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Seven Crafting Survival Games to Let Your Creativity Flow
Tired of the restrictions of story-based games? Looking to set your own objectives and progress through a limitless world at your own pace? Whether it’s base-building, boss battles, or buddying up against other players, these crafting survival games are fantastic for expressing your own creativity and exploring new worlds with friends.
The seven games below are some of the best open-world crafting survival games out there, and all are available today on PC as full releases or in Early Access.
Kenshi
Kenshi does something few other games do: it gives player characters no advantage over enemies. Leveling up combat and thievery skills affords players a way to outperform some of Kenshi’s inhabitants… if you can survive that long. Life is fleeting in Kenshi, but the game’s squad-based gameplay gives the option to recruit hordes of allies to live and die by your command. The far-future post-apocalyptic world is filled with numerous factions to side with or war against and an expansive construction system allows your allies to shore up defenses with turrets, keep the masses fed with farms, and house themselves in city-sized encampments.
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The rich world-spanning story written by Natalie Mikkelson is open-ended, and gives players complete freedom to start and proceed through Kenshi any way they like. Years of dedication by indie devs Lo-Fi Games have resulted in a sandbox with more options than many AAA games. Multiple playstyles are viable, whether you prefer to be good or evil, individualistic or squad-based, isolated or engaged with local populations. No matter your preference, there are hundreds of hours of Kenshi content to explore.
Players who want a massive world, scores of troops under their command, deep lore, and total freedom of choice will enjoy Kenshi.
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/233860/Kenshi/">Buy Kenshi on Steam</a>
Conan Exiles
Conan the Barbarian’s universe spans comics, books, television, and film, but the deepest lore can arguably be found in Conan Exiles. This open world stands apart from other survival games with its cinematic battles in the Exiled Lands, hulking beasts, and breathtaking views. Explore alone, with co-op partners, or take on other players in persistent PvP servers.
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The Exiles Journey, the main quest in Conan Exiles, will guide you through the Exiled Lands – but there’s no substitute for experience. Immense deities will rip even the biggest bases to shreds and players on PvP servers can be just as ruthless. To even the odds, players can tame creatures to engage in mounted combat, or construct siege engines to take on the most formidable enemies. No matter how well you’re prepared, there’s no limit to the ferocity you’ll encounter in Conan Exiles.
Fans of the Conan universe, larger-than-life battles, and empire building will love surviving Conan Exiles.
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/440900/Conan_Exiles/">Buy Conan Exiles on Steam</a>
Rust
Multiplayer-centric Rust takes survival to the extreme, with players competing against each other for resources in an environment that kills quickly by thirst, starvation, and extreme temperatures. Rust requires connection to a multiplayer server and there’s no limit to how cutthroat other players can be. Starting a new character is already a harsh beginning as you’ll be nude and completely unequipped to deal with the hazards of the world around you. Teaming up with friends is a solid strategy, and, if you’re lucky, you can find new players who might not betray you for your hard-earned resources.
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With ongoing content updates since the game’s 2018 launch, Rust features tons of options for construction, transportation, and weaponry. You’ll need the full breadth of defenses if you build a base and expect it to remain intact by the time you rejoin the server, and even top-tier deterrents won’t stop the most relentless raiders. Of course, there’s a flip-side to all this savagery: the sick satisfaction of surviving the night on the spoils of killing another player makes the Rust world go round.
For folks who love high-stakes player-versus-player action in an unforgiving survival world, Rust is the game to play.
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/252490/Rust/">Buy Rust on Steam</a>
Terraria
There’s no better combination of combat, construction, and challenge than Terraria. On the randomly-generated world’s surface, players will discover skittish critters, tenacious enemies, and biomes ranging from cozy to terrifying. Beneath the surface, sprawling caves rife with creepy-crawlies, and even the underworld itself, offer treasure and terror. To progress through increasingly difficult depths and dangers, players will need to defeat 18 bosses to unlock new pickaxes, armor, and even more enemies.
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What this 2D game lacks in dimensions it makes up for in sheer scale. With the release of Terraria’s final expansion Journey’s End in 2020, there are now over 4,000 unique items in the world, a great number of which are extremely rare. Finding one randomly is a treat, and a treasure hunt for a specific pet or magical weapon is satisfying to complete. Are the numerous bosses, enormous world, and piles of items not enough for you? Players looking for an even bigger game will enjoy Terraria’s modding community and custom servers, which have no shortage of options for more gameplay.
Gamers who love immense worlds, side-scrolling combat, and more items than you can shake a stick at, will love exploring Terraria.
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/105600/Terraria/">Buy Terraria on Steam</a>
Valheim
The idyllic world of Valheim – set in purgatory between the living world and Valhalla – is as much a test of skill as it is an escape into a rustic way of life. Currently in Early Access, Valheim brings new depth to the survival crafting genre by making resource collection and construction mentally engaging, with tree toppling, hill sculpting, and buildings that require reinforcement and ventilation.
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Each unique procedurally-generated world is a massive archipelago filled with dangerous biomes to progress through. Boss fights worthy of Norse epic poems mark players’ progress and give access to better food, equipment, and building materials with each major enemy defeated. Skills like running, swimming, and swordfighting grow through every action your character takes and utilize a shared stamina bar. To maximize your effectiveness in combat and construction, team up with friends on a dedicated server and take on Valheim together.
If you’re into Norse mythology, homesteading, and fresh takes on crafting games, you’ll have a good time with Valheim.
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/892970/Valheim/">Buy Valheim on Steam</a>
Project Zomboid
The isometric world of Project Zomboid is unforgiving, ambitious, and completely filled with flesh-eating zombies. Set in Kentucky, the game gives players an arsenal of tools and techniques to fend off the undead, and mastering those skills is the only way to avoid becoming another shuffling zombie yourself. Simply surviving is no small feat, with cooking, cleanliness, shelter, and even characters’ mental health all key considerations. A simple cut sustained from climbing through a broken window can be deadly if left untreated.
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Project Zomboid has been available in Early Access since 2013 and has achieved sleeper-hit status, with its player count abruptly jumping to over 50,000 in late 2021. With co-op play enabled, gamers can take their friends along for a deadly ride through the apocalypse and learn the perils of Project Zomboid together.
If running from zombies and fortifying an abandoned home with friends is your idea of fun, Project Zomboid has what you’re looking for.
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/108600/Project_Zomboid/">Buy Project Zomboid on Steam</a>
ARK: Survival Evolved
ARK: Survival Evolved is the gold standard for feature-rich open world games. It touts a dozen playable maps, melee and ranged weapons, advanced technology, and dinosaurs — lots and lots of dinosaurs. Over 100 creatures can be tamed, bred, and used to fight wild beasts or other players. The taming and breeding mechanics are deep enough to be their own game, but ARK doesn’t stop there.
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Winged creatures like pteranodons add the element of flight, and aquatic dinos like plesiosaurs can explore underwater, two frontiers hardly touched by other open world survival games. Typical features of the genre are executed flawlessly as well, including severe weather cycles, modding support, and options to play alone, together, or in free-for-all worlds. The strongest will survive, so a winning strategy is joining forces with the strongest beasts you can tame.
If you’re into a mashup of dinosaurs with modern technology, and exploring open worlds by land, sea, and air, ARK: Survival Evolved is a must-play.
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/346110/ARK_Survival_Evolved/">Buy ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam</a>

Test your crafting and survival skills with our picks of the best

Seven Crafting Survival Games to Let Your Creativity Flow