Games Like Dying Light

Humanity is fighting a losing battle against the virus. Experience a post-apocalyptic open world overrun by hordes of zombies, where your parkour and combat skills are key to survival. Traverse the City freely during the day, but watch the monsters take over during the night.

Why similar: Zombies 19.8%, Parkour 19.1%, Open World 10.7%, Post-apocalyptic 9.2%, Gore 9.1%

Why You'll Like It: It is the most direct follow-up, carrying over first-person parkour, day/night infected pressure, melee crafting, and open-world co-op exploration.

BECOME THE BEAST. SURVIVE THE NIGHT. A terrifying new chapter in the Dying Light universe begins. As Kyle Crane, explore the vast and unpredictable wilderness, uncover a deadly evolution of the infected, and learn to control the beastly powers awakening inside you.

Why similar: Zombies 22.1%, Parkour 19.4%, Open World 10.5%, Gore 9.4%, Horror 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: This standalone return to Techland's zombie sandbox focuses on the same first-person movement, scavenging, and brutal infected combat that made Dying Light click.

Welcome to the zombie apocalypse experience of a lifetime – and now more beautiful than ever. Caught in the midst of an epic zombie outbreak on the tropical island of Banoi, your only thought is: Survive!

Why similar: Zombies 32.3%, Open World 11.6%, Survival 9.3%, Gore 8.6%, Online Co-Op 7.6%

Why You'll Like It: As Dying Light’s spiritual predecessor, it delivers first-person melee zombie combat, weapon crafting, co-op, and open-zone scavenging with a very similar rhythm.

A deadly virus is spreading across Los Angeles, turning its inhabitants into zombies. Bitten, infected, but more than just immune, uncover the truth behind the outbreak and discover who - or what - you are. Survive, evolve and become the ultimate Zombie Slayer.

Why similar: Zombies 23.6%, Gore 12.5%, Post-apocalyptic 12.2%, Horror 8.8%, Survival Horror 8.4%

Why You'll Like It: It trades parkour for denser combat spaces, but the first-person gore, improvised weapons, and co-op zombie brawling feel immediately familiar.

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: Open World Survival Craft 22.2% ★, Zombies 18.9%, Survival 11.2%, Online Co-Op 10.2%, Post-apocalyptic 9%

Why You'll Like It: Its mix of looting, crafting, base prep, and brutal first-person zombie survival scratches the same scavenger-under-siege itch as Dying Light.

Welcome to the zombie apocalypse experience of a lifetime – more beautiful than ever. Caught in an epic zombie outbreak on the tropical island of Banoi, your only thought is: Survive!

Why similar: Zombies 28.9%, Gore 11.9%, Open World 10.6%, Survival 7.5%, Open World Survival Craft 7.3% ★

Why You'll Like It: It doubles down on the original Dead Island formula with more co-op-friendly open areas, crafting, and hordes of melee-range infected.

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: Zombies 31.4%, Open World 16.8%, Survival 16.2%, Online Co-Op 10.9%, Post-apocalyptic 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: If you want more open-world scavenging and constant zombie pressure, this adds strong survival systems and co-op on top of its sandbox outbreaks.

Ride and fight into a deadly, post pandemic America. Play as Deacon St. John, a drifter and bounty hunter who rides the broken road, fighting to survive while searching for a reason to live in this open-world action-adventure game.

Why similar: Zombies 24%, Open World 15.8%, Open World Survival Craft 13.8% ★, Post-apocalyptic 12%, Survival 9.4%

Why You'll Like It: Though third-person and solo, its open-world traversal, desperate scavenging, crafted weapons, and massive zombie hordes hit a lot of the same survival-action notes.

How long can you survive a post-apocalyptic world? A land overrun with an infected "zombie" population, where you compete with other survivors for limited resources. Will you team up with strangers and stay strong together? Or play as a lone wolf to avoid betrayal? This is DayZ – this is your story.

Why similar: Zombies 16.1%, Survival Horror 12.1%, Survival 10.8%, Online Co-Op 10.8%, Post-apocalyptic 9.4%

Why You'll Like It: This is a harsher, more systemic take on open-world zombie survival where scavenging, tension, and player-created danger drive the experience.

London is falling. Are you prepared? The Last Blight is upon us. It was foretold. For the second time in history, a great plague has shrouded London in a fog of death. Big Ben tolls as thousands of unprepared die, or worse, are infected by a sickness more gruesome than death.

