Most survival games follow the same pattern: gather wood, build a hut, keep hunger and thirst under control, build a bigger hut. That can be fun for a long time. But at some point you start wondering what you’re actually doing all this for. That’s exactly when you go looking for survival games with a story: games where surviving serves a goal and the story eventually gets somewhere.
There are fewer of them than you’d think, and often the plot is just a backdrop. Here are 14 games where that’s different. Some tell their story through things you find and radio messages, others through characters and fixed chapters, and in some the story grows out of your own decisions. That’s how I’ve sorted them, along with whether you play alone or with friends. Two of them are borderline cases, and I’ll say so. If you don’t care about the story and just want good games for building and surviving, check out our list of the best survival games. Everything is current as of October 2026.
Going solo: survival with a story and a real ending
Subnautica
For me, Subnautica is the classic when it comes to survival with a story. You crash-land on an ocean planet with the Aurora and gradually find traces of an alien civilization that was wiped out by a pathogen called Kharaa. The story is told almost entirely through things you find, radio messages and ruins, and there are hardly any cutscenes or dialogue. Even so, the story has a clear goal and a real ending.
Story and progress are tightly linked here: the deeper you can dive, the more you learn, and the mood constantly swings between wonder and fear. On the flip side, you have to farm quite a bit for some components, and the game often doesn’t tell you where to go next. If you’re afraid of deep water or need clear quest markers, you won’t be happy here. My tip for getting started is Freedom mode, without hunger and thirst, so you have more headspace for the story. Single-player only, on PC, consoles and now on mobile too. Around 30 hours.
Subnautica: Below Zero
Subnautica: Below Zero puts the story much more front and center than the first game. You play Robin Ayou, a heroine with a voice of her own, who wants to find out how her sister Sam died. The Alterra corporation writes the death off as negligence, but Robin doesn’t buy it. On top of that there’s Al-An, an alien character who actively gets involved in the plot. Here too there’s a fixed ending.
The story is more present, but it doesn’t grip you as much as the silent mystery of the first game. The world is smaller, and the sections on land are weaker. If what you loved about the first game was exactly that wordless puzzling-out, think of this one more as a second helping. If the first game told you too little, this is the one for you. Same modes, single-player only. Around 22 hours.
The Long Dark
In 2026, The Long Dark finally got what its story had been missing for a long time: an ending. The story mode Wintermute was released in episodes, and since March 2026 it’s been complete with the fifth episode, which everyone who owns the game gets at no extra cost. If you’ve been waiting for the ending, you can dive in now.
At its heart are loneliness, silence and a beautiful world with a comic-book look. Getting into Wintermute is a slog, but the final episode is the strongest one and a satisfying conclusion. The pace is very slow, so if you’re impatient or looking for action, skip it. The difficulty ranges from very relaxed to very hard, and there’s also a survival mode with permadeath. Single-player only, on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch. For all five episodes, plan on 35 to 40 hours.
Green Hell
Green Hell has its own story mode that runs over 25 hours. You play anthropologist Jake Higgins, who is searching the Amazon for his wife Mia, a linguist who wanted to make contact with the Yabahuaca people. You stay in touch with her by radio, and at some point the story takes a turn I won’t spoil here. On top of that there’s the free prequel Spirits of Amazonia, with another 20-plus hours.
It’s not easy. You also have to look after parasites, wounds and your mental state, and on normal difficulty that’s too much for beginners. I’d start on easy mode. The story is a good motivator but is told a bit clumsily in places, and combat isn’t the game’s strong suit. Co-op works for up to four players, and you can play the prequel together too, except on Switch. Development on the game is finished, and no new content is coming. Around 25 hours.
Pacific Drive
Pacific Drive turns survival into a road trip. It’s 1998, you’re stuck in the Olympic Exclusion Zone, and your home is a car with a mind of its own. The story is carried by characters who contact you over the radio, such as Oppy, Tobias and Francis, and it builds toward a real ending.
Using the car as your base is a fresh idea, and the characters and atmosphere carry you a long way. Toward the end, though, the trips into the zone get repetitive, car maintenance turns into a chore, and the learning curve gets steep in the middle. If you don’t like roguelite runs and crafting grind, better give it a pass. Single-player only, on PC, PS5 and, since October 2025, Xbox Series too. Around 25 hours.
When your decisions are the story
This War of Mine
This War of Mine flips the perspective you know from war games. You don’t play soldiers but civilians hiding in a besieged city, inspired by the siege of Sarajevo. Every character has a backstory, and your decisions determine how things turn out for each of them. Here, the story is the game.
It isn’t fun in the usual sense, and it doesn’t want to be. It’s grim and harsh, and the decisions stay with you. In Poland it has even been on the reading list for secondary schools since 2020. Over time the routine gets a bit monotonous, and the pace is slow. For this story, I’d accept that. There are also several story expansions. If you’re looking for the fun of building and exploring, this isn’t for you. Single-player only, on practically every platform, mobile included. Around 15 hours.
Frostpunk
Frostpunk is city-building survival with narrative scenarios. You lead a settlement fighting to survive and make decisions that other city builders spare you. Do you allow child labor? Do you force people into faith? Laws like these make the story your own. Besides the main story, A New Home, there are more scenarios, a free prequel and two story expansions.
This isn’t the story of individual characters but of an entire society. Every choice carries weight, and it hits home. On the other hand, the game is brutally demanding and often stressful, fairly simple as a pure city builder, and more scenarios wouldn’t have hurt. I wouldn’t recommend it to newcomers with little tolerance for frustration. Single-player only, on PC, Mac, PS4 and Xbox One. Around 30 hours.
