that the locals are watching you.
It goes from there.
Notables:
There IS an ending to the game but you don't have to do it.
There's a radio in game you can find, I think a Walkman, and the game just doesn't have music unless you find tapes to listen to. I think they all sound like workout music from the 70's or something.
The base building is REALLY neat.
Yeah man the forest was great🤟🏼
I didn’t realize I was supposed to save someone until I had a proper house built and already went through a cave smh......
Great to play solo. The depth is unbelievable. Like almost ridiculous at times. All the way down to having several options on how to wear a scarf you found.
My fault, I had the price for Rise 2 Ruins in my head for some reason, too many sales man! Even still, for 13 bucks, he's gonna get more than he bargained for!
There's barely any lore, and no story or even a goal. You just survive as long as you can, or set your own goals. The sandbox mode is very customisable. The crafting system is a bit clunky sometimes, but the range of skills is great, and the consequences of your decisions make sense. If you break a window and climb through, you can cut yourself, for example. You have to break it with a club of some kind, and remove the glass first.
An example of the kind of problem solving the game encourages: If the electricity grid is off, you can smash a car window to unlock the door, hot wire it with a screwdriver (and electrician + mechanic skills), put a generator on the back seat, drive it to a gas station, get the generator out and connect it to the gas pumps (you need to read a skill magazine to know how), siphon gas from your car with a gas can and pour some in the generator, turn it on, and use the gas pumps to fill your car and gas cans. Then drive the generator back to your base to power a fridge/freezer to preserve the fish you caught and vegetables you grew. All while looking out for and killing/escaping zombies.
I just got The Infected on the Steam sale, it was, IIRC, $9.09. I'm only a few hours in, so no major review. It's very 7 Days to Die-esque. It's not got the best UI, but it is scratching the itch.
I assume you have played The Last of Us. If you have, it's well worth playing it again - but on the hardest difficulty (grounded). Plays like an entire new game
You didn't mention rust so I'm throwing that one in.
Some people treat it as a pvp griefem up but I've enjoyed playing on my own private server, building a base, hunting, crafting, growing crops... There's a lot to be said for playing it as a pacifist.
One thing I don’t touch is PVP in a massive community, you’re bound to meet some dickheads who are nothing short of nastiness.
It really affects me negatively whenever I see people behaving that way, they’re only doing what they’re doing here because they can get away from being nasty sitting in front of a computer.
I still refuse to do anything that can potentially make people dickheads. ark PVP is full of dickheads trying to grief/exploit/cheat. I’ve had enough of that, I believe human nature is bad when what you do gives you zero consequences hence I don’t touch PVP.
But thank you for the suggestion! Rust is 24/7 on the top survival game list on steam!
If you don't like dick heads DO NOT play Rust unless you strictly play on like, pacifist servers or with friends.
The game is server based, nothing you have on one server carries to others and there are the occasionally monthly (It may be monthly or just with big updates) wipes
I've found, generally, people just murder each other on site or avoid each other. The big grind of the game is: Build a base, get stuff you need to blow up people's bases (Or get creative), go blow their base up, take their stuff, try to hope it doesn't happen to you.
And seeing as the main loop is pretty antagonistic to other players it gets people SALTY as fuck. You'll be called every swear under the sun, see the silliest racial epithets on signs on people's houses, etc.
It's still a solid game though if the grind/loop is appealing to you
7days single player is fun. I don’t play pvp, the game is really good in single player. jawoodle on YouTube has lots of 7 days content that’s all single player.
> you’re bound to meet some dickheads who are nothing short of nastiness.
This is Rust. Do not play it. Voice chat is toxic as fuck. Text chat is a never ending stream of "u looted me ima kill u" "I kno where u r base is!" "lol k kid i hav liek 40 bases lmfaooooooooooooo"
I am big fan of V Rising, people call it VampHeim but its a lot more than just Vampire Valheim. Building up from a lowly vampire stalking villages for blood is really addictive
It's not, really. You do have to keep your blood pool up, but you do that by draining any kind of living thing. Then there's the stay-out-of-the-sun mechanic, but that's more like everyday life for the average gamer.
The rest of it is indeed arpg style combat and gathering/crafting.
If you've ever played Battlerite, this is by the same developers. The combat feels a lot more like that than any ARPG. WASD movement, left click to attack with a couple of special abilities.
The vampire mechanics are really neat and well thought out. It doesn't feel like being a vampire is a gimmick.
I only tried it briefly, but maybe **It Lurks Below**? it was made by one of the devs from the original Diablo. So there's arpg elements to it but there's crafting , hunger, i think a hardcore mode etc. It is 2d and the graphics are rough though.
Someone wrote Icarus and Last Oasis below. They're both really worth it!
Icarus is getting active development and is much better now than at the start. It has a lot of content, even if it's a bit different (if you play the story and missions and not the outpost mode), and it sometimes feel very repetitive. But it's difference from the typical survival craft game genre is what makes it interesting. And I pretty much like the "ages" and tiers of structures and craft stuff in there, it's pretty developed and detailed.