Why similar: Zombies 35.5%, Survival Horror 14%, Survival 10%, Open World 8.2%, Horror 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: For the survival-horror side of Dying Light, it offers slow, tense first-person scavenging and dangerous one-on-one zombie encounters.

DESOLATE is a first person horror survival experience. Form a research team with up to 4 players and explore an open world filled with mysteries and unsolved questions, or do it all on your own.

Why similar: Zombies 23.1%, Open World 18%, Survival 17.2%, Horror 15%, Gore 10%

Why You'll Like It: Its first-person co-op exploration, survival systems, looting, and creepy infected-filled zones make it one of the closest lower-budget alternatives.

The chances of you surviving this all out war of society and the undead are slim to none. Already, there are millions of the walking dead shambling about, searching for food to eat. There's no known cure. One bite can possibly end it all for you. However, you aren't alone in this nightmare.

Why similar: Zombies 34.2%, Online Co-Op 10.4%, Survival 10%, Horror 9%, Multiplayer 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: This leans harder into realism and horror, but the teamwork, scarce resources, and lethal zombies echo Dying Light’s high-stakes night runs.

Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 is a co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns.

Why similar: Zombies 44.4%, FPS 10.3%, Online Co-Op 9.7%, Multiplayer 6.4%, Survival 5.4%

Why You'll Like It: It is far more linear, but few games match its co-op zombie chaos, special infected pressure, and satisfying team survival.

As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 40.9% ★, Survival 13.8%, Open World 11.6%, Survival Horror 10.7%, Horror 10.2%

Why You'll Like It: Its open-ended first-person survival, crafting, and terrifying after-dark enemy encounters make it a strong match if you liked Dying Light’s survival pressure.

In KILLING FLOOR 2, players descend into continental Europe after it has been overrun by horrific, murderous clones called Zeds that were created by rogue elements of the Horzine Corporation. 6-player Co-Op & 12-player VS Zed-slaughtering mayhem.

Why similar: Zombies 17%, Survival Horror 11.7%, Online Co-Op 10.5%, Post-apocalyptic 9.2%, Gore 9.1%

Why You'll Like It: If your favorite part was gory first-person melee and gunplay against swarming infected, this is one of the best pure combat-focused picks.

Back 4 Blood is a thrilling cooperative first-person shooter from the creators of the critically acclaimed Left 4 Dead franchise. Experience the intense 4 player co-op narrative campaign, competitive multiplayer as human or Ridden, and frenetic gameplay that keeps you in the action.

Why similar: Zombies 28.7%, Online Co-Op 16.3%, FPS 9.6%, Gore 9.1%, Multiplayer 7.2%

Why You'll Like It: This modern co-op zombie shooter captures the same frantic squad-versus-horde energy, with progression systems layered on top.

Sent to find a missing billionaire on a remote island, you find yourself in a cannibal-infested hellscape. Craft, build, and struggle to survive, alone or with friends, in this terrifying new open-world survival horror simulator.

Why similar: Survival Horror 26.5%, Survival 20.2%, Open World 20.2%, Horror 13%, Multiplayer 12.2%

Why You'll Like It: It swaps zombies for mutants, yet the first-person co-op survival, crafting, exploration, and night-time dread feel very adjacent.

World War Z is a heart-pounding coop third-person shooter for up to 4 players featuring massive swarms of hundreds of zombies, focused on fast-paced, gruesomely spectacular action.

Why similar: Zombies 36.2%, Online Co-Op 16.7%, Survival Horror 9%, Multiplayer 8.8%, Post-apocalyptic 5.9%

Why You'll Like It: Its emphasis on overwhelming hordes, co-op teamwork, and constant zombie pressure makes it a strong choice for the outbreak spectacle side of Dying Light.

Explore the zombie-infested city of Los Perdidos, and find a way to escape before a military strike wipes the entire city, and everyone in it, off the map.

Why similar: Zombies 35.2%, Open World Survival Craft 16.8% ★, Open World 11.6%, Gore 9.4%, Survival 6.6%

Why You'll Like It: This brings open-city zombie swarms, outrageous crafted weapons, and co-op carnage, even if it is much sillier in tone.

