Some survival games today are so demanding that committing 100 hours will barely scratch the surface. Progress is slow by design, and that is exactly what keeps players invested for weeks or even months. These survival games typically drop players into hostile lands filled with dangerous creatures, hunger, thirst, and enemies that do not care how prepared anyone feels.
The Next 5 Huge Survival Games
Fans of the survival genre who are looking for their next favorite game should keep an eye on these upcoming releases.
It’s also important to know that survival in these games is not only about combat. Players even have to figure out how to survive bad weather. Players who enjoy living inside a world, regardless of the threats, rather than finishing it quickly, will have a swell time playing these survival games.
The completionist times in this list were pulled from HowLongToBeat, so actual completionist time may differ from player to player.
Conan Exiles
Completionist Time: 129 Hours
- Brutal fantasy land where players build shelters, tame thralls, and survive harsh climates.
- Exploration, crafting, and combat drive long playtime.
Conan Exiles is a brutal game because it puts players in a harsh environment where they must gather resources, fend off threats, and build to survive. Players begin as exiles freed by Conan, starting with minimal gear and needing to craft clothing, tools, and shelter to survive extreme heat, cold, hunger, and thirst.
Players must manage survival systems like hunger, thirst, and temperature, which affect health and performance, especially in harsh climates. Overall, Conan Exiles is built around freedom of choice. Players can focus on building massive bases, exploring dangerous lands, mastering crafting systems, or testing their strength against the toughest enemies the Exiled Lands have to offer. Anyone who is willing to explore the entire Exiled Lands and survive whatever it throws at them should be ready to commit around 129 hours.
7 Days to Die
Completionist Time: 326 Hours
- A zombie survival sandbox focused on scavenging, crafting, and surviving increasingly deadly hordes.
- Large map with deep progression systems and base building.
In 7 Days to Die, there’s a lot of crafting, scavenging, exploration, and combat against the undead. Taking out zombies is just a fraction of the job. Players also have to gather food, water, tools, and weapons to stay alive. One of the signature mechanics is the Blood Moon, which by default appears about every seven days. During a Blood Moon night, huge waves of zombies attack the player’s location, pushing survivors to prepare strong bases or clever defensive structures. If unprepared, these nights can really become long.
Progression in 7 Days to Die depends on exploration, leveling up, and unlocking skills. Players find magazines and books in loot caches or from traders that unlock new crafting recipes and increase the quality of gear they can make. Simple items can be crafted early, but advanced weapons, vehicles, and higher-tier equipment require reading the right magazines and investing in skill perks.
Rust
Completionist Time: 65 – 188 Hours
- A multiplayer survival game where other players are the biggest threat, not the environment.
- Finishing everything requires mastering complex systems.
Rust is a multiplayer survival game with no official ending, where players create their own goals through survival, crafting, base building, and PvP combat. Because there’s no story or formal win condition, “completion” time varies widely depending on what a player considers success. But it’s very likely players will spend close to 200 hours in Rust, or even more, because it’s a pretty hard open-world survival game.
This is another game where players begin almost defenseless, spawning without gear on a beach with only basic tools like a rock and torch. From there, they gather wood, stone, and other materials to craft better tools, build shelters, and survive in a harsh open world. The biggest challenge often comes from other players, since combat and raiding are central to the experience.
