Games that require you to sometimes climb over a difficulty hump are not everybody's cup of tea, but for those who enjoy them, the accomplishing feeling of having built something from scratch is very satisfying. Sometimes you also want something that's a little bit more leisurely but doesn't feel too unsatisfyingly easy either.
There has to be a balance between the routine of tending to livestock and figuring out how to keep monsters from killing them. These from-scratch games here really vary in their difficulty and how they are played but there's definitely something for everyone. For those who aren't into survival, we've got you covered too with some RPGs and farming sims that start players bare bones.
10 Minecraft
Minecraft is the perfect game for players who want something that is somewhat leisurely but still has a bit of a difficulty to deal with. By day, you can do just about anything you want in it - explore the land, tame animals, craft, build villages and structures, the possibilities are endless. However by night, the world becomes an endless horror full of zombies, creepers that explode, and bow-wielding skeletons, all of whom of course want to kill you.
To keep them from spawning in certain places, put out lots of torches, which can be crafted using coal and a stick. In fact, one of the first things you should do in the game is build a night shelter. Minecraft is a game where you start empty-handed from the ground up and build the land of your dreams.
9 Lost In Blue 2
You may want to dust off that Nintendo DS for this next one. Lost in Blue 2 is a survival adventure where you play a male or female character that ends up shipwrecked on a remote island with pretty much nothing but the clothes on your back. You must be responsible for hunting food, collecting water, and fending off predators like tigers and wolves.
Your three stats, hunger, thirst, and stamina must be kept from going to zero percent along with your partners. The game does give you an option to search cabinets for an empty bottle before the ship goes down but it's a random chance mechanic that few people succeed with. Glass bottles will wash up on the beach so it's not a big deal at all to miss it. This is a really unique survival game that comes with multiple endings as well.
8 Ark: Survival Evolved
If you love dinosaurs, Ark: Survival Evolved is a game where you can train them in a Pokemon-style sort of way. You play a customizable character that ends up on an island completely bare bones. You don't even get default clothes to defend you from the harsh sunlight of the land's tropical climate, you have to make them from scratch using fibers that you forage.
For food, you can either hunt the dodo birds that hang around or fish. However, use extreme caution in the water because the deeper areas are crawling with large sharks. The area where you spawn is a good place to meander for a few days until you get stronger because the big predators typically stay in the forest. Be sure to avoid the compies that hang on the beach.
7 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time begins the game with the franchises hero character Link as a small defenseless child living in the village of the Kokiri, beings who stay permanently children thanks to the magic of the Great Deku Tree. Some Zelda games will give you a welfare sword or item, but in this, he wakes up empty-handed and must do a puzzle in order to get the Kokiri Sword.
To get there, go towards the left when you exit the house after chatting with Saria to a maze-like spot where there is a crevice to crawl through at the end. Inside the maze, go to the left, take the first right through some grass, make a right again at the end of the ally to avoid the rolling boulder, and then go forward and make a right at the end of the ally, where you'll find the chest with a Kokiri Sword. To get a shield, you'll need to purchase one at the shop in the village for 40 rupees. Now you're all ready for the first part of your journey.
6 Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town
It's debatable whether Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town counts for this considering you do get the basic farming tools but if you compare it to other Story of Seasons games, players are given just about the bare minimum. As opposed to just farming, Olive Town is a game where the intent is to set up the whole farm from scratch, buildings, house, and all.
You'll be living in a tent until you can get your place up and running. This title takes a lot of inspiration from games like Animal Crossing and Minecraft. If you want something similar that's a little bit less DIY, Olive Town's predecessor, the Friends of Mineral Town remake, is also available.
5 Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
The beginning of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth tends to throw off players because you don't actually go to where the Digimon are right away. Instead, you land in something that is similar to a hangout area just outside EDEN, the realm where you will later find your digital monster friends. To move forward, walk up toward the front gate, collect the medal that's there (you can sell these later) and the character will realize they are early for their meeting and decide to go off to other areas for a bit.
Mr. Navitt, the AI, will scold you about being late and tell you to go to Kowloon but you need the URL first to go there. To get it, speak to the businessman in the area you're in and then go back to the first area and speak to the hacker in the orange hoodie who will give you the URL. Go back to the portal and you'll see Kowloon as an available location now. This sets the rest of the story in place.
4 Passpartout: The Starving Artist
This is a great inexpensive game for people who like to draw. Test your creative skills as you play a starving artist character in France who is attempting to become the next Davinci. You start out making your paintings on a street stand in the hopes a passerby will buy it so you can pay rent and buy baguettes for another day.
The better you do, the more known you'll become and you can take your career in different directions. Depending on your personal art style, you'll upgrade to different studios like a museum, art gallery, or company board room. There are many routes you can go down, so it's fun to see where your taste lands you.
3 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Despite the title, this version in the franchise doesn't give you any fancy vehicle to start. Build up to a life of crime in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where you begin the game unwarrantedly sucked back into the old gang you worked for.
A horrid turn of events leaves you nearly beaten to death and left alone in the territory of a rival gang where you get nothing but a literal bicycle as your key to escape to freedom. Complete missions and explore the open world as you aid your gang in rising to the top.
2 Spore
If evolution and science interest you, Spore is a really classic from-scratch game where you create a custom alien species. You begin life as a small microbial organism and slowly evolve into the full version of the species. You live in a colony with others of your kind and build a civilization on the planet while trying to survive and not be dinner for other bigger nasty things that live on the same planet, particularly the ones who live in the sea.
Once you've done all you can there, you can leave the nest to explore space and colonize other planets. There's a lot of customization options for your creature, so you can go as cute or as abominable as you want.
1 Don't Starve Together
Don't Starve is for players who like all the typical elements of a survival game but appreciate one that takes it a step further beyond just nursing your physical stats. Being alone in the forest surrounded by night creatures who want to kill you is pretty intense and takes a toll on the mind.
You must keep up your sanity bar throughout the gameplay because if it goes below a certain amount you'll get attacked by shadow creatures. Sanity is docked when you don't sleep, eat bad food, run around in rain, spend too much time near monsters, etc. To keep it up, you should spend time near the friendly pigs, sleep regularly, and if you can, play with friends who use the characters that can restore sanity.