There are a lot of survival games out there, and it can be difficult to figure out which ones are worth putting your time and money into. If you’ve got a PlayStation 5 and want a new challenge t?o dive into, we’ve got you covered. 

But what makes a survival game? Generally speaking, if you begin with very little and have to work your way up by gathering and crafting, then it can likely be included as part of the survival genre. If you can build your own base and customize it to your o??wn tastes, then even better. 

Here are ten survival games available to play on PlayStation 5 right now, and each of them is definitely worth checking out if you’re a ?fan of the genre.?? 

Minecraft

As far as survival games go, Minecraft is a classic. You enter a pixelated world and have to work your way up from nothing but your fists. Gather resources to build a shelter and food to fill your stomach, and then you can go exploring in the cave systems under your blocky feet. One of the major plus points to Minecraft is Creative Mode, allowing you infinite resources to bui?ld glorious creations.? 

The best thing about Minecraft is that? it’s the perfect game to introduce a younger generation to the joy of survival games, with children everywhere loving the blocky world and everything in it. 

Rust

After waking up naked on the beach with a rock, you’re tasked with surviving on servers filled with other players who are all only looking out for themselves. You then need t??o gather (or steal, if you’re feeling brave) resources that w??ill allow you to build shelters, all while avoiding the hostile wildlife such as bears and wolves who will attack you without a second thought. 

To top off the survival experience of Rust, all servers ge?t reset on the final Thursday o?f each month. This means that all of your bases, and all of your progress, is removed, and once again, you find yourself naked on the sand with only a rock.  

Ark: Survival Evolved

Have you ever wanted to tame dinosaurs and don them in mecha suits that turn them into war machines to use ?in survival against other players? Well, if that’s the case, then Ark: Survival Evolved might just be the survival game you’ve been looking for. You can play either single-playe?r or multiplayer and form tribes with others on your server. 

It goes without saying that you begin your life in Ark: Survival Evolved with nothing, and you have to gather and craft your way up. Eventually, you can tame dinosaurs as mounts and take on mythical creatures. You can even build mobile bases on the backs of some of the larger prehistoric beasties,? giving you the ultimate RV. 

Subnautica

Subnautica is unlike any other game on this list because you have no land to stand on. Well, aside from the giant ship that you get to explore as part of the story and two islands you’ll get to eventually. You’ll need to gathe??r blueprints, resources, and food in order to survive in the middle of an alien sea, sur??rounded by absolutely giant and very hostile alien creatures. 

There are multiple modes that you can enable while playing Subnautica, with Creative Mode disabling all depletable characteristics like health and thirst. On the other end of the?? spectrum, Hardcore Mode removes warnings of low oxygen levels and includes a gamer's worst fear �Permadeath. If you die, your save file will be gone forever. 

No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky got off to a rocky start when it was first released back ?in 2016, but it’s become a beloved title in the survival genre thank??s to multiple game-changing updates. Now, it’s an example of everything a good survival game should be. 

As a humanoid explorer of the planets, you wake up on a random planet ??with a crashed spaceship and only a multitool to help you navigate the strange world. On the plus side, the multitool not only allows you to scan and gather resources but also acts as your first weapon if you encounter any alien creatures out to kill you. 

Grounded

Grounded is my personal idea of hell, and seems as though it took heavy inspiration from Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Shrunk down to the size of an ant and suddenly needing to survive in a world filled with giant insects, you’ll gradually become more hungry and thirsty as? time goes on, having to gather resources and water to survive. 

What’s worse is that Spiders are considered an “apex predatorâ€?in the world of Grounded, and as an arachnophobe, having a giant spider chase you across the backyard while you’re starving and dying is not my idea of a fun time. With that said, Grounded does have an arachnophobia mode, and I guess you??r enjoyment of this will depend on how much bugs give you the ick. 

The Forest

If surviving against insects isn’t your idea of a good time, then how about surviving in a world filled with cannibals who not only want to kill you but also rip the flesh from your bones? The Forest is the predecessor to Sons of the Forest, and if you play through The Forest and find it enjoy?able, I strongly suggest that you pick up the sequel as ?well. 

