Games Like Survivalist: Invisible Strain

It's one year after the collapse of civilization and self-centered hedge fund manager Joe Wheeler emerges from his specially constructed bunker in search of food. This is a huge open-world RPG where you have the freedom to play how you want - but your choices have consequences.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 21.3% ★, RTS 13.1%, Post-apocalyptic 11.9%, Base Building 11.8%, Survival 11.8%

Why You'll Like It: As the direct predecessor, this game shares the core DNA of dialogue-driven survival and community management.

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: Open World Survival Craft 42% ★, Survival 16.5%, Open World 14.4%, Post-apocalyptic 14.1%, Crafting 6.9%

Why You'll Like It: This is the gold standard for deep, systemic survival and colony management in a post-apocalyptic zombie setting.

Build, scavenge, craft, and perform occult rituals to survive in a demon-infested, post-apocalyptic colony simulation. Will you survive Judgment day?

Why similar: Colony Sim 34.1%, Base Building 17.6%, Post-apocalyptic 16.8%, Survival 9.8%, Crafting 6.3%

Why You'll Like It: Mirrors the base-building and colony management mechanics of the seed game within a post-apocalyptic framework.

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: RTS 17.3%, Post-apocalyptic 14.1%, Base Building 13.6%, Stealth 11.2%, Character Customization 9.9%

Why You'll Like It: An unparalleled sandbox RPG that allows for the same level of freedom in building settlements and managing squads in a brutal world.

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: Base Building 26.3%, Open World 19.5%, Survival 17.1%, Post-apocalyptic 13.3%, Online Co-Op 10.6%

Why You'll Like It: Provides the best third-person experience for managing a community of survivors and defending a base against zombie threats.

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 46.6% ★, Survival 15.2%, Base Building 14.1%, Open World 13.8%, Crafting 7.2%

Why You'll Like It: A strong third-person survival game that emphasizes base defense and scavenging in a dangerous, atmospheric environment.

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: Colony Sim 43.4%, Base Building 23.5%, Survival 11%, Procedural Generation 9.5%, Open World 8.3%

Why You'll Like It: The definitive colony-sim that excels at creating emergent stories through character interaction and survival challenges.

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: Open World Survival Craft 25.6% ★, Base Building 15.5%, Post-apocalyptic 13.2%, Open World 11.2%, Survival 9.8%

Why You'll Like It: A modern open-world zombie survival game that incorporates base-building and scavenging with a focus on multiplayer cooperation.

A brutal survival management simulator set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Keep your faction of survivors alive, maintain your shelter and scavenge the ravaged world for resources. Befriend and trade with the factions you meet or conquer them by force.

Why similar: Colony Sim 33.1%, Post-apocalyptic 21.1%, Base Building 17.3%, Survival 11%, Character Customization 8.4%

Why You'll Like It: Emphasizes the harsh realities of resource management and survivor interaction in a post-apocalyptic bunker setting.

Wartales is an open world RPG in which you lead a group of mercenaries in their search for wealth across a massive medieval universe. Explore the world, recruit companions, collect bounties and unravel the secrets of the tombs of the ancients!

Why similar: Open World 39%, RPG 24%, Online Co-Op 15.3%, Survival 12.9%, Exploration 8.9%

Why You'll Like It: Combines RPG party management with survival and tactical combat in a way that feels mechanically similar to squad-based survival.

Dead State is a narrative-driven survival RPG set at the dawn of the undead apocalypse. Drawing inspiration from classic RPGs like Fallout, X-Com, and Suikoden, Dead State combines strategic, turn-based combat with base building mechanics, character creation, and social management.

Why similar: Survival 34.5%, Post-apocalyptic 24.6%, RPG 21.8%, Open World 9.4%, Base Building 6.4%

Why You'll Like It: Focuses heavily on the social and dialogue aspects of managing a group of survivors during a zombie apocalypse.

Brave a new world in Stranded: Alien Dawn, a planet survival sim placing the fate of a small marooned group in your hands. Forge your story through compelling and immersive strategic gameplay as you make vital decisions to protect your survivors.

Why similar: Colony Sim 25.7%, Base Building 24.3%, Hunting 17.2% ★, Survival 12.7%, Crafting 9.8%

Why You'll Like It: A high-fidelity colony-sim that prioritizes survival, defense, and the management of individual survivor needs.

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 28.6% ★, Base Building 11.7%, Post-apocalyptic 11.3%, Survival 9.8%, Open World 8.6%

Why You'll Like It: Offers an excellent blend of voxel-based base building and intense zombie survival that rewards strategic planning.

Build and manage your own castle settlement in a land reclaimed by wilderness. With detailed management, survival strategy, and a moddable sandbox world, Going Medieval challenges you to build the mightiest colony this side of the apocalypse.

