The 26 Best Multiplayer Survival Games

There’s a super sus imposter on the loose. And it’s up to you and your trusted crewmates to sniff them out and vote them off the ship if/when you catch them in the act of murder. As the imposter, your duty entails sabotaging everyone else’s ship tasks and eliminating whoever’s left alive. Among Us has transformed from a little-known indie gem into a mega-popular online multiplayer social deduction game that shows no signs of slowing down. We highly recommend the VR version of this game for maximum immersion and hilarity.

Blasting zombies with your friends is considered top-tier entertainment. The series that replicates that experience so well is Valve’s Left 4 Dead, which challenges four players to fight for their survival while contending with an undead menace. Both games offer varied campaigns that present their survivors with different circumstances to overcome and a whole lot of brain-eaters to mow down. Make sure you give both of these classic FPS games a spin before you move on to their spiritual successor, Back 4 Blood.

Have you heard of The Forest? Yes? Then we're guessing you not only heard of it but played it and enjoyed its tense atmosphere and gameplay loop centered around fending off cannibalistic monsters while on the lookout for a loved one after surviving a plane crash. Its sequel Sons of the Forest gives you and your fellow survivors a tall task - fight for your life in a cannibal-infested expanse in the hopes of discovering and rescuing a missing billionaire. That difficult mission entails building, crafting, hunting, braving the harsher seasons, and sharing goods with your friendly cohorts that'll help you all brave the dangers of the individuals who want to (literally) consume you.

Dead by Daylight is a terrifying game of cat and mouse. As one of four survivors, you’ll need to band together to escape the wrath of a crazed killer who’s out to sacrifice you to an evil entity. If you’re in the mood to play the villain, then go ahead and choose that option if you’d like. Dead by Daylight has maintained its popularity since launching thanks to the inclusion of recognizable horror icons, such as Leatherface, Freddy Krueger, Ghostface, and Chucky.

Rust throws you and a vast community of other survivors onto a map with one aim in mind – survive. You’ll need to brave the dangers of the wild as you hunt animals for food, build yourself a home, and keep the elements at bay that can lead to your demise. You’ll need to arm yourself well if you have any hopes of killing other players and coming out of the winning end of raids. Rust is a kill-or-be-killed type of game that tests your survival skills to the fullest.

Living out the rest of your days on a hastily put-together raft doesn’t have to suck. Raft allows you to link up with a few other drifters for some island exploring and other fun endeavors at sea. You’ll help out your seafaring buds as everyone gathers a bevy of useful goods, fends off hungry sharks, and builds their raft into something a bit more grandiose. Raft is all about making the best of you and your online buddies’ perilous sea voyage.

Waking up in your birthday suit on an island full of domineering creatures is pretty damned frightening. But once you get over that initial fear and come to grips with your current situation, you’ll gradually morph into a courageous survivor. ARK: Survival Evolved follows a massive community of male and female avatars who do their best to survive. That entails killing or taming feral animals, developing a tribe with your friends, using crafting essentials to produce the items you and your people need, etc.

The multiplayer component to the hit survival game Don’t Starve encapsulates everything that made that title grab a whole lot of people’s attention. You and another miniature avatar must work as a unit to stay alive within the unfriendly wilderness. Don’t Starve Together’s Tim Burton-inspired art style will most certainly attract you, while its harsh survival gameplay will force you to adapt and use teamwork to thrive in an uncompromising world.

Hunt: Showdown makes everyone who plays it a cunning bounty hunter who’s out to capture the biggest targets. It just so happens that those targets are supernatural monsters that take a strongly concerted effort to catch. You and your two fellow hunters will battle it out on spacious maps containing other fervent hunters who also want to cash in on the current bounty. Solo players and teams can tap into a myriad of guns, crossbows, melee weapons, and traps to capture the mythical creature and make it to the extraction point in one piece. Plus you’ll need to keep an eye out for players looking to steal your prize and cut off your great escape at all times.