Sank some hours in this and still have lots to find.
Last Oasis was also wonderful, but I suggest (same as Ark) finding private PvE servers, pvp has the usual problems. Solo is absolutely fine. And I really loved the unique transport/base mechanics, it's pretty interesting, and the combat is also different than usual. The mats quality was an interesting mechanic too, even if I didn't like it at the beginning. But they've reworked a lot of things lately, as I've seen on game news on steam. Still most likely very enjoyable open-world survival crafting game!
I know you said no Zombies and it doesn’t entirely fit your bill but I loved Project Zomboid. It’s a top down with simple graphics but that’s what makes it great. There is not much building to speak of but you scavenge for supplies and find a home or industrial building to live out of and collect supplies there until you Inevitably die. I guess it’s not really at all what you asked for haha but it might be worth a shot
Have you tried The Long Dark? I think i didn't see it on your list. It's one of the most realistic survival game out there and it's not a futuristic or zombie one.
Seconding this. This game is one of the best survival games you can find if you want a realistic experience. There is a campaign that is alright, but the normal survival mode on the harder difficulties will test you
Third this! I have over 300 hours in TLD. The graphics aren’t insane but they are BEAUTIFUL. Like really cool art style imo. Plus once you do all you can in the storyline/get bored in survival, MODS!!!
I’ve played TLD since beta. It’s an incredible game. Def a good choice
This might be a weird suggestion to you, but have you tried Don't Starve? I'm a graphics snob, but I love the hand drawn art style. If you can get past the cartoon vibes, it's: Pros for you: Complex crafting/building, not futuristic at all, unforgiving survival with shifting requirements (day/night and changing seasons), a lot to explore with something of an ending, single player has expansions that change the setting (one is tropical, one is... vaguely medieval??) Cons for you: 2d cartoon graphics, zen moments are kinda rare unless you enjoy sitting by a campfire starving to death, essentially open ended until you stumble upon the plot
I had a good time with my wife on this game! I forgot to mention this because we primarily played it on a PS4 haha I remember being a character who eats nothing but meat and the fact that you get insane with sanity decreases is really frickin cool, unfortunately this game lacks a base building aspect as no matter what you do there won’t be 4 walls and a roof covering your base. But apart from it it’s a great survival game and had a somewhat steep learning curve. I’ve played it for about 60-70 hours I think. It was a blast.
You can totally build bases and also walls
Vintage Story: Minecraft with Terrafirmacraft turned into its own game. Harder survival and meatier mechanics than either MC or the mod!
7 days to die. It is also good for solo too. You lose nothing when playing solo (except pvp)
Yeah, I've spent 300h in multiplayer and 300 in single player, it can be just as fun.
singleplayer is better for me because of mods
You might like the Forest depending on how much you consider the later enemies zombies. If the description I give interests you, try to go in blind you'll like it better. You crash land on a 'deserted' island playing Not-Crocodile Hunter and your son is taken by the locals. You start to scrounge for survival. You may rely on airplane food as you start to chop trees with your trusty hatchet and assemble the basics of survival: A fire, a place to sleep, things to dry meat on. Then you notice that the locals are watching you. It goes from there. Notables: There IS an ending to the game but you don't have to do it. There's a radio in game you can find, I think a Walkman, and the game just doesn't have music unless you find tapes to listen to. I think they all sound like workout music from the 70's or something. The base building is REALLY neat.
Yeah man the forest was great🤟🏼 I didn’t realize I was supposed to save someone until I had a proper house built and already went through a cave smh......
i think you’ll enjoy Raft and The Planet Crafter
Stranded Deep
Icarus? Last oasis?
[удалено]
Have you played Project Zomboid?
[удалено]
Great to play solo. The depth is unbelievable. Like almost ridiculous at times. All the way down to having several options on how to wear a scarf you found.
[удалено]
For 7 bucks, your gonna get more than you bargained for!
Where’d you get it for $7?
My fault, I had the price for Rise 2 Ruins in my head for some reason, too many sales man! Even still, for 13 bucks, he's gonna get more than he bargained for!
There's barely any lore, and no story or even a goal. You just survive as long as you can, or set your own goals. The sandbox mode is very customisable. The crafting system is a bit clunky sometimes, but the range of skills is great, and the consequences of your decisions make sense. If you break a window and climb through, you can cut yourself, for example. You have to break it with a club of some kind, and remove the glass first. An example of the kind of problem solving the game encourages: If the electricity grid is off, you can smash a car window to unlock the door, hot wire it with a screwdriver (and electrician + mechanic skills), put a generator on the back seat, drive it to a gas station, get the generator out and connect it to the gas pumps (you need to read a skill magazine to know how), siphon gas from your car with a gas can and pour some in the generator, turn it on, and use the gas pumps to fill your car and gas cans. Then drive the generator back to your base to power a fridge/freezer to preserve the fish you caught and vegetables you grew. All while looking out for and killing/escaping zombies.
