The Best Survival sandbox Games for Mac OS

Update : Honeycomb: The World Beyond added at rank #36.
1

Terraria (2011)

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97
Review score
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Android Xbox One Xbox 360 Windows Phone / Windows 10 Mobile wii u vita Playstation 4 Playstation 3 PC Windows Nintendo Switch Nintendo 3DS Mac OS Linux IOS iPhone stadia

Terraria is an addictive, systems-heavy, 2D sandbox-survival game that offers exploration, crafting, and combat, where you must defeat enemies and gather resources to build increasingly powerful weapons, armor and housing for NPCs. With pixelated visuals, great controls, and sound, Terraria provides hours of entertainment and is a must-have for Minecraft fans looking for something different in this genre.


What we like:
  • Addictive gameplay
  • Pixelated 2D sprites that are beautifully designed
  • Complex systems-heavy gameplay
  • The game has a purpose to serve with the housing of NPCs
  • Great and responsive controls
What could be improved:
  • The game has too many shortcuts and menus, which may overwhelm new players
  • Not a lot of screen space on small touch-screen devices

  • crafting
  • sandbox
  • survival
  • boss
  • inventory
  • 2d
  • pixel
  • multiplayer
  • adventure
  • open-world
  • platform
  • exploration
  • cooperative
  • zombies

2

No Man's Sky (2016)

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89
Review score
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psvr Android Mac OS Playstation 5 Xbox One Playstation 4 PC Windows Xbox Series X osvr Nintendo Switch

No Man's Sky is a massive universe-sim sandbox experience that lets you explore an infinite number of planets with unique lifeforms and environments. Upgrade your ship and suit for survival and choose your own path - whether you want to be a trader, fighter, or explorer. The game offers great graphics and good VR support with the ability to play with friends and share your discoveries.


What we like:
  • Deliver on promises
  • Great graphics
  • Cross-play enabled
  • Good VR support
What could be improved:
  • Some bugs present
  • Not challenging enough
  • No co-op progression

  • inventory
  • survival
  • exploration
  • sci-fi
  • crafting
  • pirates
  • resource
  • discovery
  • aliens
  • trading
  • multiplayer
  • space
  • sandbox
  • open-world
  • management

3

TerraTech (2018)

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90
Review score
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PC Windows Nintendo Switch Playstation 4 Xbox One Mac OS Linux

TerraTech is the perfect game for creative kids who love to build their own vehicles and explore a randomly generated world. Construct powerful machines, bases, and weapons to defend against rival miners, gather resources, and improve your standing with the Mining Corporations. Explore treacherous mountain ranges, luscious grasslands, and huge deserts while building and creating your own unique style. The gameplay is fun and intuitive, and the simplistic graphics don't require high-end hardware.


What we like:
  • Fun and intuitive gameplay
  • Creative freedom with lots of room for your own style
  • Enticing game with interesting mechanics
  • Simplistic graphics don't require high-end hardware
  • Provides a unique and addictive experience
What could be improved:
  • Feels empty with repetitive fetch quests
  • Lack of big updates
  • Multiplayer needs a lot of work

  • sandbox
  • building
  • crafting
  • open-world
  • construction
  • vehicle
  • survival
  • robots
  • physics
  • early-access
  • exploration
  • funny-looking
  • online
  • vehicles

4

Project Zomboid (2013)

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93
Review score
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early access PC Windows Linux Mac OS Android

Project Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customisable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..


  • survival
  • zombies
  • sandbox
  • crafting

5

Aground (2018)

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93
Review score
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Linux Mac OS PC Windows Xbox One

Aground is a Mining/Crafting RPG with a goal, story, and reason to craft and build. The gameplay is simple, but engaging with tons of features. In Aground, you can raise dragons and launch into space, fight enemies, discover magic, and explore secrets. If you're into crafting games with a lot of exploration, Aground is a thoroughly addictive game with plenty to discover.


