Survival gameshave become very popular in the last decade or so. However, in most of them, the player takes on the role of a human protagonist in a recognizable fictional environment. For example, the game might focus on surviving in a zombie apocalypse or a fantasy land. But not all games follow these tried and tested templates.
There are some excellent survival games that have no humans at all. In these, the player becomes an animal that has to survive in a hostile environment. They must find food and shelter, and protect their territory. Many of these titles have advanced gameplay features, such as tending to a herd, orraising youngas well. Anyone looking for a different take on survival games might like to try any of the ones on this list.
A Cute & Casual Survival Game
Cat Quest
Cat Quest is an open world RPG set in the pawsome world of cats! In search of your catnapped sister you pounce into the massive continent of Felingard - a world crafted in the style of overworld maps of yore and purring with cat-tastic characters, stories, and puns!
Cat Questis a cute,casual action survival gamewith plenty of humor. This isn’t a complex title, and its mobile and handheld console roots are evident. This isn’t a criticism — it plays very well, but don’t expect complex controls and a slick UI when playing on PC.
The game takes place in the Kingdom of Felingard. The player takes control of a young cat that is starting off on a quest to find his sister, who has been kidnapped. The story is well crafted and comedic in nature. The2D open worldis quite large, with plenty of hidden secrets such as dungeons, plenty of quests, and rewarding exploration.
Celebrate The Inner Dinosaur
The Isle
The Isle: A World Designed to Kill YouThe Isle is intended to be a gritty, open-world survival horror game. Explore vast landscapes of dense forest and open plains, traverse treacherous mountains and wade through dark swamps where horrors lurk. Hidden within are ruins that hold insight as to what came before. Through it all, keep in mind there is only one goal: survive.There is little in the way of hand holding or ulterior precepts to alter play styles or purpose. It’s kill or be killed. In the end, the only one you can trust is yourself. Over the course of development the islands and their inhabitants will radically change, ever-evolving as players themselves learn how to flourish and thrive. Your mistakes will be punished. Expect no survivors.Massive Prehistoric MultiplayerBecome the beast within. When joining The Isle, you can play as one of dozens of unique creatures, from tiny darting herbivores like Dryosaurus to blood-thirsty giants such as T. Rex or Allosaurus (with many more still to come!) As a dinosaur, you’ll be the epitome of majestic, cunning and ferocious. Use your natural abilities and senses to stay off the menu and grow into a stronger, more capable creature.Engage with a living prehistoric ecosystem as you become either predator or prey on servers featuring up to 100+ players, all of them as hungry and dangerous as you. Form packs/herds, create nests, defend your offspring, hunt, and claim territory. A single mistake can spell your demise.Survival or Sandbox?The Isle’s core game mode is Survival, a tense and difficult experience where you need to grow fast or die young. Dinosaurs in Survival mode progress through several life stages, starting out small and vulnerable. Use your scent ability, night vision and wits to survive long enough to grow, becoming more powerful and unlock new abilities such as nesting. Because of the time needed to develop a full character life cycle, not every creature is or will be playable in Survival, though more will be added in future updates.However, sometimes you don’t want to struggle to survive, or you don’t have the time to go through a dinosaur’s whole life story. And that’s okay. For players who want a less intense experience, Sandbox mode lets you play an expanded roster of dinosaurs (and soon humans!). You can jump right in as an adult super predator or a peaceful giant, with no major penalties or consequences from dying. We won’t judge.A Global Community StoryThe Isle features a narrative told strictly through the environment, achievable only through immense cooperation among players. Are you stranded? Can you just leave? What is AE? How did the dinosaurs get here? What is the distant call that pierces the night?It will take the entire community to answer these mysteries and unravel the purpose to their being on The Isle, and each discovery will directly affect the future of the game’s storyline.
With both PvE and PvP aspects,The Isleis a fully multiplayer survival game in which the playertakes on the persona of a dinosauror some other prehistoric animal. Realism is important inThe Isle, and each animal has a specific life cycle that is unique to them. The ecosystem is also simulated in detail and is a vital part of the game.
Dinosaurs and animals each grow differently inThe Isle. Each species has its own behavior and has been modeled to move in a realistic way. Overall,The Isleoffers a unique take on the survival genre. It won’t be for everyone, as the realism makes the game very challenging at times, but it deserves a place on this list.
Become A Mother Lynx
Shelter 2
Play as a Lynx raising her cubs in the brutal but beautiful tundra. Surviving in the middle of the food chain you will be both predator and prey so be on your guard, feed your family and enjoy precious moments of peace and tranquillity when you’re able to!Starting as a pregnant mother your lynx begins her adventure by giving birth, then it’s up to you to continue her journey into parenthood. Nurturing cubs is paramount and of course your survival is the only thing that will guarantee theirs!Shelter 2 includes more elaborate gameplay features than its predecessor including stamina, different types of movements, jumps and a variety of prey to hunt all in the setting of the beautiful changing seasons. Besides hunting there are several maternal and hunting features, such as calling the cubs closer, sniffing out prey, drinking water from rivers and lifting and carrying your cubs from harm’s way.
The second game in theShelterfranchise is a significant improvement over the first. In this survival game, the player takes on the role of a mother lynx, trying to survive in a huge open world. She must take care of her cubs and find shelter and raise them.
Surviving against an often harsh environment makes up much of the gameplay inShelter 2. Don’t think for a moment that this makes it a shallow game. It has surprising depth, with an evocative narrative. Graphically, the game has a unique style that works very well. The only reasonShelter 2isn’t higher on this list is because it is overshadowed by the last game in the franchise,Shelter 3.
Sometime in the future, the human race has been wiped out, and animals are left to roam and survive inpost-apocalypticTokyo. The game has two modes of play. First, there’s the story mode, which has a short campaign to play through, trying to uncover what happened to the humans. Second, there’s survival mode, with the goal of staying alive as long as possible.
The player can select from a range of animals from domestic pets to wild beasts as their avatar. Each animal has its own set of skills and specialties. The gameplay revolves around finding food and shelter, escaping from predators, and hunting other animals.Tokyo Jungleis an older game, but a good one.
2WolfQuest
Survive In Yellowstone National Park
The detailed open-world map of Yellowstone National Park is a realistic, detailed, and engaging environment for a survival game. It would have been a good setting for a standard survival game, but it is especially fantastic for a survival game where the protagonist is a wolf.
InWolfQuest, the player has to undertake actions that are key to survival. This includes hunting elk for food, exploring the stunning map, and defending their territory. Game progression revolves around seeking a mate and raising a litter of pups. The game teaches how the behavior and survival of animal species are intricately tied to the environment in which they live.
1Shelter 3
Care For The Herd
Generally, two games from the same franchise wouldn’t appear on a list such as this. However,Shelter 3is wildly different fromShelter 2, which was already covered. Yes, it is in the same franchise, but it is a different game in every respect. InShelter 3, the player takes on the role of the matriarch of a herd of elephants. The game takes place on a largeopen-world map, and the player must help the herd to survive and thrive within it.
In order to succeed, the player will need to lead the herd across different landscapes and biomes, making key decisions that have a direct impact on how well the herd survives. Something thatShelter 3does very well is simulating the social aspects of a herd of animals. The player will need to closely monitor the health and attitude of each member of the herd to succeed.Shelter 3takes top spot on this list for a number of reasons, such as the unique gameplay, compelling narrative, and interesting use of a different look and feel.
