Not every RPG has you galloping across the lands without a care in the world, with many dialing up the difficulty significantly right from the get-go. By limiting your resources, your access to progress, and forcing you to live off the land, suddenly, every step taken forward becomes a lot tougher yet far more rewarding at the same time.
These games may not be the hardest in terms of combat difficulty or mechanical skill, but they represent a level of challenge that can only be overcome by those willing to dive into the trenches and dig their way out piece by piece. It doesn’t matter if you are struggling to make it across a treacherous desert, or pushing through an overgrown city, the journey is never going to be easy.
For variety, we will not cover only traditional survival games.
Kenshi
Survival Is Progress
Details:
- Food, shelter, and safety come first
- The world offers no help to new players
Kenshi throws you into one of the harshest open worlds ever created. You begin as little more than another survivor trying to make it to the next day, and in order to do so, you need to overcome everything from starvation to slavery to the wildlife that is more than happy to make you its next meal.
There are no scripted heroes or generous tutorials, simply a brutal world where every meal and every piece of equipment must be earned. I’m still amazed at how steep the curve is, and even after you feel like you have a grasp of the basics, there is still so much left to learn before you become fully self-sufficient.
Outward
Preparation Is A Must
Details:
- Survival is constantly threatened
- Every expedition requires planning
Outward rejects the traditional RPG formula where leveling solves every problem. Before leaving town, you need to pack up your resources and prepare to scavenge, as a single forgotten item can be the difference between a routine adventure and a terrible death.
The wilderness itself becomes your greatest obstacle, and the majority of your gear comes from gathering ingredients and hunting for valuable materials that can only be found by taking the hard route. It feels like a constant cycle of risk-reward, and a real standout for those who are tired of the same old RPG loops.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
The Hardships Of Every Day
Details:
- Hunting and foraging help you survive
- Medieval life is authentically recreated
Kingdom Come: Deliverance grounds each and every one of its systems in realism, pushing you to think about everyday needs alongside combat. Henry is a person, and hence, he becomes hungry, tired, and injured, and much like traditional medieval life, you need to meet all these needs by using nothing but the world around you.
Rather than handing you endless conveniences, the game encourages you to live like an ordinary medieval traveler, and the more you lean into the fantasy, the better the game becomes. I had a hard time early on, as I was trying to play it like every other RPG, but once I gave in to the archaic way of life, I was treated to an exceptional adventure that I am still thinking about to this day.
Gothic II
The Wilderness Is The Greatest Teacher
Details:
- Dangerous wildlife controls safe zones
- Every resource feels valuable
Like many other early 2000s RPGs, Gothic II refuses to make survival easy. Powerful creatures roam the countryside from the very beginning, and you are placed right at the bottom of the food chain, with no way up other than to gradually build enough strength to venture farther from civilization.
Exploration naturally becomes tied to resource gathering, and you will find that seemingly small materials like herbs and ore play all Herbs, play important roles in deciding how far you can progress through the world. Instead of flooding you with constant loot and gratification, Gothic II ensures that nature proves itself as your most valuable resource.
Elex
Danger In Nature
Details:
- Resources must be scavenged carefully throughout the world
- Exploration is more about caution than anything
Let’s stick with Gothic II‘s developer, Piranha Bytes, for now.
ELEX’s post-apocalyptic world is filled with valuable supplies, but reaching them is rarely straightforward. You have to contend with both powerful factions and a whole host of dangerous creatures that can be seen roaming pretty much the second you spawn in.
The grind to safety is long and at times, tedious, but as rough as it sounds, there are no shortcuts to a life of comfort. If you want to stay alive, you need to pick your fights, stay in the shadows, and only engage when absolutely necessary, as otherwise, all that patience will have been for nothing.
Enshrouded
Building A Future
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Image via Keen Games -
Image via Keen Games -
Image via Keen Games
Details:
- Resources drive every progression system
- Better opportunities found through discoveries
Enshrouded combines traditional open-world exploration with robust survival mechanics, meaning you will spend just as much time building and crafting as you will exploring. Base construction is a fundamental aspect of the game’s progression loop, and the only way to acquire a more robust home is by laying the foundations brick by brick.
The Shroud is what I think gives the game a unique edge and ensures every expedition carries meaningful risk, and in order to venture deeper into corrupted areas, you need to take the steps necessary to level up and prepare for the fight ahead. I really like the back-and-forth loop of hunt into build, and I would recommend any survival lovers give it a try, especially given how much content the game has to offer.
Elin
Purpose Behind The Smallest Materials
Details:
- Notorious high entry point
- Self-sufficiency required from the start
Elin expands upon the sandbox philosophy of its predecessor by giving you an extraordinary amount of freedom to survive however you choose. Farming, fishing, hunting, gathering, crafting, and building settlements all become viable ways to establish a sustainable life within the sprawling world, and I think most people fall at the first hurdle purely due to how much choice there is on offer.
These survival systems are central to the experience, and there is never a time when it feels as though you have everything perfect, as there is always another crop to plant or area to explore. That gradual path to a thriving home is what drives you to do better, and while it might not be as brutal as Elona, it is still pretty damn hard.
Project Zomboid
It’s Called The Apocalypse For A Reason
Details:
- Risk behind each and every step
- Forces you into constant tough decisions
Project Zomboid begins with a simple promise: “This is how you died.” Everything that follows revolves around delaying that inevitable outcome for as long as possible, whether that means eating spoiled food or even sacrificing a teammate, just to make it another day in the wasteland.
Because of how hostile the world is, you constantly need to adapt and change your playstyle, and with a whole army of other players aiming for the same goal, you will quickly realize that the zombies are the least of your problems. The simplistic visuals may be a turnoff for some, but I would argue that no game captures the despair and inevitability of a zombie apocalypse quite like Project Zomboid,