The best survival method for The Forest is to focus on building and exploring during the day, as the mutants with nefarious intentions come out in the dark of night. There’s a huge level of fear and anxiety that you’ll feel when playing through this one, but it’s also hugely sa?ti??sfying to survive and get through the story. 

Pacific Drive

If you’re looking for a survival game with a bit of a four-wheeled twist, then Pacific Drive is definitely the way to go. Using your trusty (if a little run-down) station wagon, you can drive acro???ss the map to scavenge and gather resources to improve both your own chances of survival and the car itself. 

Your car is fully customizable, and you’ll need to focus on repairs and upgrades so that ??you can explore further and survive for longer. Anomalies around the map will affect you or the car in different ways, such as scrambling the controls for the car or inflicting damage, so be careful as you explore. 

This War of Mine

This War of Mine is the ?only survival game on this list that isn’t played through a first-person POV. Instead, you’re in control of a group of people who are hiding in a damaged house after fleeing from a war. They can’t venture outside in the daylight, as there are snipers waiting to take them out, and you’re low on resources. 

Each controllable character has its own backstory, and you need to keep e??ach of them alive as you wait for the ceasefire to come. However, there is no fixed timeframe for this event, so you’ll j??ust need to keep going until it comes. This War of Mine is haunting and definitely something you should try if you’re into survival games. 

Green Hell

Green Hell can be played in either single-player or co-op multiplayer mode and is an open-world survival game set in the Amazon Rainforest. As you likely expect by now, you’ll need to gather resou??rces, build shelter, and find food in order to survive. 

If you choose to follow the story, which is entirely optional, ?then you’ll go off in search of your wife, who went missing after venturing out on a solo trip to a local tr??ibal village. Unfortunately, your only contact with her is through the radio, and the local Yabahuaca tribe has not taken kindly to the presence of researchers in their jungle.

The post 10 Best PS5 Survival games appeared first on Destructoid.

Play the modern classic on PS5 or Xbox Series X/S

Every so often, a game comes out that completely changes the way we think about the medium, and This War of Mine is one of them. Originally released back in 2014 by Polish developer 11 Bit Studios, the game depicts a group of civilians trying to survive in the midst of a war that's swept through their city. It's harrowing, it's heartbreaking, and it's a game that depicts the tragic realities of war all too well.

Today the studio announced that it will be rereleasing This War of Mine: Final Cut for the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S on May 10, and the game will also be available on Xbox Games Pass. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the game back in 2019, 11 Bit released This War of Mine: Final Cut, which was free for those wh??o already owned the game.

This version of the game included new story content, remastered maps, upgraded 4K graphics, UI improvements, and more. The narrative DLC This War of Mine: Stories will also be available to purchase on PS5 and Xbox Series separately, or bundled together with the base game in This War of Mine: Complete Edition.

11 Bit's CEO Przemek Marszal had this to say about the Final Cut in a press release:

"The message and themes existing inside of This War of Mine have, unfortunately, become brutally vivid and relevant in recent months. We believe it’s especially important to educate people on the realities of war right now, while its horrifying reality has become a daily struggle for people that are close to us. We’re proud that recent This War of Mine fundraising helped us create a wave of spontaneous help for war victims in Ukraine, and we hope we can further spread our antiwar message with This War of Mine: Final Cut."

It's horrifying that a game like this can still be so relevant today, but 11 Bit really is doing some great work in spreading their message and raising money for the efforts in Ukraine. Here's???? to hoping that this Games For Change award nominee can continue to inspire that change into the future.

The post This W?ar of Mine: Final Cut gets a PS5, Xbox Series X/S release this May appeared first on Destructoid.

A chilling return from the legendary studio

11 bit studios, the renowned developer behind games like This War of Mine and Frostpunk, has just announced their newest publishing project, a cinematic narrative adventure called South of the Circle, drawing from the likes of Firewatch and What Remains of Edith Finch. Following an Apple Arcade debut, the studio has partnered up with the British BAFTA-award-winning developer State of Play for a PC and console release.