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: Zombies 19.3%, Open World Survival Craft 16% ★, Survival Horror 10.1%, Open World 9.3%, Online Co-Op 9.1%

Why You'll Like It: It offers a co-op-friendly zombie survival sandbox built around looting, exploration, crafting, and staying alive in an infested open world.

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: Zombies 26.6%, Open World Survival Craft 25% ★, Survival 14.5%, Open World 11.5%, Post-apocalyptic 8.5%

Why You'll Like It: From a systems perspective it nails the scavenging, crafting, and survival-against-the-undead fantasy, just from a much more hardcore isometric angle.

Make your stand against the collapse of society in the ultimate zombie survival-fantasy game. Explore an open world full of dangers and opportunities that respond to your every decision. Recruit a community of playable survivors, each with their own unique skills and talents.

Why similar: Zombies 38.3%, Open World 16.5%, Survival 16.4%, Post-apocalyptic 10.4%, Survival Horror 7.6%

Why You'll Like It: It is rougher and more management-heavy than the sequel, but the open-world scavenging and survival loop still fits well.

SurrounDead is an open world survival game. Taking place in a world ravaged by an apocalyptic catastrophe. The dead reign free and will stop at nothing to kill you.

Why similar: Zombies 32.8%, Open World Survival Craft 17.1% ★, Open World 14.6%, Post-apocalyptic 13.7%, Survival 13.7%

Why You'll Like It: Its focus on scavenging, looting, and surviving in a zombie-filled open world makes it a good fit if you mainly want more sandbox survival.

'Night of the Dead' is an open-world game that combines elements of exploration, tower defense, survival, and crafting. Traverse a world dominated by zombies while collecting various resources and powerful equipment. Build a fortress to survive the hordes of zombies that swarm every night!

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 24.4% ★, Zombies 18.7%, Online Co-Op 12.2%, Survival Horror 11.6%, Open World 9%

Why You'll Like It: This blends exploration, crafting, and daily preparation against undead attacks, appealing to players who enjoyed Dying Light’s day-versus-night loop.

You're a survivor in the zombie infested ruins of society, and must work with your friends and forge alliances to remain among the living.

Why similar: Zombies 26.8%, Post-apocalyptic 15.5%, Open World 13.5%, Survival 12.8%, FPS 12.6%

Why You'll Like It: Despite its blocky look, it is a surprisingly robust open-world zombie survival game with scavenging, base building, and co-op play.

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: Zombies 23.8%, Survival 14.2%, Survival Horror 14%, Open World 13.8%, Post-apocalyptic 10.1%

Why You'll Like It: It is a rougher early-access option, but the first-person scavenging, crafting, and zombie survival loop lines up closely with the seed game.

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: Open World Survival Craft 20.5% ★, Zombies 19.7%, Post-apocalyptic 11.6%, Online Co-Op 11.5%, Survival 8.6%

Why You'll Like It: For players who want a more grounded zombie-survival sim, it focuses on scavenging, fortifying, and enduring dangerous nights.

The sequel to the million-plus selling Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2 takes the zombie survival horror to Fortune City, America’s latest and greatest entertainment playground.

Why similar: Zombies 44.8%, Online Co-Op 14%, Open World 12.6%, Gore 9.4%, Survival 6.5%

Why You'll Like It: Its mall sandbox, co-op mode, and ridiculous crafted anti-zombie weapons echo Dying Light’s improvisational combat from a more arcade angle.

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: Open World Survival Craft 30.7% ★, Zombies 24%, Survival 14.8%, Open World 12.2%, Survival Horror 6.9%

Why You'll Like It: This first-person survival sandbox emphasizes looting, crafting, and dangerous encounters in a hostile infected world.

Sunset Overdrive transforms an open-world apocalypse into your tactical playground. Zip, grind and wall-run across Sunset City with an unconventional arsenal. Hyper-agility, unique weapons, and customizable abilities deliver an explosive and irreverent adventure in the end times.

Why similar: Parkour 40.1%, Open World 23.1%, Zombies 21.1%, Post-apocalyptic 10.5%, Action 5.2%

Why You'll Like It: It is the outlier here, but its acrobatic open-world traversal and improvised combat can appeal if Dying Light’s movement mattered as much as its zombies.

The end is here. Life as you knew it has gone to hell after the mother of all zombie outbreaks. Now you and the few scattered survivors must band together to survive and rebuild in a 3rd-person action game set in a dynamic open world.

