Games Like Hobo: Tough Life

CHANGE is an award nominated homeless survival experience set in a randomly created city with rogue-like elements. Explore, survive, earn perks, find items & kindness to develop your character & escape to a new life. Over 7 years of development & over 200 updates so far!

Why similar: Open World 35.4%, Survival 31.2%, RPG 18.6%, Story Rich 14.8%

Why You'll Like It: This game is the closest thematic match, focusing entirely on the emotional and physical struggle of surviving as a homeless person in a procedural city.

Bum Simulator is a sandbox game bursting with inappropriate humor and memorable characters. You live on the streets of Bumsville. Do you have what it takes to adapt, survive and become an urban legend?

Why similar: Survival 17.5%, Open World 16.2%, Base Building 13%, Simulation 9.9%, Sandbox 9.7%

Why You'll Like It: It shares the direct premise of homeless survival, focusing on urban exploration and unconventional survival tactics.

Nobody – The Turnaround is a life simulator set in a parallel world that echoes modern society. Manage your time and resources carefully, strive to find a way through difficult times, and overcome the predicament you find yourself in.

Why similar: Survival 29.3%, Open World 20.5%, Sandbox 16.5%, Realistic 15.5%, Simulation 9.9%

Why You'll Like It: This life simulation game mirrors the struggle of starting with nothing in a modern city and working your way up through various odd jobs and social interactions.

In This War Of Mine you do not play as an elite soldier, rather a group of civilians trying to survive in a besieged city; struggling with lack of food, medicine and constant danger from snipers and hostile scavengers. The game provides an experience of war seen from an entirely new angle.

Why similar: Survival 45.6%, Base Building 18.4%, Crafting 13.6%, Realistic 6.8%, Atmospheric 5.4%

Why You'll Like It: It captures the same grim, atmospheric civilian survival experience where every decision involves a moral cost and resource scarcity.

Obenseuer is an urban survival RPG game, where you become a property manager of a rundown unfinished tenement building, in an isolated quarantine district of Obenseuer. Maintain and upgrade your tenement for rent, uncover the secrets of this infamous district and grow your wealth with your craft.

Why similar: Survival 46.6%, Open World 25.8%, RPG 18%, Adventure 5.2%, 3D 4.5%

Why You'll Like It: This game focuses on surviving in a decaying, post-Soviet urban environment with deep survival and RPG mechanics.

Experience the struggle which a homeless man goes through in a humorous manner. Primitive elements of contemporary life that we take for granted, such as staying warm, well-nourished, and hygienic, will become an issue.

Why similar: Base Building 36.5%, Survival 32.3%, Simulation 11.2%, Realistic 10.2%, Atmospheric 5.4%

Why You'll Like It: It features a management-heavy approach to homeless survival, focusing on building a group and managing their needs in a harsh city.

Become the best thief. Gather intel, steal things and sell them to buy hi-tech equipment. Do everything that a real thief does.

Why similar: Heist 26.2% ★, Open World 16.7%, Co-op 12.7%, Simulation 10.8%, First-Person 8.2%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the stealth and crime aspects of urban survival, requiring players to scout and scavenge from a hostile environment.

Project Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customisable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..

Why similar: Survival 30%, Open World 19%, Multiplayer 11%, Sandbox 10.6%, Crafting 9.1%

Why You'll Like It: It offers the most immersive urban scavenging and survival mechanics, requiring careful management of hunger, cold, and fatigue.

Have you ever considered creating your own crime empire, without the legal and moral consequences? SIMULATE IT! Crawl into the dark alleys of the street business in this OG drug-dealing game, and make a fortune! A co-op sequel – DDS2 – is out NOW

Why similar: Open World 20.5%, Simulation 19.8%, Crafting 17%, Co-op 8.5%, Sandbox 8.4%

Why You'll Like It: It captures the gritty, illegal hustle of urban life and the constant risk-reward balance of surviving on the fringes of society.