Set in the 1960's Cold War era, South of the Circle follows Peter, a man who finds himself torn between his love, his work, and the tension between military powers that hides under the surface. The art style is minimal, yet still stunning, and the game will be voiced by a stellar voice cast, including Gwilym Lee (Bohemian Rhapsody), Olivia Vinall (The Woman in White), Richard Goulding (The Crown), Anton Lesser (Game of Thrones), Adrian Rawlins (Chernobyl), and Michael Fox (Downton Abbey).

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk5VoKBZ5xw

External Development director of 11 bit studios Marek Ziemak shared his own thou??ghts on the game:

�em>South of the Circle is one of those love-at-first-sight things. The game's narrative and artistic sensitivity immediately captivated us. South of the Circle is ?heavily-focused on storytelling inspired by world-class cinema, which makes ??it a bit different from our previous titles.

Once players experience its instantaneously engaging, emotion-packed narrative, we're convinced they'll understand why we wanted to have it in our publishing portfolio. And we’re thrilled to be able to start working with State of Play since it’s a studio that has been on our radar for a long time.�/p>

Fans in the comments of the announcement trailer joke that 11 bit studios only makes games that take place in incredibly cold settings (which they kind of do), and talk about how excited they are to have a new title from the publisher. 11 bit is one of those indie studios that just never seems to miss, and given South of the Circle falls into my all-time favorite game genre, this is one that I personally can't?? wait for, as well.

No release window yet, but South of the Circle will be coming soon to PC, Nintendo Switch,? Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, ??PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4.

The post 11 bit studios pi??cks up South of the Circle, a cinematic narrative adventure appeared first on Destructoid.

Landmark moment for 11-bit studios

In a particularly groundbreaking moment for the medium of gaming, 11 bit studios' acclaimed release This War of Mine has been designated "recommended reading" by the Polish Educational System. Originally released back in 2014, This War of Mine deals with the besieged city of Pogoren, Graznavi??a, tasking players with the survival of a handful of citizens, huddled together beneat??h the chaos with meager food and supplies.

This new motion is the result of a campaign by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the country's Ministry of Education, who have determined that the award-winning game has brought significant value to Poland's cultural heritage. This War of Mine will now feature in a variety of school and college programs, and will feature in classes related to the human sciences: sociology, ethics, philosophy ??and history.

"Games are a work of culture. Modern ones, natural and attractive for the young generation. Games speak a language instinctively understandable by them - the language of interaction," said 11-bit studios CEO Grzegorz Miechowski in a press statement. "Using this language, games can talk about everything - emotions, truth, ?the fight between good and evil, humanity, suffering. They are simil??????????????????????????ar to literature in that regard, however, they use the aforementioned language of interaction... I’m proud to say 11 bit studios' work can add to the development of education and culture in our country. This can be a breakthrough moment for all artists creating games all around the world."

This War of Mine is available now on PS4, PC, Xb??ox One, Sw??itch, and mobile platforms.

The post This War of Mine becomes recommended read?ing in the Polish educational system appeared first on Destructoid.

With Alan Wake and For Honor coming up next

A pair of neat, heartfelt PC games just went free on the Epic Games Store. Right now, you can score This War of Mine, a brutal survival game about civilians struggling in a war-torn city, and Moonlighter, a clever action-RPG that splits its tim??e between dungeon crawling and shopkeeping. The deal lasts until Friday, August 2, but as long as you get in before the deadline, they're yours to keep for good.

C?oincid??ing with the free Epic Games Store promo, there's a spot of DLC news, too.

This War of Mine is about to get its next story expansion, Fading Embers, on August ?6. The scenari??o follows Anja as she grapples with choices about human legacy. Expect multiple endings and heartache.

On a similar note, Moonlighter has the newly-released Between Dimensions DLC (out now on PC and coming soon to consoles). There's a new Interdimensional Dungeon to explore, along with more bosses, lore, and gear. As a Bloodborne fanatic, I have to admit, I like the sound of trick we?apons.

Next week – from August 2 to August 9 – the Epic Games Store will give away Alan Wake, Remedy's brilliant horror-adventure romp, and For Honor, Ubisoft's knights, v?ikings, and samurai action game.

The post This War of Min??e and Moonlighter are free on the Epic Games Store appeared first on Destructoid.