Why similar: Zombies 41.5%, Survival 16.4%, Open World 16.2%, Post-apocalyptic 11.3%, Survival Horror 4.8%

Zombie Survival Game Online is an open-world, post-apocalyptic, looter shooter. Craft, quest, explore, build, and fight for survival. Parkour up a mountainside, ramp a truck over a horde, and grab a gasmask to explore the sewers. Can you survive? Doubtful.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 19.5% ★, Zombies 15.7%, Parkour 12.6%, Online Co-Op 9.8%, Post-apocalyptic 8.3%

“A real Gem” – Destructoid at E3 “Offers a different experience for zombie game veterans” – Co-Optimus“Has a lot more going for it than smashing brains and gory, red goo ... With a surprisingly deep crafting system” – GamesRadarYou're shipwrecked on an isolated island, a desperate castaway in a total freakshow world. How will you survive?

Why similar: Zombies 27.9%, Open World Survival Craft 23.6% ★, Survival 13.4%, Online Co-Op 6.8%, Survival Horror 6.1%

From Valve (the creators of Counter-Strike, Half-Life and more) comes Left 4 Dead, a co-op action horror game for the PC and Xbox 360 that casts up to four players in an epic struggle for survival against swarming zombie hordes and terrifying mutant monsters.

Why similar: Zombies 42.9%, FPS 11.6%, Online Co-Op 10.9%, Horror 8.1%, Multiplayer 8%

Zombie singleplayer shooter in modern polygon graphics with rich RPG elements.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 23.6% ★, Zombies 19.2%, FPS 9.9%, Post-apocalyptic 9.5%, Open World 9%

Escape Dead Island is a Survival-Mystery adventure that lets players delve into the Dead Island universe and unravel the origins of the zombie outbreak.

Why similar: Zombies 40.8%, Gore 14.4%, Survival 10.7%, Open World 10%, Horror 7.2%

Survival horror MMO. As one of the few survivors of the outbreak, you must scratch a living out of the decaying ruins of society. Scavenge for supplies, improve your skills, and trade with other players. All the while, keeping your eyes peeled for the infected lurking around every corner.

Why similar: Zombies 20.9%, Survival Horror 18.4%, Online Co-Op 13%, Horror 9.3%, Gore 9%

DARKEST DAYS is a zombie shooting RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by a sudden zombie outbreak. Explore a dark yet captivating open world, build a sanctuary with fellow survivors, grow stronger, and fight for survival.

Why similar: Zombies 25.8%, Open World 14%, Post-apocalyptic 13.4%, Survival 10.9%, Multiplayer 8.4%

Dead or Alive? Make up your mind, stranger. We don’t like that undead business here in Louisiana…Survive solo or with friends as you look to fulfill your basic needs of food, water and shelter, crafting your own tools and weapons while you secure your camp and face flesh hungry zombies.

Why similar: Zombies 31.7%, Open World Survival Craft 29% ★, Survival 15.7%, Open World 9.6%, Multiplayer 7.4%

Flee the shattered ruins of the Moscow Metro and embark on an epic, continent-spanning journey across the post-apocalyptic Russian wilderness. Explore vast, non-linear levels, lose yourself in an immersive, sandbox survival experience, and follow a thrilling story-line that spans an entire year in the greatest Metro adventure yet.

Why similar: Post-apocalyptic 17.9%, FPS 12.8%, Open World 12.8%, Stealth 9.6%, Survival Horror 9.1%

Miscreated is a multiplayer online hardcore survival game set in a post-apocalyptic future. You will need to survive against mutants, players, and even mother nature herself.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 35.3% ★, Zombies 17.6%, Survival 12%, Open World 10.7%, Post-apocalyptic 7.8%

Built exclusively for VR, Arizona Sunshine® puts you and up to 3 fellow survivors in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Survive solo or in co-op, handle weapons with real-life movements, and explore a post-apocalyptic world in VR. Putting the undead back to rest is more thrilling than ever before.

Why similar: Zombies 21.4%, Online Co-Op 11.7%, Survival Horror 11.5%, Gore 9.2%, Horror 8.4%

A deadly virus engulfs the residents of Raccoon City in September of 1998, plunging the city into chaos as flesh eating zombies roam the streets for survivors. An unparalleled adrenaline rush, gripping storyline, and unimaginable horrors await you. Witness the return of Resident Evil 2.

