The video games industry has grown into one of the biggest forms of entertainment in the world. It now competes with television and film in both sales and artistic quality. While most well-known developers are based in the USA or Japan, the industry is nevertheless a worldwide creative entity.

Related

Open-World Games With The Best World Boss Battles, Ranked

These open-world games have a few surprises up their sleeves, which include challenging enemy encounters in their expansive environments.

In recent years, Eastern European developers have grown in number and exposure, creating some of the best AAA and indie games on the market. Coming primarily from Russia and Poland, these games present amazing worlds filled with creativity and depth. Often touching on themes of war and politics, these games have become critical hits, successful franchises, and indie classics.

8 Pathologic 2

Explore A Desolate and Mysterious Town Suffering From a Deadly Outbreak

• Country of Origin: Russia
• Metascore: 70

This atmospheric RPG horror game was originally a remake of the cult 2005 classic Pathologic but would grow in scope, becoming its own game. Pathologic 2 follows the story of Artemy Burakh, a surgeon who returns to his hometown to find his father has died. The game is played over several days as the town slowly succumbs to a mysterious plague, which the player attempts to stop. The in-game time continues, regardless if missions are completed or not.

Related

Best Survival Game From Every Year of the 2010s

The 2010s marked a great decade for survival games, with each year putting out some incredible titles.

Pathologic 2 is filled with a bleak atmosphere, with a strange surrealism running through the game. The town is split into different sectors, with each section’s status changing with the player’s actions. The setting is desolate and creates a constant sense of tension throughout. Pathologic 2 is a cult favorite among many and is a unique and memorable survival RPG that fans of horror games will love.

7 Dying Light

Explore A City Overrun With the Undead

• Country of Origin: Poland
• Metascore: 74

Dying Light is an open-world first-person action game that promotes exploration and parkour. In the game, players are dropped into the fictional city of Harran to infiltrate the remaining population and retrieve sensitive stolen files. The city is overrun with zombies and has been strictly quarantined from the rest of the country. Players soon find themselves mixed up with the warring factions while trying to survive the ever-present threat of the undead.

In Dying Light, players explore a vast city, craft and upgrade weapons, learn new skills, and defeat terrifying monsters. During the day, players can explore freely, avoiding enemies, while jumping from rooftop to rooftop. During the night, though, the most dangerous, near-unkillable enemies emerge. Dying Light is a fun action horror game with a vibrant and challenging open-world setting that will appeal to fans of FPS shooters and survival horror games.

6 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Explore and Survive the Mysterious Exclusion Zone

• Country of Origin: Ukraine
• Metascore: 82

This highly atmospheric stealth survival shooter became a cult classic among gamers. Loosely based on the 1972 Novella, Roadside Picnic, the game presents an alternate reality where the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has become a mysterious and otherworldly place.

Players control a man suffering from amnesia, known as The Marked One. His task is to venture into the zone to kill someone named Strelok. The game blends FPS, survival, and RPG mechanics, creating a game filled with depth and immersion. While S.T.A.L.K.E.R received mixed reviews on release, partly due to the many bugs in the game, it has since grown into an influential survival open-world title that has produced multiple sequels, including one set to launch in September 2024.

5 This War Of Mine

Experience War Through The Lives Of Civilians

• Country of Origin: Poland
• Metascore: 83

Inspired by the real-life siege of Sarajevo, This War of Mine is a powerful survival game that follows the struggles of civilians living within the ruins of a war-torn city. In the game, players control a group of survivors living in a damaged house and must keep them alive until a ceasefire is called. Exploring is only possible at night when it is safe enough to emerge outside. Here, the player can gather materials and interact with NPCs.

Related

10 Best War Games For Fans Of Single-Player, Ranked

Fans who enjoy playing war games by themselves will find plenty to occupy their time with the following examples.

During the day, players can upgrade and craft different tools, trade items, cook food, and heal the group of survivors. This War of Mine was critically acclaimed on release and would go on to sell millions of copies. It was highly praised for its dark and gritty gameplay depicting civilian life during wartime.

4 Frostpunk

Build A Vast City in The Snow

• Country of Origin: Poland
• Metascore: 84

This city-builder survival game places players in an alternate history, where the world has been plunged into a volcanic winter. Set in the late 19th century, the player controls a small colony of survivors as they struggle to survive against the deadly cold. Players are tasked with managing the resources and workforce of the growing settlement and can introduce laws to boost productivity, such as child labor or capital punishment.

Everything from food and healthcare, to work and housing must be managed in the game, with political unrest rising when these needs are not met. Frostpunk is a unique survival game that offers players strong political dilemmas, challenging gameplay, and a bleak setting. Fans of both survival and city-builder games will love this addictive gaming experience, where player decisions have lasting consequences on the world.

3 Metro: 2033 Redux

Survive The Underground of Post-Apocalyptic Moscow

• Country of Origin: Ukraine
• Metascore: 90

Based on the novel by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro 2033 is set within the ruins of nuclear-decimated Moscow, where the remaining survivors are forced to live underground in the metro system. The game follows Artyom, who is tasked with saving his home station from the various enemies that lurk in the darkness of the tunnels.

Metro 2033 is primarily a first-person shooter that uses survival horror elements to create an immersive gaming experience. The game would become a cult classic that was eventually remastered as Metro: 2033 Redux and included the first and second games in the series. On release, this superior version was critically praised for its enhanced gameplay, graphics, and atmosphere.

2 Disco Elysium

Delve Into the Mind Of A Downtrodden Detective

• Country of Origin: Estonia
• Metascore: 91

Disco Elysium is described as a non-traditional role-playing game, where players take control of an alcoholic detective suffering from amnesia. As the player works to solve a murder case, the world and history of the detective are slowly revealed. The game has no true combat system, with all interactions played out via a dialogue tree or skill checks. The success of these checks is dictated by the various character abilities; Intellect, Psyche, Physique, and Motorics.

Related

Best RPG From Every Year In The 90s

The 1990s were the decade when RPGs became mainstream. With so many great games releasing around that time, these RPGs rose to the top of the pile.

The game was written and developed by Estonian novelist Robert Kurvitz, who created the in-depth history of the world partly using the Marxist theory of Historical Materialism. The game was universally acclaimed on release for its signature art style, in-depth character customization, deep storytelling, and freedom. It is often cited as one of the best video games ever made.

1 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Explore a Vast Fantasy World Hunting Dangerous Monsters

• Country of Origin: Poland
• Metascore: 92

The Witcher franchise has steadily grown to become one of the most well-regarded fantasy settings in modern entertainment. Beginning with the original novel series by Andrzej Sapkowski, the series follows the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter for hire. The game series based on these novels would grow with each release, with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt becoming CD Projekt Red's biggest success.

The Witcher 3 is an expansive open-world game that follows Geralt’s quest to find his long-lost ward, Ciri. The game is filled with political intrigue, warring factions, dangerous criminals, and roaming monsters. The quests from the smallest side job to the large-scale story missions feel fun and immersive. The Witcher 3 is a masterclass in open-world game design and is largely considered one of the best games ever made.

More

Best Survival Game From Every Year Of The 2000s

Survival games are a mainstay in modern gaming today, but back in the 2000s, the genre was just starting to come into being through these great games.