The year 2020 delivered a fantastic lineup of new survival games, with even more on the horizon for eager players. As highlighted in the video above, this period saw developers pushing creative boundaries within the genre. From exploring alien planets to shrinking down to garden-insect size, these games offered fresh takes on staying alive against overwhelming odds.
When we talk about new survival games, we’re focusing purely on titles where resource management, crafting, base building, and overcoming environmental challenges are central. This means distinguishing them from survival horror games, which blend fear with similar mechanics. The following list dives deeper into some of the most exciting new survival games that emerged in 2020, offering unique experiences for every type of gamer.
Top New Survival Games of 2020 Explained
The survival genre continues to evolve, incorporating elements from other popular categories like action-adventure, RPGs, and even strategy games. Each title below brought its own twist, making 2020 a memorable year for survival enthusiasts. Let’s explore these games in more detail, expanding on their core mechanics and what makes them stand out.
Windbound: A Zelda-Inspired Island Survival Adventure
Kicking off our list of interesting new survival games, Windbound merges the visual charm of The Legend of Zelda with robust survival mechanics. Players find themselves stranded on a mysterious archipelago, requiring them to craft tools, hunt for food, and build a sturdy boat to navigate the treacherous waters. The game’s aesthetic, reminiscent of Breath of the Wild and Wind Waker, makes exploration visually engaging.
Furthermore, Windbound incorporates rogue-lite elements, meaning each death sends you back to the beginning, but with certain progress retained. This design encourages strategic thinking and adaptability, making every new run a fresh challenge. It also adds significant replayability, which is a hallmark of many successful survival titles. Windbound launched on August 28th for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, offering a beautiful yet challenging survival experience.
The Riftbreaker: Base Building Meets Bullet Hell Survival
The Riftbreaker stands out by blending traditional survival elements with action RPG and bullet hell combat. Players assume the role of an elite scientist operating a powerful mech suit on a hostile alien planet. The primary goal is to establish a secure base, gather rare resources, and defend against relentless alien hordes.
This game introduces an exhilarating sense of urgency, where every decision feels critical for survival. Its dynamic combat, combined with intricate base-building, offers a unique blend of genres that keeps players on their toes. A playable demo was available in 2020, showcasing the game’s fast-paced action and strategic depth. The full release was slated for sometime in 2020, promising a captivating experience for fans of survival and action.
Occupy Mars: The Game: Colonizing the Red Planet
Occupy Mars: The Game offers players the ultimate challenge: colonizing the hostile Martian environment. This open-world sandbox survival game tasks you with everything from exploring the vast landscape to setting up farms and advanced machinery. The core objective is to achieve self-sustenance on the Red Planet, which means managing vital resources like water and oxygen.
The game’s prologue, released shortly before the main game, showcased its intricate survival systems and stunning graphics. Developers have been highly responsive to player feedback, continuously integrating suggestions from early playtests. This dedication to community input ensures a polished and engaging experience. Occupy Mars presents a beautiful and realistic vision of Martian colonization, making it one of the most intriguing new survival games of the year.
The Eternal Cylinder: Surreal Alien Survival
The Eternal Cylinder truly defines the term “weird and wonderful” among new survival games. Players control peculiar creatures called Trebhums in an open world constantly threatened by a colossal, world-destroying cylinder. The game’s unique premise centers around delaying this inevitable destruction while navigating a bizarre and beautiful alien ecosystem.
Survival here involves gathering resources, evolving your Trebhums with unique mutations, and expanding your herd. The surreal art style, often compared to a living painting, adds to its distinctive charm. This game offers a refreshingly different take on the survival genre, proving that originality can lead to deeply immersive gameplay. Although a precise release date wasn’t set, it was expected in 2020.
WiLD: Prehistoric Survival with Animal Possession
WiLD transports players to a prehistoric open world where they embody a human capable of possessing animals. This innovative mechanic allows players to spy on rival tribes or engage in combat using the abilities of various creatures. Imagine riding into battle on a bear after using crows to distract your enemies; such scenarios highlight the unique gameplay potential.