Plunge into the open-world survival simulation set in the extreme conditions of the uncharted Amazon jungle. Use real-life survival techniques to craft, hunt, fight, and gather resources, set a makeshift shelter, or raise a fortress. Survive alone or team up with your friends and challenge the jungle together.

Why similar: Survival 20.7%, Multiplayer 11.9%, Open World 11.7%, Base Building 11%, Online Co-Op 10.6%

Why You'll Like It: It provides a hardcore survival experience that tests your resource management and environmental awareness.

Hunt, survive, build and lead in the harsh Middle Ages: Create your own Medieval Dynasty and ensure its long-lasting prosperity or die trying! Play alone or team up with friends to enjoy the ultimate medieval experience.

Why similar: Crafting 15.6%, Survival 13.3%, Base Building 13.3%, Open World 11.7%, Co-op 9.3%

Why You'll Like It: It offers similar base-building and survival progression, requiring players to manage their needs while establishing a foothold in a harsh environment.

THE LONG DARK is a thoughtful, exploration-survival experience that challenges solo players to think for themselves as they explore an expansive frozen wilderness in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster. There are no zombies -- only you, the cold, and all the threats Mother Nature can muster.

Why similar: Survival 37.3%, Open World 22.7%, Crafting 11.2%, Sandbox 7.7%, First-Person 7%

Why You'll Like It: It perfectly replicates the brutal cold-weather survival mechanics that serve as the primary threat in the seed game.

The dead have risen and civilization has fallen. Now it's up to you to gather survivors, scavenge for resources and build a community in a post-apocalyptic world – a world where you define what it means to survive in this ultimate zombie survival simulation.

Why similar: Survival 22.9%, Base Building 21.2%, Open World 19%, Multiplayer 9.7%, Co-op 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: It emphasizes scavenging for resources in a hostile urban landscape while managing the needs of a group.

Welcome to SCUM, a ruthless open-world survival game where deep character customization defines the prisoner you become. Loot, craft, hunt, build, and fight to outlast a hostile island where every choice can change your fate. Stay alive. Stay dangerous. Become harder to kill.

Why similar: Survival 21.9%, Open World 20.2%, Crafting 15.1%, Online Co-Op 12.1%, Sandbox 11.7%

Why You'll Like It: It features complex survival mechanics and realistic character needs that mirror the granular survival systems of the seed game.

A free-roaming squad based RPG. Focusing on open-ended sandbox gameplay features rather than a linear story. Be a trader, a thief, a rebel, a warlord, an adventurer, a farmer, a slave, or just food for the cannibals. Train your men up from puny victims to master warriors.

Why similar: Base Building 21.9%, Open World 21%, Survival 17.6%, Crafting 15.2%, Sandbox 13.3%

Why You'll Like It: It provides a similar 'start with nothing' experience where you must scavenge and fight to survive in a world that does not care about you.

It's ten years since the infection started. Long-established settlements are collapsing, one by one, for unknown reasons. Survivors are running to the hills to escape, hoping for safety in remote places. As another refugee, you're here to carve out a new life for yourself - by any means necessary.

Why similar: Dialogue Heavy 25.4%, Base Building 17.7%, Open World 13.4%, Survival 11.7%, Crafting 9.7%

Why You'll Like It: It blends survival, base-building, and social interaction in an open-world setting that requires careful negotiation with others.

7 Days to Die is an open-world game that is a unique combination of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games. Play the definitive zombie survival sandbox RPG that came first. Navezgane awaits!

Why similar: Survival 26.1%, Base Building 18.7%, Open World 16.7%, Online Co-Op 11.1%, Multiplayer 11%

Why You'll Like It: It combines urban exploration with complex crafting and survival mechanics in a world that constantly threatens your safety.

This is a multiplayer cooperative open world construction survival sandbox game, where you and your friends must find supplies and build shelters in this world. You have to keep an eye on your character's needs state at all times, a bad state is likely to lead to death.

