The Best PS4 Survival Games

Summary

• The PS4 is a cozy gaming device for survival games with exclusive titles not available on Xbox or PC.
• Explore realistic games with options for hunting and crafting.
• Experience survival in post-apocalyptic worlds with unique town-building mechanics and more.

When playing some harsh and stressful survival games, you’ll want to make sure that you’re ironically as comfortable as possible in your gaming station. It just so happens that the PlayStation 4 (PS4) is one of the coziest gaming devices you can have since you get to sit back far away from the television or monitor on your couch with your arms more relaxed than on the PC.

Hence, you could say that playing survival games is best experienced on consoles, mainly the PS4 (let the comment section console wars begin!). Thankfully, there is no shortage of survival games in PS4’s collection. Some of them are even exclusives that are not available on the Xbox consoles or the PC. To shorten your scouring time for such games, we have here a list of 10 of the best of them.

Updated February 15, 2025 By Matthew Mckeown: Who doesn’t love wandering around the wilds in a videogame? A boundless frontier stretching out for miles, a crafting tree bulging at the edges with recipes, hidden dungeons that scream to be explored, and so much more.

Survival games really scratch that itch of pitting yourself against the raw ferocity of the wilderness, and it always works well. Unfortunately you can get your fair share of duds in this genre, but if you know where to look it isn’t particularly hard to find a hidden gem. To help you out, here’s an updated look at the current crop of the best survival games on the PS4.

PixARK

Voxel Dinos Are The Least Of Your Problems

Now on the surface this may look like a knock-off of two certain games, but it’s from the Ark team at Snail Games, so it’s legitimate. This time around they’ve taken the complex open worlds we’re all familiar with and squished them into a voxel playground, and it works pretty well.

All your favorite dinos and bits of gear are there, plus a few wilder additions like building entire houses on the back of Pterodactyls for example. There of course is your usual loop of craft, build, eat, repeat, but it’s a less stress inducing and more low stakes version of the main game. If you liked Ark and wanted something a bit sillier, then check out PixArk.

Windbound

Wandering The World On The Whims Of The Wind

Grab your raft and get out on that open ocean in Windbound from Five Lives Studio. This gorgeous survival game gives you a massive chain of archipelagos to explore as you run around as Kara, a warrior set adrift from her tribe after a huge and horrible storm.

With nothing to your name but the clothes on your back, it’s a hard climb back to civilisation as Kara tries to reconnect with her lost tribe. The journey is a long, winding and large one, plus each landscape will just eat up those hours as you wander around finding all the hidden secrets. If you’re in need of a slow-burn sailing game then whip Windbound into your library.

Raft

Adrift On An Ocean Of Trash

A waterworld themed odyssey on the open waves, Raft from Redbeet Interactive is one game that’s been worked on for years and now with its final release, it’s definitely worth picking up. It’s a high skill ceiling for those first few hours, but once you hit that drifting groove you’re gold.

You’ll be surviving on drifting trash and what you can fish, but at all times there’s an aggressive shark looking to snack on you. So every session turns into a mixture of building up your boat, exploring, and fending off your fishy friend. Plus, you bring in three other players to keep you company if you need help or just want to fish with some friends.

Below

Digging Your Way Beneath The Black Mountain

Everyone remembers when Below was announced, but not many actually realized that it came out way back in 2018. This solitary indie survival game from Capybara Games turned a lot of heads when it first popped up, and if you haven’t checked in on since, you really should.

Gorgeous in its presentation right from the start, Below is a different kind of experience that has you exploring the dark depths of a forbidden isle for fortune, glory, and your own survival. The labyrinth beneath your feet is vast, and you’ll only be able to go so deep each time around. Death is just one misstep away, and the game is always ready to punish the unprepared. Highly recommended, Below is a great game that you need to pick up.

Open Country

Hunting America’s Deer Population To Extinction

The wild open wilderness stretches out before you, birds call in the trees as deer skip merrily past. All of nature is unaware and peaceful to the heavily armed hunter wading into their midst. Open Country from Fun Lab is one of those open world games that’s a little rough around the edges, but it scratches that hunters itch in the way the old cabella games used to.

You play as a rugged outdoorsman who has nothing but the rifle on their back and their trusty campervan to sleep in. Ahead of you is the wide open wilderness full of quests to complete and critters to blow away with a high-powered rifle. Build up your camp and help the local rangers as you prove who’s the best outdoorsman around.

Outward

Experience A Living Adventure

A journey into adventure has to start somewhere and Outward from Nine Dots Studio certainly gives you a lot of options. Anything can happen in this free form open world survival RPG, and you’re never more than one wrong step away from dropping dead.

