specifically I mean relative to playing in a group, so this is not to say that an s-tier game is better than a b tier game, just that the betier game was less enjoyable to play solo

Hey all,

I'm Julian, the solo dev behind A Dark Cave, a browser-based survival and settlement-building game. It's inspired by classics of the incremental genre mixed with survival, exploration and combat features.

What you do:

• Build and upgrade a village, assign villagers to jobs
• Make sure your villagers don't starve, freeze, or die of madness
• Run production chains where materials, tools, and time are always tight
• Explore a deep cave and uncover what's left of a lost civilization
• Defend against creatures that try to wipe out what you've built
• Mine, scout new locations, trade, research, and unlock new systems as you go
• 80+ achievements along the way

Play free in browser: https://a-dark-cave.com
Steam (coming soon): https://store.steampowered.com/A_Dark_Cave

Happy to answer questions about the game! And I am even happier about any feedback!

Thank you!

I'm looking for a new survival crafting game with deep mechanics and lots to build and level up. I like the world to be dangerous but I don't like base raids (enemies wandering into a base is fine such as Project Zomboid but active raids aren't fun to me). Some of the games I've played and my brief review of them.

Favorite Open World Survival Crafting Games

• Project Zomboid: This is the best zombie survival game I've played. It's isometric so it's not for everyone but the mechanics are deep and the satisfaction of creating a "safe" base is great. I also like the permanent nature of the world where your player can die but the world continues. This leads to fun scenarios where you realize you're character is already dead so you end up spending time tidying up your base, organizing things, then wandering into the forest to die so that your next character can find the base all neat and tidy.
• Enshrouded: I really really liked this game. There's lots to unlock and explore. The world is unforgiving in many areas but isn't unfair. The only downside in my opinion are the bosses (who aren't difficult to fight from a mechanical standpoint but have massive health bars that take forever to wittle down) and the crypts that are super long (multiple hours) dungeons that all look the same and aren't difficult but are very tedious with lots and lots of the same enemies).
• Subnautica: This is an incredible underwater exploration survival crafting game. However, it's also a game that, once you play through, I don't feel the need to play again. The progression is well balanced and the world is great and the creatures are neat. fantastic experience.
  • I know Subnautica 2 is in EA but I don't want to play it yet until it is further developed.
• Planet Crafter: This is a fantastic game where you build out a planet and terraform it leading to a lifeless world becoming a verdant oasis. Further updates added additional planets to terraform. Really well balanced game.
  • Eden Crafters is similar and is also very good. I think I like Planet Crafter a bit more though as it feels more polished and a better package.
• Conan Exiles: I got a lot of hours from this game. I don't fully remember the world but I do remember building large bases and finding the world fantastic to explore.
• Satisfactory: This is counted as an open world survival crafting game by Steam but is more of a hybrid of that and a factory sim. You're not really building a home but rather building a giant factory that you power. The world has enemies and is neat to explore. It's one of my favorite factory sims of all time.
• Terraria: I love this game and have replayed it frequently including with mods from tModLoader. Fantastic crafting and survival game with heavy RPG elements and lots of enemies and bosses. I never got into Minecraft as there never felt like much to do but Terraria immediately showed off tons of systems, enemies and crafting potential.

Games I liked but didn't love

• Valheim: I want to love this game but the progression is difficult to achieve in solo and I didn't like the base raids.
• Abiotic Factor: I found this game good but it feels like it's missing something. It didn't really feel like an open world survival crafting game but rather it felt closer to an exploration game of a facility. I hated the frequency of base raids as it made maintaining resources difficult since they would destroy all the furniture. I also never really felt like I was crating a "base" but rather felt it was a temporary shelter.
• Palworld and ARK: These 2 feel very similar to each other. They're fun games to explore the world but have a slightly different vibe from open world survival crafting games. I don't mind the base raids in Palworld as they're very easy to defeat and aren't really a factor. Really enjoyable games but feel like they're missing something
• Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together: These games have a unique art style and are very fun survival builders. I don't think I ever got far enough to rank them among my favorites but they are good games.

Other games I've played but didn't make it near the top

• Aethus: Feels very indy and isn't quite balanced right. It's just ok.
• Raft: The early RNG always put me off it as you have to survive the early stage while a shark keeps trying to destroy the boat.
• 7 Days to Die: This involves constant base raids which is a core part of the game and not what I like.
• I believe The Forest and Green Hell involve base raids of enemies which I don't enjoy (I can't remember which I played but I think I played both as I have them both).

