Summary
Nightingaleis one of the hottest newsurvival games of early 2024, and it might be on track to become a very popular entry in the genre. The game has quite a way to go before becoming a staple of crafting survival exploration games. That said, it’s not doing so poorly for an early-access title that was only released in February 2024.
What makesNightingalework for so many players is its mix of survival elements and aunique fantasy settingof mysterious faeries and world-hopping magic. ButNightingaleisn’t the only survival game with such a weird setting, like the Nors-inspired world ofValheim, nor does it have a monopoly on unique magic systems, whichOutwardcan rival with ease.
Outwardis an uncompromising survival action RPG set in a magical world where most dangers are surprisingly mundane. Most challenges, especially in the early game, come from the hostile environment found in the wilderness between cities. The night cold, disease, and hydration are all much more present dangers than being attacked by a monster.
That said,Outwardmight be interesting toNightingalefans because of its unique and mysterious magic. Just like inNightingale, the various magic systems present in the game seem explicitly built on top of its world. Learning new spells means understanding those systems and how they feed into the world, which seamlessly feeds into the exploration aspect of the game.
ARK: Survival Evolvedis a staple of modern crafting survival games. Originally released on Steam Early Access in 2015, it reached its full release in 2017 and was later ported to most consoles, including mobile devices. In 2023, Studio Wildcard released a remake calledARK: Survival Ascended, but fans of the original seem to still prefer the original.
All things considered,ARK: Survival Evolvedis a pretty predictable survival game. Players are stranded on a mysterious island called ARK, which is populated by a few other humans andplenty of dangerous dinosaurs. In time, players will learn to use resources to build tools, as well as tame dinosaurs and ride them into battle.
Vintage Storybegan its development as auniqueMinecraftmod, and it doesn’t take an expert to notice. The characters and items ofVintage Storyare slightly less blocky, and the animations a lot smoother, but its origins are not hard to identify. That shouldn’t be enough to write off this unique survival game.
Vintage Storydescribes itself as a wilderness survival horror game, but the emphasis is squarely on survival. Just like its main inspiration, the core of the game is world simulation, crafting, and survival mechanics such as hunger. The unsettling dark fantasy world surrounding the game is a nice bonus for those coming from the similarly weirdNightingale.
Enshroudedis a survival action RPG set in a dark fantasy world hidden in a magical fog that has corrupted the land. While this description makesEnshroudedsound like, first and foremost, a survival game, most players won’t take long before becoming well-equipped, making survival less of a struggle. Still, the crafting and RPG mechanics, together with detailed base building, make farming resources a key part of the late game, too.
Enshroudedcomes with an in-depth combat system, complete with parries, rolling dodges, and a spellcasting system. While combat is unlikely to surprise fans of dedicated action RPGs like the recentDragon’s Dogma 2, it’s certainly more intense than most other survival games.
Valheimis a survival game with an emphasis on exploration and a unique setting. Players take the role of heroes exploring a unique world inspired by Norse mythology. That said, what makesValheimunique is that those outward fantasy elements only become prominent later in the game. In this respect, the game is similar toOutward,or the more recentNightingale.
Valheimsupportsco-op with up to 10 playersbut works just as fine with one player on their lonesome. Base building would feel less grindy and harder combat scenarios would go down smoother with a group of friends, even a small one, but nothing in the game requires it.
Groundedis another survival game with a unique premise: the game’s protagonists aren’t stranded sailors or fantasy heroes; instead, players take the role of a handful of kids that somehowshrunk down to the size of an insect. The world-hopping magical setting ofNightingaleis so much of what drives the players, so it’s only natural that fans of the game would be interested in another similarly unique world.
Setting aside,Groundedis a competent and expertly crafted entry in the survival crafting genre, if a bit safe.Groundedreached its full release in 2022, leaving early access for good. However, it’s still receiving regular updates, with the latest one introducing Playgrounds, a mix of player-made maps and custom modes, not unlikeFortnite’sCreative Mode.
Sons Of The Forestis the sequel toThe Forest, a horror survival game that was originally released in Early Access in 2014 and only reached its full release in 2018. 2023’sSons Of The Forest, which left Early Access in 2024,picks up right where the original left off, continuing the story of the mysterious island and its mutant-infested underbelly.
Just like the original,Sons Of The Forestcan be played solo or in co-op with some friends. While playing with a group can be easier and more fun, the horror aspects of both games are certainly more impactful when experienced alone.
V Risingis a unique survival crafting game, for multiple reasons. For one, it’s an action RPG with a camera placed far away from the character, looking more at home in an MMORPG or a classic twin-stick shooter than a survival game.V Risingis also unique among survival games because it casts players in the role of a classic villain, a vampire hell-bent on conquering the living world.
Being avampire simulatorof sorts, survival inV Risingmeans feeding off the blood of enemies and innocent villagers, as well as avoiding the light and sticking to shadows. However, the biggest dangers are likely to come from other monstrous creatures. Thankfully,V Risinghas an appropriately detailed combat system to help handle them.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moriais exactly what it sounds like: a survival mining game set in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Specifically, the game sees a group of adventurers sneaking into the mines of Moria, deep in the Dwarves' homeland, hoping to free it of its evils, or at least get out unscathed.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moriaincludes all the staples of crafting survival games, from detailed base building and collecting resources to mining and exploration. Being set in an abandoned mine, those two aspects are especially important to the game. Mining is where the biggest treasures come from, but it’s the easiest way to wake up what evil was left in the tunnels so long ago.
At first blush,Don’t StarveandNightingaledon’t seem to have much in common with each other. One is a cartoonytop-down survival gamewhere starving to death is the most likely outcome of every run, while the other is a shooter with an emphasis on exploration where hunger soon becomes an afterthought.
WhatDon’t Starveshares with everyone’s new favorite survival fantasy FPS is a weird, rich, and creepy setting. Every character in the game is a little grotesque in their own way. Everything feels just a little bit off during the day, becoming downright scary at night. Add to that a unique magic system, and the similarities really start to pile up.
