10 Best Survival Games on Xbox Game Pass (July 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 Makes the Best Survival Games on Game Pass?

The best survival games are all about staying sharp, managing resources, and thinking ahead. Some games drop you into dangerous lands with no map, while others give you tools to build and grow. Great survival titles mix action, crafting, exploration, and smart planning. The most popular ones keep things fresh with open worlds, multiplayer options, and exciting updates. That’s really what makes a survival game stand out on Xbox Game Pass — fun gameplay, smart design, and the challenge of making it through.

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

Survival is entirely different when you're in charge of the last group of humans on Earth struggling to survive in a brutal frozen apocalypse. In Frostpunk, you're in charge of a developing city, and everything hinges on some difficult decisions. You're constantly trying to balance heat, food, and hope, and each decision you make decides your city's fate. The tension isn't caused by zombies or supernatural creatures; it is all about the cold, your people, and how you guide them. With its mix of survival mechanics and city-building, it completely finds its place among the best survival games on Xbox Game Pass. It just keeps pushing you to your limits, and the weight of every moment just gets heavier and heavier as you continue.

9. Palworld

A world packed with adorable creatures where you can craft weapons, grow food, and survive across wild landscapes? Palworld seems like it shouldn’t make sense, yet it absolutely works. You collect creatures known as “Pals,” and unlike typical creature games, these ones can fight beside you, help in factories, mine resources, or guard your home base. Every Pal has unique abilities, whether it’s for combat, farming, or crafting. The blend of adorable visuals with deep survival mechanics makes it stand out. It’s not just about forming a squad; it’s about building an entire way of life with them.

8. Dead by Daylight

Dead by Daylight is a survival horror game where five players join a match. One plays as the killer, and the other four play as survivors. The goal for the survivors is to fix five generators scattered around the map. Once those are repaired, they can open the gates and escape. But while they’re trying to do that, the killer is hunting them down. The killer’s job is simple – stop the survivors. If the killer catches a survivor, they can knock them down and hang them on special hooks. If a survivor gets hooked too many times, they’re out of the match. Survivors need to work together to fix generators, heal each other, and rescue teammates from hooks.

7. This War of Mine: Final Cut

When we think of a war, we often imagine soldiers, guns, and battles. But this survival game shows the other side — the quiet, painful fight of civilians stuck in a destroyed city. You take control of a small group of people trying to survive each day with almost nothing. There's no army, no weapons, and no safety. Food is hard to find, and medical supplies are even harder. Every day is spent making difficult choices, building shelter, and protecting the group from danger and hunger. It easily earns a place in the best survival games on Xbox Game Pass list because of how deep and different the gameplay is.

6. No Man’s Sky

Massive galaxies, countless planets, and full creative control — No Man’s Sky gives you more freedom than most survival games ever dare. You begin with a broken ship on a strange planet and must gather the right resources to fix it, survive the weather, and escape into space. Every planet is different, with its own wildlife, materials, and weather systems. Some are beautiful and peaceful, others try to kill you from the moment you land. Over the years, this game has grown into a galaxy-sized adventure.

5. Revenge of the Savage Planet

Revenge of the Savage Planet is a fun and colorful action-adventure survival game set in space. You play as a worker left behind by your company on a strange alien world. With almost no gear, you must explore the planet, collect upgrades, scan plants and creatures, and survive in crazy environments. You can play solo or with a friend in split-screen or online co-op. There are four big planets to explore, each filled with strange animals, hidden secrets, and fun tools to use. You can jump, slide, shoot, swing, and even capture creatures. Overall, it’s a perfect pick for anyone looking for the best survival game on Game Pass to play in 2025.

4. Atomfall

Atomfall is a survival-action game set in the British countryside, five years after a nuclear disaster. Players explore a dangerous quarantine zone filled with cults, strange characters, and other secret forces. The game asks you to search for food, craft weapons, and fight to stay alive. It is made by the same team behind Sniper Elite and Zombie Army. The game mixes mystery, exploration, and survival. You must solve the mystery of what really happened after the disaster, while surviving in a world that is both beautiful and deadly.

3. DayZ

If there's any game that drops you straight into pure survival with zero help, it's DayZ. You start off in a massive open-world map with almost nothing — no weapons and no food. Your first goal is simple: stay alive. That means searching buildings for supplies like food, water, clothes, and basic gear. But things get serious quickly when you realize every need counts. If you get hurt, you’ll bleed. If you don’t eat or drink, you’ll die. Every action matters, and nothing comes easy. You’re not just surviving the environment either, other players are out there too. Some might trade with you or help out, but many will kill you on sight to take your gear. Zombies also roam the world, and while they aren’t the biggest threat, they can easily get you in trouble if you’re not careful.

2. Grounded

In Grounded, you play as a kid who’s been shrunk down to the size of an insect and dropped into a backyard that suddenly feels like a jungle. The main goal is to survive by collecting materials, crafting tools, and building shelters, all while avoiding dangerous bugs like spiders and mosquitoes. You explore different parts of the yard, find food, clean water, and uncover secrets about how you got so small. Playing with friends makes it easier to build bigger bases and fight off tougher enemies. With Grounded 2 also dropping later this year, now could be the perfect time to dive into one of the most creative survival games available on Xbox Game Pass.

1. Hunt: Showdown 1896

Final game on our list of best survival titles on Xbox Game Pass is Hunt: Showdown 1896, a tense and gritty shooter where players take on the role of bounty hunters tracking deadly monsters in a dark swamp setting. The goal is to find clues, locate the monster, kill it, and escape the map — all while other players are doing the same and trying to stop you. You can play solo or in teams, and every match is filled with high risk. Survival here means staying quiet, thinking smart, and knowing when to fight or run.