Why similar: Survival 25.3%, Open World 19.8%, Crafting 13.2%, Multiplayer 10.9%, Co-op 8.2%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on scavenging and building in an open-world setting where resource management is key to staying alive.

Get a taste of prison life! Become a prison guard and deal with dangerous convicts. Prison management, lots of daily activities. Will you become the best guard in history? Or maybe you'll turn into the worst scumbag this Prison has ever seen?

Why similar: Open World 17.3%, Dialogue Heavy 16.2%, Sandbox 13.5%, RPG 11.5%, Realistic 11.2%

Why You'll Like It: It shares the gritty, crime-adjacent simulation feel and the need to navigate a restrictive, hostile social environment.

Frostpunk is the first society survival game. As the ruler of the last city on Earth, it is your duty to manage both its citizens and infrastructure. What decisions will you make to ensure your society's survival? What will you do when pushed to breaking point? Who will you become in the process?

Why similar: Survival 60.9%, Base Building 27.9%, Simulation 6.7%, Atmospheric 4.4%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the extreme cold and resource management found in the seed game, albeit on a societal scale.

Become a crew member of an Interdimensional Express Train! Discover a new world full of mysterious creatures, enemies and places. Upgrade and customize your train, gather new materials and build better weapons. Play solo or online сo-op with up to 4 people.

Why similar: Base Building 14.5%, Survival 14.4%, Open World 11.4%, Crafting 10.6%, Co-op 10.5%

Why You'll Like It: It offers unique crafting and survival progression that rewards players for scavenging and expanding their mobile base.

In Home Behind, you take on the role of a refugee cast out from your homeland by a band of rebels. Your home and the peace you enjoyed has been destroyed, and your family has disappeared. Can you survive the struggle, famine, and sickness to make it to the safety of Europe?

Why similar: Survival 53.1%, RPG 23%, Simulation 11.3%, Adventure 10.7%, Atmospheric 1.9%

Why You'll Like It: A side-scrolling survival game that focuses on the desperate journey of a refugee, mirroring the struggle for basic necessities.

Subsistence is a sandbox, first person, solo or co-op, PvE open-world survival game. Struggle through changing seasons to build a base, develop technology and gear-up in the hostile environment. Defend yourself from wildlife, the elements and AI hunters (who also build bases in the world).

Why similar: Survival 23.8%, Crafting 15.9%, Open World 15.5%, Base Building 13.8%, Multiplayer 11.2%

Why You'll Like It: A realistic survival game with a heavy focus on building and resource gathering in a challenging, open-world environment.

Raft™ throws you and your friends into an epic oceanic adventure! Alone or together, players battle to survive a perilous voyage across a vast sea! Gather debris, scavenge reefs and build your own floating home, but be wary of the man-eating sharks!

Why similar: Survival 24.2%, Multiplayer 12.7%, Co-op 12.3%, Base Building 11.7%, Crafting 11.5%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the core loop of scavenging the environment to maintain your survival and expand your base.

Welcome to Keplerth! Try to survive on a hostile alien planet in this 2D sandbox RPG, where you can choose to live alone or fight side by side with your friends in the online multiplayer mode. Survive, build, farm, fight, and explore your way to victory in this open-world adventure!

Why similar: Survival 22.2%, Open World 20%, Sandbox 16.2%, Base Building 10.7%, Multiplayer 8.8%

Why You'll Like It: It provides a sandbox survival experience with deep crafting and exploration elements that reward persistent players.

Hard Times is an extreme urban survival game where you have to put yourself into the shoes of a homeless man, taking on all the challenges that daily survival places in the great metropolis of indifference.

Why similar: Simulation 27.7%, Survival 23.6%, Crafting 16.6%, Sandbox 15.4%, Action 11.8%

Why You'll Like It: A 2D take on the struggle of urban survival that emphasizes the difficulty of maintaining a daily routine while homeless.