Why similar: Colony Sim 28.2%, RTS 19%, Base Building 15.7%, Procedural Generation 10.9%, Crafting 8.8%

Why You'll Like It: Provides a deep colony-sim experience with robust base-building mechanics that allow for complex architectural designs.

The world after a nuclear war. Manage the settlement, learn technology, make decisions, produce weapons, ammunition, organize defense, raid for supplies on other areas, do not let residents die, survive the nuclear winter.

Why similar: Base Building 24.8%, Post-apocalyptic 21.8%, RTS 13.6%, Colony Sim 10.2%, Survival 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: Focuses on the strategic management of a post-apocalyptic settlement, balancing growth with survival.

Choose any real region from the world. Choose your base of operations, then rebuild and readapt the buildings around you to create a self-sustaining settlement. Take charge of a group of survivors from your city. And when the night falls - Defend the zone from the infected!

Why similar: Base Building 24.1%, Colony Sim 23.5%, Post-apocalyptic 22.7%, RTS 18%, Survival 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: Uses real-world map data to create a unique zombie base-defense and city-building experience.

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: Open World Survival Craft 25.1% ★, Post-apocalyptic 18.9%, Open World 15.9%, Survival 13.4%, Base Building 11.4%

Why You'll Like It: A solid open-world survival experience that emphasizes scavenging, looting, and securing a base.

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: Open World Survival Craft 51.7% ★, Survival 11.4%, Base Building 11%, Crafting 10.4%, Open World 10.2%

Why You'll Like It: Provides a challenging open-world survival experience with persistent base building and AI-driven threats.

A strategy/action RPG. Create a character, engage in diplomacy, craft, trade and conquer new lands in a vast medieval sandbox. Raise armies to lead into battle and command and fight alongside your troops in massive real-time battles using a deep but intuitive skill-based combat system.

Why similar: Open World 36.3%, Character Customization 20.4%, RPG 18.4%, Third Person 11.8%, Simulation 7.5%

Why You'll Like It: Offers a similar RTS/RPG hybrid feel, focusing on large-scale unit management and character progression.

Experience the frontier as a chief of a Native American tribe and resist the onset of the settlers. Explore the vast world full of hostile humans and animals while defining your narrative through the decisions you make.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 41.6% ★, Stealth 14.8%, Open World 11.1%, Survival 9.9%, Crafting 7.3%

Why You'll Like It: Features deep AI interaction and open-world survival in a hostile environment that requires careful planning.

Build, quest, and conquer across an infinite procedurally generated world. Play alone or with friends as you establish a settlement and explore deep dungeons, fight monsters and bosses, mine rare ores, craft magical equipment, recruit specialists for your colony, and more!

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 49.7% ★, Base Building 10%, Open World 9.5%, Crafting 7.8%, Survival 7%

Why You'll Like It: Combines top-down colony management with open-world exploration and combat in a procedurally generated world.

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: Base Building 23.5%, Open World 20.4%, Survival 18.3%, Post-apocalyptic 16.9%, Third Person 6.5%

Why You'll Like It: The classic foundation for community-based zombie survival that heavily influenced the genre.

The Last Plague: Blight is an authentic survival experience rooted in realism and immersion. Endure the hazards of a brutal open world, uncover the origins of a mysterious disease, and become humanity’s final hope of ending the Blight.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 36.4% ★, Base Building 15.8%, Post-apocalyptic 11.2%, Crafting 8.9%, Third Person 8.8%

Why You'll Like It: Emphasizes realistic survival mechanics and methodical base development in a harsh, unforgiving world.

Hobo: Tough Life is an urban survival role-playing game where you play as a homeless person. Play alone or team up in online co-op. Explore the streets of Praslav, scavenge for food and supplies, beg, steal, and do whatever else it takes to survive the forthcoming winter.

Why similar: Dialogue Heavy 24.9%, Base Building 17.7%, Open World 13.6%, Survival 12%, Crafting 9.6%

Why You'll Like It: Offers unique survival mechanics with a heavy focus on social interaction and RPG-style character growth.

A brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage!

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 39.5% ★, Base Building 11.9%, Online Co-Op 11.8%, Open World 10.2%, Survival 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: An excellent exploration and base-building loop that mirrors the progression and survival feel of the seed game.

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: Open World Survival Craft 31.3% ★, Hunting 19.4% ★, Base Building 12.7%, Open World 9.2%, Stealth 7.8%

Why You'll Like It: Focuses on atmospheric survival and resource management in a climate that acts as a primary antagonist.

From Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Starfield and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, comes Fallout 4. A landmark in open-world RPG design and winner of over 200 ‘Best Of’ honors, including the DICE and BAFTA Game of the Year.

Why similar: Post-apocalyptic 35.2%, Open World 26.1%, RPG 9.3%, Exploration 9.3%, Third Person 6.7%

Why You'll Like It: Blends post-apocalyptic RPG elements with extensive settlement building and resource management.

Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.

Why similar: Colony Sim 50.9%, Base Building 27.2%, Survival 12.9%, Open World 3.7%, Simulation 3.2%

Why You'll Like It: Offers deep, systemic colony management that challenges your survival planning through complex physics and resource loops.

Rise up in a search for immortality in this strategy sim and management game based on Chinese mythology. Rebuild your sect and train new disciples through the path of cultivation. Research magic and gather mystical artifacts, face ancient dangers and other sects in your path to spiritual ascension.

Why similar: Colony Sim 39.9%, Base Building 15.7%, Simulation 12.3%, RPG 12%, Survival 10.2%

Why You'll Like It: A complex colony-sim that rewards strategic planning and deep character management in a fantasy setting.

Enter a living post-apocalyptic sandbox where the world doesn't wait for you. Build, craft, trade, earn the trust of factions, and forge your own path through a brutal procedural wasteland.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 26.4% ★, Post-apocalyptic 12%, Base Building 11.5%, Procedural Generation 8.8%, Online Co-Op 8.2%

Explore, loot and fight in an open world action game set in a post-apocalyptic future after a devastating meteor strike. Assemble your team and take the fight to the enemy or choose a stealthy approach to gain the upper hand. Expand your base to research new gear and get ready to survive the fall.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 28.6% ★, Base Building 13.3%, Post-apocalyptic 13%, Stealth 10.3%, Open World 8.6%

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: Open World Survival Craft 25.8% ★, Hunting 13.1% ★, Base Building 10.6%, Online Co-Op 10%, Crafting 9%

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: Open World 20%, Post-apocalyptic 19.1%, Survival 18.7%, Crafting 13.3%, Online Co-Op 9.9%

You are just an ordinary person, with only a small boat serving as your home, struggling to find a way to survive in the ruthless ocean of the post-apocalyptic world.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 35.8% ★, Post-apocalyptic 15.5%, Base Building 14.7%, Survival 6.6%, Third Person 5.4%

You’re a castaway stranded in the middle of nowhere. Storm is gone, the worst certainly not. Look for food and resources, craft gear, make shelters. These are the basics, you need much more to stay alive on this cut-off-the-world, yet not desert island. Build & burn, sail & explore, be Out of Reach!

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 47.1% ★, Open World 10.9%, Survival 10.6%, Crafting 8.9%, Hunting 8.6% ★

The Last Disease Z is a co-op survival experience where everything is against you. Abandoned cities, zombies and bandits, a struggle for resources and a place to live. Build, unite, and survive.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 29.6% ★, Hunting 19.3% ★, Post-apocalyptic 13.9%, Open World 9.3%, Crafting 8%

A first-person survival game set on a post-apocalyptic, ecologically ruined Earth. Play solo or with up to 3 friends as you build, upgrade, and fly a high-tech airship. Scavenge resources, craft tools, and face dangers on the surface as you hunt for a cure to save humanity.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 33.8% ★, Base Building 16%, Post-apocalyptic 13%, Open World 10.5%, Crafting 9.6%

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: Open World Survival Craft 37.4% ★, Base Building 11.3%, Post-apocalyptic 10.4%, Open World 10.2%, Survival 8.3%

iZolated - This is a post-apocalyptic 2D action game with elements of survival and RPG, which throws you into a harsh open world where the slightest mistake costs you your life. Find equipment, engage in fights, and prove that you are the top of the food chain in this chaos!

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 15.5% ★, Post-apocalyptic 15.5%, Base Building 12.9%, Character Customization 11.1%, Procedural Generation 10%

Stranded in a hostile alien world, you must fight to survive. Hunt, harvest, craft, advance skills, and build using local resources along with technology from your voyage.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 54.3% ★, Survival 11.6%, Open World 10.1%, Crafting 7%, Online Co-Op 4.9%

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: Open World Survival Craft 41.5% ★, Base Building 16.5%, Open World 11.3%, Crafting 10.8%, Survival 9.4%

Embark on an adventure set in a fantasy survival RPG. Visit a borderless, open world where you manage resources to construct your base and new types of equipment to support your conquest.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 33.8% ★, Base Building 13.2%, Online Co-Op 9.4%, Open World 9.4%, Crafting 9.2%

LifeZ - Survival is a third-person sandbox-survival game. Build your hideout, search for water and food, mine resources and fight against zombies and finally find ways to contact the outside world and leave Catastrophie Area.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 39.7% ★, Base Building 12.3%, Survival 9.8%, Post-apocalyptic 8.5%, Crafting 5.9%

CryoFall is a sci-fi colony simulation survival game set on a forgotten planet in a distant future. Master technology, agriculture, trading, industry, cybernetics, exploration, and more!

