Best single-player survival games: 9 built for one player
These are the best single-player survival games that are built for one player from the start. None of them has a co-op mode on its Steam store page. Each entry says what you survive, how the game works, and why it works well alone.
Why "built for one player" matters
Many survival games are multiplayer games that also let you play alone. Their worlds, bosses, and chores are often balanced for a group. When you play them alone, some parts can feel too large for one person.
A game that is built for one player can do other things. It can tell a story around one survivor. It can control the tension, because it knows that nobody else will come to help. And it can let you stop, think, and plan at your own speed.
The threats at a glance
| Game | Setting | Main threat |
|---|---|---|
| Route 48 | Procedural roads and towns | Infected, armed survivors |
| The Long Dark | Canadian wilderness | Cold, hunger, wildlife |
| Subnautica | Alien ocean | Depth, oxygen, predators |
| Darkwood | A strange forest | Creatures at night |
| NEO Scavenger | Ruined Michigan | Wounds, cold, hunger |
| Pacific Drive | Olympic Exclusion Zone | Anomalies, storms |
| Don't Starve | Random wilderness | Hunger, sanity, monsters |
| Kenshi | Huge sandbox world | Factions, injuries |
| The Flame in the Flood | Procedural river | Wildlife, weather, illness |
| Chernobylite | Chernobyl Exclusion Zone | Low supplies, enemies |
Route 48 (our game)
Full disclosure: we made Route 48, so we put it first.
Developer: HOLY STUDIOS. Released: 2026, Early Access. Players: Single-player.
Route 48 is single-player only. You drive into a procedurally generated world, scavenge for fuel and parts, and repair your car. A broken vehicle can mean the end of your journey. You fight the infected and armed survivors in first person, and you decide when to get back on the road. It is in Early Access on Steam now.
The Long Dark
Developer: Hinterland Studio. Released: 2017. Players: Single-player.
The Long Dark puts you in the Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic disaster. It is a first-person game with no zombies. You manage body heat, calories, thirst, and fatigue, and every action costs calories. Wolves, bears, and other animals can hunt you.
Survival mode is a sandbox where, by default, death deletes your save. WINTERMUTE is a story mode in episodes, with no permadeath.
Why it works alone: there are no other players and no zombies, so the cold and the silence become the enemy.
Subnautica
Developer: Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Released: 2018 (Early Access from 2014). Players: Single-player.
After your ship, the Aurora, crashes, you must survive on an alien ocean planet. You find water and food, craft tools, and build bases and submarines. Oxygen limits each dive, and predators come out at night.
The game has no lethal guns. You survive with tools, vehicles, and care.
Why it works alone: the story follows one survivor, so you discover the secrets of the planet by yourself.
Darkwood
Developer: Acid Wizard Studio. Released: 2017. Players: Single-player.
Darkwood is a top-down survival horror game in a strange forest. By day, you explore, gather resources, and craft weapons and traps. At night, you barricade your hideout, keep a generator fueled, and survive the creatures outside.
The world layout changes between playthroughs, and there are no quest markers. Nightmare difficulty adds permadeath.
Why it works alone: the horror is slow and has no jump scares. The fear grows over time.
NEO Scavenger
Developer: Blue Bottle Games. Released: 2014. Players: Single-player.
NEO Scavenger is a turn-based survival game on a hex map of a ruined, near-future Michigan. Line of sight, elevation, and daylight all matter. Each wound has a location, it can bleed or get infected, and the game also tracks hunger, thirst, fatigue, and cold.
You craft with substitutes, such as a rifle scope from binoculars. Death is permanent, and the game deletes your save.
Why it works alone: each turn is a decision, and you can save and quit at any time.
Pacific Drive
Developer: Ironwood Studios. Released: 2024. Players: Single-player.
Pacific Drive is a first-person driving survival game in the Olympic Exclusion Zone. Your old station wagon is your only companion. You repair it with putty, a blowtorch, or new parts, and you upgrade it in your garage.
Each trip into the Zone has different weather and landscapes, and a Zone Storm forces you to leave in time.
Why it works alone: the bond between you and one car is the core of the game. See games like Pacific Drive for more.
Don't Starve
Developer: Klei Entertainment. Released: 2013. Players: Single-player.
You play Wilson, a scientist that a demon sends into a strange wilderness. You gather, craft, farm, and fight to stay alive. Hunger, health, and sanity are your three meters, and the seasons change the length of day and night.
The world is randomly generated, and death is permanent, except for a few rare items.
Why it works alone: the original game is single-player. Klei made the multiplayer version, Don't Starve Together, as a separate game.
Kenshi
Developer: Lo-Fi Games. Released: 2018. Players: Single-player.
Kenshi is a sandbox RPG in a huge post-apocalyptic world. You start with no special powers, and you grow a squad over time. Each body part has its own health, and skills improve when you use them.
Factions rise and fall whether you take part or not. You can trade, build an outpost, or fight.
Why it works alone: there is no main story, so the story is the one that you make.
The Flame in the Flood
Developer: The Molasses Flood. Released: 2016. Players: Single-player.
The Flame in the Flood is a roguelike river journey through a post-societal America. You travel on foot and by raft down a procedurally generated river. You scavenge, craft tools, treat illness, and avoid dangerous animals, and the rain is always close behind you.
Why it works alone: each run is a new trip down a new river.
Chernobylite
Developer: The Farm 51. Released: 2021. Players: Single-player.
Chernobylite is a survival horror RPG in a 3D-scanned copy of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. You build a base, craft gear, and give tasks to your comrades. Supplies are low, so each day you choose between survival and research.
Why it works alone: the story is non-linear. Your choices about whom to trust change the outcome.
How we picked these games
We only picked games whose Steam store page lists single-player and no co-op or multiplayer mode. We also wanted different threats: the cold, the ocean, the dark, hunger, and other people. We checked each fact on the store page and on a second source where needed.
Which one should you play first?
- If you are new to survival games, start with Subnautica or The Long Dark.
- For horror, try Darkwood.
- For hard systems and permadeath, try NEO Scavenger.
- For a car to care for, try Pacific Drive or Route 48.
- For a long sandbox, try Kenshi.
If you want a survival game with a crowd online, see our solo-friendly list of games like DayZ. For smaller studios, read the best indie survival games.