The survival genre has exploded in popularity in recent years, and to help you find the very best Xbox survival games, we’ve done all the legwork and listed out the top titles available. Whether it’s a game that takes you to a fantastical viking world, or a blocky giant like Minecraft, you’re bound to find a survival game you’ll love here. Best survival games on XboxSurvival games come in all different flavors and often combine a variety of different genres to make them unique. You have games that try to portray a somewhat realistic survival situation, like The Long Dark and This War of Mine, while others, such as Ark and 7 Days to Die, inject fantasy and science fiction into the genre. With the knowledge and experience of the TrueAchievements editorial team, combined with site review scores and community ratings, here are the best Xbox survival games: 10. Ark: Survival AscendedArk: Survival Ascended is an Unreal Engine 5 remastered version of Ark: Survival Evolved, and after some significant teething issues, it’s now in a decent place. In Ark, you are stranded on the shores of a strange island that’s teaming with primeval creatures and must find a way to survive. Thankfully, you can tame some of the dinosaurs roaming the lands and use them to help you thrive, even a mighty T-Rex! Ark is one of the more interesting and unique survival games on our list for this reason, and it’s worth diving into, especially if you have pals that you can hop online with. 9. State of Decay 2State of Decay 2 is an action-adventure survival game that takes place in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. You and your small community of survivors must help rebuild civilization by choosing where to settle your community, how to fortify your base, and who you allow onto your team. Scavenging food and ammo are a must, if you hope to survive against the rabid hordes of zombies roaming its open world and aggressive attackers.Over the years, Undead Labs has pumped out loads of updates for State of Decay 2, making it one of the best zombie games around. If you’re interested in jumping into this one, it’s on Game Pass and has 2,400 Gamerscore to collect. 8. GroundedHere are the Grounded achievementsRelease date: September 27, 2022Developer: Obsidian EntertainmentOn Game Pass? YesIn Grounded, you are shrunk down to the size of an ant and are forced to survive in one of the most dangerous places known to man… the backyard! Either solo or with your pals, you will need to explore the backyard, build, survive, and thrive alongside hordes of giant insects while trying to uncover how you ended up so small and how to get home. Grounded offers an excellent survival experience — there is so much to do and see in the game. If you’ve been keen to try this one out but haven’t, Grounded is available in all tiers of Game Pass. 7. No Man’s SkyNo Man’s Sky has had possibly the greatest redemption arc ever seen in gaming. After launching in an awful state on PS4 without half of the features Hello Games promised, the game has gone from strength to strength with each major update. Now, the action-adventure survival game is almost unrecognizable compared to when it first launched.For those unaware of what No Man’s Sky is all about, it primarily focuses on exploration, survival, combat, and trading. The game has a huge procedurally generated open world universe, which includes something ridiculous like 18 quintillion planets, all of which are unique and feature different flora, fauna, and resources to gather. It’s fair to say that No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure game with survival elements, rather than strictly a survival game, but if you hope to unravel the mystery at the center of the game’s universe, you will need to manage your resources and your health and life support carefully on your journey.6. This War of Mine: Final CutThis War of Mine offers a unique perspective of war told through the eyes of civilians trying to survive in a besieged city where food and medicine are scarce. During the day, you will need to instruct your survivors on how best to manage and maintain your shelter, but by night, when the snipers can’t see you, you will venture out into the streets to try and find supplies. It’s here you’ll have to make gut-wrenching decisions that will often only have bad outcomes. The Final Cut version is a remaster of the original game with new quests, characters, and scenarios added, and includes The Little Ones and Stories DLC packs. 5. 7 Days to DieAfter years in early access, 7 Days to Die finally saw its full 1.0 release in 2024. Now that the Xbox Series X|S version is pretty much up to par with the Steam version in terms of features and content, the zombie survival game is a must play for fans of the genre. Set in a large open world, 7 Days to Die mashes together elements of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games into one intense survival experience. Your goal is to simply survive as long as possible in a hostile world where every seven days a horde of blood-thirsty zombies attacks you. It’s up to you to scavenge supplies, manage your hunger and thirst levels, build a base with adequate defences, and ultimately live to see another week. It’s wicked fun and intensely challenging when you get up to higher rounds. 4. ValheimThere are currently no Valheim achievements to unlockRelease date: March 14, 2023 (early access)Developer: Iron GateOn Game Pass? NoDespite still being in early access, Valheim is a fantastic survival game. Set in a procedurally generated open world inspired by Norse mythology, you and up to ten other players must gather resources, craft longhouses, grow crops, erect defences, and slay powerful bosses to prove yourself to Odin. What makes Valheim great is its massive open world. Each biome is distinct with unique enemies to fight and resources to collect — there is so much mystery tucked away here, and when you think you’ve found everything, you can build a ship and set sail to other far-off distant lands to claim the riches they offer. 3. MinecraftWhat can I say that hasn’t already been said about Minecraft? If you’ve somehow managed to not play the gaming phenomenon, it plonks you down into a blocky, procedurally generated sandbox where you have to gather resources, craft tools, build a shelter, manage your health and hunger, and ultimately, survive. How you spend your time in Minecraft is entirely up to you — the possibilities are almost endless thanks to how open-ended its world is, and you’re only really limited by your imagination.Minecraft is a truly special game, and while it might not have the most sophisticated survival mechanics compared to some of the games on this list, it is well worth jumping into if you’re yet to play it. 2. SubnauticaHere are the Subnautica achievementsRelease date: December 4, 2018 (early access)Developer: Unknown Worlds EntertainmentOn Game Pass? NoSubnautica is an open-world survival-adventure game where you’re stranded on an alien ocean world. If you want to survive, and ultimately make it off this inhospitable planet, you will need to explore the deep, dark depths around you (sorry, thalassophobia sufferers, this one isn’t for you), gather food, water, and the resources to be able to start building an underwater base and venture out further. It’s a cracking survival game with an intriguing mystery at its core. What really sets it apart from other games in the genre is its unique setting. There is nothing quite like diving down deep, coming to the edge of a colorful reef that’s teeming with life, and then seeing nothing but a deep, black void that stretches out in front of you — it’s so eerie!1. The Long DarkThe Long Dark throws you out into the frigid Canadian wilderness on your lonesome and asks you to survive against Mother Nature in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster. It offers an authentic exploration-survival experience where you will need to manage resources, such as food, water, and warmth, while battling against extreme weather conditions and dangerous wildlife. What’s great about The Long Dark is its gameplay loop and atmosphere. After risking everything to venture out to a new area on a map, only to get lost in a blizzard and survive a bear attack, there’s nothing quite like making it to that far-off cabin to find fuel to start a fire and provisions to keep yourself alive for another day. Sitting in the cabin, passing the time as the wind howls against the window panes, wolves shuffle around outside, and the fire crackling softly nearby, it’s just such an atmospheric experience. The Long Dark is an absolute gem and as pure as survival games get.Some of the games mentioned here are included on our list of the best Xbox Game Pass games, which is worth checking out if you’re a subscriber. Do you agree with our list? Let us know down in the comments!
Source link
The best Xbox survival games to play in March 2025
