[Top 15] Best Indie Survival Horror Games

Updated:

20 Aug 2021

Do you like games where you run away from a pack of wolves with barely any HP left? Do you like games where you can either freeze to death or watch your skin melt off due to acidic rains? Great, I’d like to introduce to you some of the best indie games out there that you can find mostly on Steam and other gaming platforms!

Games listed in this article will focus on either realism or Sci-Fi elements, due to these games being indie I won’t mention their graphics cuz they are sh-I mean indie! But anyway, let’s get to it and start with our first game:

15. Going Medieval

It’s also worth noting that it’s easier than Rimworld, I’m getting a feeling that this game was designed for more casual players, and to be honest, that’s a good thing - I’m sick of tryharding instead of having fun! So what you’re waiting for? Build your settlement today and look after your folk, like the good kind you are!

14. Dust to the End

Ruskies and Americans couldn’t get along with each other and decided to start a nuclear war. Thanks, you pricks! Now you’re forced to wander around the scorched wastelands of the former civilization that you were once part of and choose your own destiny in this inhumane landscape - it’s up to you whether you want to loot, scavenge, be diplomatic, fight or maybe even… raid innocent people? Like I said, you can be whoever you wish in this game, whether good or evil.

13. Among Trees

One of a few things that this game is good at is the immersion and fancy cartoonish graphics, you’re gonna fall in love with the sounds of flowing rivers, chirping birds, leaves rustling, and many silly things like this that make this game pretty big.

It offers explorative/building gameplay, you’ll be able to build yourself a house to reside in and generally feel relaxed while playing this game - till you encounter a bear, that almost made me poop my pants!

12. The Long Dark

You’re stranded in some freezing hellhole, with wolves in every corner and a highly inhospitable environment, with little to no places to take shelter in. So, you can expect shortages of water, food, threats from the elements, and plenty of animals that you can either eat or can get eaten by. Look out for the bears, you won’t survive very long when wrestling with them!

Graphics are cartoonish, but simple and pretty, in terms of gameplay, this game proved to be quite a challenge for me, I died plenty of times in the early phases of the game, but with time I’ve learned how to play this game and reduced the number of close encounters with predatory wildlife!

11. Frostpunk

The world became cold. Cold to the point where the remnants of humanity have to bunch up together and serve their supreme leader that is you - it’s up to you whether you want to be a good, caring leader or an evil, despicable dictator, that will either treat their citizens with care, curing their sicknesses, or leave them to die from hypothermia - lovely game!

Besides governing, you can also build your city in a circular fashion, the center of your city being the heat generator, which is the only reason why you can keep on pushing in this miserable, treacherous, cold place that you call home!

10. This War of Mine

We always play as soldiers in war games, but we never get put in the shoes of a random civilian - this game will do exactly that, you’ll be stuck in a house full of survivors you barely know, most people are hungry or sick, you’ll be forced to venture outside for supplies, risking your head getting shot off by a sniper or another combatant.

The game is sad and you’ll encounter scenes that involve death, hunger, suicide, and misery - for a 2D game, this one is pretty deep!

9. Don't Starve Together

This game will make you cry and that’s the point, with its steep learning curve and unforgiving nature that will prey on every decision that you take, you will either overcome hardships this game has to offer or right-click on this game and uninstall

8. Chernobylite

Fallout 4 had a baby with Stalker and these are the results - Chernobylite will take you into the world of post-apocalyptic Ukraine, filled with evil survivors and even more evil mutants that will gladly chew on your corpse!

The game is a bit underrated and I can’t seem to understand why, the plot is enjoyable, the combat is smooth and the gameplay seems fun as heck, you can interact with other characters and find out about them and discover dark secrets of your own past as you progress into this game!

7. Green Hell

Welcome to the jungle, we’ve got fun and games - until you play Green Hell, this game will most definitely make your jaw drop with its surreal graphics and an easy-to-learn crafting system, but you wanna know what’s also easy about this game? Dying - 1 wrong step and you might get bit by a snake, fall down and injure yourself, you can even die on the first day by drinking some funny water - this game is all about dying!

This game also has a 4 player co-op, so what you’re waiting for? Drink your own sweat and proceed to die 5000 times in the span of an hour - what a great game, try it out!

