10 Best PS5 Survival games

There are a lot of survival games out there, and it can be difficult to figure out which ones are worth putting your time and money into. If you’ve got a PlayStation 5 and want a new challenge to dive into, we’ve got you covered. 

But what makes a survival game? Generally speaking, if you begin with very little and have to work your way up by gathering and crafting, then it can likely be included as part of the survival genre. If you can build your own base and customize it to your own tastes, then even better. 

Here are ten survival games available to play on PlayStation 5 right now, and each of them is definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre. 

Minecraft

As far as survival games go, Minecraft is a classic. You enter a pixelated world and have to work your way up from nothing but your fists. Gather resources to build a shelter and food to fill your stomach, and then you can go exploring in the cave systems under your blocky feet. One of the major plus points to Minecraft is Creative Mode, allowing you infinite resources to build glorious creations. 

The best thing about Minecraft is that it’s the perfect game to introduce a younger generation to the joy of survival games, with children everywhere loving the blocky world and everything in it. 

Rust

After waking up naked on the beach with a rock, you’re tasked with surviving on servers filled with other players who are all only looking out for themselves. You then need to gather (or steal, if you’re feeling brave) resources that will allow you to build shelters, all while avoiding the hostile wildlife such as bears and wolves who will attack you without a second thought. 

To top off the survival experience of Rust, all servers get reset on the final Thursday of each month. This means that all of your bases, and all of your progress, is removed, and once again, you find yourself naked on the sand with only a rock.  

Ark: Survival Evolved

Have you ever wanted to tame dinosaurs and don them in mecha suits that turn them into war machines to use in survival against other players? Well, if that’s the case, then Ark: Survival Evolved might just be the survival game you’ve been looking for. You can play either single-player or multiplayer and form tribes with others on your server. 

It goes without saying that you begin your life in Ark: Survival Evolved with nothing, and you have to gather and craft your way up. Eventually, you can tame dinosaurs as mounts and take on mythical creatures. You can even build mobile bases on the backs of some of the larger prehistoric beasties, giving you the ultimate RV. 

Subnautica

Subnautica is unlike any other game on this list because you have no land to stand on. Well, aside from the giant ship that you get to explore as part of the story and two islands you’ll get to eventually. You’ll need to gather blueprints, resources, and food in order to survive in the middle of an alien sea, surrounded by absolutely giant and very hostile alien creatures. 

There are multiple modes that you can enable while playing Subnautica, with Creative Mode disabling all depletable characteristics like health and thirst. On the other end of the spectrum, Hardcore Mode removes warnings of low oxygen levels and includes a gamer’s worst fear — Permadeath. If you die, your save file will be gone forever. 

No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky got off to a rocky start when it was first released back in 2016, but it’s become a beloved title in the survival genre thanks to multiple game-changing updates. Now, it’s an example of everything a good survival game should be. 

As a humanoid explorer of the planets, you wake up on a random planet with a crashed spaceship and only a multitool to help you navigate the strange world. On the plus side, the multitool not only allows you to scan and gather resources but also acts as your first weapon if you encounter any alien creatures out to kill you. 

Grounded

Grounded is my personal idea of hell, and seems as though it took heavy inspiration from Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Shrunk down to the size of an ant and suddenly needing to survive in a world filled with giant insects, you’ll gradually become more hungry and thirsty as time goes on, having to gather resources and water to survive. 

What’s worse is that Spiders are considered an “apex predator” in the world of Grounded, and as an arachnophobe, having a giant spider chase you across the backyard while you’re starving and dying is not my idea of a fun time. With that said, Grounded does have an arachnophobia mode, and I guess your enjoyment of this will depend on how much bugs give you the ick. 

The Forest

If surviving against insects isn’t your idea of a good time, then how about surviving in a world filled with cannibals who not only want to kill you but also rip the flesh from your bones? The Forest is the predecessor to Sons of the Forest, and if you play through The Forest and find it enjoyable, I strongly suggest that you pick up the sequel as well. 

The best survival method for The Forest is to focus on building and exploring during the day, as the mutants with nefarious intentions come out in the dark of night. There’s a huge level of fear and anxiety that you’ll feel when playing through this one, but it’s also hugely satisfying to survive and get through the story. 

Pacific Drive

If you’re looking for a survival game with a bit of a four-wheeled twist, then Pacific Drive is definitely the way to go. Using your trusty (if a little run-down) station wagon, you can drive across the map to scavenge and gather resources to improve both your own chances of survival and the car itself. 

Your car is fully customizable, and you’ll need to focus on repairs and upgrades so that you can explore further and survive for longer. Anomalies around the map will affect you or the car in different ways, such as scrambling the controls for the car or inflicting damage, so be careful as you explore. 

This War of Mine

This War of Mine is the only survival game on this list that isn’t played through a first-person POV. Instead, you’re in control of a group of people who are hiding in a damaged house after fleeing from a war. They can’t venture outside in the daylight, as there are snipers waiting to take them out, and you’re low on resources. 

Each controllable character has its own backstory, and you need to keep each of them alive as you wait for the ceasefire to come. However, there is no fixed timeframe for this event, so you’ll just need to keep going until it comes. This War of Mine is haunting and definitely something you should try if you’re into survival games. 

Green Hell

Green Hell can be played in either single-player or co-op multiplayer mode and is an open-world survival game set in the Amazon Rainforest. As you likely expect by now, you’ll need to gather resources, build shelter, and find food in order to survive. 

If you choose to follow the story, which is entirely optional, then you’ll go off in search of your wife, who went missing after venturing out on a solo trip to a local tribal village. Unfortunately, your only contact with her is through the radio, and the local Yabahuaca tribe has not taken kindly to the presence of researchers in their jungle.