Frostpunk 2
Frostpunk 2 is set 30 years after the first game and tells a political rather than a personal story. As the Steward, you steer factions, votes and, in the worst case, a civil war. The campaign has multiple outcomes and an epilogue.
The political system is the heart of the game and has a lot of depth. In exchange, some of the individual fates from the first game get lost, and politics and city-building sometimes feel like two separate games. It’s tough for newcomers, so my tip is: first part 1, then part 2. Single-player only, on PC, Mac, PS5 and Xbox Series. Around 35 hours. You’ll find more games like this in our list of the best strategy games.
Tip: Not sure yet whether you’d rather head into the depths alone or build a raft with friends? Take the quiz and get a recommendation in about three minutes.
A story to piece together, with horror
The Forest
In The Forest, you survive a plane crash and your son Timmy gets kidnapped. The search takes you through caves full of cannibalistic mutants and into a secret lab run by Sahara Therapeutics, and at the end one of two endings awaits. Almost nothing is told outright. You piece the story together from the environment and the things you find.
That works because the story has more layers than it seems at first and because the enemies behave cleverly. It’s often too dark, though. If you don’t like gore and horror, skip it, and if you’re expecting dialogue, you’ll be disappointed. Solo or co-op, online and over LAN, on PC and PS4. Around 20 hours.
Sons of the Forest
Sons of the Forest is the sequel and puts the story more front and center: a mystery surrounding the island, multiple endings and two companions, Virginia and Kelvin, who is deaf and takes your orders written on notes. The atmosphere and crafting are strong, and newcomers find their way in easily too.
The story is where you have to make compromises. It’s more present but half-baked in how it’s presented, and story and survival don’t always mesh. If the story matters most to you, I’d start with The Forest. If you mainly want atmosphere and to build together with up to eight people, go for the sequel. It’s only available on PC, though. Around 25 hours.
With friends: survival stories in co-op
Most survival games with a strong story are played alone, and in co-op the choice gets thin. Besides the two Forest games, these are my recommendations if you want to work toward an ending together. For more ideas for a night with friends, see Best Co-Op Games to Play With Friends in 2026.
Raft
Raft is one of the few co-op survival games with a story campaign you can actually finish. You drift across the ocean on a raft and use a radio receiver to find story islands, where notes and voice recordings tell the backstory. The finale is a fight against former general Olof Wilkstrom, after which you can keep playing freely. The story has been complete since 2022.
It’s not a deep narrative, more a common thread that gives the building a purpose. The start is slow, there’s little to do after the finale, and the shark gets annoying over time. Alone it feels noticeably thinner, so I’d only play it with friends. Since March 2026 there’s official crossplay, across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series. Around 35 hours.
Grounded
Grounded shrinks you down to the size of an insect. Four teenagers have been miniaturized by the Ominent corporation, the story is told through recordings of Dr. Tully and the memories of the robot BURG.L, and at the end you choose between two endings. The tone runs on teen humor, so if you’re looking for a serious story, this isn’t it.
The idea is executed well and nicely polished. The start is slow, though, many systems are poorly explained, and the fights are hard on your own. So my tip: play with two to four people. If you’re afraid of spiders, there’s an arachnophobia mode. Available on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch. The sequel Grounded 2 is in early access, and its story isn’t finished yet. For story fans, I’d stick with the first game. Around 45 hours.
Borderline cases: not finished yet or not really survival
Subnautica 2
Subnautica 2 has been in early access since May 2026, on PC and as a Game Preview on Xbox Series. The story is deliberately more structured than in the first game. You crash-land with a colony ship on the ocean moon Proteus, the colonists were actually supposed to be rescued from Kharaa, and the AI companion NoA seems suspicious. On top of that come more characters, an alien faction and co-op for up to four players.
The problem: parts of the map and the end of the story are still locked, and early access is supposed to last two to three years. The ideas are promising, but so far you get more of a beginning than a story, and the game gives some things away pretty early. If a complete story matters to you, I’d wait. If you want to dive with friends right now, you can jump in, especially since the price goes up after early access. How long the finished story will be isn’t known yet.
The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us Part II Remastered isn’t a survival game in the strict sense but an action-adventure. You don’t build a base, but scarce resources and crafting run through the whole game. If what you love about survival is mainly the tension that scarce supplies create, it belongs here.
For me, the story is among the best that games have to tell, but it’s also divisive. The replayable survival part comes from the roguelike mode No Return, and otherwise the remaster adds little that’s new. The violence is depicted very graphically. Single-player only, on PS5 and PC. Around 25 hours.
I deliberately left out two games with a strong story: Death Stranding is more of an action-adventure about making deliveries, and Metro Exodus a linear shooter with scarce resources. I wouldn’t classify either of them as a survival game. Survival horror is a genre of its own too, and for that there’s our list of the best horror games.
And if you can’t decide?
My tip for getting started: Subnautica if you play alone, Raft if friends are joining in, and This War of Mine if you want a story that stays with you. If all that’s too harsh, take a look at Breathedge, an easy-to-get-into survival comedy in space with a story, around 20 hours long.
If you’d rather build than listen to stories, the list of the best survival games also has the big sandbox games. If you’re mainly after the story and survival is secondary, read Best Story Games That Feel Like a Great Movie. And if you’d rather pick by mood, take the quiz.