Over the past decade, mobile devices have become a much more viable option as a video game platform. Sure, they’re still far from matching the kind of gaming experience you can find on consoles or PC, but when compared to how mobile gaming apps were during the early years, things have advanced tremendously.
One genre that has seen a lot of love on mobile devices is survival. Android, especially, features plenty of great titles that, while they may not reach the level of scale seen in big triple-A launches, are still well worth your time. These ten survival apps represent the cream of the crop on the Google Play Store.
10Stormfall: Saga Of Survival
Adventure Set In A High-Fantasy World
When you think of fantasy games on phones, the first title that’ll probably come to mind is Clash of Clans. Although Clash of Clans is undoubtedly popular; it’s by no means the pinnacle of fantasy video game on Android devices.
Stormfall: Saga of Survival is an exceptionally deep MMORPG that merges many mechanics from crafting to survival and exploration in the background of a high-fantasy world. Whether you’re playing with friends or alone, Stormfall: Saga of Survival is a great time.
9Day R
A Shelter Survival Tale With Deep Mechanics
The post-apocalypse regularly serves as a suitable environment in the survival genre. From zombies to nuclear fallout, a world where cities have been demolished, people are deranged, and laws aren’t enforced, is ripe for fantastic survival adventures.
Day-R tasks you with saving your family. The catch? You must trek across a post-nuclear war USSR where survival is tentative. With disease, famine, and radiation serving as persistent hindrances, you must relay on your skills or your friends if you hope to survive.
From the early days of the Oregon Trail video game, the ‘journey simulator’ has been a prominent subgenre. Of course, the threats you may find in road trip titles have expanded from the ancient era of“you have died of dysentery”.
Death Road to Canada is a randomly generated road trip adventure that is as unpredictable as it is fun. While the journey ahead of you is quite daunting, Death Road to Canada is laced with plenty of humor, which adds loads of charm to this refined survival game.
7Atom RPG
A Tale Of Post-Nuclear Survival In The USSR
If you’re to list the Mount Rushmore of role-playing video games, you aren’t likely to mention any mobile games. Sure, consoles and PC will always headline the best of the best the genre has, but it’d be unwise to overlook the work of mobile game developers.
Atom RPG is one of thefinest RPGs that you can play on the comfort of your handheld device. Even though the central premise of a post-nuclear Russia is hardly groundbreaking, given the ambition on display, Atom RPG is unquestionably an impressive RPG title.
6Lifeline
Text-Based Science Fiction Done To Perfection
The era oftext-based adventureshas more or less come and gone. Periodically, a new indie title comes out, but predominantly, text-based games are chiefly remembered through rose-tinted glasses as classics of the past.
Lifeline not only utilizes text-based gameplay, but is also expertly written. The tale of survival when you crash land on an alien moon is full of intrigue, suspense, and a wealth of memorable flashes. If you’re looking for an enrapturing sci-fi story, Lifeline fits the bill.
5Neo Scavenger
Awakens You In A Desperate Dog-Eat-Dog World
While it might be easy for studio game designers to deride mobile games, many don’t. It’s become an industry that has allowed developers a much more independent creative outlet and new possibilities for immersive game design.
Daniel Fedor, a former BioWare Employee, delved into the handheld gaming market with NEO Scavenger. In this survival adventure, you control someone who wakes up from cryo and embarks out into a world where living through the day depends entirely on the resources you find and enemies you face.
4Dysmantle
Open-World Action Meets Deep Base Building
In the movie 28 Days Later, one of the highlight scenes is when the main character Jim wakes up from a coma and wanders the streets of London where there isn’t another human in sight. This masterful sequence not creates mystery but creates a chilling sense of isolation.
The open-world survival title Dysmantle operates on similar notions. With nothing more than your tools, it’s up to you to rebuild a world devoid of life, aside from ravenous beasts who skulk the environment.
3Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead
An Open-Source Roguelike Gem
When it comes to bringing gamers together, open-source games are unrivaled. The spirit of camaraderie and community that can be cultivated around these free-to-play projects can be rather astonishing, even when measured by major triple-A titles.
Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is an open-source rogue-like horror game that gives you boundless sovereignty. Once you create a character, you’re dropped into this world and wholly free to do whatever you want. With its strong fanbase and flexible design, Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is a must-play for survival fans.
2Don’t Starve
A Stylistic And Dark Survival Gem
In the games industry, graphics come second. Yes, it can help a game catch the eye if the visuals are amazing, but typically fun gameplay comes foremost with the visuals being contingent.Don’t Starvenot only has strong gameplay, but an unmistakable aesthetic.
Influenced by the films of Tim Burton and novels by H. P. Lovecraft, Don’t Starve cartoonish art style harmonizes masterfully with its ghostly characters. Thankfully, Don’t Starve stunning graphics are just one magnificent aspect of this randomly generated survival gem.
1This War Of Mine
An Emotional Civilian Perspective On War
If you’re looking for a game that tells a one-of-a-kind story and pushes the boundaries of what a gaming app is capable of, This War of Mine is perfect. By having you play as civilians struggling tosurvive in a war-torn world, This War of Mine hits emotional beats that you won’t find in any other mobile game.
Looking for a new and exciting survival game to try?Nightingale is available on Steamin Early Access starting May 13, 2025!
Survival Week
Welcome to the home of TheGamer’s Survival Week, a celebration of all things, well, survival. Here you’ll find features, interviews, and more dedicated to this popular genre, brought to you by Inflexion Games' upcoming open-world survival crafter, Nightingale.
