Survival games tend to be pretty straightforward affairs. Many genres try to push the boat out, but you tend to know what you’re getting when you dive into a Survival title.
The main goal is staying alive, and you’re able to usually achieve this goal by building bases, monitoring your hunger meter, and watching for raiders. However, some games go out of their way to galvanize this gameplay loop.
10 Best Survival Horror Games For Under $10
Prepare for heart-racing gaming sessions and sleepless nights after playing these 10 survival horror games for under $10.
Some of these leave you naked with nothing to your nameor even wipe your entire progress after death.Others let you save-scum your way through, in exchange for a steep learning curve.
Survival is great because it is tough. These games stand out from other survival titles by approaching the genre creatively,taking survival to heights unknown.
10Pathologic 2
Unmatched psychological terror
Pathologic 2
Besides its predecessor in 2005,Pathologic 2remains unmatched inhow grim it can be.
Pathologic 2sends you to a small town infected by the sand plague. Playing as surgeon Artemy Burakh,the game challenges you to make it through twelve dayswhile keeping your patients alive.
This game is not exactly a sequel toPathologicbut rather a do-over.Burakh requests a second chance after a failed attempt at the original questline, except this time,the mechanics are more refined. The pace is slow, andsuccess comes only from taking everything in and thinkingbefore acting.
Pathologic 2is a videogame that doubles as theatre, with you as the main star. Failing quests does not block your progression, but rather unleashes different chains of events that can eventually bring your downfall at the end of 12 days.
Every turn in the town is filled with drama, misery, and difficult choices, butcountry doctors make do.
9This War of Mine
War From The Civilian’s POV
This War of Mine
Inspired by the gruesome Siege of Sarajevo that lasted between 1992 and 1996,This War of Mineshows wartime survival from the silent end.
While a violent conflict rages outside and society collapses,the city’s residents still need to eat, drink, and hopefully survive to see another day.
The gameplay is divided between day and night cycles. When the sun is up, your survivors stay inside and tend to their basic needs. This does not mean you are alone: traders and neighbors drop by looking to barter or beg for supplies, and how you react affects your life and theirs.
Nights let you sleep, guard your home, orventure outdoorswheresupplies, thieves, and soldiersawait.
This War of Mineis bleak, real, and addictive. Make sure to take breaks with more cheerful media now and then, because this game will bring you to the horrors of war, and it does not let go.
8Escape From Tarkov
Shoot First & Ask Questions Later
Escape from Tarkov
The premise ofEscape From Tarkovhas once been described as"Umbrella Corp triggers the Siege of Sarajevo with mercenaries."
What setsTarkovapart from other survival games isa pedantic love for gunsand everything around them.
Readying up a rifle means picking from hundreds of attachment options, stacking up multiple magazines with the right type of ammunition, and then donning body armor that covers only specific areas of your body.
Every time you die, you lose all those itemsand with them the work you put into building a kit that feels yours.
Should you survive, your guns and armor probably need servicing, unless you want a jammed bolt or a cracked armor plate during your next outing.
Once you are done with the gunslinging,you still need to eat, build your shelter, take care of wounds, and do dirty jobsfor slimy traders to make a living.
Is it fun? No. But it does not want to be, and that is whyEscape From Tarkovworks so well despiteconstant blunders from the creators.
A New Horror Every Day
Being stranded on a strange planet is bad, as it tends to be barren and lifeless, meaning boredom sets in fast.Rimworldgets around this by having astorytelling AI that feels like your Saturday night Dungeon Master.
The central question to every newRimworldadventure is “how worse can it get?“The answer, typically, is “a lot.”
Serum’s Survival Horror Took Inspiration From Fallout And BioShock
First-person survival game Serum was influenced by Fallout’s post-apocalyptic atmosphere and BioShock’s mechanics.
The simplistic cartoonish graphics mask how deep every mechanic goes. Survivors inRimworldstruggle with unfriendly locals and themselves alike, making itthe perfect recipe for scrambling in panic.
Being overwhelmed is not so bad whenRimworlddelivers this to you in such hilarious or endearing ways.Evil murderous robots rolling through your little garden will break your heart, but also make you laugh.
6Oxygen Not Included
It’ll Leave You Breathless
Oxygen Not Included
Before Klei Entertainment launchedOxygen Not Included,the idea that a 2D game could be so relaxing and stressfulwas unfathomable.
The title sells the game well:a crew of three colonists ends up on an asteroidand oxygen, outside of isolated pockets, is not included.