Edit: I've added hyperlinks to Steam for all the games I listed along with many of the games listed by other people so that people can find the games if they want to search for them and read reviews from users there. If they're not on Steam, I'll link to their direct store.

Also, I determined sale prices using https://isthereanydeal.com which shows all the authorized resellers and the sale prices of games along with historic sales and max sales prices.

Awesome responses by people. Thank you everyone. There's a few games that seem to be getting highly recommended that I'll pick up.

Reddit Users Recommendations

• Windrose: Not on sale but it never seems to go on deep sales so I'll pick that up now.
• V Rising: Currently 55% off but it goes on sale as far as 77%. Might pick this up now... but I might also just play Windrose and wait a bit for V RIsing to go 77% off and get the full DLC bundle with heavier discounts.
• Icarus: Not on sale but it goes up to 90% off. Definitely going to hold off buying this now but will pick it up when it goes back on sale (I'll probably grab a DLC bundle with the game at the same time).
• The Last Caretaker: Not on sale but it goes up to 39% off. I'll definitely pick this up when it goes on sale again.
• Runescape: Dragonwilds: Not on sale but it goes up to 30% off. The other games seem more interesting to me but I'll keep this game in mind if I'm looking for a game in the future.
• Vintage Story: Not on sale and sold directly to users through the devs own site so it probably won't be on sale at any point.
• Dune Awakening: I have been watching this game for awhile but haven't pulled the trigger on it because the late game is apparently pretty rough. That being said, the early and mid game is supposed to be fantastic and it's possible the devs may update the late game as well.... keeping an eye on it.
• Soulmask: Not on sale but it goes up to 40% off. The game seems fascinating as it leans on an Egyptian Mythology and location from the screenshots. Overall, seems to be well reviewed.
• Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead and UnReal World: I put these into the same group as they seem to have the same old school top down design as they have been around for decades. I looked into them and they're pretty cheap and have great reviews. My understanding is they get very deep and complex but are rewarding games.
• The Last Plague: Blight: Currently 15% off but has been as high as 45% off in the past. Seems like a post apocalyptic world type survival game with the usual mechanics. It's very highly rated by players of it so I put it on the list.
• Survival: Fountain of Youth: Currently 70% off but has been as high as 75% off. Given the sale, now's a good time to pick it up if interested. This is a game set on the Caribbean Islands where it's been described as a mix of Green Hell and Raft but without base attacks.
• Grounded and Grounded 2: Grounded is currently 50% off which is its max sale (buy now if interested). Grounded 2 has never been on sale. This is basically "Honey I Shrunk The Kids: The Game". You are in the backyard building a base and facing off against insects. Multiple people highly rated it and they have strong reviews.

Just a heads up, this just dropped on consoles. Its a pretty fun scifi survival/crafting game. Survive, build and terraform planets. Sp with up to i believe 10 person coop(8 on consoles i think)pretty cool seeing a barren planet come alive, good sense of progression

Pretty fun and chill game(no combat) with plenty of hours on offer def recommend it to fans of the genre

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ij_76nh-CNo

Everrail is a new EA train-themed open world survival game I didn't hear about at all but I've a friend that's interested, so I was wondering if some of you had the time to try it out yet ?

Hi, I'm developing a Sci-Fi Survival management game called "Worlds Explorers".

3 months ago I released the demo on Steam. Since then, I made many updates based on users feedback, mostly related to improving User Experience, eliminating tedious activities, improving the game's intuitiveness and fixing problems. If you played it then, you might want to check it out now!

Explore alien planets with carefully designed ecosystems, weather, resources, dangers and unique phenomena. Hunt animals for food and collect resources to craft equipment and repair devices on your ship. Escape each unique planet and unlock crew members and new ships.

If you want to play the demo, go to the Steam Page: Worlds Explorers

Thanks for every feedback!

Hey

A few friends and I are looking for a new co-op game to play together. So far we've played:

- Palworld

- Enshrouded

- Windrose

- Grounded 1 & 2

- RuneScape: Dragonwilds

- Raft

- The Forest

- Sons of the Forest

- Valheim

We're mainly into games with lore, exploration, progression, crafting, and teamwork—so we're looking for something that's heavily focused on PvE co-op.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

TLDR; Manage survivors' needs (hunger, fatigue, injuries), assign them to tasks (generate energy, build upgrades, repair and customize robots, and more). Go on expeditions to salvage resources, find robots and survivors, and fight the Nadir.

Steam: Frost Protocol

Decades ago, an unknown extraterrestrial mycelium started to grow on Earth. It consumes all biological mass and converts it into hyphae. All attempts to stop it from spreading failed. Instead, it activated some sort of immune system. The mycelium started to grow biological lifeforms to fight humanity. Relentless attacks, day and night, defeated humanity. Attrition.