Everything from a cold night to catching a simple sickness can take you out, so it pays to be prepared. With co-op available from the start and a world that changes in real time, Outward is enjoyable for survival fiends looking for something with a steep learning curve.

Smalland: Survive The Wilds

Pixie Power

If you’ve ever wanted to know what it was like to be a tiny Pixie in the wilderness, then Smalland: Survive The Wilds from Merge Games should be on your radar. This unique survival game has all the hallmarks of the genre, but with a unique twist, you’re very, very small.

The world you can explore is massive, literally. So you’ll have to craft and research strong gear and equipment in order to survive or tame some of the wildlife that’s now much larger than in real life. It’s tough when you’re tiny, but it’s not hard to build a camp and make a place for yourself in these wild lands.

Bring in a few friends in multiplayer to make the experience easier to deal with.

STALKER: Legends Of The Zone

A Returning Cult Classic In A Fancy New Skin

Listen up Tovarishch, the anomalies are active and only the most talented, or lucky, Stalker is going to make it back alive in this fantastic return to a classic series. A three in one pack that puts you back in the legendary Zone once more, STALKER: Legends of The Zone is highly recommended for fans of challenging survival games.

Set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Legends of The Zone is a remaster of the classics that tightens up a few things whilst ironing out a lot of the infamous bugs of the time. There’s no hand-holding here, and unless you’re fast with the Quick Save button, you’ll be another victim of the Zone in no time.

Starsand

It’s Dune, But Not As We Know It

A sand-based survival game with a lot of potential, Starsand from Tunnel Vision Studio sticks you in the middle of an alien desert and it’s up to you to survive and thrive. Despite being a little rough around the edges, Starsand has some medieval Dune vibes to it that work in its favor.

Just like on Arrakis, everything out there can kill you. From giant bugs, roaming Sandstorms, gigantic Sandworms, and even the constant blistering heat. So there’s a lot to manage and account for. Plus, there are tombs and hidden dungeons to explore out there in the dunes so getting out into the sands is encouraged.

Focus on finding an Oasis and setting up a basic camp first before you explore out.

The Flame In The Flood

Roguelike River Rafting

A roguelike river raft trip you definitely want to go on. The Flame In The Flood from The Molasses Flood has all the Huckleberry Finn charm of backwater drifting, but in a much darker and dangerous world.

The wildlife is as dangerous as the torrents you’ll be dragged through, and getting off your boat to explore is just as important as upgrading your roaming home. Society in America has broken down, but there are still helpful folks waiting just around the river bend. A gorgeous game from top to bottom, The Flame In The Flood is a must-play for fans of surviving on boats.

Astroneer

Automating Other Worlds

According to System Era Softworks, the team behind Astroneer, space is vast and ready to be industrialized. And they’ve got just the team of adorably chaotic astronauts to do it. Set during the 25th Century, intergalactic travel is commonplace and those floating worlds out there are in dire need of mining.

There’s seven planets in total to travel between and tear apart for your own needs, or just to build the best factory around. Dig your way through the planets cores and shape the landscape to suit your needs with an array of odd yet useful gadgets on your own, or bring in some friends and carve up space as a crew. If you like micromanaging production machines you’ll love the Astroneer.

Hunting Simulator 2

Seeking The Most Dangerous Game

If the Cabela games taught us anything, it’s that people enjoy blowing animals apart with high-powered rifles. Step in Hunting Simulator 2 by Neopica. With just your gun and your trusty dog to keep you company, this survival game plops you down in the wilderness with trophy hunts in mind.

Explore the forests of Colorado and Europe, or brave the scorching sands of arid Texan deserts as you track down over 33 separate species to shoot. There are 160 different types of weapons to pack, accessories to tweak them, and various types of clothing to camouflage you better. All the animals have realistic behavior and AI, so it’s not just a target shoot as they’ll put up quite the challenge. If you enjoy hunting but don’t have the time or gear, then check out Hunting Simulator 2.

Pacific Drive

Cross-Dimensional Car Repair

Being trapped in another dimension isn’t so bad when you’ve got a customizable and souped-up Station Wagon to keep you safe. In Pacific Drive from Iron Wood Studios, you’ve been sucked into a dangerous and unstable area known as the Exclusion Zone.

What follows is a long road trip across a fractal and fractured landscape that’s constantly in flux. You need to find your way out whilst helping out the locals, and around every new bend is another anomalous threat to deal with. A thrilling science fiction survival game, Pacific Drive comes highly recommended.

