5 Best Survival Games on Steam (April 2024)

Survival games are all about using your smarts to make it in tough situations. They throw you into new worlds where you have to think on your feet and use what you find to stay alive. Steam is a favourite place for many to get their games and has a lot of thrilling survival adventures. In these games, you might have to gather resources, build shelters, or fight off enemies. The fun part is figuring out how to survive and, sometimes, even how to thrive. We've picked out some of the best survival games on Steam for you to check out.

5. Contraband Police

Contraband Police is a captivating game set in the 1980s, where you play as a border guard inspector in a communist country. Your job is to check the documents of every visitor, making sure they're allowed to enter the Acarist People's Republic. As time goes on, this task gets harder because visitors will have more documents, and spotting mistakes becomes more challenging. You must be alert at all times, as even a small slip-up could let someone with false papers slip through.

In this game, you'll also be on the lookout for smugglers trying to bring forbidden items across the border. With tips from your team, you use a special flashlight to find hidden goods in vehicles, and then grab your tools to take them out. Besides checking documents and finding smugglers, you'll face dangerous moments too. Sometimes, you have to pick up your gun to defend your post from gang attacks or chase down smugglers trying to flee.

In addition, managing your police station is another big part of Contraband Police. You can make your station stronger and better at catching smugglers by adding upgrades. But, you need to be careful with your budget! Money comes from doing your job well, like catching smugglers or doing well in gunfights. There are also special missions where you help out your team, solve crimes, and fight against rebels.

4. Myth of Empires

The world of Myth of Empires is a vast multiplayer game where freedom and strategy are key. Here, players step into adventures set across ancient civilizations like Greece and Persia, with future updates promising Rome and Egypt. Moving forward in the game, you'll discover a rich variety of armor, weapons, and buildings specific to each culture, thanks to an extensive tech tree. With over 1300 crafting recipes, your ability to create and build is limited only by your imagination.

Here, you'll find yourself wandering through a world of diverse landscapes and weather, all changing with a real-time day and night cycle. The combat in Myth of Empires is both rich and varied. You can recruit NPCs or tame wild beasts to join your cause, enhancing your military and production capabilities. The game has also introduced new boss NPCs and powerful creatures. So, with a wide range of weapons, armor, and siege equipment at your disposal, you can engage in massive battles or focus on building your empire's defenses.

3. Rise of Gun

In Rise of Gun, players find themselves in a world taken over by zombies, where they step into the shoes of a gun store owner. This unique game mixes survival with creativity, allowing you to buy parts, craft weapons from scratch, sell them, and even upgrade your store. You're not just a survivor; you're a beacon of hope, helping humanity fight back against the undead. The game gifts you a shop and workshop to start your journey, supported by the town's mayor and its hopeful residents.

Crafting in this game is a central feature, designed to be both fun and boundless. Imagine putting together over a million different weapon combinations with more than 200 unique parts at your fingertips. Whether it's barrels, scopes, stocks, grips, magazines, silencers, or bayonets, you can attach them in various ways to create truly unique firearms. This freedom lets your creativity run wild, crafting weapons that are as bizarre as they are functional, all without the process ever feeling tedious or complex.

Beyond crafting, Rise of Gun offers a deep engagement with its setting and economy. You can display your crafted weapons in your store, attract customers, and sell to the town's residents. Upgrading your shop is part of the fun, adding elements that make it more inviting, increase your sales space, and even speed up your crafting process.

2, Palworld

Palworld has quickly risen to fame on Steam, captivating players with its mix of survival, crafting, and adventure alongside enchanting creatures called Pals. In this vast multiplayer world, you have the choice to live in harmony with these creatures or confront dangerous enemies like the poaching syndicate. Pals are more than just friends; they're crucial for survival. They can fight, help with farming, and even work in factories. The game often presents tough choices, such as depending on your Pals for food in critical times.

In addition to this, you can journey across diverse terrains, from land to sea to air, by mounting your Pals. Building plays a significant role too. With your Pals' assistance, constructing everything from cozy cottages to magnificent pyramids is possible. The game also dives into automation and productivity. Your Pals can manage factories, produce electricity, or mine resources, easing your survival challenges.

1. Omega Crafter

If you're on the hunt for a game that mixes fun, creativity, and team spirit, Omega Crafter could be your next go-to game. This adventure places you in a huge world where you need to survive, craft, and build. You're not alone, though; you have Grammi, a robot friend you can program to do all sorts of tasks.

However, the interesting thing about Omega Crafter is how you get to teach Grammi to help out. Need wood or stone? Grammi's got it. Fancy having items crafted automatically? And speaking of exploring, the game world is packed with different places to see, from icy mountains to dense forests, each with its own set of monsters and materials. There's always something new around the corner, that keeps the adventure fresh and exciting.

So, do you agree with our best picks, or are there other survival games on Steam you'd recommend? Let us know your thoughts on our socials here!