10 Best Survival Games on Xbox Game Pass (October 2025)

Looking for the best survival games on Xbox Game Pass in 2025? Xbox Game Pass has tons of exciting survival titles where players face the wild, build shelter, fight threats, and stay alive through smart choices. There are different types of survival games — some are realistic and gritty, others are creative and full of adventure. Each one brings something fun and challenging. To help you choose what to play next, here’s a list of the top survival games available right now on Xbox Game Pass.

What Defines the Best Survival Games on Game Pass?

The best survival games on Game Pass are the ones that keep you thinking, building, and exploring nonstop. What I usually look for is how the game handles crafting, how deep the survival systems go, and how fun it is to play solo or with friends. Some games throw you into wild open worlds, while others give you a more focused setting with clear goals. I’ve looked at variety, how well the mechanics work, how fun the loop stays over time, and how it feels to return to it again and again. So, this list is based on how the games actually play, what they offer, and how much fun they bring to survival fans.

List of 10 Best Survival Games on Xbox Game Pass in 2025

These are the survival games players keep coming back to. Let’s dive in and see what makes them great!

10. Frostpunk

Cold bites harder than enemies in Frostpunk, where survival depends on building a city around the last working generator. You manage resources like coal and food while facing tough choices that decide whether your people live or die. Every decision shapes the community, from setting harsh laws to deciding who works in freezing conditions. The atmosphere constantly forces you to adapt as temperatures drop and storms roll in. What makes it one of the best survival games on Xbox Game Pass is the way it combines management with raw survival. Instead of fighting monsters, the true enemy is the endless winter itself. Survival here relies less on strength and more on careful planning and the willingness to accept sacrifices that may haunt you later.

9. Dead by Daylight

Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer survival horror game where four people act as survivors while one person controls a killer. Survivors must repair generators to power exit gates, while the killer hunts them down before they can escape. The role of the survivors is to work together quietly, heal each other when injured, and avoid being caught. The killer’s role is to patrol the map, track survivors, and capture them. Once caught, survivors are placed on hooks, where they can be rescued if teammates act quickly. Victory for survivors comes from repairing enough generators and escaping through the gates, while killers win by preventing escapes. Dead by Daylight continues to hold its ground as one of the best survival games on Xbox Game Pass, thanks to its unique predator-prey design.

8. Vampire Survivors

Vampire Survivors is the only pixel graphics game on this list of best Xbox Game Pass survival games, and it shows how simple design can create an endless survival challenge. You control a small hero dropped in a field where waves of monsters flood the screen. Weapons fire automatically, leaving your task to move around while picking upgrades that appear after leveling up. Enemies never stop multiplying, and the screen slowly fills until you either outlast them or get overwhelmed. Each upgrade changes how your weapons behave, from bigger projectiles to wider attack spreads, and stacking upgrades can turn a weak character into a powerhouse. The thrill is in watching the screen explode with action as you test how long your build can hold.

7. No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky drops you into a huge sci-fi universe where you are a lone traveler exploring countless planets. The game begins with a broken ship, limited supplies, and the challenge of repairing equipment to set off across the stars. Once the ship is fixed, the game opens into a vast universe filled with countless planets to explore. Each planet has its own challenges, from dangerous environments to creatures roaming nearby. The gameplay loop is simple: collect resources, upgrade tools, repair gear, and venture deeper into the galaxy. The experience is open-ended, allowing you to choose how to survive, explore, and expand across a galaxy that never ends.

6. Rain World

Rain World places you in control of a small creature called a slugcat, trying to survive in a harsh ecosystem filled with predators. The goal is simple at first glance: find food to fill your stomach and secure shelter before deadly rain arrives. Predators roam the world constantly, forcing the slugcat to be cautious while searching for food sources. Survival is not guaranteed, since stronger creatures often attack without warning, leaving you to adapt and learn patterns across days. Learning the behavior of predators becomes part of the challenge, as avoiding danger is just as important as finding food. In short, Rain World delivers one of the best survival games on Xbox Game Pass by showing how fragile life can be in a hostile food chain.

5. Palworld

Palworld quickly gained popularity as a survival adventure where humans live side by side with creatures called Pals. These creatures are not just companions; they help with nearly every task needed to stay alive. They can fight wild threats, carry items, farm crops, or even help build shelter. The world is dangerous, so survival depends on how well Pals are managed and used in daily tasks. Exploration also leads to discovering more Pals, expanding options for combat and survival tasks. Palworld earns its place among the best survival games on Game Pass by offering a survival loop powered through creature partnerships.

4. Hunt: Showdown 1896

In Hunt: Showdown 1896, you hunt terrifying creatures while competing against rival hunters who want the same reward. Monsters roam the area, and once you defeat one, you must collect its bounty and escape before others take you down. Weapons are old-style, from the 19th century, so fights rely on precision and patience instead of modern firepower. Survival is not only about killing the monster but also about escaping alive with the bounty in hand. Rivals can ambush you at any point, turning every encounter into a high-risk gamble. Some hunts end with a monster slain, while others end with another hunter escaping as you lie defeated.

3. DayZ

Survival in DayZ is based on raw human interaction. You wake up with almost nothing and search the open land to find food, water, and tools. Supplies are scarce, so every discovery matters. The world is shared with other survivors, and every encounter is unpredictable. Some people may share resources, while others may attack to take what you have. Hunger and thirst must be managed by collecting items from the environment or trading with others. Infected creatures roam the land as well, which adds another layer of danger during exploration. The game is unpredictable, harsh, and demanding in a way no other survival experiences capture on Xbox Game Pass.

2. Abiotic Factor

Abiotic Factor puts you in the role of a scientist trapped inside an underground research facility after a containment breach unleashes anomalies and enemies from other dimensions. Survival becomes the only option as strange creatures fill the complex. You gather supplies, craft tools, and use scientific knowledge to create weapons and gadgets that aid in daily survival. Food, materials, and equipment scattered across labs and offices serve as resources for crafting gear or building safe bases. The balance of crafting, resource management, and survival combat sets it apart as one of 2025’s best Xbox Game Pass survival games with a strong sci-fi flavor.

1. Grounded 2

If you are looking for one of the best co-op survival games on Game Pass in 2025, Grounded 2 should be top on your checklist. The first Grounded placed players in a backyard where kids were shrunk to insect size, forcing them to gather resources, craft gear, and survive against spiders, ants, and other creatures while building shelters from scraps. Grounded 2 builds on that foundation by expanding the world far beyond the yard. Buggies now enter the picture as insect companions that can fight beside you, carry loads, or even be ridden across wide areas. Here, survival is about managing resources, working with friends, and adapting to a world where every object towers above you.