When it comes to the best survival games for PlayStation 4, there’s a variety you can choose from. From No Man’s Sky to Tribes of Midgard, survival games have continuously attracted large fan bases due to their endless amount of content, rough challenges, and pure satisfaction.

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These games involve checking vital signs, such as ensuring your character is healthy enough to venture into the unknown. Essentially, these games will put you in challenging scenarios and force you to overcome them with very minimal resources.

While every entry is unique, they all share one thing in common: you are supposed to craft your own survival tactics in a world filled with dinosaurs, monsters, or giant ants.  In this article, we discuss the absolute best PlayStation 4 survival games ever made. If you are looking for some great survival games to enjoy, these are great picks.

#10. Conan Exiles

Conan Exiles is a PlayStation 4 survival game released in 2017 and published by Funcom. Set in the world of Conan the Barbarian, this online multiplayer survival game involves building your own home, surviving cold temperatures, and creating your character.

  • Explore a vast world: explore a giant world, from the Burning desert in the south to the snow-capped mountains in the north. Discover ancient cultures, ruins, and dungeonsSurvive: stay warm, cool yourself down, drink and eat, weather scouring sandstorms, prevent your mind from being corrupted when exploring dark dungeons, and battle vicious monsters to stay aliveBuild: harvest resources to craft tools and weapons, then build anything from a Small home to entire cities. Build walls, traps, elevators, and moreDominate: wage war against your enemies, use siege weapons and explosives and see their walls crumble to dust, then unleash your savage Fury in violent and brutal combatPlay together or alone: play alone locally or fight for survival and dominance in persistent multiplayer on public servers. You can also host your own server and invite others to join you

In terms of gameplay, you need to harvest resources to craft tools, then build cities using elevators, power place traps, and defenses. The more you create successful crafts, the more you’ll have to unlock different customization features and or craft recipes.

Once you’ve mastered the art of killing, you can turn to slavery. Yes, you can enslave the non-player characters and have them work for you after you’ve dragged them along and humiliated them.

Since there is always a goal to achieve in Conan Exiles; you must know how to go about them to make the game compelling. With constant rewards for the game, you must have a wealth of knowledge about the world and how to conquer them.

Overall, Conan Exiles is a surprisingly good survival game that blends genre mechanics with the harsh world of Conan the Barbarian. If you’re looking for a new survival game to play with your friends, look no further. This game has plenty of areas to explore and can keep you busy for up to 86 hours.

#9. Tribes of Midgard

Released in 2021, Tribes of Midgard is an action-packed survival game developed by Norsfell Games and published by Gearbox Publishing. Tribes of Midgard involves fighting the oncoming invasion of Giants during Ragnarök.

  • Explore a bright Norse realm: discover dungeons, slay legendary beasts, and build anywhere as you explore formidable, procedurally-generated lands on your quest to take on Ragnarok.Face colossal game-changers: protect the speed of Yggdrasil from a nightly invasion of helthings, and work together with your tribe to withstand the ever-looming threat of the jotnar.Forge your Viking Legend: choose your class and take the battle into the wilds as you seek resources to craft epic armor and mighty weaponry. Then, unleash powerful abilities and prepare clever…Rally the tribe: when the giants arrive, it takes a village to bring them down! Adventure through midgard solo, or form a tribe of up to 10 players in online pve co-op.Keep up the fight: throughout the year, limited time seasonal events bring bigger challenges and even mightier treasures to the endgame of midgard, including new ways to progress and unlockable…

In addition to the single-game play, you can form a tribe or a team of 10 players and play cooperatively. During day time, you are supposed to explore the world, collect resources, and craft new armor, weapons, and village defenses.

At night, your opponents will attack your settlement in an attempt to destroy the seed of Yggdrasil. Tribes of Midgard features eight different gameplay classes with each class having its unique combat abilities. The music, art, and flavor of this game are crafted in such a way that you get immersed in it almost immediately.

While there aren’t many opportunities to mine resources or smark down your enemies, you’ll enjoy traveling about and seeing what there is to see. Whether you’re playing solo or as a team, Tribes of Midgard is an exciting, hectic game that will get you hooked for a long time.

#8. Rust

If you can tolerate high levels of pain, Rust is the right pick. That said, Rust is a multiplayer survival video game that requires you to survive in a place where everything including the weather, terrain, and other players who want to kill you.