A sci-fi colony sim driven by an intelligent AI storyteller. Generates stories by simulating psychology, ecology, gunplay, melee combat, climate, biomes, diplomacy, interpersonal relationships, art, medicine, trade, and more.

Why similar: Base Building 31.8%, Survival 24.8%, Open World 13.7%, Sandbox 13.6%, Story Rich 6.9%

Why You'll Like It: It features deep survival management and character development, forcing players to adapt to constantly changing, often hostile conditions.

You’re out of jail, but the debt isn’t gone. Sneak, steal, and break into houses solo or in 4-player co-op. Use lockpicks, sleeping gas, and brute force to complete jobs, outsmart security, and make enough money before time runs out. Will you pay back what you owe, or lose everything?

Why similar: Heist 34.9% ★, Multiplayer 17.6%, Online Co-Op 17.4%, First-Person 8.4%, Simulation 8.1%

You have experienced the sudden loss of your wealth, which has compelled you to abandon your previous life and begin anew. By venturing into the game world, you can construct settlements and forge alliances with other players, ensuring that you will always have exciting challenges to undertake.

Why similar: Survival 14.7%, Base Building 14.6%, Open World 12.7%, Crafting 12.3%, Sandbox 9.6%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the survival and RPG aspects of a character's journey, emphasizing the need to manage resources and health.

Don’t Starve is an uncompromising wilderness survival game full of science and magic. Enter a strange and unexplored world full of strange creatures, dangers, and surprises. Gather resources to craft items and structures that match your survival style.

Why similar: Survival 43.2%, Crafting 19.3%, Sandbox 13.4%, Open World 11.2%, Multiplayer 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on crafting and maintaining sanity while surviving in a hostile, unforgiving world.

Make a living for yourself in a city full of opportunity while you meet a variety of locals, explore unique locations, and work your way to the top in this open-world life simulator.

Why similar: Survival 19.9%, Open World 19.8%, Sandbox 15%, RPG 9.6%, Realistic 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: It simulates the complexities of urban life, social interaction, and the struggle to maintain a living in a sandbox city.

Hardcore open-world survival where preparation is everything. Scavenge, craft, fortify during the day. When night falls, the infected hunt in numbers. Play solo or with friends in a brutal post-apocalyptic sandbox where survival is earned through smart decisions. How many Nights will you survive?

Why similar: Survival 20.2%, Sandbox 14%, Online Co-Op 12.6%, Multiplayer 12.1%, Co-op 11.9%

VEIN is a post-apocalyptic survival multiplayer sandbox game. Gather supplies to survive, explore abandoned buildings, defend your home, and rebuild society, whether alone or with friends.

Why similar: Survival 18.9%, Base Building 17.2%, Open World 16.8%, Crafting 9.6%, Co-op 9.3%

First-person homeless crime sandbox. Steal, drink, hallucinate and crush rival bums in chaotic online co-op.

Why similar: Survival 18.4%, Open World 16.5%, Co-op 15.3%, Multiplayer 12.9%, First-Person 8.6%

MISERY is a 1–10 player co-op survival game set in a nuclear disaster zone. Here, every day is a struggle: search radioactive ruins for resources, build your bunker, craft weapons, and explore a weird, procedurally-generated world with your friends. Beware of anomalies, monsters, and armed bandits.

Why similar: Survival 19%, Base Building 16.1%, Open World 14.4%, Online Co-Op 12.6%, Crafting 12.4%

Old Market Simulator is a 1-4 player co-op game where you manage your market by ordering goods, growing produce, raising animals, fishing, and crafting items in your workshop, while hiring employees and expanding your business.

Why similar: Online Co-Op 28.4%, Co-op 17.6%, Multiplayer 16.9%, Simulation 14%, First-Person 11.7%

The door to your robber’s career is waiting! Just crowbar the lock off and force your way through the threshold. Learn skills, collect tools and become a master of the thieving trade!