The game boasts lavish, epic-looking environments that further immerse players in its ancient setting. As a PS4 exclusive, its development status has been a topic of discussion, with anticipation building for its eventual release. WiLD promises a unique blend of survival, exploration, and strategic animal control, making it a highly anticipated addition to the new survival games landscape.
The Survivalists: Sandbox Adventure in The Escapists Universe
The Survivalists brings a charming, pixel-art aesthetic reminiscent of classic JRPGs to the survival sandbox genre. Set within The Escapists universe, this game focuses on gathering resources, crafting items, building elaborate bases, and finding food to stay alive. Its procedurally generated wilderness ensures that every playthrough offers a new map and fresh challenges.
This game also excels in its multiplayer functionality, allowing friends to team up for cooperative survival and dungeon crawling. The demo available in 2020 showcased its engaging mechanics and potential for endless fun with companions. The Survivalists was set to fully release in Q4 2020, offering a delightful and cooperative approach to the new survival games experience.
Grounded: Shrunken Survival in Your Backyard
Grounded brilliantly executes a concept many childhood dreams are made of: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids as a survival game. Players are shrunk to the size of an ant, turning a seemingly ordinary backyard into a colossal and dangerous open world. Giant insects, massive fauna, and everyday objects become monumental obstacles and resources.
The game fully embraces its premise, allowing players to build elaborate forts from blades of grass and fend off colossal spiders. This unique perspective elevates common survival elements, making resource gathering and exploration thrilling. Grounded entered early access in 2020, proving that even familiar settings can become incredible adventures when viewed from a different scale, firmly establishing itself as a standout among new survival games.
Survivalist: Invisible Strain: Comic Book Zombie Apocalypse
Survivalist: Invisible Strain delivers a distinctive take on the zombie survival genre with its comic book art style. While combating zombies remains a core element, players must also master wilderness survival, managing hunger, thirst, and shelter. This game offers a simplified yet open-ended survival experience, allowing for strategic planning and freedom.
Currently in early access, it continually evolves with player feedback, offering a dynamic development process. Its affordable price point of $6.99 makes it an accessible entry into the world of zombie-infested survival. This game is perfect for those seeking a less graphically intensive but deeply engaging take on the post-apocalyptic survival scenario.
Away: The Survival Series: Living a Nature Documentary
Away: The Survival Series sets itself apart by drawing direct inspiration from nature documentaries, delivering a stunningly gorgeous and immersive experience. Players embody a sugar glider, navigating breathtaking natural environments with incredible fluidity. The gameplay focuses on exploration, hunting, and escaping predators, all from the perspective of a small, agile creature.
The game’s visual fidelity is exceptionally high, bringing the wild to life in remarkable detail. While no demo or firm release date was available in 2020, the released footage was extremely intriguing, promising a unique blend of natural beauty and compelling animalistic survival. Away: The Survival Series offers a beautiful and innovative perspective on new survival games.
Deadside: A More Refined DayZ-Like Experience
Deadside entered early access in April 2020 and quickly garnered a reputation as a polished and engaging DayZ-like survival game. It takes the core concepts of open-world survival and PvP combat but significantly improves upon them. Notably, Deadside features much better graphics and vastly superior AI compared to its spiritual predecessors, making encounters more challenging and realistic.
Although still in early access, with content expanding over time, the existing gameplay is robust and fun. Its strong foundation suggests it has the potential to become a formidable contender in the competitive survival shooter genre. For those seeking a more refined and visually appealing experience in the realm of hardcore new survival games, Deadside offers a promising alternative.
The year 2020 truly showcased the versatility and enduring appeal of the survival game genre, bringing a diverse range of experiences to players. With titles blending unique themes and mechanics, there was something for everyone. Which of these new survival games did you try, or which one are you most excited to jump into next?
