Both the survival and strategy genres have seen a rapid increase in popularity over the last decade, with many games merging the two formulas to create a new hybrid genre. Combining elements from city-building and base-management games with the intense survival mechanics oftenpresent in other games, these titles provide players with a unique experience of having to care for large groups of soldiers, settlers, or other characters. At the same time, the player must operate as chief strategist or governor in the game’s scenario.
In addition to researching new technologies and constructing vast cities, these games share a particular emphasis on thephysical and psychological needsof their inhabitants. This adds a whole new dimension of gameplay for players to deal with. Set in a diverse range of settings, each of the following games exemplify the best features, as well as the potential, of the genre as a whole.
A Punishing Experience In A Unique Historical Setting
Last Train Home
Embark on a desperate mission through the depths of a war-torn wasteland. Your goal is to guide Czechoslovak soldiers back home onboard an armored train, but the path ahead is fraught with peril. Caught in the middle of a brutal civil war between Russia’s Red and White Armies, your unit must remain in fighting shape, managing what little resources you have and maintaining morale at all costs. Venture through the bleak and unforgiving landscape of Siberia, where the freezing cold and the merciless environment will push you to your very limit. Resources are scarce and your crew is exhausted, but you must keep pushing forward.As you journey through the heart of the conflict, the horrors of war will surround you. The fate of your legion rests on the actions of a few key soldiers, as you engage in real-time battles that will determine the outcome of your mission. You must choose your tactics wisely, using every skill at your disposal to safeguard your troops and complete your mission. With careful training and development, your squads will become a seasoned legion of comrades, brothers and sisters, ready to face any challenge that comes their way.The decisions you make along the journey will determine the fate of your comrades. Inspired by historical events, of the Czechoslovak Legion and their determination to return to their newly formed republic following The Great War, this mission will test your courage and your will to survive. The Last Train Home is in your hands.
Set in the early days of the formation of Czechoslovakia,Last Train Homesees players take command of a squad of soldiers as they seek to make their way west and avoid living under thetyrannical Soviet regime. In addition to solid RTS combat focused around specific character traits, players will also have to maintain and repair the locomotive itself. This adds an immersive level of gameplay which brings players into the historical setting.
As far as survival-strategy games go, it is a tough one. Characters can experience permadeath and fail the game in many possible ways. This feels appropriate given the bleak historical setting, which is rarely explored and offers players a highly unique experience and insight into European history.
6New Cycle
A Post-Apocalyptic Strategy Game With An Industrial Aesthetic
In the wake of an apocalypse brought about by a solar flare,New Cyclelets players create a city from the ashes as humanity continues to survive. Much like theAnnoseries, the main objective here is the production of resources and the maintenance of the settlement. Players will also experience a variety of story scenarios in the Campaign game mode.
Visually, the game has an interestingMad Max-inspiredart style, with constructions that look believable and hand-crafted for their chosen setting. Despite still being in early access for the moment, it is a very polished game. Players can expect even more content to be added along with future improvements to this title.
Explore Early Human Society
Dawn of Man
Take control of a settlement of the first modern humans, guide them through the ages in their struggle for survival.Dawn of Man is a survival/city-builder from the creators of Planetbase. The game starts in the Stone Age, and takes you up to the Iron Age, spanning more than 10,000 years of human prehistory. You will have to get your people to survive, expand and evolve, just like our ancestors, facing the challenges that the environment will throw at you.Animals were a vital source of food and resources for ancient humans. Use their meat to feed your people, and their skin and bones to make clothing and craft the tools you will need to stay alive. Confront Mammoths, Woolly Rhinos, Ancient Bison, Megaloceros, Cave Lions and other species that roamed the earth at the time.Collect a variety of resources from the environment: fruit, berries, water, wood, flint, stone, ores. Use them to prepare food, to make tools and to build structures in your settlement. Fish is more abundant in spring, berries and fruit can be collected in summer, and animals are easier to come by when it’s warm. When winter comes, make sure to have enough non-perishable food and warm clothing to survive.
With a unique approach to the survival/city-building genre, Madruga Works’Dawn of Mantakes playersback to the Stone Age. Players must hunt and scavenge for resources, advancing their small civilization over time. From hunting wooly mammoths and fending off wolves to creating farms, watchtowers, and fully-functioning water mills, few strategy games offer the sense of progression that players will notice here.
There are many threats for players to deal with, ranging from harsh weather conditions and starvation, to enemy bandits and wild animals. The game is relatively slow-paced, even for a survival-strategy title. It is perfect for both casual and hardcore players who are seeking something new in the genre.
Haemimont Games’Stranded: Alien Dawnis one of the more unique survival-strategy games around. It blends elements of city builders and management sims with a stunning sci-fi world complete with aliens, mechs, and all kinds of futuristic innovations.
The main focus of the game is on base building and advancing technology. But in addition, there is a heavy element of character management. Psychology and interpersonal relations play a central role. There are plenty of scenarios for players to choose from, as well as DLC content to enhance the experience further with robot companions.
Rimworldis one of the most popular games in the survival-strategy genre, and for good reason. Withprocedurally generated stories and scenarios, no two players will have the same experience with this game. As well as managing a continual flow of crises threatening the lives of the characters, players can also construct various buildings and farmland, so that their colonists can thrive.
In addition to managing food consumption and the individual needs of each character, players will also have to battle against the many threats and harmful elements that are sure to rear their heads sooner or later. A highly unique 2D experience with a pixel-art style,Rimworldis a great entry into the more ‘hardcore’ end of the survival-strategy spectrum.
Bit Studios’Frontpunkis an immersive social-survival game in which players govern a post-apocalyptic city in lethal frozen conditions. Players must manage the heat and resources of the settlement, as well as deal with a variety of interesting scenarios and dilemmas that are introduced along the way.
This gritty survival experience has a unique sense of struggle and human spirit associated with it. Finding a way to prosper can be a real challenge. As well as beingone of the best visual colony sims, it also provides lots of interesting gameplay mechanics for players to enjoy. A sequel,Frontpunk 2,is expected to release later in 2024.
Another title developed by Haemimont Games, this time in conjunction with Abstraction and Paradox Interactive,Surviving Marswas a true pioneer in the genre when it released in 2018. It offers players a huge depth of mechanics as they go from constructing buildings and pipelines with the help of automated robots, to managing a fully-fledged colony of martial settlers.
While there are many appealing features aboutSurviving Mars, chief among them is the emphasis on realism and plausibility. While some designs and innovations may be entirely fictional, many of the game-world’s designs have been drawn from real technology propositions when it comes to settling Mars. Witha range of DLC available, as well as similar titlesSurviving The ApocalypseandSurviving The Abyss, there is plenty to enjoy in this strategy-survival series.