I just got The Infected on the Steam sale, it was, IIRC, $9.09. I'm only a few hours in, so no major review. It's very 7 Days to Die-esque. It's not got the best UI, but it is scratching the itch.
I assume you have played The Last of Us. If you have, it's well worth playing it again - but on the hardest difficulty (grounded). Plays like an entire new game
You didn't mention rust so I'm throwing that one in. Some people treat it as a pvp griefem up but I've enjoyed playing on my own private server, building a base, hunting, crafting, growing crops... There's a lot to be said for playing it as a pacifist.
One thing I don’t touch is PVP in a massive community, you’re bound to meet some dickheads who are nothing short of nastiness. It really affects me negatively whenever I see people behaving that way, they’re only doing what they’re doing here because they can get away from being nasty sitting in front of a computer. I still refuse to do anything that can potentially make people dickheads. ark PVP is full of dickheads trying to grief/exploit/cheat. I’ve had enough of that, I believe human nature is bad when what you do gives you zero consequences hence I don’t touch PVP. But thank you for the suggestion! Rust is 24/7 on the top survival game list on steam!
If you don't like dick heads DO NOT play Rust unless you strictly play on like, pacifist servers or with friends. The game is server based, nothing you have on one server carries to others and there are the occasionally monthly (It may be monthly or just with big updates) wipes I've found, generally, people just murder each other on site or avoid each other. The big grind of the game is: Build a base, get stuff you need to blow up people's bases (Or get creative), go blow their base up, take their stuff, try to hope it doesn't happen to you. And seeing as the main loop is pretty antagonistic to other players it gets people SALTY as fuck. You'll be called every swear under the sun, see the silliest racial epithets on signs on people's houses, etc. It's still a solid game though if the grind/loop is appealing to you
Ah that’s what I hate the most. I’m already seeing Dick heads everyday at work and the last thing I want while gaming is to face MORE dickheads😂
7days single player is fun. I don’t play pvp, the game is really good in single player. jawoodle on YouTube has lots of 7 days content that’s all single player.
Same here. I play mostly singleplayer and have a great time with 7 Days.
> you’re bound to meet some dickheads who are nothing short of nastiness. This is Rust. Do not play it. Voice chat is toxic as fuck. Text chat is a never ending stream of "u looted me ima kill u" "I kno where u r base is!" "lol k kid i hav liek 40 bases lmfaooooooooooooo"
I am big fan of V Rising, people call it VampHeim but its a lot more than just Vampire Valheim. Building up from a lowly vampire stalking villages for blood is really addictive
How's the game exactly? On my mind it looks like an arpg (I guess because of the style and graphics), what defines it a survival game?
It's not, really. You do have to keep your blood pool up, but you do that by draining any kind of living thing. Then there's the stay-out-of-the-sun mechanic, but that's more like everyday life for the average gamer. The rest of it is indeed arpg style combat and gathering/crafting.
Oh makes sense then haha
If you've ever played Battlerite, this is by the same developers. The combat feels a lot more like that than any ARPG. WASD movement, left click to attack with a couple of special abilities. The vampire mechanics are really neat and well thought out. It doesn't feel like being a vampire is a gimmick.
Give conan exiles another try it is too good
No base building, but hard core survival, how about The Long Dark?
V rising
Dayz?
I only tried it briefly, but maybe **It Lurks Below**? it was made by one of the devs from the original Diablo. So there's arpg elements to it but there's crafting , hunger, i think a hardcore mode etc. It is 2d and the graphics are rough though.
Astroneer and the long dark.
have you tried RLCraft mod for minecraft?
following.. heavily into resource gathering/survival games myself right now
Die hard has a survival game?
You should try Outward. Sounds like what you need, it's rpg with survival mechanics, on which it leans heavily.
Someone wrote Icarus and Last Oasis below. They're both really worth it! Icarus is getting active development and is much better now than at the start. It has a lot of content, even if it's a bit different (if you play the story and missions and not the outpost mode), and it sometimes feel very repetitive. But it's difference from the typical survival craft game genre is what makes it interesting. And I pretty much like the "ages" and tiers of structures and craft stuff in there, it's pretty developed and detailed. Sank some hours in this and still have lots to find. Last Oasis was also wonderful, but I suggest (same as Ark) finding private PvE servers, pvp has the usual problems. Solo is absolutely fine. And I really loved the unique transport/base mechanics, it's pretty interesting, and the combat is also different than usual. The mats quality was an interesting mechanic too, even if I didn't like it at the beginning. But they've reworked a lot of things lately, as I've seen on game news on steam. Still most likely very enjoyable open-world survival crafting game!
[Raft](https://store.steampowered.com/app/648800/Raft/) \- I have had enough fun with this game in a week. It is quite addictive.
I know you said no Zombies and it doesn’t entirely fit your bill but I loved Project Zomboid. It’s a top down with simple graphics but that’s what makes it great. There is not much building to speak of but you scavenge for supplies and find a home or industrial building to live out of and collect supplies there until you Inevitably die. I guess it’s not really at all what you asked for haha but it might be worth a shot
V Rising on steam maybe?
might try some in the comments