10 Upcoming Survival Games To Add To Your Wishlist – Survive New Worlds

While 2023 wasn’t the biggest year for survival games, it saw some great releases like Sons of the Forest, The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, and some expansions for hits like Valheim and V Rising. These titles offered some new experiences that kept the genre alive, but 2024 has some new survival games that aim to push the survival crafting genre to new heights.

Grab your stone axe, survivors; it’s time to see what 2024 has in store for us.

Selection Criteria

The survival crafting genre can be a minefield when it comes to great games and asset flips. It’s one of the easier genres for entry-level gamers to try out and release mediocre games. So, to try and bring attention to the upcoming survival games worth your attention, we’ll keep the following criteria in mind.

• All games must fall under the survival crafting genre.
• All games must have a loose release date for 2024.
• All games must look original and polished rather than being an asset flip.

Let’s take a look at the upcoming survival games for 2024 that meet the mark.

10. Fractured Veil

• Developer: Paddle Creek Games
• Platform: PC
• Release Date: January 18, 2024

Most survival games take players to unknown islands or unnamed forests. Fractured Veil aims to take us to Hawaii. However, this Hawaii has been transformed after years of technological ravaging. Its inhabitants try to keep the Aloha lifestyle alive and well, but threats are lurking across the island.

Mutants, in particular, threaten to attack you and your base at any moment. You’ll need to work together with friends to fend them off. Speaking of bases, the game offers excellent freedom with its building mechanics. You can make temples, pyramids, or your own ocean-side getaway.

There’s lots of content to enjoy, too. Fractured Veil will have quests to complete, dungeons to explore, and a thorough ability and skill system to develop. It feels like the game is leaning towards a survival RPG genre, so players will have lots to do when it releases on January 18th, 2024.

9. Palworld

• Developer: Pocketpair
• Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC
• Release Date: January 2024

You’ll be fighting a different kind of mutant in Palworld. Fans of Pokemon will find the premise all too familiar. You live in a world where adorable creatures roam and go about living their lives. And then come humans to beat them up, capture them, and then force them to do their bidding.

Palworld is like Pokemon but more brutal. You’ll see Pals eat each other out in the wild, humans use them for slavery, and force them to fight other Pals to add them to the family. It’s a dog-eat-dog world.

Despite the harshness, Palworld is a survival game at heart with a bit of cozy farm sim thrown in, too. Your Pals can help farm, run factories, and even serve as a mount to make traveling across the map easier. You’re also able to breed them and form even stronger Pals.

You’ll need stronger Pals, too, to explore the dungeons scattered throughout the world. If you’re feeling lonely, bring some friends to explore them with you. You’ll have tons of Pals to befriend when the game comes out sometime in January 2024.

8. Pacific Drive

• Developer: Ironwood Studio
• Platforms: PS5, PC
• Release Date: February 22nd, 2024

You may be longing for the friend-filled world of Palworld when you start exploring Pacific Drive. Your only companion is your beat-up car close to the end of its days. And if your car dies, then the chances of you surviving are very slim.

Pacific Drive is a unique survival game that sees you driving around the Pacific following a supernatural attack on the world. And the threat is still out there. You’ll have to venture out of your car now and then to locate resources to upgrade your vehicle for more challenging journeys.

This is the kind of unique spin on the genre we’re excited to see. Get ready to start your engines because Pacific Drive comes out on February 22nd, 2024.

7. Winter Survival

• Developer: Drago Entertainment
• Platform: PC
• Release Date: February 28, 2024

Loneliness is also a central part of Winter Survival. Although its name could use a little work, it aptly describes what you can expect. After finding yourself alone in a wintery forest and abandoned by your friends, you must survive the frigid temperatures to try and reunite with them.

While the game sounds like something close to The Long Dark, it offers some unique mechanics that make it stand out. For one, it has a sanity system similar to Green Hell. If you become too crazy, you’ll start to hallucinate and see danger all around you.

There are real dangers, too. Aside from freezing to death, you’ll have to stay fed and watered, and several animals are out there looking to make you their next meal. One of the most threatening is a giant grizzly bear that stalks you throughout the game.

You can also discover remnants of those who lived in the area before. So, if you like your survival game mixed with a bit of exploration and discovery, you should look for Winter Survival when it releases on February 28, 2024.

6. Honeycomb: The World Beyond

• Developer: Frozen Way
• Platforms: PS5, PC, Xbox Series X
• Release Date: Q3 2024

Not every creature you encounter in a survival game is out to get you. Honeycomb: The World Beyond seems to focus on the cute and cuddly. You play as a bioengineer who travels to a new planet, intent on discovering new life.

Besides documenting new life, you’ll also be able to create it. You can breed different animals and plants together to create entirely new species. As your research grows, you can expand your base and create new gadgets.