When Truth is the only weapon

11 Bit Studios has released the latest chapter in for harrowing adventure game This War of Mine. The Last Broadcast is the second of the game's "Stories" trilogy, following on from 2017's A Father's Promise.

In The Last Broadcast, we return to the war-torn city of Pogoren, which still limps through an i?ntense and brutal military conflict. The new DLC introduces us to Malik, who is running a pirate radio station out of his home, where he attempts to provide moral support in the face of governmental?? violence.

No doubt The Last Broadcast will retain all of the misery and moral turpitude of This War of Mine's previous releases. The DLC includes new civilians and locations, as well as radio reporting mechanics and multiple endings. Truth is said to set the people free, but for the long-suffering citizens of Pogeren, that truth can come at the?? ultimate price.

The Last Broadcast is available today on PC for This War of Mine. There is?????????????????????????? currently no date listed for other platforms.

The post The Last Broadcast is the latest grim installment of ??This War of Mi??ne appeared first on Destructoid.

Includes current and upcoming DLC

Deep Silver are to publish 11 Bit Studios' grim survival title This War of Mine for Switch??. The sleeper indie hit will be arriving on Nintendo's hybrid console at the end of the month.

Originally released back in 2014, This War of Mine asks players to take terri?ble risks and make morally-tough choices in order to keep a small band of survivors alive and safe in the fictional war-torn city of Pogoren. Players must spend their days crafting, providing aid for their group and doing their best to keep morale high, before venturing out at night to scavenge for food and tools, hoping to hold out until a ceasefire is declared. Grim stuff.

The Nintendo Switch edition will include all DLC and extra content released to date, such as The Little Ones, the Anniversary content, and Episode One: Father's Promise. All future DLC will be automatically downloadable, free of charge. You can check out a new tr??ailer ??for the Switch release below.

This War of Mine: Complete Edition launches on Nintendo Switch November 27.

The post Brutal survival title This War of Mine: Complete Editi?on is headed to Nint??endo Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Experience the living nightmare

2014's miserable survival title, This War of Mine, is available to play for free on Steam until the end of the weekend. Developer 11 bit studios announce the trial in part celebration of their new game Frostpunk, which launches later this month.

This War of Mine is the tale of a group of civilians struggling to survive during a military conflict in the fictional country of Graznavia. Players must make pragmatic decisions and take extraordinary risks in order to provide f??ood, shelter and healthcare for the characters, while protecting them from hostiles such as looters and snipers.

The game was praised upon release for its grim, suffocating aesthetics and unflinching portrayal of the harrows of war on a city's populace. While hardly a fun-time-for-all, This War of Mine is an uniquely-crafted experience of balance, pragmatism and sacrifice. It was also reinvented as a tabletop game earlier this year.

This War of Mine is free to play on Steam from now until April 8. Should you wish to purchase the title, its price has been slashed by a huge 70%. Frostpunk launches on April 24.

The post This War? of Mine available to play for free on Steam until April 8 appeared first on Destructoid.

This Box of Mine

This War of Mine utilized the medium of gaming to create a harrowing experience of dread. No one should have to live through war, but mo??st people find it hard to understand the psychological effects such a situation can cause. It is easy to tell someone how to ove?rcome an issue when you're sitting in your warm, comfy house and eating your cheap, processed foods.

So while I wouldn't necessarily call This War of Mine a fun game, it is most certainly an important one. Seeing as how it has remained popular for the better part of its lifetime, I'm surprised we're already at the two-year anniversary for the game; it almost feels like it released yesterday. To mark the occasion, 11 bit Studios is going to be making a retail release dubbed The Anniversary Edition.

This new version will bring some extra DLC that contains new characters, new locations, and a brand new ending. Not to ignore the fans who made the studio a success, 11 bit will be releasing the Anniversary Edition DLC for free to anyone who owns the game. The DLC is now a?vailable on Steam and Games Republic with other platforms to follow.

There was no mention if the recently released console ports will be getting this new DLC, but I wouldn't hold out hope. Console certification can be a bit nasty, so any chance of the Anniversary Edition landing on PS4?? or Xbox One this year is probably safely off the table.