What we like:
  • Story is interesting and allows for a lot of exploration
  • Crafting is solid and varied
  • Mod support and community are helpful
  • Gameplay is engaging and controls are good
  • Freedom to choose which islands to visit and play at your own pace.
What could be improved:
  • Item storage can be tedious and requiring a lot of trips
  • Low-resolution graphics may take some getting used to
  • Lack of personal relationships with NPCs
  • Basic tutorial and sometimes requires use of outside resources for guidance.

  • survival
  • crafting
  • dragon
  • mining
  • open-world
  • base-building
  • city-building
  • building
  • post-apocalyptic
  • exploration
  • sandbox
  • 2d
  • choices
  • management
  • story

6

Oxygen Not Included (2019)

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96
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS Linux

Oxygen Not Included is an innovative and unique colony-building game in which you control a crew of duplicants who start beneath the surface of a procedurally generated asteroid with nothing more than a ration box and cloning device. With its childlike art style and humour, Oxygen Not Included looks like less of a space simulator and more like The Sims in space, but don't let that fool you - it's brimming with complexity and depth.

Buy

What we like:
  • Child-friendly art style
  • Complexity and depth
  • Humor
  • Procedurally generated asteroid
  • Experimenting with contraptions
  • Retconning decisions
What could be improved:
  • Frame rate drops at the start of each cycle
  • AI occasionally getting confused

  • survival
  • simulation
  • colony
  • resource-management
  • base-building
  • management
  • sandbox
  • space

7

Necesse (2019)

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94
Review score
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early access Linux Mac OS PC Windows

Necesse is an open-world, top-down sandbox game with a huge amount of potential. Explore procedurally generated islands, build towns, recruit settlers and complete quests - either on your own or with friends. There are forest, snow, swamp and desert biomes to discover as well as mobs and boss battles to fight. The crafting recipes are intuitive and the base building is fun and easy to learn.

Buy

What we like:
  • Procedurally generated world of islands
  • Mobs to fight
  • Boss battles
  • Intuitive crafting recipes
  • Base building system
  • Online multiplayer
What could be improved:
  • Not much verticality in the build system yet
  • Minimal cosmetic changes for builds
  • Some bullet hell elements during boss fights

  • crafting
  • survival
  • open-world
  • cooperative
  • colony
  • building
  • sandbox
  • pixel
  • exploration
  • survival-craft
  • replay-value
  • 2d
  • multiplayer
  • farming
  • online

8

Creativerse (2017)

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78
Review score
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PC Windows Mac OS

A sandbox adventure game as big as your imagination.

Buy

  • sandbox
  • crafting
  • voxel
  • survival
  • open-world
  • building
  • cooperative
  • exploration
  • multiplayer
  • family-friendly
  • action-adventure
  • third-person
  • block

9

RimWorld (2018)

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97
Review score
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Mac OS Xbox One PC Windows Linux

RimWorld is a life simulator and management game set in a remote planet in the distant future. It features a unique character generation system to create complex personalities with flaws, drives and needs, as well as a story generator that creates unexpected scenarios for players to face.


What we like:
  • Unique character generation system
  • Story generator creates unpredictable scenarios
  • Tons of mods for everything
  • Includes interaction bubbles to show interactions as they happen
What could be improved:
  • Unintuitive UI
  • Busy work tasks can be tedious

  • colony
  • simulation
  • survival
  • base-building
  • farming
  • pirates
  • sci-fi
  • sandbox
  • management

10

Terminus: Zombie Survivors (2021)

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95
Review score
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Mac OS PC Windows

Terminus: Zombie Survivors is a 2D turn-based survival roguelike set during a zombie apocalypse. Each journey is unique, and every decision can mean the difference between life and death. Can you brave hunger, cold, and the undead in order to reach the Terminus and find salvation?

Buy

  • turn-based
  • survival
  • crafting
  • zombies
  • open-world
  • rogue-like
  • sandbox
  • strategy
  • post-apocalyptic
  • gore
  • pixel
  • horror

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