You are Ada Dupont, and you are searching for lost research protocols to find a solution against the Nadir. Search for survivors, customize combat robots, and build a powerful squad to explore multiple locations. Gather resources while the Nadir are attacking relentlessly.

The game is divided into two parts:

At the homebase, you manage your survivors and their needs, such as hunger and fatigue. Grow food, repair and upgrade your stations, and assign your survivors to various tasks. Different traits make them more efficient at specific tasks, such as energy production. Events will force you to face difficult decisions.

On expeditions, you control a squad of robots to gather resources and perform tasks. Customize your robots in the homebase to become specialists in hacking, repairs, or combat. Prioritize what to do. The longer you stay, the more aggressive the Nadir become. You decide when to extract. Revisit locations when you become more powerful or when your squad meets the requirements.

Do you think the mobile edition captures the same survival magic as the original PC and console versions?

Explanation: Whether a survival game is Crusoe or Apocalypse hinges on the answer to the question "Is there an apocalyptic force that has either recently collapsed civilization or is actively doing so?" If yes, it is an Apocalypse, if no, it is a Crusoe. Both in turn have subtypes of an objective or subjective/open-ended goal.

In a Crusoe, civilization beyond the confines of the survival setting is intact and unthreatened. Some Crusoes will have the objective goal of getting back to civilization (Subnautica, Conan Exiles, the titular Robinson Crusoe, Grounded) others have the subjective goal of "mastering the wilderness" regardless of whether they have the means to go back to civilization (Medieval Dynasty, Palword).

In an Apocalypse, civilization has either recently been destroyed or actively being destroyed by an apocalyptic force. Whether the Apocalypse survival has an objective or subjective goal hinges on the question "Can the apocalyptic force be defeated?" If no, then it is a subjective Apocalypse, where the subjective goal is sufficiently adjusting to survive the apocalypse's presence (i.e. Project Zomboid and most other zombie games, a non-zombie example is Frostpunk). If yes, then it is an objective Apocalypse where the objective is destroying said apocalyptic forces, usually at a point when the forces have waned enough that destroying them is a possibility. Enshrouded is such an example.

Windrose is an oddity in that it is an objective Apocalypse that takes place in a very early stage of said Apocalypse, rather than at its zenith or waning stages as most others do. Civilization has not yet collapsed beyond the Caribbean, but since said apocalyptic forces, namely necromancer Blackbeard, has the power to destroy whole navies, it is presumably only a matter of time before BB crosses the Atlantic and completes the collapse. Ultimately, the goal of the survivor in Windrose is not to get to said civilizations but to stop the apocalyptic forces that both actively threaten those civilizations and are actively turning the PC into an undead.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone in this community. MoonCraft started as a small idea, and the support, feedback, and encouragement from people here turned it into something real. MoonCraft officially arrives on Steam on August 3rd. Couldn’t have done this without you.

We're making a story-driven survival game set in a flooded Scandinavia. To avoid the generic “world”, we're filling it with real landmarks: Uppsala Cathedral, the giant clothespin sculpture in Umeå, and of course the Gävle Goat.

For the non-Swedes: every Christmas, the town of Gävle builds a massive straw goat, and every year people try to burn it down. It's an unofficial national tradition (although illegal), still, it's been torched over 30 times since 1966. So naturally, in our post-apocalyptic Sweden, the goat is still standing. Surrounded by water. Unburnable at last..?

The game takes place across Scandinavia BUT since the world is flooded, what landmarks should have floated across the world to end up in the game?

Link to our Steampage for anyone interested: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4557580/Nord/

404 Survivor is a zombie survival sandbox — scavenge by day, hold the line when the horde comes at night. The longer you survive, the worse it gets.

Lately I've been focused on a system where you can capture zombies and put them to work — hauling supplies, keeping production running, even bringing them into dangerous zones to fight alongside you. Still figuring out how many you can control before it turns into total chaos — especially since you've got your own hands full just staying alive, scavenging, patching up defenses, and watching for whatever's coming at night.

Eventually I want this to land somewhere between Project Zomboid and They Are Billions — frantic production running in the back, intense combat up front. Except this time you're not a god-view commander, you're one of the people actually living in the base.

Thanks for reading this far, the game's still in development, I'd really welcome any thoughts or feedback.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4038790/404/

A while back I posted here when our Steam page went live, and a lot of you gave us blunt (and fair) feedback — mainly about AI in the trailer and about looking like "just another zombie survival game." We took it seriously.

