Best survival games with cars to drive, fuel, and repair
In the best survival games with cars, each trip has a cost: you find fuel, fix parts, and judge the risk. Project Zomboid, DayZ, and 7 Days to Die add cars to a big zombie sandbox. Pacific Drive and My Summer Car put the car at the center of the game.
What we mean by "a survival game with cars"
Many survival games have vehicles. In this list, the vehicle must also need care. Each game has at least one of these:
- Fuel that you must find or carry.
- Parts that wear out, break, or go missing.
- Repairs with tools, kits, scrap, or a skill.
The table shows the role of the vehicle in each game.
| Game | Vehicle role | Upkeep | Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Route 48 | Your way through the world | Fuel, parts | Solo |
| Project Zomboid | Transport and escape | Fuel, part condition, keys | Solo or co-op |
| DayZ | A rare prize | Parts, fuel, water | Online |
| 7 Days to Die | Crafted transport | Gas, repair kits | Solo or co-op |
| State of Decay 2 | Supply runs | Fuel, toolkits | Solo or co-op |
| Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead | A project you build | Parts, construction | Solo |
| Pacific Drive | Your shelter in the Zone | Fuel, panels, tires | Solo |
| My Summer Car | A build from loose parts | Every part | Solo |
| Days Gone | Your motorcycle | Fuel, scrap | Solo |
| Mad Max | Your combat car | Gasoline, upgrades | Solo |
Route 48 (our game)
Full disclosure: we made Route 48, so we put it first.
Route 48 is a first-person driving survival game where the car is how you cross a procedurally generated world. You scavenge for fuel and parts, manage the fuel that you have, and repair damaged parts. A broken vehicle can mean the end of your journey, but you can continue on foot. It is single-player and in Early Access on Steam.
Project Zomboid
Developer: The Indie Stone. Released: Early Access since 2013. Players: Single-player, online co-op, or split-screen co-op.
Cars in Project Zomboid have full physics and a lot of detail. You need a key, or you can hotwire a car when your Electrical and Mechanics skills are high enough. A failed attempt can set off the car alarm, and the noise brings zombies.
Under the hood, you can see the condition of each part. After the power fails, the gas pumps stop, so you siphon fuel from other cars or power a pump with a generator. Choose this game if you want cars inside a deep, slow, and realistic zombie sandbox.
DayZ
Developer: Bohemia Interactive. Released: 2018. Players: Online multiplayer.
In DayZ, a car that runs is a rare prize. Cars that you find often lack fuel or water. A car also needs parts such as a spark plug, a battery, a radiator, and wheels. With a ruined spark plug, the engine will not start.
You repair a battery with an Electrical Repair Kit and a wheel with a Tire Repair Kit. Bumpers take hits and protect the engine. This game is for players who like tense multiplayer, because other players can take your car.
7 Days to Die
Developer: The Fun Pimps. Released: 2024 (Early Access from 2013). Players: Single-player or online multiplayer.
You craft your vehicles: a bicycle, a minibike, a motorcycle, a 4x4 truck, and a gyrocopter. The bicycle uses your stamina, and the motor vehicles need gas. You fix them with repair kits.
Every seventh day, a Blood Moon horde attacks your location. A good vehicle lets you reach far places and come back before that night. You can play on the preset Navezgane map or on a randomly generated world.
State of Decay 2
Developer: Undead Labs. Released: 2018. Players: Single-player or online co-op for up to four players.
You lead a community of survivors and build a base. Cars take damage when you hit zombies or obstacles, and they can be destroyed. You repair them with toolkits that you craft at the base or find on supply runs. Fuel is one of the resources that the community must manage.
The car here is a tool for supply runs, not a project. It suits players who want vehicles as one part of a bigger community game.
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
Developer: CleverRaven and community contributors. Released: 2013 (on Steam since 2023). Players: Single-player.
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is an open-source, turn-based roguelike set in a procedurally generated New England. Zombies roam the cities. You can find a vehicle that runs, repair one, or build one from scratch with the construction menu.
It has deep systems and a lot of detail. It suits players who like to plan each turn and who want to design their own vehicle.
Pacific Drive
Developer: Ironwood Studios. Released: 2024. Players: Single-player.
Your station wagon is your partner and your shelter in the Olympic Exclusion Zone. You must keep the gas tank full and the body panels in good condition. After each trip, you repair damaged parts like tires, craft new panels from scrap metal, and refuel or recharge the car in your garage.
The car takes a lot of damage on each trip. It suits players who want repair and upgrades to be the main loop. See our games like Pacific Drive list for more picks.
My Summer Car
Developer: Amistech Games. Released: 2025 (Early Access from 2016). Players: Single-player.
You start with hundreds of loose parts, and you assemble the car and its engine yourself. You also look after your character with food, drink, and sleep. Death is permanent. Later, you order upgrade parts by mail, and the car must pass an inspection.
It is set in the Finnish countryside in the 1990s, and it is part life sim, part car sim. It suits patient players who want to build a car from zero.
Days Gone
Developer: Bend Studio. Released: 2019 (PC 2021). Players: Single-player.
This one is a motorcycle, not a car. You refuel your bike at gas stations and camps, and you repair it with scrap. If it takes too much damage, it stops. As camps trust you more, you can buy parts that make the bike faster, stronger, and easier to control.
The open world has large hordes of Freakers, so you need a bike that works when a horde comes. It is a third-person action game. It suits players who want a story about a drifter and his bike.
Mad Max
Developer: Avalanche Studios. Released: 2015. Players: Single-player.
You upgrade your car, the Magnum Opus, with materials from the desert. Each upgrade has a cost: a stronger engine makes the car harder to handle. You need gasoline to drive, and you can carry one jerrycan at a time. Chumbucket repairs the car when you ask him or when you get out.
Food and water restore your health. It is a third-person action game with vehicle combat against gangs. It suits players who want to fight with their car, not only drive it.
How we picked these games
We only chose games where you drive a vehicle and also have to look after it. We left out racing games and pure mechanic sims, because the danger there is low. We checked each fact on the Steam page, the developer's information, or a public wiki. Some games get frequent updates, so details can change.
Which one fits you?
- Pick Pacific Drive, My Summer Car, or Route 48 if the car is the main reason you play.
- Pick Project Zomboid or 7 Days to Die if you want cars inside a big zombie sandbox.
- Pick DayZ if you want to fight other players for a car that runs.
- Pick Days Gone or Mad Max if you want a story and action with your vehicle.
- Pick Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead if you want to design a vehicle part by part.
Want to know what a spark plug or a radiator does in real life? Read car parts explained for gamers. For more repair-first games, see the best car repair games on PC.