Why similar: Heist 31.2% ★, Open World 19.9%, First-Person 10.2%, Simulation 10.1%, Co-op 7.9%

Homeless Simulator is a homeless person simulator. Homeless persons are those who find themselves living on the streets because of family conflicts, somebody’s fraud, loss of the job or health problems. They are those who need help.

Why similar: Survival 26.2%, Open World 20.5%, Sandbox 15.5%, Simulation 15.4%, First-Person 11.4%

Scavenge abandoned ruins, craft gear from scrap and salvaged materials, and fight the environment itself as hunger, exposure, and exhaustion push you to your limits. There are no second chances—only adaptation or death.

Why similar: Base Building 19.1%, Survival 18.2%, Open World 15.9%, Crafting 15.3%, Multiplayer 6.2%

What turns a drug dealer into a drug lord? Find out in DDS2, a first-person co-op sim set in a dynamic open world. Make contacts, cook drugs, and manage your cartel on Isla Sombra, where power is the only law.

Why similar: Open World 17%, Crafting 12.9%, Multiplayer 11.1%, Sandbox 10.8%, Co-op 9.5%

Camping Simulator lets you experience what camp means by preparing your backpack wisely for challenging conditions of nature. You can play all the experiences with up to 8 friends in multiplayer mode or single player mode.

Why similar: Survival 19.7%, Crafting 15.5%, Co-op 13.4%, Sandbox 12.8%, Base Building 8.6%

The world is a vast, beautiful and dangerous place – especially when you have been shrunk to the size of an ant. Can you thrive alongside the hordes of giant insects, fighting to survive the perils of the backyard?

Why similar: Survival 22.5%, Base Building 17.3%, Multiplayer 11.2%, Co-op 11.1%, Crafting 10.9%

Homeless Simulator 2 is a homeless person simulator. Homeless persons are those who find themselves living on the streets because of family conflicts, somebody’s fraud, loss of the job or health problems. They are those who need help.

Why similar: Survival 26.4%, Open World 20.9%, Sandbox 14.4%, Simulation 13.2%, First-Person 9%

HumanitZ is an isometric, open-world sandbox survival game set in a world ended by a zombie outbreak. Survive alone or with friends by scavenging, crafting, building, and fighting to last as long as ‘humanly’ possible. You can’t change the past, but you can fight for the future of humanity.

Why similar: Survival 18.4%, Base Building 17.7%, Open World 15.3%, Crafting 12.6%, Sandbox 9.6%

KeepUp Survival is an open-world base-building and exploration game set in a natural, abandoned world. Build, gather, survive, and shape your own story on a mysterious island.

Why similar: Base Building 15.1%, Survival 14.9%, Open World 13.4%, Crafting 11.5%, Co-op 9.9%

Experience the struggle which a homeless man goes through in a humorous manner. Primitive elements of contemporary life that we take for granted, such as staying warm, well-nourished, and hygienic, will become an issue.

Why similar: Base Building 43.1%, Survival 36.5%, Simulation 13%, 3D 7.4%

Too long in this prison, time to get out of here. Pull the carpet and start digging with a teaspoon. Watch out for the guard, sell him the junk you find. Trade toilet paper with the prisoners. Get better items and improve your stats. Expand the tunnel, use glow sticks and dynamite. Will you escape?

Why similar: Multiplayer 21.4%, Simulation 18.6%, Realistic 18%, First-Person 16%, 3D 9.2%

Pohinki Simulator is a survival game set in a polish neighbourhood, where you need to explore the open world in search for trash in order to survive and gain power. Build structures, experiment with found items, and become the most powerful bum alive!

Why similar: Base Building 23.9%, Survival 21.6%, Sandbox 15.6%, Open World 13.7%, First-Person 7.7%

Explore, survive, and push the boundaries of the horizon in a vast, procedurally generated world. Customize your vehicle, face unpredictable events, gather resources, and embark on a unique adventure, alone or with up to 4 players.