New teaser is up, and this time it's built around what actually makes Last Light: Survival different:

SEED — instead of just killing zombies, you consume a plant that lets you convert them into allies. Command one as a scout, or unleash a whole horde as a weapon against enemy camps.

The memory system — you play as a man who believes he knows how his camp fell. Through fragmented flashbacks (in an order you don't control), you slowly uncover that your version of events isn't the whole truth. It's a survival game with an unreliable narrator.

NPC squads — recruit survivors, assign them to gather, hunt, build, or fight, and manage a growing settlement while the dead attack in waves.

On the AI question, since a lot of you called us out on this directly: we're not going to pretend it's not there and get caught later. The intro narration and some in-game dialogue lines were AI-generated (it's disclosed on our Steam page). Every system, mechanic, and line of code was built by our four-person team by hand. That's the honest breakdown, not a spin.

Genuinely want your take — does this land better than last time?

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4280020/Last_Light_Survival
kickstarter : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/budgamescorp/last-light-survival

Starting development on something new, looking for folks that would like to test it, I’m a solo developer, 0 funding

Looking to find a new colony management survival games that are similar to the below, I really want to have invasions/be attacked and have it be relatively difficult/good combat.

I really enjoy soulmask and I think its the best example? I know some say the combat isnt good but I find it good enough and enjoyable. Attacks are great, having people kidnapped is fun, however to me sometimes the management is really janky (or im bad at it) and people stop working or dont defend each other, or they wont put on new armor/weapons/grab bandages, or they wont listen in general. And eventually you spend so much time just trying to make sure theyre not being stupid than playing lol. Huge tech tree and a great atmosphere.

I enjoyed aska on release but also felt management was difficult/tedious. Attacks werent really difficult at all. Havent played since.

Going Medieval / Medieval Dynasty both are so bad at combat or so limited that its not even a thing really.

While not a colony management 7 days to die is really fun too, although it seems u have to basically build gimmicky

I'd even be down for like top-down style like ive played diplomacy is not an option / rimworld / they are billions / age of darkness and thought they were all great

Hey everyone,
I’m looking for a new game to play with my girlfriend. I’ve been gaming my whole life, while she mostly plays Fortnite or other co-op games with me.

Lately we’ve been absolutely addicted to 7 Days to Die, but after more than 300 hours we’re ready for something new.

Right now I’m considering Palworld (even though neither of us are Pokémon fans) or Raft.
Which one do you think is better?

We really enjoy base building, survival mechanics, and games that can keep us entertained for a lot of hours. We’re playing on PS5.

Feel free to suggest other co-op games as well if you think there are better options than the two I mentioned.
Thanks!

Looking for a new survival game to play. Preferably that is online with others or at least has co op as an option. Open to trying others too anyway if theyvare good. Looking to not break the bank but can always put games on my wish list and keep an eye!!

I also have a switch 1 and a chromebook go 14' so any PC games would be quite limited due to the limitations of the chromebook. No games currently installed.

If anyone has recommendations please let me know.

Played and still play Ark

Tried Conan didn't like how empty it was (when there was supposed to be others)

Don't think I have time for Rust due to work and Ark and how PVP based it is.

Played Green Hell. Like it .

Played the long dark. Like it.

Played Valheim but want to see if there is another option before I spend my money (Played when it was free).

Played the grounded games and liked them.

Played subnautica 1 and 2. Liked.

Interested in Raft but would like some reviews

Eagerly awaiting Jurassic Park Survival.

Thank you in advance :)

I've had a dream just now about a survival sim set in a mansion. It felt very 7dtd, but the scale was smaller and it was a bit more realistic, kinda like the REvil games, but neither REvil nor 7dtd.

I know that dreams are dreams, but they say that dreams are based on things we actually saw while awake, only distorted, so maybe such a game does exist?

Hi! I’m a solo developer making a survival crafting game for Steam.
You start on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean, gather resources, expand your island, build defenses, and survive underwater enemies.
What do you think about this concept? Would you play a game like this? Any feedback is appreciated!

I've recently been getting more and more into survival crafting games and I recently have been jumping back and forth from Enshrouded and Valhiem and have been wondering what these games would be like if they had the backing of a major studio with lots of talent, funding and resources to put behind the game.

It just seems to me that this genre would be ripe for a big studio contender to come in and capitalize on a more niche craze that is rapidly growing in popularity. It's something that early 2010's Ubisoft would be jumping all over to replicate. (Not that I think Ubisoft would be the right studio for the job.)