Survival games have been one of the most popular game genres in recent years. Some focus on a specific setting such as azombie apocalypse, or a deserted island that the player must survive and thrive, in. Others combine multiplayer aspects with survival, as either a co-op game or as a PvP experience.
Almost everysurvival gamehas some form of hunger and thirst mechanic. Some are simple in nature, just requiring the player to eat and drink now and then. Others are a critical part of the survival gameplay loop and result in the death of the player if they fail to eat or drink regularly.
Giving Useful Buffs
The Front
The Front takes place in a post-apocalyptic sandbox world populated by mutants and hostile factions. On this war-torn land, players will engage tyrannical imperial forces, exiles, thugs, and rebels in an epic battle that will determine the fate of humanity. Team up with your friends, explore ruins and enemy areas, craft weapons and equipment, build bases and defend them with tower defense-style traps, upgrade tech, pilot tanks and helicopters, battle the elements, and contend with fearsome foes!Vehicle Assembly: Customize vehicle parts to build the war machine of your dreams and make it a force to be reckoned with through upgrading and reverse engineering. These functions are expected to be added to the game in an update at the end of April.Sandbox-style Construction: Construct bases using hundreds of different building components to protect your resources and shelter yourself from this merciless world. The only limit is your imagination!Tower Defense-style Traps: Strategically route monsters through a brutal crucible of traps designed to slaughter explosive beasts, invisible assassins, flying soldiers, and other catastrophically powerful invaders.
The Frontis a competitivePvP survival game, with some excellent base-building mechanics. The gameplay takes place on a large open-world map. Best played as part of a small team, the PvP in this game can be brutal and costly.
However, from a survival viewpoint,The Frontincludes all the general gameplay loops people expect from a survival game. This includes the need to keep fed and hydrated. Running out of food or drink will result in death. The cooking system inThe Frontis quite detailed, with advanced recipes becoming unlocked at later levels.
Many of the late-game foods offer substantial buffs. Typically, the player will need to gather roots, berries, and vegetables, hunt game, and catch fish to cook the best food. There is also the option of setting up farm plots to grow food.The Frontmakes this list because staving off hunger and eating the right food is intrinsic to performing well in PvP.
Food and also drink are very important in thiszombie survival game. Poor hydration will eventually lead to death, and it can be very hard to find enough to drink in the early game. Food has two functions in7 Days To Die. Firstly, food is used to restore maximum health and aid in maintaining full stamina. Secondly, in the late game, food gives beneficial buffs.
Basic foods can be looted from points of interest, such as cans of stew and tuna. However, this basic food will barely keep the player alive, and in some cases, may actually give them dysentery, which will need to be cured. More advanced foods are cooked, and the player will need to unlock the required cooking skills to gain access to the best recipes.7 Days To Diegets a place on this list because, without clean and sanitary food in this game, the player dies.
Hunger and thirst are a constant problem when playingSons of the Forest. Where some survival games make food and drink a tertiary consideration, it is very easy to die of starvation or thirst in this game. However, it can be very hard to gather enough food and drink in the early game. Especially as the player’s inventory drops on death, and it is common to be killed frequently at the start of the game.
Later in the game, the player has the option to hunt and fish,grow crops, and also trap small game animals, making the food situation easier. Food can be dried as well, to preserve it.Sons of the Forestis on this list because, just like in real life, hunger will lead to death.
The food inProject Zomboidis quite complex. The nutrition system applies states to the player based on the nutrition of the food eaten. There are 4 contributing factors to the nutrition of food inProject Zomboid. These are carbohydrates, proteins, fats. and calories.
The combination of these factors defines the overall nutritional value of the food the player is eating. If the player eats too much food that is fattening, it will impact their speed, endurance, and even their experience gain.
There are certain skills that impact how the player can judge the effectiveness of food, such as Nutritionist, enabling the player to see the nutritional value of all food.Project Zomboidgets a place on this list for being a game that allows the player to get fat and then punishes them for it.
The Long Darkis renowned for its tough survival gameplay. Food in this game is vital for long-term survival. Unfortunately, the players can’t just eat anything they come across that might be considered food. Many of the raw ingredients must be cooked before they can be consumed.
Furthermore, many foodstuffs go bad over time inThe Long Dark. For example, eating meat that has gone bad has a chance of giving the player food poisoning. Overall, The Long Dark does an excellent job of making hunger and thirst an important part of the survival game loop.
Players won’t starve if they don’t eat in this co-op survival game. However, food is a must-have consumable to proceed beyond the early game stage. As the player progresses from biome to biome, they will unlock more advanced recipes, and also more options for farming and growing food.
InValheim, food gives buffs that are very important for combat. These buffs are linear in nature. When the player first eats food, giving a buff, they get the full buff. As time goes by, the effectiveness of the food and the value of the buff decreases until more food is eaten once the player is hungry enough to do so. This makes growing food and cooking an intrinsic part of the gameplay inValheim. Most players willbreed food animalsand grow crops in their base inValheim.
Very Detailed Simulated Metabolism
SCUM
Explore, loot, craft and customise your way to dominance – or inevitable death. SCUM is a truly immersive and hyper realistic survival experience where you have total control of your progression.You start as a prisoner on the super-max SCUM island under the watchful eye of the sinister TEC1 corporation. Roam the rolling fields, lush forests and other rugged terrains of the island, using skills, guts and cunning to survive.Incredibly complex simulation makes every detail matter. Eat the right diet, keep your wounds free of infection or it won’t just be the physical threats that take your life. Seek to take out other players or join forces while you loot and craft your way to better gear and weaponry. Flex your creative muscles with extensive base building options and reinforcements that will make your fortress impenetrable.The island is vast and full of ways to die, from fellow prisoners to killer mechs and sinister ‘puppets’ suspended between life and death. All you have is what you’re carrying – everything else is up to you. Inventory space is minimal. Progression will be tough. Noobs will die.
Scumtakes the top place on this list because it has a very complex hunger/thirst mechanic and very detailed nutrition requirements to keep a player healthy. The player has a fully simulated metabolism that requires the right balance of carbohydrates, protein, minerals, vitamins, and fats to ensure optimal health.
If the player’s metabolism is not balanced inScum, this leads to a deficiency of some sort. This deficiency can have an impact on the body of the player, affecting many factors such as their walk and run speed, overall health, and energy. Few other games simulate a complex metabolism to the same level thatScumdoes.