The post This War of Mine getting a retail release ?and some ann?iversary DLC appeared first on Destructoid.

:(

This War of Mine: The Little Ones will launch on PS4 and Xbox ?One on January 29, 2016.

"This War Of Mine: The Little Ones provides an experience o??f war not from an elite ??soldier's point of view but from the perspective of a group of civilians that are trying to survive," writes Deep Silver.

"Struggling with a lack of food, limit?ed or no medical supplies and under the ??threat of constant danger from the world around, players will need to make life-or-death decisions just to make it through another day."

Here, watch this very depressing trailer:

The post Here’s when you can play This War of Mine: The Little Ones on PS4 and Xbox One appeared first on Destructoid.

Doing good through games

This War of Mine takes a look at a part of conflict that videogames rarely explore: that of those who aren't fighting for a side, but?? just fighting to surv??ive. It's a harrowing experience, one of the heaviest of 2014 to be sure.

With a small add-on, developer 11 bit studios aims to help?? those that its game depicts in desperate situati??ons. Absolutely all revenue from the DLC will be donated to War Child, a charity that provides assistance to children in war-torn areas. The DLC comes at $1, $10, and $20 levels -- all contributions unlock the same content, the only difference being how much you feel like donating.

The add-on provides street art throughout This War of Mine for the player to find and unlock. Artists M-City, Gabriel "Specter" Reese, SeaCreative, Emir Cerimovic, Fauxreel, and Mateusz Waluś all contributed. They're doing a little bit to try to make the world a better place for those who have it unimaginably tough; won't you, too?

The post This War o?f Mine DLC exists solely to help the kids appeared first on Destructoid.

War through the eyes of the powerless

War, what is it good for? For starters, it makes for easy entertainment in fiction. With the rise of war games over the last two decades, it's common to see these experiences as nothing but an over-the-top spectacle to show off explosions and the might of the military. But in recent years, we've begun to see more games that pay attention to the philosophical and existential conflicts? related to war.

One of my favorite last-gen games, Spec Ops: The Line, subverted expectations by reintroducing the horror and dread that war imparts on those it touches. And with last summer's Valiant Hearts, which told the stori?es of men and women during World War I, I'm glad we're seeing mo?re of the human and emotional side of armed conflict.

Back at PAX Prime 2014, I had the opportunity to experience another such title called This War of Mine. Meeting with the developers at 11 bit stu??dios, I got to chat about the origins and intentions they have with their survivalist take on war.

This War of Mine (Android, iOS, PC [previewed])
Developer: 11 bit studios
Publisher: 11 bit studios
Release Date: November 14, 2014 (PC)

After a war breaks out in an unnamed country, the citizens of a city caught in the crossfire are left scattered and isolated from the outside world. With the collapse of society and law, survivors must fend for themselves while avoiding the raging conflict to live another day. But as the war grows increasingly hostile, desperation ??and despair become more apparent, and with the remnant?s of society out to get you or in need of help, you'll have to decide how far you and your allies are willing to go in order to survive.

It's rare for a game to show this side of war, specifically the human cost of war. In other titles, the survivors would be background characters seen for only a brief moment, while the big and well-armed soldier you'd likely be playing as would make a small comment about them to show some humanity before going to mo?w down dozens of ??enemy soldiers. This is one aspect of war that the developers wanted to see more of, and having an experience from the side of powerless shows the unseen torment and misery absent from most other war games.

"My brother, who's also the CEO [of 11 bit studios] brought me an article called 'One year in hell', and it's an interview with a guy who survived a siege of a city in Bosnia during the Yugoslavian wars in the early '90s -- and the end line of the interview is that 'when war breaks out, you are not prepared for it, and in war there are no good or bad guys, you have to do certain things in order to survive,'" said Pawel Miechowski, senior writer on This War of Mine. "We were so moved by?? this interview, that everyone on the team agreed that it would be great for our next game -- and it certainly evolved from a game to more of an experience."

