The idea of "survival" has a curious place in the hearts of gamers. On the one hand, having to scavenge, scrape, and tactically budget resources is the most compelling, thrilling situation imaginable for human beings to find themselves in. On the other hand, survival games sometimes have a reputation for requiring hours of micromanaging and offering aimless play without the direction of a good plot.
However, some titles give players a taste of this classic "human VS the elements" theme without bogging them down with the details, offering little nibbles of survival play without leaving players hungry for an overarching story or a plethora of other deliciously satisfying game mechanics.
8 Fallout: New Vegas & Fallout 4
Both of these Fallout entries (authored by separate studios) have something different to bring to the table. While New Vegas' "Hardcore Mode" may sound intimidating to some, it is actually the way the game is meant to be played. Otherwise, unremarkable locations become valuable hotspots for refreshments or rations. The tension oh-so-sweetly rises when the player's thirst maxes out right at the bottom of an old-world ruin.
Meanwhile, Fallout 4's "Survival Mode" overlays elegantly on top of the main game's "shoot, loot, craft" gameplay loop. Saves are limited, but thankfully the game will autosave upon quitting to desktop, and the player has much more of a reason to maintain and build up a solid home base.
7 No Man’s Sky
Besides the fact that there are so many systems to take care of already in No Man's Sky, the player will often find themselves on barren alien worlds in the depths of space, which isn't a viable place to look for food or water. However, besides having to avoid environmental hazards, the game does offer a special survival mode.
Taking a cue from Minecraft, the survival mode found in No Man's Sky punishes the player upon death by removing all the items in their inventory. The game is also balanced to have fewer resources hanging around and more aggressive enemies, as one might expect to encounter in the wildest corners of space.
6 Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
Any gamer who has ever touched a Metal Gear Solid game should know that most of the series has two gameplay poles: stealth and movie-length cutscenes. That being said, each new entry finds a way innovates on the last, and this is perhaps most evident in the third game, Snake Eater. While the words "Survive" and "Metal Gear" should generally always be kept apart, this entry is a good exception.
This is a rare case in the MGS series when the title isn't a cryptic nod to some kind of "hidden in plain sight" secret. To survive, players may well find themselves eating snakes, often (and with gusto), as Naked Snake must keep his stamina meter topped up in order to heal from wounds or keep his aim straight.
5 Grounded
Obsidian seems to have a thing for including survival elements in their games. Grounded shrinks the player down and pits them against a familiar backdrop: the backyard. While there, they will have to scavenge for food, which isn't so difficult, seeing that food items are just as big as the rest of the environment (the only problem is reaching them).
Of course, there are always popped grubs, acorn bits, and cooked tadpoles if climbing is too difficult, which the player will be able to cook up with some tiny cooking equipment. Each consumable offers the player buffs depending on the type. While food is plentiful and isn't as difficult to come by as in full-blown survival games, edibles can spoil all the same.
4 Kingdom Come: Deliverance
While Kingdom Come is by no means a peasant survival simulator (which would be dreadfully depressing and drab), Warhorse Studios presumably felt compelled to add hunger mechanics in the game to give the game that little slice of medieval realism (which, of course, means having to hear the main character, Henry, complain about hunger a whole lot).
Ignore Henry for too long as his maximum stamina will start to decrease, followed by his health. There are other awful medieval survival effects to discover in Deliverance, especially in "hardcore" mode, including tapeworms, sleepwalking, and brittle bones.
3 The Outer Worlds
The most obvious theme of TheOuter Worlds is trying to survive unimpeded space capitalism. However, for players who are either looking to up the stakes, enhance their roleplay experience (or both), the game offers "supernova" difficulty, in which the player must eat, drink, and sleep (and then, prudishly, in their own bunk on the ship).
Naturally, enemies hit harder and take more hits before they go down. Unfortunately, allies can be permanently killed in battle, including through friendly fire, which would be a shame considering how much work Obsidian put into their dialogue.
2 Outward
Rather than selling itself as just another globe-spanning power fantasy, Outward makes it clear from the start that the main character is very much a nobody, then sets them out into the world to fend for themselves. It's up to the player to haul them across vast distances, watching their energy levels, temperature, hunger, and thirst.
Food can even spoil in Outward, which is important to remember as being defeated means the player character is removed from the game for days or even weeks while they recover. The developers clearly wanted to cultivate an experience that invites players to build up their long-term planning skills, get lost, and really step into the (highly mortal) shoes of the protagonist.
1 Death Stranding
Other games might ask the player to think about their character's hunger or thirst, but Death Stranding might just be the first big-name game to get the player to base their gameplay decisions around getting the protagonist to a bathroom on time.
Not only does the protagonist, Sam Bridges, need to monitor his digestive system and bladder, but successfully making it to a "safe" bathroom (Sam's private room) provides a special explosive weapon that can be used against enemies, but going outside produces an awkward "thumbs up" mushroom.