Why similar: Zombies 35.8%, Survival Horror 24.3%, Horror 12.9%, Gore 11.4%, Survival 5.7%

6-player co-op survival horror at its finest! Free updates, free special events and a ridiculous amount of fun!

Why similar: Zombies 29.5%, FPS 14.9%, Online Co-Op 11.6%, Survival 9.7%, Gore 8.8%

Codename CURE is a first person, co-operative zombie game with support for up to five players, providing dynamic, fast-paced zombie fragging with both objective, and survival-based missions.

Why similar: Zombies 23.3%, Survival Horror 14.2%, Online Co-Op 11%, Post-apocalyptic 10.2%, Gore 9.1%

Dive into the zombie apocalypse with Zombie Panic! Source: a cooperative, survival-horror first-person-shooter. A fast-paced standalone modification.

Why similar: Zombies 34.3%, Survival 10%, Horror 9.5%, Online Co-Op 9.3%, Multiplayer 8.3%

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: Open World Survival Craft 39.6% ★, Online Co-Op 14.8%, Survival 13.7%, Open World 9.7%, Multiplayer 9.4%

Explore a city thrust into disarray by an unknown event and survive the hordes of mutated abominations that lurk at every corner. You’ll have to fight through enemies & bosses, scavenge loot and survive the hostile city.

Why similar: Zombies 21.2%, Online Co-Op 14.2%, Post-apocalyptic 12.1%, Open World 11%, FPS 9.9%

Team up with 64 players to fight off the horde of zombies in this post-apocalyptic FPS or join the horde against the living! Turn on your teammates and tear them apart. Level up and unlock new weapons, perks, clothing options and more! Equip your favourite loadout and join the fight!

Why similar: Zombies 22.2%, Survival Horror 13.2%, Gore 11.3%, FPS 10.1%, Post-apocalyptic 9.2%

Driven by community suggestion, 505 Games and EKO Software introduce you to a new single player 3rd person view experience that allows you to re-play the zombie crafting adventure "How to Survive" from a deeply immersive point of view.

Why similar: Zombies 27.7%, Open World Survival Craft 27.5% ★, Survival 13.8%, Open World 9%, Multiplayer 6.3%

Experience survival horror like never before in the 8th major installment in the Resident Evil franchise - Resident Evil Village. With detailed graphics, intense first-person action and masterful storytelling, the terror has never felt more realistic.

Why similar: Survival Horror 22.3%, Zombies 19.8%, Horror 12.1%, Gore 11%, FPS 7.9%

After a rampant viral outbreak causes global society to collapse, you must survive the harsh wilderness of the Canadian Rockies amidst vast hordes of Infected and rival survivors.

Why similar: Zombies 21.6%, Online Co-Op 12.4%, Post-apocalyptic 12.2%, Open World 10.8%, Survival 9.3%

In the gripping world of VORAX survival takes on a new terrifying dimension. As you step into this Open World Survival Horror game brace yourself for a journey where every moment is a battle for survival. Every choice, every move, every breath could be your last. Are you ready to face the unknown?

Why similar: Zombies 18.4%, Survival Horror 15.5%, Post-apocalyptic 11.2%, Gore 10.5%, Open World 10.5%

CastleMiner Z is an infinite world filled with deep places to explore, and horrifying monsters to slay. Build structures out of blocks, craft weapons and tools from raw materials, and explore the vast and frightening world around you.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 30.7% ★, Zombies 19.4%, Survival 10%, Open World 7.3%, Multiplayer 6.2%

Paradise isn't exactly what you hoped for: it's infested with zombies! Thankfully, you can control them. Capture them and teach them to farm or fight. They will help you defend our camp while you explore the world looking for… a new paradise.

Why similar: Zombies 19.4%, Open World Survival Craft 15.8% ★, Online Co-Op 11.6%, Post-apocalyptic 10.1%, Survival 8%

Dead Rising 4 marks the return of photojournalist Frank West in an all-new chapter of one of the most popular zombie game franchises of all time. With an unmatched level of weapon and character customization, ambitious new features including new zombie classes and EXO Suits, Dead Rising 4 delivers a heart-pounding experience as players...

Why similar: Zombies 38.7%, Open World 15.7%, Gore 10.8%, Survival 8.1%, Multiplayer 7.8%