Hardest Open-World Survival RPGs

Survival as a genre is generally known to be demanding. You start from nothing, and against the limitations the game introduces, you have to learn to walk and eventually thrive. Games like Minecraft makes this an accessible genre, but then you have other titles like Green hell which takes it to the extreme, where you constantly feel like you are fighting the environment in a tireless, hopeless battle.

If Green hell it sounds like it's right for you, but you want a little more RPG and open world to boot, then I have some challenging games to suggest. These games are easily the toughest on the market, and for several reasons. First, they tend to expect you to figure everything out on your own with no guidance or minimal explanation. Second, they go pretty deep into different systems, from metabolic rates to infections and weapon jams. Third, there are few moments of respite, and every decision and move you make must be carefully and strategically calculated. Survival in these games is a marathon, not a sprint, and you won't find any frivolous power fantasies here. We'll rank these roughly in terms of depth and learning curve, from the most accessible to the most difficult to master.

7 days to die

Plan ahead or die at Blood Moon

The easiest of these hardest games is 7 days to diebut that doesn't mean you can stroll into this game without a care in the world. It's a grueling race against a seven-day time limit from the start. The premise is that every seven days the Blood Moon will rise and a zombie horde will hunt you down. Each time the horde increases in size, and with limited stamina, bullets and other equipment, there's only so much you can do and so far you can go to avoid the hungry zombies.

Oh, you survived a week? Better get ready for the next one and build an even better, bigger and sturdier base with tons of traps to knock the horde through. You'll need to engage in all the classic survival game features to prepare accordingly, from gathering resources to build your base, to venturing into cities to scavenge for gear, all while struggling to keep up with your basic needs, from hunger to thirst to your general, basic health.

Outwards

There are no power fantasies here

Outwards may seem like another great fantasy RPG at a glance, but it's actually one of the toughest survival games out there. While many RPGs allow you to live out your power fantasies freely and adapt to the level of your character, Outwards not. The enemies don't scale, and if you encounter an enemy that is far beyond your current capabilities, the best solution is to just run away and come back when you're ready. With no fast travel available, Outwards forcing you to venture out on foot to traverse potentially dangerous biomes in search of loot, adventure, and development.

You need to eat, drink and stop to rest regularly, and your injuries will affect you for a long time after a battle gone wrong. The most sinister and challenging aspect of the game is how it handles death. You will never know exactly what will happen to you when you lose a fight. It may be that you get help, or that you bleed out. You can also end up in a completely random place across the map with nothing in your pockets, forced to return to the place you were before to retrieve your backpack. It's quite frustrating, and it will punish anyone who dares to believe they are Aurai's last dragonborn.

SCUM

Unrivaled in metabolic complexity

There are details, and then there are details, and SCUM definitely leaning towards the latter kind. On the surface it looks like a bog-standard survival game set on a prison island with enemies, hazards, looting, shooting, scavenging and survival. Add to that PVP, and it almost sounds like a classic looter-shooter. But once you get to know your character's physiology and how much it affects gameplay, you'll be blown away by all the details.

The game goes so far as to track your digestive rate, blood pressure, vitamins and minerals, and even how much muscle mass you have versus how much fat you have. And all this is not just for fun; it will affect your gameplay. It also means that you really need to consider your diet if you want to stay strong and healthy. Shooting isn't straightforward either, with stamina and weapon hammering thrown into the mix. You really need to make sure your crafted gear is up to par and you have proper, clean bandages to apply when you get hurt. An infection will cost you dearly and make you a target for other players or the mutated monsters still left on the island.

Kenshi

You are a nobody, and you will feel it in your bones

Kenshi is a unique game. It gives you tons of freedom to be who you want to be, but it doesn't give you the tools to do it. In fact, it seems to be actively working against you, dropping bandits and slaves in your face and beating you over and over without mercy. Most likely, at first you'll spend a lot of time staring at your character bleeding out in the wasteland with no one to help you. Welcome to the classic Kenshi experience.

Your first mission is not to show the world what a badass you are, but simply to survive in it. This means you get food, and most likely a safe place, like a town, where you can work on your skills, especially toughness. It says a lot that something like building your own base, which is usually a basic first step in many survival games, is considered an endgame feature in Kenshi. So the world punishes. There's always someone at your throat when you wander out, and even if you manage to build a walled, protected outpost with towers, it's still possible to get overrun by enemies if you're not careful enough.

Project Zomboid

A story about how you died, and that says a lot

Project Zomboid comes in a few different difficulty levels, but Apocalypse is often cited as the default way to experience the game. As the sole survivor of Knox Country, you choose your starting skills, and you spawn into a random house and must find a way to thrive. The world is huge, yes, but its resources are not unlimited, and most places are teeming with zombies who can spot you and hear you from afar. One bite, and you're done. You have to plan your first week carefully, setting up water, food and even electricity for the final moment when the power will go out. Getting injured means you will be recovering for several days, experiencing pain and losing strength.

It's certainly a grim experience where combat should be avoided in favor of stealth, but sometimes you just don't have a choice. Considering how getting bitten is a death sentence and basically the end of a character's run, it can be pretty annoying if you're caught off guard due to your character panicking or being tired and getting jumped by a horde. Building up your skills, especially carpentry, is a long but important process, and basically your only hope of living a little longer.

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

About Dwarf Fortress and Project Zomboid had a child

If you loved Project Zomboid and want something even deeper and more complex, you should play Cataclysm: Dark Days Aheada zombie survival packed into a traditional rogue-like format, with the classic grid-based movement you might recognize from games like Dwarven fortress. You have skill development like in a classic RPG, as well as tons of survival gameplay elements that are extremely well developed and detailed. Jump into a post-apocalyptic New England and see how far you can go. Just be warned: the game doesn't hold your hand one bit, and will assume from the start that you think and act like a real human in the apocalypse.

It includes realism with little things like painkiller dosage, losing stamina while running, line of sight controlling what you can and can't see, and making too much noise being fatal. Being careless or greedy will get you punished in a second, so you're constantly on edge. Add in the fairly beginner-friendly user interface, and it's clear why Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead isn't exactly the easiest game to jump into blindfolded. You'll probably want some advice and guidance to get started if you're not used to games as dark and punishing as this one, but boy, does it reward you for mastering its systems.

Unreal world

Freezing in the Finnish winter

Unreal world is an interesting one, as it has a roguelike like flavor while having a procedurally generated open world, RPG elements in the form of skill development and different cultures you can start with, as well as a grueling survival game. Your job? Survive life in Finland's hostile nature by hunting, gathering, fishing and fighting the cold. The systems are a bit obscure, with no HP bar to give you accurate damage numbers, for example, which adds to the challenge this game provides. It's also an old one, having been around for over three decades since 1992, which speaks to its depth and quality.

The possibilities are almost endless, and with survival as your only goal, just like in Kenshiyou get to decide which path you take. Be careful though, as you must be prepared for life in the wilderness, for combat, and for possible injury if caught unprepared. One bad step can set you back for days, and that single injury can lead to disaster if not treated properly. It puts a lot of mental strain as you're constantly calculating your next move, trying to stay warm, fed and hydrated, and with how dense the systems are, it's more than likely you'll need some outside guidance and a lot of trial and error before you can thrive in Unreal world.