There are dangers out there, too, but Honeycomb gives me more “cozy survival game” vibes than something as harsh as Winter Survival. If that sounds like more of your style, keep an eye out for the game to land sometime in the latter half of 2024.

5. Once Human

• Developer: NetEase
• Platform: PC
• Release Date: Q3 2024

Another game coming out in the latter half of 2024 is Once Human, and it’s anything but cute and cuddly. You find yourself one of the few survivors following an alien takeover. The alien’s influence now corrupts people, animals, and even objects.

Surviving in this world isn’t easy as a result. Even something like eating can bite you in the butt later. Food is scarce, so you’ll have to decide whether it’s worth consuming corrupted food and facing the consequences or going hungry a bit longer.

You don’t have to face these challenges alone, however. You can team up with friends to build bases, survive, and fight enemies. There are even some boss dungeons that will test the might of your skills and the quality of your weapons.

It’s a dangerous world out there, so you’ll want to watch your step. Otherwise, you might stumble into a fight you can’t win.

4. Aloft

• Developer: Astrolabe Interactive Inc.
• Platform: PC
• Release Date: 2024

If you were a fan of Raft, then keep an eye on Aloft. It has similar gameplay in that you take to the skies to locate new, floating, islands. You’ll need to find these islands to take its resources and further build up your own island.

Oh, and you can eventually drive your floating island around via sails and a helm, too. You’ll trade a raft for a glider, which allows you to visit nearby islands. But not every island you encounter is safe. Some harbor corrupted fungi that are slowly spreading from island to island.

The act of gliding and flying from island to island seems enjoyable, and the fact that you never know what each island will hold is also exciting. Even better, you can play this game sometime in 2024 with up to eight friends.

3. Ark 2

• Developer: Studio Wildcard
• Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X, PC
• Release Date: 2024

When Ark: Survival Evolved was first released, it transformed the survival crafting genre. It introduced elements like taming and using creatures to further the survival experience. Ark 2 hopes to do the same thing. Set in a new world, players will find themselves in a war between dinosaurs and human survivors.

One of the most exciting elements of Ark 2 is its introduction of NPCs. Vin Diesel, for example, will be playing a character that players can regularly interact with. Yet, not all NPCs will be friendly. Introducing non-friendly NPCs will likely transform Ark’s PVE servers, which sometimes feel lacking.

Wildcard promises a lot with its games, so we’ll have to see how the game actually performs sometime in 2024. Although, knowing Wildcard, it’s much more likely we’ll see the game in early 2025.

2. Enshrouded

• Developer: Keen Games GmbH
• Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X, PC
• Release Date: January 24th, 2024

One of the most anticipated survival games of 2024 will be released in just a few weeks. Enshrouded may help push the survival crafting genre into a new direction. You play as a Flameborn, enabling you to use magic and fight across the world.

And you’re likely going to do a lot of fighting, too. The world has been under siege from a mysterious and deadly entity called the Corrupting Fog. You’ll need to avoid it or brave it to restore the Kingdom.

While the lore and story seem interesting, Enshrouded also brings Voxel-based building to the survival genre. You can build anywhere, on anything, and aren’t limited to the typical building restrictions of other games. I’m looking forward to the unique bases and buildings players make.

You can also have an extensive collection of people playing on the same server. It supports up to 16-player co-op, so all your friends can unite and fight the Corrupting Fog to reclaim what was once lost.

1. Nightingale

• Developer: Inflexion Games
• Platform: PC
• Release Date: February 22nd, 2024

Topping the list is the most anticipated survival game of 2024. Nightingale. The game mixes steampunk with Germanic folklore uniquely while promising some new mechanics yet to be used in a survival game.

For example, one of its core gameplay features is using Realm Cards, which players can use to create new worlds to explore for resources. Each card can influence the world by determining its weather patterns, the type of creatures that live there, and other elements.

You’ll also run into several NPCs that exist throughout the various worlds. Your actions will determine whether they help you in the future or become your mortal enemy. A giant, for example, might end up stomping your base if you end up making him angry.

There’s a story behind Nightingale, too, which can help keep the game interesting. You’re a wayward traveler trying to escape from your dying world to the last bastion of hope–Nightingale. Your journey to get there, however, will be full of surprises and fun.

I’ll be among the first to grab my Victorian umbrella and jump into Nightingale when it releases on February 22nd, 2024.

FAQ

A Great Time To Be A Survival Game Enthusiast

There’s no question that 2024 is shaping up to be a great year for survival games. Nightingale, Enshrouded, and Once Human alone can potentially carry players through unto the next year and even, perhaps, beyond that. So, ready your stone axes, grab some berries, and get ready to explore some new worlds. Because the survival crafting genre won’t be the same after 2024.

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