Techland’s zombie survival classic isn’t the most obvious pick (we’re alluding to Dead Island, for those not in the know). That honor goes to Dying Light, which mixes in first-person parkour platforming and intense zombie combat encounters. Dying Light’s multiplayer components come in the form of a four-player co-op mode that lets everyone tackle the main campaign together and a mode that lets you take on the role of a bloodthirsty zombie. Tearing up the human population as an undead killer is cool and all, but hopping around the game’s open-world expanse of "Harran" is where the survival fun truly lies.

Zombies rule the world in this one. You can choose to take a stand against them and thrive in it via the main campaign or multiplayer portion. 7 Days to Die’s multiplayer setup flings you and your friends into a randomly generated expanse. And to make the best of a bad situation, you and your crew will have to explore, craft, build, and do so much more. Raiding other players’ bases can be accomplished, as well as getting into bloody skirmishes with a slew of rabid zombies. 7 Days to Die’s focus on zombies may not be wholly original, but it manages to make that gameplay concept an interesting one.

Those crazed "Zeds" from the first Killing Floor have now gone global. Due to their aggressive nature, they’ve caused an international outbreak that has spread beyond Europe. It’s up to you and five other players to bring down the Zeds’ growing numbers simply by shooting them down with some of the most inventive weapons you’ll ever see. Killing Floor 2 is an incredibly satisfying co-op shooter that makes you take on hordes of rabid baddies and even lets you become one of those ferocious Zeds yourself.

The battle royale shooter that dominated Twitch before Fortnite hit the scene is still kicking to this very day. Thanks to the game’s additional DLC seasons, PUBG has expanded by featuring new maps, gameplay changes, and rewards. The basis for PUBG revolves around 100 players being dropped into a huge space and fighting it out until there’s only one survivor left standing. You won’t get to rely on building up structures to block incoming shots here – relying on your wits, gathered materials, and careful aim is PUBG’s most essential road to victory.

At the very beginning of Conan Exiles, Conan the Barbarian himself saves you from certain doom. After regaining your freedom, you take your custom character out into a harsh open-world sandbox and attempt to build yourself into someone with great importance. Aligning yourself with other players means you’ll be embroiled in all sorts of activities, such as base building/defending, bloody combat encounters, animal capturing, etc. Conan Exiles’ survival mechanics make total sense when paired with the mythical locale of the game’s "Exiled Lands." Be sure to take a side tour of the "Frozen North" for an extra chilly challenge, too.

What if you were shrunk down to microscopic size and were forced to live a new life in your backyard? That’s the loaded question that Grounded asks of its player base. And the answers delivered thus far have been fascinating. The miniature youngsters running around this fun take on survival games must carefully manage their hunger/dehydration levels, steer clear of dangerous insects, and uncover new sections of their new home. Crafting essential weapons/traps out of the resources you’ll gather and developing a mini fortress is that much more fun with three friends close by.

SCUM is a self-described “prison riot survival game.” If that description entices you, then keep on reading. Up to 100 players are set on a private island centered in Croatia. Those players are set up as prisoners who are forced to fight for their lives and freedom while competing on a twisted game show. The fame you earn from certain actions can better your progress as it goes towards beneficial items. SCUM features deep character customization, crafting, and combat systems that make every moment within it feel as close to real life as possible. Did you just drop a butt nugget somewhere on the map? Whoever finds it can use it to track you and kill you, so poop wisely.

DayZ is another one of those survival games that test your will as you struggle to hold on during a zombie apocalypse. Not only do you have to defend yourself from the infected, but you’ll also need to steer clear of shady survivors. The rest of the player population is filled with folks who are out to get you and take all of your supplies, but some trustworthy players can help you survive a bit longer than usual. Gather your goods, build yourself a home, and fend off debilitating diseases if you have any hopes of thriving in DayZ’s perilous world.