Since the game is multiplayer only, you cannot play it alone. At first glance, the game resembles emArk: Survival Evolved/em. However, the FPS elements and the open world are totally different. If you like to get the most from this game, you need to bring a friend or someone you can play with.

In this game, you start out stranded. You have nothing as you try to survive assaults from other players and gradually build a safe house to work out of. Since the objective of the game is to survive in the wilderness using stolen or gathered materials, you must successfully manage your hunger, thirst, and health, or risk dying.

Despite the presence of wild animals, such as bears, your main threat is other players. To stay protected, you must join clans and build bases to boost your chances of survival. Once you’ve built a solid foundation, you can get more adventurous by crafting and hunting animals. If you can tolerate bugs, poor graphics, and constant attempts on your life, this game has a lot to offer.

#7. Ark: Survival Evolved

Ark: Survival Evolved is an online action-packed survival game that focuses on your ability to gather resources and survive on the island with dinosaurs and other players. With this game, you have to keep your health, stamina, hunger, and thirst under check all while gathering resources.

  • Capture and Tame Dinosaurs: Discover over 100 different dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures on the island, finding ways to tame them into useful additions for your tribe’s dino herdSurvive Above All: Hunger, thirst, basic safety, and protecting yourself from the weather are all part of the gameHarvest, Hunt and Build: Cut down trees and turn them into a basic home, which you can quickly expand into a Jurassic estate. Hunt for meat, scavenge for plants (or start your own garden!)Customize Everything: An extensive crafting system invites you to mix and match materials scavenged from the island, while also modifying the colors, textures, shapes, and stylesExplore the Island: Solve the mystery of The ARK as you explore this massive island, discovering Explorer’s Notebooks (filled with clues!) throughout

Similar to other survival games, Ark: Survival Evolved has expansions that allow you to add more resources and new creatures. To survive, you must establish a base, with fire and weapons. You must also tame and feed dinosaurs, something that requires more resources.

For instance, you must knock them unconscious and give them food to bring back their health. While it can be quite boring to watch a dinosaur wake up, this step only takes a few minutes. Although you’ll have other players to interact with, the most important thing is to survive the elements with Ark: Survival Evolved.

You have to literally wander through the dark while gathering, crafting buildings, and taming animals. Overall, Ark: Survival Evolved is a game full of rough edges, and amazing moments. If this experience looks cool to you, then it’s a game worth trying.

#6. The Long Dark

The Long Dark is a survival game that lets you take the role of a pilot by the name of Will Mackenzie. The game which is played from a first-person perspective takes place in the frigid Canadian wilderness. The Long Dark has three modes, including the Story mode, Survival mode, and Challenge mode.

  • Survive the quiet apocalypse in this thoughtful open-world exploration survival experience.Deep survival simulation gameplay where every decision mattersExplore a large open world in search of resources

While the Survival mode requires you to choose the region and survive for as long as possible, the Story mode is largely based on a story. In essence, the game is all about appreciating the somber nature of solitude and struggling to simply stay alive.

The challenge is quite brutal and the tone and feel are top-notch. If you are willing to put in the work, this game can reward you with one of the best survival simulations.

#5. Subnautica

Subnautica is a futuristic survival game that lets you take the role of an astronaut who is tasked with finding other planets to concur. However, while doing this, something suddenly goes wrong and your ship crashes.

  • Dive into a vast underwater world - sub Nautica’s ocean range from shallow coral reefs to treacherous deep-sea trenches, lava fields, and bio-luminescent underwater riversScavenge, craft, and survive - after crash landing in your life pod, the clock is ticking to find water, food, and to develop equipment needed to explore as you collect resources from the oceanConstruct underwater habitats - build Bases on the sea Floor, choosing layouts and components, and managing hull-integrity as depth and pressure IncreaseUnravel the mystery - signs abound that something is not right and you must Figure out what happened to this planet and what caused you to crash - can you find a way to make it Off the planet aliveDisrupt the food Chain - lure and distract a threatening creature with a fresh fish, or simply swim as fast as you can to avoid gnashing jaws of roaming predators

Since you are the only survivor, you are forced to venture out into the deep while gathering resources to survive. Besides the constant threat of losing oxygen, there are hostile creatures that keep you on your toes.

Therefore, you need to build undersea bases, submarines, and other equipment to unravel the planet’s mysteries. You can even build a little base underwater as you uncover the mysteries of the new planet. This game is available on virtually every major platform now.