Why similar: Survival 18.9%, Open World 17.1%, Online Co-Op 12.6%, Co-op 12.3%, Multiplayer 10.6%

Crushed — is an Singleplayer and Multiplayer First-Person Survival Sandbox in an Open World! Challenge the wild and be ready to survive in harsh conditions. Explore the world, get resources, cook food, build a house, farm, hunt, and enjoy nature.

Why similar: Survival 17.5%, Open World 15.6%, Base Building 14.3%, Crafting 12%, Sandbox 9.8%

Shrunk again, but the world is much larger. In this open-world, single-player or co-op survival adventure, craft weapons and armor, build your base, and traverse the playground on your buggy. But something else is out there—and it hasn’t forgotten you.

Why similar: Survival 18.8%, Base Building 16.1%, Open World 12.4%, Crafting 10.1%, Co-op 9.7%

Embark on an unpredictable survival journey in Start Over. Solo, co-op, online, explore diverse landscapes, craft through 4 tech tiers, encounter wildlife, and trade or raid for resources. Choose your path, defend against waves, and shape your destiny in a dynamic world. Are you ready to Start Over?

Why similar: Base Building 17.5%, Survival 15.7%, Crafting 13%, Sandbox 9.9%, Open World 9.6%

Next Day is a multi-player SURVIVAL game with elements of RPG, in an imaginary country in Eastern Europe. Carry out an array of tasks, learn skills, and develop your character. Have shootouts with opponents and earn a reputation.

Why similar: Survival 30.8%, Open World 23%, Multiplayer 12.8%, Crafting 11%, Co-op 7.6%

Abiotic Factor is a survival crafting experience for 1-6 players set in the depths of an underground research facility. Caught between paranormal containment failure, a military crusade, and chaos from a dozen realms, the world’s greatest minds must survive against the universe’s biggest threats.

Why similar: Base Building 20.4%, Survival 19.5%, Crafting 15.6%, Online Co-Op 13.4%, Sandbox 9.9%

Winter Survival is a story-driven survival game where trauma turns reality into a reflection of your breaking mind. Battle cold, hunger, hallucinations, and adapt to the wilderness as it adapts to you.

Why similar: Survival 21.4%, Base Building 21.3%, Open World 18.8%, Crafting 11.5%, Sandbox 8.9%

MIST SURVIVAL is a Single-player, survival stealth sandbox game Players will experience the Apocalypse stimulation in the form of virus pandemic, the players have to deal with it to survive through the difficulties such as finding shelter and food, threats from the environment and climate: wild animals, bandits, infected, and dense mist t

Why similar: Survival 32.8%, Open World 21.7%, Base Building 18.4%, Crafting 11.4%, Sandbox 7.8%

Starting from a homeless person who wakes up at a bus station. All you have is a penny in your pocket and some cash in your bank account. Go out into the city and work hard to earn your first money. The streets will be your home.

Why similar: RPG 34%, Crafting 21.3%, First-Person 15.9%, Adventure 12.4%, 3D 8.9%

Shakes & Fidget is a hilarious fantasy role-playing satire and at the same time, an award-winning RPG! Sounds crazy? With over 50 million enthusiastic players, it ranks among the most celebrated online role-playing games worldwide!

Why similar: RPG 64.4%, Story Rich 24.6%, Adventure 11%

A living world full of surprises, secrets and danger awaits in The Survivalists, an adventure-filled survival sandbox set in The Escapists universe. Explore, build, craft and even train monkeys with up to three friends in a desperate bid to survive. Have you got what it takes to be a Survivalist?

Why similar: Survival 17.3%, Crafting 15.1%, Base Building 14.8%, Online Co-Op 11.8%, Open World 11.7%

Erzurum is a winter survival game which you will struggle against freezing temperatures, the wild nature, hunger and thirst.

Why similar: Survival 22.3%, Open World 17.4%, Crafting 16.3%, Multiplayer 10.9%, Sandbox 9.4%