10 Best Survival Games on PS5

Survival is most interesting when preparation changes the next trip. A better shelter might protect your supplies, a repaired car might carry you farther, and one sensible meal might buy enough time to finish an expedition.

These PS5 games put pressure on different things: oxygen, hunger, equipment, weather or simply the decision to stay out longer. The list includes native PS5 releases and compatible PS4 games, with solo and online options identified for each.

Looking for somewhere to start?

• Grounded for a shared backyard survival adventure.
• Subnautica for a solo world built around discovery.
• Pacific Drive for a road trip where the car needs attention.

10. Green Hell

Best for learning to handle the rainforest’s smaller dangers · PS5 · Solo or online co-op

A wound in Green Hell needs more attention than simply waiting for a health bar to refill. Checking the body and finding suitable treatment makes the rainforest’s less dramatic dangers part of the survival challenge.

Nutrition, illness, shelter and crafted tools all require practical decisions. The story provides a reason for being in the Amazon, while survival play lets the environment remain the main long-term problem.

It suits players who want detailed human needs rather than a quick route to technological dominance. Learning which resources help is part of making the forest manageable. You can share the work online, but it remains a demanding setting even with friends handling some of the gathering.

9. 7 Days to Die

Best for preparing a shelter for a scheduled horde · PS5; current console release · Solo or online multiplayer

A quiet day in 7 Days to Die still has a deadline. The blood moon gives scavenging and construction a shared purpose: get the supplies home and make the defenses ready before the horde arrives.

Looting towns, crafting equipment and improving a base create the preparation loop. Digging and building let you attempt different defenses, although surviving a wave is also a test of the weapons and supplies you brought.

Choose it if you like survival with a recurring examination of your plans. The current PS5 release is distinct from the older PS4 version. Cooperation is online, with no local split-screen mode in this edition.

8. ARK: Survival Ascended

Best for building a life among creatures you can tame · PS5; Survival Ascended · Solo, two-player local split-screen or online multiplayer

The dinosaur near your shelter in ARK: Survival Ascended can be a danger now and a useful companion later. Taming gives the wildlife a role in travel, combat and resource collection rather than making every encounter a simple hunt.

A stronger base and better technology support increasingly ambitious plans. The scale is part of the appeal, but it also means maintaining structures, equipment and animals can become a substantial ongoing project.

This rebuilt ARK release suits players who want a long survival commitment. Private solo settings let you shape the pace. Online PvE keeps the focus on the environment, while PvP adds people who may be interested in taking the work you have done.

7. Core Keeper

Best for making an underground refuge support deeper expeditions · PS5 · Solo or online co-op for up to eight

Planting a crop in Core Keeper is preparation for the tunnel you have not finished exploring yet. Food and equipment give your underground settlement a purpose beyond being a pleasant arrangement of rooms.

Mining exposes new biomes and materials, while boss encounters open further progression. Between expeditions, farming, cooking and construction make the next attempt more manageable.

It is a good choice when you want survival with a visible sense of home. The pixel-art presentation does not remove the need to prepare for a difficult encounter. Up to eight players can join online on PS5, allowing a larger group than most of the cooperative games here.

6. V Rising

Best for surviving as a predator with daylight restrictions · PS5 · Solo or online multiplayer

Crossing an open field at midday is a poor habit in V Rising. Your vampire needs blood and materials, but the sun forces attention to shade even when there is no enemy in view.

A castle supports processing and equipment production, while boss hunts unlock new abilities and recipes. Combat asks for positioning and timing, giving your preparation a direct test outside the walls.

Pick it when you want survival systems attached to active, ability-driven fighting. A private solo world is supported; online servers can favor cooperation or competition. Those rules change how secure your home feels, so PvE is the natural place to start if other players attacking it is not the attraction.

5. No Man’s Sky

Best for equipping yourself for unfamiliar planetary conditions · PS5 · Solo or online multiplayer; optional PSVR2

A storm in No Man’s Sky can make the nearest shelter more important than the distant landmark you landed to investigate. Environmental protection and life support give even a peaceful survey a practical rhythm.

Resources improve your equipment, ship and base, allowing longer journeys and a wider choice of destinations. Difficulty settings let the survival pressure play a larger or smaller role without removing the underlying exploration.

This works for players who want danger around a broad science-fiction sandbox rather than one tightly scripted campaign. Travel alone or cooperate online; local split-screen is not available. The ordinary PS5 game needs no headset, while optional PSVR2 offers another way to experience the planets.

4. The Long Dark

Best for reading the weather before leaving shelter · PS5; PS4 version also available · Single-player

A distant building in The Long Dark is only helpful if the weather lets you reach it. Cold, exhaustion and hunger make a short walk into a decision with consequences, particularly when the return route becomes harder to see.

The Canadian wilderness supplies the challenge without needing a supernatural enemy. Clothing condition, fire and careful use of found supplies sustain the survival sandbox. WINTERMUTE is the separate story component, so the Survival Edition should not be mistaken for the complete story bundle.

It is the most deliberate choice here. Players who enjoy studying a landscape and conserving resources can find satisfaction in an uneventful day that ends warm and fed. A native PS5 version is available alongside the PS4 release.

3. Pacific Drive

Best for keeping one station wagon ready for the next run · PS5 · Single-player

A loose panel in Pacific Drive is not just visual damage. The car is your transport, protection and collection of repair problems as you investigate the Olympic Exclusion Zone.

Each excursion brings supplies back to the garage, where repairs and upgrades support the next attempt. Anomalies make route planning unreliable in useful ways: the safest-looking stretch of road can still demand attention.

Choose it if maintaining equipment sounds more interesting than managing a large settlement. The game revolves around expeditions and returns to a garage, rather than unrestricted open-world driving. You are responsible for the car alone; there is no cooperative passenger keeping the repair kit ready.

2. Subnautica

Best for balancing curiosity against an oxygen supply · PS5 · Single-player

The wreck or unfamiliar cave in Subnautica is tempting precisely because you cannot stay there indefinitely. Oxygen, depth and the distance back to safety make the ocean something to understand rather than simply cross.

After a crash on an alien planet, equipment and vehicle construction expand your reach. Discoveries feed both the survival systems and the story, so a useful material can matter for more than the next recipe.

This is the pick for players who want exploration to lead the survival challenge. You have tools and defenses, but the goal is not clearing the sea of every creature. Its solo campaign gives the first encounter with a strange environment room to breathe.

1. Grounded

Best for preparing a small team for an enormous backyard · PS5 · Solo or online co-op for up to four

A trip past the spider’s territory in Grounded becomes a planning problem once you have supplies worth bringing home. You are a shrunken teenager trying to understand what happened, and the backyard provides both resources and obstacles at the wrong scale.

Food, equipment and a base support longer journeys. Learning insect behavior is as valuable as crafting a stronger weapon, while new tools gradually make the yard less restrictive.

It is a welcoming group choice with enough danger to make preparation matter. You can progress through the mystery alone or share a world with up to three other online players. Multiplayer is online rather than split-screen on one PS5.

Which should you play next?

Grounded is the easy starting point for a group. Subnautica rewards solo curiosity, while Pacific Drive makes maintaining one vehicle the center of an unusual journey.

For more time spent building the home base, browse Best Crafting Games on PS5. Our Best Games Like Don’t Starve guide explores other survival games with distinctive pressures.