6. Ark: Survival Evolved

This game is about survival on an island filled with dinosaurs - that alone already decreases your lifespan by at least 50 years, but with enough luck, you’ll be able to build your own little cute house, farm your crops, perhaps even adopt a dinosaur - or kill one, if you’re a heartless bastard! The game can be challenging to some players, you literally wake up in the middle of nowhere with no clothes and hungry as hell - you’ll be forced to kill little dinosaurs to survive. How cruel can this game get?
Besides that It has a multiplayer, so you can be naked with your buddies and engage in combat with other dinosaurs. While still being naked!

5. Rust

Another game where you’ll start with nothing but your naked body. Goddamn exhibitionist! Anyways, the first weapon that you’ll probably acquire is a rock, don’t expect to deal too much damage with that, it’s still advisable to avoid other players and use it as a last resort weapon. Then you’ll advance to bows and spears, still primitive, but at least now you have slight chances of killing somebody. With more time you spend in this game, you’ll get assault rifles, build your own base and get some goddamn clothes.

The game is popular as always, create your own community of either highly-trained killers or naked lunatics with rocks. Up to you!

4. Subnautica: Below Zero

You ever played Subnautica? If you did not, you don’t know what a Leviathan is, but I assure you that when you eventually find out what it is, you’ll crap your pants! Subnautica is a survival game that takes place on an alien, oceanic planet where you’ll explore the depths of the waters - you might encounter wrecks, blueprints, friendly fishes, or unfriendly fishes that won’t hesitate to consume you.

The game is a bit more noob-friendly and linear than its predecessor, its biggest plus is the amount of new additional things that you can build. It’s also less scary than the previous part, whether you consider this a plus or not, it’s up to you!

3. No Man’s Sky

I remember this game getting plenty of hate when it came out, people were rabid about unfulfilled promises, the game being lackluster and lacking replayability - after a couple of years, multiple updates, I have to say that this game has redeemed itself.

You can play with your buddies and explore an infinite amount of planets throughout your journey, build bases and discover new creatures that you can slaughter in diverse biomes, acquire blueprints, use teleports, and interact with various NPC’s - this game has been resurrected and was born hard again!

2. Kenshi

I have 500 hours into this game, the first time I have ever played this game was in March of 2020. I started as a slave, the first time I tried to escape the Rebirth, I almost got beaten to death by Paladins from the Holy Nation and got thrown into a cage. The second character that I started with tried to escape but encountered a couple of red spiders that violently dismembered him and ate him alive. At this point, I was completely alone and couldn’t escape without getting beaten to death, so I did what I was forced to - physical labor, but with growing desperation, I grew sick of it and started training my lockpicking skills and practicing my stealth, everything at night, of course. The time has come, my lockpicking was at a 70th level and my sneaking was at an 80th level. I freed as many humans, Sheks, Hives as I could - some of them followed, some of them were too scared and refused to leave their cells - I climbed on the steep roads of Rebirth towards a gate that was guarded by Holy Nation Paladins:

One of my followers was spotted and swiftly murdered by a Paladin, the other followers tried to put up a fight, but we stood no chance - out of a group of 6 slaves, only I managed to escape. With no clue what to do, I think the best idea is to head north now. It should be safer there…

Took me 3-4 hours to figure out how to escape the Rebirth. And Rebirth is just a microscopic fragment of this game’s map, with plenty of different races, terrains, hostile creatures, different cultures, and the practice of slavery. Welcome to Kenshi!

1. Minecraft

I mean… this game had to be included, I remember playing it back in 2011, back in times where I would make a dirt hut and be proud of myself. Then I would make small, wooden houses that would get lit up by random lightning, then I’d make castles with high walls and towers. I’d begin experimenting with redstone and make automated doors, staircases, secret entrances, and plenty of other crazy things that you can pull off by the use of redstone. Besides building, you can also explore various villages, jungle temples, caves, biomes(deserts, jungles, forests, plains, even a mushroom biome!).

This game is a perfect example of a sandbox game, but it also has a storyline that you can finish, besides that you can unlock achievements, gather resources that you can use for your bases or your character. Hands-down, one of the best indie games that were ever created in the past decade!