Guides & Editorial

The best survival games on PS4 and PS5

Experience the best survival games - hostile worlds where your instincts and resourcefulness can mean the difference between life and death.

Out of this world

Hone your survival skills in unpredictable environments teeming with curious creatures.

Minecraft

A quintessential survival experience, Minecraft drops you into a blocky world of wonder and danger, letting your imagination fill in the gaps. Build your first shelter with your bare hands and dodge Creepers to survive your perilous first night in the wilderness, then scour the sun-soaked land and its subterranean caverns in search of resources to evolve your tools and defy the elements. Build endlessly customizable compounds to house your spoils (and your friends, if you need an extra pickaxe or two.)

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ARK: Survival Evolved

If a multiplayer sandbox full of prehistoric creatures sounds like your kind of challenge, then start building a base and learn to conquer the Ark with your friends. Explore a range of lush fortified biomes from the clouds to the caves below. Manipulate the food chain to tame, train, command and breed nearly 200 primeval creatures, each with their own useful abilities.

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No Man’s Sky

Catalogue a procedural galaxy full of fascinating creatures and crops in this interstellar sci-fi adventure. Document the local wildlife, mine for minerals, build bases and liaise with extraterrestrials to stay alive and extend your exploratory odyssey into this enormous universe. If you’re looking for an even greater challenge, a dedicated survival mode limits available resources and puts your inventory at risk when you die.

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Subnautica

Experience an indie adventure where you strive to tame the unruly ocean depths after crash-landing on a mysterious alien planet. Unravel an intriguing narrative as you scavenge for salvage and sustenance, crafting seabed structures and upgrading your diving equipment to survive an onslaught of nautical nemeses.

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Indie odysseys

Scavenge to survive in subversive worlds that twist the genre in a compelling fashion.

Pacific Drive

Put pedal to the metal and outrun otherworldly storms and metal-crunching monsters in this run-based survival game that pits you and your upgradable station wagon against a surreal and sinister Pacific Northwest. Every trip into the wilderness is randomised, guaranteeing new challenges and locations to find.

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The Survivalists

A survival sandbox with a side order of monkey management, The Survivalists drops you onto a tropical island and asks you to settle in and uncover its mysteries. Alone or with co-op castaways, complete quests and raid temples for trophies, turning your new island home into a monument to your heroic escapades.

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Terraria

A whimsical 2D sandbox teeming with subterranean intrigue, Terraria transports players to a procedurally generated pixel world full of challenging boss battles and quirky NPCs to summon to your growing home base. Develop your mana and health pools and collaborate with friends to reach the harsh but satisfying edges of this rewarding adventure.

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Don't Starve: Console Edition

A stylish, comedic take on the survival adventure. Cautiously navigate the world as a scientist, foraging for food and crafting components. As well as staving off hunger and fatigue, you’ll fight to keep your mental faculties intact as you encounter a variety of sanity-shaking scenarios.

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Wilderness survival

Employ realistic mechanics to conquer treacherous emerald sandbox environments.

Rust Console Edition

Betray and be betrayed in this gruelling online survival experience where you’re always at risk of your fellow player undermining your livelihood. Build shelters and beat the elements, forge weary alliances and evolve towards armour and guns in order to stake your claim in inherently unruly multiplayer worlds.

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The Forest

In the wake of a nasty plane crash, find yourself stranded in a formidable forest full of crafty cannibals. Makeshift tools in hand, can you build a strong enough base to survive the night?  Experience a bone-chilling survival horror story while trapped in the confines of a sinister first-person sandbox, where you’ll constantly be questioning what is lurking in the treeline. 

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Green Hell

Alone in the Amazon jungle, you'll craft weapons and tools to hunt prey, mitigate hunger and manage your rapidly deteriorating mental state in this first-person survival sandbox. With only a radio to guide you, you’ll establish makeshift shelters and encounter all manner of beasts, bugs and environmental hazards poised to send you right back to square one.

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Song in the Smoke: Rekindled

Pull on your PS VR2 headset and enter a world as beautiful as it is deadly. Strive to survive an unpredictable jungle environment full of mystical predators that can only be conquered through the mastery of Song in the Smoke’s deep and satisfying physical combat system. Forage for materials to fulfil your needs, stock up on arrows and cup your ear to the song of nature which guides you along an unforgettable narrative journey.

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Fantasy roleplay

Embody period heroes and master unruly plains in these challenging sword and sorcery sandboxes.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Anniversary Edition

A legendary fantasy adventure set in the rich universe of The Elder Scrolls, Skyrim is an action RPG where player choice is paramount. Follow a compelling narrative where you wield the power of dragons and curate a character build that will take you to the four corners of a sprawling map full of deadly dungeons and curious factions. Anniversary Edition’s Survival Mode adds layers of difficulty to the core experience, reducing your carry weight and cutting off fast travel as well as asking you to consider temperature, hunger and sleep deprivation as you explore the perilous realm.

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Outward: Definitive Edition

An immersive RPG set across a wild, dynamic world, you’ll tackle tricky dungeons, repel formidable creatures and endeavour to maintain a solid sleep schedule. Outward’s realistic approach to survival has you dodging disease, starvation and the elements while curating a strategic build that can weather any storm.

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Conan Exiles

Based in the brutal world of Conan the Barbarian, Conan Exiles is a multiplayer survival odyssey where you must adapt quickly to a harsh environment, hunting, cooking, crafting and fighting to stay alive. Once you build a base on the swamps and dunes of the Exiled Lands, you’ll defy other players with weapons and traps, leveraging thralls and defensive structures to maintain a sense of control over the open world.

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Tribes of Midgard

Norse mythology looms large over this survival-focused action RPG, where you and up to 10 players can band together and resist the ruin of Ragnarök in a procedurally-generated open world. Develop a bespoke combat class with unique abilities and craft killer weapons to defend your villages from the advancing giants.

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