The procedurally generated worlds make every playthrough unique, allowing you infinite attempts to struggle with the fantastic physics in the game.
Digging through a new pocket without oxygen equalizes the atmosphere with the previous one.One too many careless strokes and your little friends will learn about hypoxia the hard way.
The key gameplay element ofOxygen Not Includedis the interaction between factors.Even a bit of urine left alone in a corner can unleash a chain reaction that wipes out the colony.
The learning curve is steep, but the pleasant presentation and the sense of accomplishment you get from every day are unmatched.
5STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl
Roadside Picnic, Anyone?
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
What is worse than a radioactive accident?STALKERpostulates the answer is two radioactive accidents.
Shadow of Chernobylshows its age in gameplay, butthe atmosphere and worldbuilding make you look right past that.
What makesSTALKERso unique is theA-Life system. In simple terms,time does not freeze when you are not around.
Mutants roam and hunt lesser ones, factions send out patrols, buildings are occupied then abandoned, and most importantly,stalkers gather around the campfire for warmth, songs, and jokes.
Most survival shooters released since 2007 draw inspiration from the bleak Zoneintroduced by GSC Game World, and the sequel is right around the corner (unless they miss the release window again).
4Fallout 4
A Fortress Made Of Junk
WhereSTALKERoffers a bleak Eastern European nuclear autumn,Fallout 4makes the end of the world feel like the 4th of July.
Fallout 4had a decent enough start, but its modding community has taken the game tolevels Bethesda probably never imagined. Harder, easier, more realistic, goofier, you name it: Fallout 4 can do it with one quick trip to your favorite modding workshop.
Besides the modding community, this game stands up well on its own.Fallout 4lacks the aura or story ofFallout: New Vegas, butit makes you feel like you matter.
The core mechanic of this game is building settlements, and that is where it excels. The pleasure of making a little semblance of society in the barren wasteland makes up for the simplistic plot.
Best yet,Fallout 4combat mechanics are all new, so players do not need to suffer the horrors ofFallout 3gunnery that also plagueFallout: New Vegas.
If this is your first time, consider watching theFalloutTV series to get in the mood before starting.
3Frostpunk
Wear A Few Extra Layers
A volcanic winter is a most unpleasant event, but if one does happen, The Captain will have to work around it.
Frostpunkconveys cold in ways few games can.The horrors of a deep winter hurt more than just the fingertips of your citizens.
Staying alive inFrostpunkrequires a lot of work, butthat work will only be done if your residents have enough mental strengthto get through the day.
Shoddy construction at critical facilities typically ends with its workers succumbing to frostbite.You can draft kids to do the jobor double the shifts of other workers to compensate. Inhumane, but so is dying.
Frostpunklets you take noble routes too, but it is a game of making tough choices with a cool head, pun very much intended.
These decisions push your city towards different paths, with"fun” outcomes like fanaticism that relies on brutally executing dissidents. Doing so is essential for the city’s Feng Shui.
2Subnautica
Not Better Down Where It’s Wetter
Subnautica
Subnauticatakes an Earthly approach to an alien world by reminding players that the real horrors lurk beneath the surface.
After getting shipwrecked in an alien world, you need to scramble to survive.Subnauticashines by giving you urgency and joy in one go.
Using your Life Pod as a home, you need to work out how to eat, craft, and even breathe. This is the closest a game has gotten to replicating the vibes of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Sealab 2020 (or its Adult Swim parody, Sealab 2021).
The unique bit about surviving inSubnauticais howyou slowly come to terms with the situation. The first few hours will have you putting out fires left and right, but after a while, it feels like home… until the next fire or gruesome wildlife encounter.
Adapt, Or Die Trying
Kenshiis a game that makes you feel hopelessly small.This insignificance is the key to freedom, as a character with no destiny also has no limits.
The starting phase ofKenshiis the closest a grown-up can get to how a baby feels… if that baby had been thrust into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Although it has combat,Kenshiis not a game about winning fights, but rather surviving these encounters.
If you make it through the early game, preferably with most limbs still attached,Kenshilets you go wild.you’re able to be a freedom fighter, a thief, a leader, a trader, or even a measly farmer trying to stay out of trouble.
Even if you avoid becoming a messiah or a legendary warrior,other people in the world may not have the same ideas.
Their lives and deaths affect the power balance inKenshiandcan bring trouble to those who are not looking for it.