That said, there is a tonne of depth to Subnautica and with lots of things to explore, this is probably one of the best survival games on PS4. So, if you are looking for the most rewarding survival games you will find on a console, this is the right pick.

#4. The Forest

If you are into horror video games, The Forest has it all. Similar to other survival games, The Forest allows you to explore the land while overcoming monsters. The game takes place in a remote forested area, where you assume the character of Eric LeBlanc who must fight off monsters while searching for his son, Timmy, following a plane crash.

Featuring nonlinear gameplay played from a first-person perspective, this game has no set missions or quests, so it empowers you to make your own decisions for survival. Unlike many video games, monsters are very aggressive. For instance, they’ll run up to you, stop and study you before sprinting off never to be seen again.

Since they are also afraid of fire, they will not approach if there is a campfire nearby. As you progress through the game and explore the caves, you are likely to encounter bizarre mutations, including mutants and deformed babies with extra body parts.

The game also features a day and night cycle. This means you can build a shelter, hunt animals and gather resources during the day, then defend yourself against the mutants at night.

#3. This War of Mine

When you think of survival games based around war, you mainly focus on third-party titles and other, strategy games. However, This War of Mine is one iconic survival title that has left a significant impact on the genre hence highly recommended.

  • A realistic and engaging experience inspired by real-life eventsMake unforgiving & emotionally repercussive, life-or-death decisionsCraft items such as weaponry, beds, stoves, toys & moreTackle randomized or pre-defined scenarios - or even create your own scenarios and characters!Experience war through the eyes of a child with the introduction of child survivors

In this game, you are supposed to control a group of civilians attempting to survive an attack during a siege. With snipers watching you throughout the day, you need to go out and seek resources to keep your group healthy and comfortable at night.

As you strive to make tough and heart-wrenching decisions during the game, your morals will be put to the test. Without the main story, this game relies on characters to keep you engaged. Since all the characters have unique backstories, you need to learn a lot about their morals based on how you respond while scavenging during the night.

In essence, the game puts you in a position that you can’t even imagine during wars, and will hopefully never come to reality. Regardless of how much you try, the war is likely to claim some victims who don’t deserve to die. That said, This War of Mine is one of the few survival games out there which fully captures the mental and emotional taxes of surviving.

#2. No Man’s Sky

While most survival games focus on the earth, No Man’s Sky involves navigating the procedurally generated planets and discovering both ferocious and friendly new species. In this game, you need to pay attention to your stock of resources and ensure that you always have enough fuel and oxygen to get you out.

To expand your arsenal equipment, you need to make agreements with the local inhabitants. What makes it unique, however, is the sheer amount of planets available and the different creatures, biomes, and plant life. With that said, this game has missing features and attributes that players hoped could have been included.

While the game mostly involves wandering through space and moving from one planet to the next, your main focus is gathering resources that can help you travel. You’ll also need to check whether you have enough resources and keep your ship in good working condition since you don’t know the kind of planet you’ll find.

It could be hot, toxic, or just a home for several hostile creatures. Therefore, you’ll need to venture out of your ship or base to seek the resources that you need for your exploration.

#1. Minecraft

When it comes to survival games for Playstation 4, Minecraft comes out on top. Initially released in 2011, this video game involves going to an unexplored world and gathering resources that you can use to build houses, tools, and weapons.

Although you are largely safe during the day, when creepers come at night, you’ll have to work fast to ensure you are safe. Compared to other survival games, Minecraft has a vibrant presentation that makes it appealing to all players, regardless of their age. In this game, you’ll be dropped into a procedurally created world that’s full of resources to gather.

While there is an endgame, you will find quite a bit of enjoyment by exploring the world and gathering resources to survive. This includes food and wood to craft different tools, as well as creating a structure to protect yourself.

As you progress within the game, you eventually gather enough resources to face the challenges that may come your way. If you are creative enough, it doesn’t take long before you turn a simple structure into a mansion. The reason why this video game has been around for years now is that it’s heavily supported with new content.

Wrap Up

There you have it, the absolute best PlayStation 4 survival games of all time. While most of these games occasionally include storylines, you can only get the most from them if you are left on your own as you try to persevere in harsh environments. So, if you are into crafting, building, and managing resources, you might want to check out these best survival games for PS4.

The 10 Best PlayStation 4 Survival Games of All Time: Summary

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