In order to survive in the war-torn city, you'll have to work together with your band of characters as they scavenge, build, defend, and support one another through the conflict. Your survival begins in an abandoned three-story shelter, and using the skills and know-how of your allies, you must keep it safe and stable enough for what's to come. At the beginning, you're given a random set of survivors with varying specialties and backgrounds. I started off with Pavle, a former football player; Bruno, a cook who knows how to handle resources; and Marko, a street hustler who can get in and out o??f scavenging missions quickly.

During the day, your group must keep busy and manage the various areas of the shelter. Using supplies and resources found from scavenging, you have to decide what resources your allies need. Should they have a furnace to keep them warm? Or perhaps they need beds installed to sleep comfortably. What you choose to build is up to you, but putting off important necessities, such as a stove for cooking or a workbench to build weapons and support items, could lead to tragedy later on. During the night, other players can raid you??r shelter, and if you aren't prepared, bandits could take everything -- even the lives of your group.

With constant threats around during the day, you'll have to wait for nightfall to venture on supply runs. Choosing the right person for the job, you can send them out to scout and scavenge the nearby ruins, meet? traders, or find new allies. In ?most cases, you'll find abandoned homes littered with valuables and items used for crafting, but you'll encounter other people on occasions who have taken up residence in certain areas. And these folk are just like you. They're not bandits or marauders, just regular people protecting what's theirs from outsiders. Of course, what they have could help your crew out, and you have to decide if sneaking in and taking their stuff or stealing it by force is a better option than just simple trading.

The tension is palpable, and with the unpredictability of the environment, one moment can change the fate of the survivors. For the first half hour, my characters were in relatively decent shape. They had food, medicine, and scavenged enough supplies to build stoves, radios, and workshops in the shelter. While they certainly weren't comfortable, they had food and shelter -- which was enough. But during a scavenge run with Pavle, things took a turn for the worst. After killing another scavenger in self-defense, he returned to the shelter a changed man. He became depressed, sick, and even began to openly consider suicide. Each character has their own biography, sort of like private? diaries, and this recent event affected him greatly. This also affected the other survivors, as they were clearly disturbed by what he had done, and began to openly question his actions.

"What you do has an influence on [the characters'] emotions," said Miechowski. "If you do something that goes against their beliefs or attitudes, they may get sad, depressed??, or even suffer a nervous breakdown. We have an immense emotional layer."

This War of Mine managed to really impress me with its way of illustrating moral ambiguity. As civilians caught up in a war they have no part of, they're left to scrounge and eek out a living in a hostile environment, all the while trying to preserve what dignity they have left. And with others needing to do the same, you're confronted with situations that call for tough choices, and often times you have to make a decision that wil?l haunt you long after.

With my group in dire straights, and in need of medicine, I sent the depressed David out to scavenge a seemingly abandoned home. Once he got there, he found out it was not abandoned;?? it was the home of an elderly couple. Their house was chock full of supplies, and with no?? defenses, I could have made out like a bandit. But I didn't. I felt terrible for the couple, who were frightened and asked me for mercy.

While I felt I made the right decision, I soon paid for my good intentions by seeing my group's mo?rale and health further deteriorate. I?t all came to a head when my shelter was raided during a supply run, and with only an ill Bruno and a depressed Pavle to guard it, they were easily picked off. The most tragic part about this event was that Marko had just come back from his best supply run yet, finding enough medicine, food, and guns to last for the days ahead.

"The best thing I believe is that you are the mor??al judge," said Miechowski, "and because you're the storyteller, and your deeds create the consequences, th??e game expects you to live with your decisions."

I don't regret leaving the elderly couple in peace, even if they possibly had medicine and food for my group, but I do wish I made better choices leading up to that defining event. It's moments like this, which are randomly occurring, that made This War of Mine feel unique and evocative. Morality during war is such an interesting subject ??for games to tackle, and it's incredibly refreshing to see a game that focuses on the survival of your allies as the meat of the experience, and not the shooting.

I found a lot to like with This War of Mine. I was surprised to see how quickly I became attached to the characters, which made it difficult to see them go out so awfully. With its release next month, I feel that a lot o?f people yearning for a different kind of war game should sit up and take notice. We seldom get a war experience that's haunting and ??gut-wrenching as this.

The post This Wa?r of Mine? is a harrowing journey of survival appeared first on Destructoid.