[STEAM] Survival games with the best crafting systems

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To a certain crowd, survival and crafting are almost synonymous with each other. For a long while, possibly due to Minecraft’s success, in-depth crafting systems were always accompanied by some survival elements. However, that is no longer the case.





Some of the most complex and compelling crafting games ever made, like

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, feature almost no combat and survival at all. That said, it’s also true that nothing makes brewing a good cup of coffee as intense as the post-apocalypse or Half-Life-inspired alien invaders. If you’re looking for this oddly specific thrill, you want a survival crafting game.

1# - Don't Starve

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Image via Klei Entertainment



Even though it’s approaching its twelfth anniversary, this ugly-cute,

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comes with depth that would make most modern competitors envious. It certainly helps that, in the years since its release, Don’t Starve has received a wealth of updates, expansions, and DLCs, the last of which was a crossover with 2023’s Cult of the Lamb.





Don’t Starve isn’t focused on telling a story, but as far as survival games go, it does a pretty good job of it. It even integrates its backstory with the description of craftable items, which are tied to game progression, and with the various characters’ reactions to them. The more talkative and interesting characters are unlocked later in the game, just as the most curious items are only available during the late game.

#2 - 7 Days to Die

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Image via Fireshine Games

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******* was short lived but managed to create a unique, creative, and – most importantly – complete game that stands out even in the crowded genre of survival games with crafting mechanics. It does so in part with a classic but extensive tier-based crafting system, and in part with multiplayer co-op up to eight players, but the biggest selling point is probably its unique setting.





Lots of games in the genre feature mines and dungeons, so lengthy resource-gathering sessions have to take place in a dangerous environment. Core Keeper goes one step further and sets the whole game in an inhabited cave system which players are encouraged to mine through and make their own.

4# - Project Zomboid

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Image via The Indie Stone



Project Zomboid is a lot of things, but it’s not what most players imagine when they think of a survival crafting game. But don’t let appearances fool you. Even if it looks like a city management game from the early 2000s, Project Zomboid is one of the most in-depth and open-ended survival games out there. And with the right mods, it can also be a management game.





If you ever want to be intimidated by a game, just take a look at the (incomplete)

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in Project Zomboid, which has more categories than some games have items. But while crafting is a big part of this game, looking at this massive list can’t even begin to explain how much there is to do. You can build a house from scratch. Starting from the

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, you can run your own farm. You can

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but hey, no game is perfect.

5# - Empyrion – Galactic Survival

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Image via Unknown Worlds Entertainment



Subnautica is one of the most popular survival games of the last few years, and for good reasons. In a genre full of cannibal islands and zombie apocalypses, ****** landing in the middle of an alien ocean is a refreshing setup, while de-emphasized combat makes for a unique gameplay rhythm. The slow drip of story beats certainly helps, too.





However, what attracted hundreds of thousands of players is almost certainly the crafting and especially base building. Lots of survival games have crafting recipes written down in a wiki, but how many have a fan-made

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?

8# - Vintage Story

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Image via Anego Studios



Originally based on a Minecraft mod, Vintage Story is sure to be familiar to anyone who ever fell into the rabbit hole of hardcore Minecraft crafting. Yet, unlike that game, creating an item here isn’t just a matter of having the ingredients and knowing the recipe. Making an axe in Minecraft means drawing the right shape with the right materials. In Vintage Story, an axe is made through knapping.





What’s knapping? Why, it’s the most ancient form of stone crafting, which involves smashing a durable rock on a sharp but fragile rock. Take off the right shape, stick it on a stick, and you have your stone age axe. Not every bit of crafting is as involved, but pottery and smithing are just as complex, if not more, than knapping, making Vintage Story one of the best survival games out there when it comes to crafting.



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