The Best Survival Games for Mac OS

Update : The Last Plague: Blight added at rank #46.
1

Palworld (2024)

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92
Review score
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early access PC Windows Mac OS Playstation 5 Xbox Series X Xbox One

Embark on a thrilling adventure in Palworld, a game that fuses the fun of creature-collecting with hardcore survival challenges! Build, battle, and bond with your Pals in a vast, dynamic world. Whether you're crafting the perfect base or exploring uncharted territories with friends, every decision carves your path to survival. Are you ready to conquer this wild, whimsical world?

Buy

What we like:
  • Unique blend of creature-collecting and survival
  • Engaging base-building with the help of Pals
  • Wide variety of Pals for strategic gameplay
  • Multiplayer mode to share the adventure
  • Expansive world full of exploration and challenges
What could be improved:
  • Combat mechanics and base management need refinement
  • Some themes and humor may not appeal to all

  • survival
  • crafting
  • open-world
  • farming
  • collector
  • creature
  • pokemon
  • boss

2

Valheim (2022)

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91
Review score
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early access Xbox One Android Mac OS Linux PC Windows Xbox Series X

Valheim is an epic, Viking-tinged survival-creation game with blocky graphics and a modern twist. You are dropped in a wild forest with runes to guide you on your mission to conjure and defeat supernatural beasts. Players must craft weapons and armor, puzzle out how to summon the beasts, and build structures for shelter along the way.

Buy

What we like:
  • Simple default building system
  • Instant rebuilding/repairing
  • Randomly generated 3D universe
  • Easy-to-read color highlights for structural integrity
  • Level up abilities by repeating actions
  • Robust physics engine underlies all actions
What could be improved:
  • Wonky battling system
  • Limited traversal over rivers and oceans at this point

  • survival
  • crafting
  • open-world
  • cooperative
  • boss
  • exploration

3

Rust (2018)

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91
Review score
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Xbox One Android PC Windows Mac OS Playstation 4

Rust is a hardcore survival game. You are pitted against other players, the environment and wild animals as you struggle to survive. With items such as storage boxes and locks, safe zones and crafting options, you can build a base of operations to take on whatever Rust throws at you.


What we like:
  • Three distinct biomes with unique flora
  • Fauna and resources
  • Crafting options to make your character more suited for the environment
  • Storage boxes and locks to protect your most valuable items
  • Safe zones that don't allow any hostile actions
What could be improved:
  • Poor graphics
  • Hard crashes
  • Constant attempts on your life by other players or wild animals

  • survival
  • crafting
  • open-world

4

Dome Keeper (2022)

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85
Review score
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PC Windows Android Linux Mac OS

Dome Keeper is a thrilling mining game that combines rogue-lite elements with intense monster battles. Excavate resources, upgrade your gear, and defend your dome against enemy attacks. With effective gameplay mechanics, a variety of resources and upgrades, and unique gadgets, Dome Keeper offers a satisfying experience.


What we like:
  • Effective gameplay mechanics
  • Variety of resources and upgrades
  • Unique gadgets for the dome
What could be improved:
  • Starting over can feel slow compared to the fast-paced gameplay

  • survival
  • rogue-like
  • time-management
  • aliens
  • management
  • wave
  • resource
  • mining
  • underground
  • resource-management
  • inventory
  • base-building
  • tower-defense
  • dark
  • post-apocalyptic

5

60 Seconds! Reatomized (2019)

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98
Review score
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PC Windows Android IOS iPhone Nintendo Switch Playstation 4 Xbox One Mac OS

60 Seconds! Reatomized is a remastered version of the original game that released back in 2015, set in the 1950s and following the McDoodle family as they try to survive a nuclear apocalypse. The game is split into two parts - scavenging for supplies where you have 60 seconds on the clock and survival mode, making decisions inside a bunker to keep the family alive. Challenge modes give an additional layer of strategic gameplay.

Buy

What we like:
  • Replayability
  • Wacky moments
  • Strategic challenge mode
  • Hand-drawn style visuals
What could be improved:
  • Clunky controls when scavenging

  • survival
  • comedy
  • choices
  • post-apocalyptic
  • dark
  • simulation
  • hand-drawn
  • text
  • adventure
  • point-and-click
  • difficult
  • outbreak
  • interactive
  • horror
  • funny

6

Subnautica: Below Zero (2019)

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90
Review score
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Playstation 4 Nintendo Switch Mac OS PC Windows Xbox One Xbox Series X Playstation 5

Plunge into the icy depths of Subnautica: Below Zero! Unravel the mystery of your sister's disappearance while braving the alien arctic. Craft, explore, and survive in a world teeming with otherworldly wonders. Each discovery propels you through a story rich with adventure and intrigue. Are you ready to uncover the secrets beneath the ice?


What we like:
  • Stunning alien underwater environments
  • Engaging narrative with a personal quest
  • Diverse biomes filled with unique creatures
  • Streamlined survival mechanics
  • Inviting to both series veterans and newcomers
What could be improved:
  • Some resources can be challenging to locate
  • Exploration may be hindered by confusing terrain

  • survival
  • underwater
  • crafting
  • exploration
  • open-world

7

Don't Starve Together (2016)

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92
Review score
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Linux Mac OS PC Windows Nintendo Switch Android Xbox One

'Don't Starve Together' is a standalone multiplayer spin-off of ' Don't Starve', a game that has had players hooked since its Early Access release. With the first expansion, 'Reign of Giants', incorporated into it, you and your friends can explore the wilds and craft items, while also fighting off shadow monsters. Experience all four seasons to get all of the content, with comprehensive world settings to customize your experience.

Buy

What we like:
  • Comprehensive world settings
  • Tonable down or remove giants
  • Shorten seasons to focus on progress over survival
  • Sustainable organic farm and spider mill for raw food year-round
  • Caves and beefalo taming added since original game's release
  • Revive players through multiple means with or without health penalty
What could be improved:
  • No Adventure Mode content from original game
  • Mouse and keyboard controls have sketchy hitboxes causing accidental deaths sometimes
  • Limited music depth & customization options for video setting

  • survival
  • crafting

8

No Man's Sky (2016)

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

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

9

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

10

Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out (2023)

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94
Review score
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Mac OS PC Windows IOS iPhone

Survive an apocalyptic world in Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out, where every decision you make shapes your clan's fate. Engage with gods, manage resources, and navigate a rich lore-filled saga. With stunning hand-drawn artwork and immersive storytelling, this game offers a unique blend of strategy and narrative gameplay.


What we like:
  • Engrossing lore
  • Unique resource management gameplay
  • Beautiful hand-drawn artwork
  • Immersive survival element
  • Excellent storytelling
What could be improved:
  • Limited access to rituals
  • Consequences of actions not always clear
  • Repetitive tasks

  • turn-based
  • choices
  • lore
  • survival
  • survival-storybook
  • strategy
  • system-driven
  • procedural
  • grand-strategy
  • socio-economy
  • stand-alone
  • narrative
  • old-school
  • simulation
  • combining

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