The vast landscape within Outward presents a myriad of threats that you must overcome. Besides vile creatures, your character also has to contend with harsh temperatures, sickness, hunger, and other familiar survival game elements. Outward presents all of its survival mechanics within a fantasy RPG shell and lets you enjoy all of its magic-infused combat with a friend. Be wary of the decisions you make in this game – its constant auto-saving feature means you’ll have to live with every decision (good or bad) you make during your arduous co-op excursion.

If your favorite "Metroidvania" game had a baby with Minecraft, Terraria would be the result. It’s a 2D sprite-based sandbox game that incorporates building, exploring, mining, fighting, etc. All of those survival game characteristics are all the more fun when you choose to enjoy them with a bite-sized buddy. Terraria’s multiplayer also features PvP elements that let you battle it out with other players and even teams that are out for blood. Dig as deep as you can in Terraria and see how far you can go.

Starbound is pretty much a rendition of Terraria that delves into space travel and planetary discovery. The game’s procedurally generated quests give your bounty hunter a wealth of intriguing missions to complete. You can even ignore that profession altogether and live out your days as an outer space farmer, intergalactic landlord, creature collector, or whatever else tickles your fancy. The game’s survival difficulty is the best way to experience Starbound with a ready and willing space buddy at your side.

One to ten players can exist in the vast world of Valheim, which plays host to deceased Vikings who must prove themselves as deserving an entrance into the fabled realm of "Valhalla." Proving one's worth means starting with nothing and gradually working your way up to making the best of this game's procedurally generated purgatory. Gathering essential items, crafting the necessities that'll help you prosper for as long as possible (such as massive Viking longhouses and bases), and mastering stamina-based combat encounters is fun on your own, but it's even more engaging with your most trusted Vikings by your side.

Crafting and building in peace are at the forefront of one of the world’s most beloved games, Minecraft. But its multiplayer survival mode presents a more worthwhile challenge for players looking to push their limits to the extreme. You and your blocky buds need to eat good, build homes, and craft battle-ready gear to stay alive for as long as possible. Ready yourself for battle against zombies, spiders, the dreaded "Enderman," and more as you maneuver through Minecraft’s addictive survival mode.

When State of Decay 2 first launched, it wasn’t without its fair share of glitches and bugs. The retooled Juggernaut Edition does away with those nagging issues while also remastering the game’s visuals and featuring all of its engrossing DLC. You and three additional post-apocalyptic remnants must band together to deal with incoming zombie hordes as a part of the game’s "Daybreak Pack." Plus you can choose to play State of Decay 2’s main campaign with three extra survivors for even more zombified multiplayer thrills.

The redemption arc tied to No Man’s Sky is nothing short of remarkable. It went from an utter disappointment to a space exploration epic that finally realized its full potential. The most current iteration of the game looks, sounds, and plays a lot better than its original incarnation. Up to 32 players can hop into the same session and take on the game’s survival mode difficulty. Enemies are harsher, resources are scarcer, and hazards are far more plentiful (unfortunately) in No Man’s Sky’s tougher gameplay setup.

As one of eight survivors, you’ll need to defend yourself from the shambling (and always hungry) undead menace in No More Room in Hell. This mission is all the more arduous since weapons and ammo are a lot harder to come by, which means your encounters with waves of zombies can be nail-bitingly hard if you’re not properly prepared. Keep in mind that the farther you are from your friends, the harder it is for them to hear you over their headsets. Defend your shelter, shoot down the zombie opposition, and hold on long enough so everyone can get extracted from their harrowing circumstances in No More Room in Hell.

Astroneer puts players in the deep reaches of space during the 25th-century "Intergalactic Age of Discovery." You and your fellow "Astroneers" will explore seven vast planets with different biomes where several tasks must be accomplished. Those tasks include using a deform tool to reshape the very ground you walk on and using all sorts of resources to craft vehicles & complex home bases. Up to four players can band together to do anything and everything they desire within a sandbox that allows for tons of creativity & rewarding exploration.