Daymare: 1988

Nostalgic Horror In A Nutshell

A little rough around the edges, but full of bizarre charm and early Resident Evil-esque nostalgia, Daymare: 1988 is a survival game that puts a lot of emphasis on horror. After a small town’s populace has been twisted and turned into mutated monstrosities, it’s up to three survivors to turn the tide.

Each character has their own unique story and situation that unfolds and throughout your travels through the town, you’ll need to collect evidence, manage resources, and generally just try to survive. It’s a very odd but simple game with enjoyable mechanics, a strange plot, and some interesting enemy types to encounter.

Surviving The Aftermath

Braving The Wilderness And Much Worse

A post-apocalyptic survival game with a unique difference, in Surviving The Aftermath from Iceflake Studios you’ll be taking charge of not just yourself, but an entire community. Grow from just a shack in the woods to a sprawling piece of scrap-covered suburbia and complete tasks to meet the needs of your community.

But it’s far from smooth sailing as bandits, bad weather and worse will assail your town, so you’ll need to be prepared for everything. A satisfying simulator with a lot of replayability and some great spots to build towns, Surviving The Aftermath is a hidden gem more people need to be playing.

Away: The Survival Series

POV Nature Documentary Creator

Normally in Survival games, it’s man versus the wild, but in Away from Breaking Walls, you’re on nature’s side for once. Find out how tough it is for a tiny woodland critter to make it by day to day as you follow the story of a Sugar Glider.

Explore the remote wilderness, glide above the treetops in style but just watch out for predators. Keep your adorable little Sugar Glider safe and experience your own nature documentary-style adventure from their pint-sized perspective. There are additional animals to unlock ranging from beetles and other bugs to bigger critters like lizards, crabs and more. It’s a fun little jaunt that does something different and it’s worth picking up if you find Sugar Gliders adorable.

Truberbrook

Wes Anderson Would Like A Word

A survival dventure game with a unique style, Truberbrook from BTF is a handmade almost stop-motion puppet-style journey back to 1960’s Germany that feels like going through an animated Wes Anderson film. Follow the story of Hans Tannhauser as he gets to the bottom of a mystery that involves the fate of the world in a remote town rural town in Truberook.

Oozing with charm and taking inspiration from Twin Peaks and Star Trek of all things, Truberbrook is perfect for a cozy evening in with some very atmospheric and immersive storytelling. Around 10 hours long, there’s a lot of interesting themes and character beats at play that are emotionally touching and very memorable. If you like a good mystery, then check this one out.

Rimworld

Colony Simulator For Crazy People

A survival game that’s perfect for psychopaths, Rimworld from Ludeon Studios has you managing a colony of survivors on a far-flung distant world. You only start with three of them but it’s up to you to organize, build, manage, and tame this alien wilderness.

There’s so many layers to Rimworld that you can create pretty much any kind of colony you can think of. The AI continually evolves your own handbuilt story as your survivors interact, grow, and form their own relationships as time goes on, so things always play out differently. Plus, with great mod support, regular updates, and a massive amount of customization to tweak each new colony, Rimworld will keep you occupied for hours.

There is no ‘story’ in Rimworld, instead, the game generates an overarching plot through random events.

Vigor

DayZ’s Bigger Brother

An Early Access multiplayer survival game from a team with a lot of experience in this particular field. Virgor from Bohemia Interactive, the crew behind DayZ is on some slightly rickety legs but it’s taking some steps that are worth looking into.

Set in post-war Norway in the 90’s, the harsh and unforgivable environment of the Outlands awaits. You’ll need to utilize your survival skills in order to succeed whilst also recovering resources for your Shelter from the hostile wilderness back home. There are over 60 different kinds of weapons to wield, so your loadout is down to you. Keep an eye on your map, watch the treelines, and good luck.

Death in Vigor wipes your inventory, so keep that in mind when going into any firefight.

Dysmantle

Bob The Builder In A Broken Wasteland

Everyone loves a Zombie apocalypse and 10tons Ltd definitely know that. In Dysmantle you play as a lone survivor in your classic setting of a world overrun with Undead. In this case, you’re stuck on an island and whilst you can stay in your Shelter, you’ll stand a better chance scavenging the towns nearby.

Everything can be broken down into materials, but don’t make too much noise as there are more than Zombies prowling those woods. Nature has been twisted by the infection and unless you’re adequately armed you might just end up as another post-apocalyptic statistic. There’s a mystery to solve, an Outpost to build, puzzles to solve and a big crafting and farming system to chew into.

You can’t always win every fight. Tactical retreats are encouraged as it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the hordes.