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 28.9% ★, Colony Sim 24.4%, Base Building 13.1%, Crafting 8.5%, Character Customization 7.6%

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: Open World Survival Craft 26.7% ★, Post-apocalyptic 14.7%, Base Building 11.6%, Online Co-Op 10.7%, Open World 8.6%

Survive on a remote Island, where a mysterious Outbreak awakens bloodthirsty monsters at night. Craft, build and defend your base in the brutal world of Outbreak Island, an open-world sandbox survival horror game.

Why similar: Post-apocalyptic 19.4%, Base Building 19.2%, Survival 15.1%, Open World 12.7%, Crafting 12.7%

Mr. Prepper is about being prepared. You know something is wrong. The risk of a nuclear war is in the air and you need to get ready for what's coming.

Why similar: Base Building 33.7%, Survival 20.3%, Crafting 18.4%, Simulation 9.4%, RPG 8.2%

Want to survive? - Arm yourself and survive. Crafting, shooting, transport and much more awaits you in the Survival game. What happened to the world around and why he died - you may find out. But is this the main question now?

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 54.8% ★, Post-apocalyptic 13.4%, Survival 12.4%, Open World 10.7%, Crafting 5.7%

As one of the last human survivors, you find yourself stranded on an uninhabited island. With a few other victims of the crash, can you craft, mine, and build your way to survival?

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 29.7% ★, Base Building 14.6%, Post-apocalyptic 12.6%, Open World 10.1%, Online Co-Op 8.2%

Polylithic is a survival game unlike any other, set in the most pivotal moment in mankind's history: the Stone Age. Experience life as a Paleolithic hunter-gatherer, settle down as a Neolithic farmer, form tribes in co-op multiplayer, or go at it alone in a world where we're not yet apex predators.

Why similar: Colony Sim 30.3%, Base Building 18.7%, Open World 12.7%, Crafting 11.5%, Third Person 10.3%

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: Open World 21.4%, Survival 19.5%, Post-apocalyptic 19.5%, Base Building 14.2%, Third Person 8.4%

The year is 2033. You, an ex-Marine with little opportunities left, have signed up with Utopia Arura, a large mining corporation on Mars. They have sent you to a location they have proposed but you have chosen for mining. Everything else is up to you.

Why similar: Colony Sim 22.8%, Open World Survival Craft 21.3% ★, Dialogue Heavy 16.5%, Post-apocalyptic 14%, Base Building 12.3%

While searching for a new home, an unexpected failure in your ship has left you stranded on a planet surprisingly similar to Earth. Discover a vast open world, hunt for food, develop technologies, and build yourself a new home to survive!

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 45.3% ★, Base Building 14.3%, Open World 12.3%, Crafting 10.4%, Survival 10%

Establish and expand your own settlements, liberate the land and assist its villagers, and recruit others to your cause while learning more about a life you had to leave behind. Command your forces, prove your valor through combat, and cement yourself as the hero of your people.

Why similar: Open World 21.6%, Online Co-Op 18.5%, Survival 18.5%, Crafting 16.5%, RPG 6.6%

The world has ended. You are deep underground, and all alone with a cheery AI companion. You will have to mine and build to survive, and search for other survivors to help you. Will you be able to reach the surface? And what will you find when you get there?

Why similar: Colony Sim 30%, Post-apocalyptic 13.8%, Base Building 13.1%, Character Customization 11.2%, Open World 8.3%

A realistic open-world survival experience. After a harrowing plane crash, you find yourself stranded in the wilderness. Battling freezing temperatures and hunger, you face an unknown virus that slowly paralyzes muscles, leaving its victims motionless and at the mercy of the unforgiving cold.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 42.5% ★, Open World 13.1%, Base Building 11.7%, Survival 10.9%, Crafting 8.7%

Brave a savage, unforgiving procedurally generated world where extreme weather and the nightmares of the dark will hunt you down. Alone or in co-op, survive, build, and explore to turn a cursed hellscape into your sanctuary of light.

Why similar: Open World Survival Craft 36.6% ★, Base Building 12.6%, Online Co-Op 9.7%, Crafting 9.5%, Open World 9.1%

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: Base Building 19.8%, Post-apocalyptic 17.6%, Open World 15.9%, Survival 13.1%, Crafting 9%

Decision: Red Daze is an action RPG with a unique mix of survival and tower defense mechanics. Explore an apocalyptic wasteland, build a safe haven, and lead your team of specialists in a hopeless world, searching for a cure for the infectious disease that turns people into monsters.

Why similar: Base Building 24.1%, Post-apocalyptic 23.6%, Open World 19%, Survival 16.4%, RPG 11%

Gone Survival is a first-person survival game for one player. Where you have many opportunities and a completely open world

Why similar: Post-apocalyptic 25.7%, Base Building 22.8%, Crafting 15.3%, Open World 14.8%, Survival 13.9%