With so many amazing games being launched and ported to the Nintendo Switch, there are a ton of choices now from the different genres, especially when it comes to survival, where new games continue to be launched. This is somewhat surprising, considering the console is now five years old.

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There are many excellent titles to choose from where you'll have to fight to survive, scrounge and forage for food, and craft what you need to make it in the stark wilderness where mother nature can be more brutal than any monster. We're not talking about first-person shooters with elements of survival and horror, but these are games where you'll start with nothing and have to figure out how to stay alive.

Updated on September 30, 2023, by Rebecca Phillips: The survival genre pushes you to your limits and encourages you to think out well-planned tactics to survive. The Nintendo Switch has a lot of survival great titles in its library, so if you're looking for that kind of challenge, take a look at our list of the best survival games on Nintendo Switch.

16 This War Of Mine: Complete Edition

If anything’s going to be tough to survive, it’s a war. This War of Mine is a poignant take on the survival genre, focusing on civilians in the warring fictional city of Pogoren, Graznavia. Using materials and tools that you can find, you’ll need to keep groups of citizens alive until a ceasefire, by managing hunger, health and mood levels.

The game follows a day-and-night cycle, with different objectives depending on the time of day. At night, you can scavenge for items, and during the day, you can craft using what you found. The Complete Edition includes three new stories and The Little Ones DLC, where you play from the harrowing perspective of a child.

15 Minecraft

There's not much that needs to be said about Minecraft. We all know it, and we've all played it, but the Nintendo Switch edition of the game is a ton of fun because you can take the game anywhere, investing hours in the sandbox game crafting and building the home of your dreams.

With cross-save, you can take your game from the PC to the bed with your Switch, and there's also a dungeon-crawling Minecraft game if survival is not your go-to genre.

14 Sheltered

Sheltered is a post-apocalyptic disaster management game where you'll have to protect four family members in an underground shelter. As you try to keep them alive and scavenge the desolate wastelands, you'll soon realise that every choice you make has consequences for the family.

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The game is fun and challenging at times, with plenty of customisation and perfectly balanced gameplay that makes you want to build the best possible shelter for your characters. With the randomness of its world generation, there is plenty of replayability.

13 Astroneer

In this sandbox space survival game, you play as an astroneer, risking your life to explore the frontier of space. You'll work to build a custom base using the planet's natural resources either solo or in online co-op with three friends. With its bright and vivid art style, the game itself is gorgeous, and although it lacks any story, the in-depth gameplay found here will enthral you.

Playing Astroneer with friends is even more fun as you work towards goals, build, craft, and explore to your heart's content, surviving in space. You'll definitely get your money's worth with Astroneer.

12 Windbound

Shipwrecked alone on an uncharted island, you play as Kara, a warrior thrown from her boat and tossed onto the shores of this mysterious and beautiful paradise. Windbound is a classic survival game in every sense, where you'll start with no food, water, tools, or boat.

It's both equally intense and relaxed in its gameplay, and you can spend hours exploring and crafting only to end up permanently dying and having to start from nothing all over again.

11 Tribes Of Midgard

Blending rouge-lite, survival, and action RPG, Tribes of Midgard sees you defending your village from hordes of monsters who want to destroy the Seed of Yggdrasil. If you love Viking culture and want something more intense than Valheim, this game is for you.

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The game consistently gets new content with seasonal updates and new bosses. To have the best experience, you'll need to play with friends, as the game can become a chore otherwise.

10 Green Hell

Arguably the most realistic survival sim game, Green Hell sees you lost in the Amazonian jungle equipped with only your bare hands. You'll have to survive in this nightmarish environment by learning actual survival techniques and having to battle against the loneliness and despair of being alone in the jungle.

There are various ways you can survive with satisfying crafting and construction systems. If you manage to survive, the story is another strong element here.

9 Stranded Deep

Alone on an island in the middle of the ocean, Stranded Deep will require you to scavenge, hunt, and fight for your life. Explore the depths of the sea, craft the means to travel to other islands, and find a way to get yourself home.

While you'll need to keep yourself fed and rested, you'll also need to defend yourself. Sharks patrol these waters, and while there is a lot of valuable loot to be found on the ocean floor, there are also constant threats deep below the surface — and perhaps more than you might be ready for.

8 Don't Starve

Don't Starve has been the gold standard of survival games since it was initially launched in 2013, but its port to the Switch really elevates the experience of this game. It feels almost made for the Switch, with the visuals and art style standing out.

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The gameplay requires strategy and skill to make it through the night, and the longer you survive, the more complex the game gets. With the release of the multiplayer expansion Don't Starve Together, you'll get even more experiences out of the game as you try to survive with friends.

7 The Long Dark

With immersive first-person exploration gameplay and an original art style, The Long Dark will make you feel the cold of the freezing Canadian wilderness. The game uses the classic man vs. nature theme to its advantage, with its realistic gameplay that feels rewarding.

As you battle the elements and oppressive wilderness, you'll feel gratified with its progression as you learn to survive efficiently. With both a story and sandbox mode, you won't feel like you're running out of things to do in this game.

6 The Flame In The Flood

The Flame in the Flood is a rogue-lite survival where you play a girl traversing down a river in forgotten post-societal America with your dog. Everything from the art style, done by BioShock veterans, to the masterful audio design and satisfying gameplay make this game an excellent experience on the Switch.

You'll find yourself motivated to survive and care for your dog, and with the game's carefully crafted progression, you'll feel like you've survived and grown along the way.

5 Subnautica

The Switch port of Subnautica and the Below Zero DLC look beautiful on the Switch, even in handheld mode. The open-world survival game starts after a crash landing in your life pod on a strange, alien world. You'll have to traverse the depths of this planet's ocean to salvage resources and survive whilst dealing with terrifying deep sea creatures. Will you be able to leave this unfamiliar place alive?

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Subnautica is a masterful gaming experience with its atmospheric world creation and endless, vast ocean depths to explore. There's a reason it's one of the best survival games out there.

4 The Survivalists

With over 50 hours of content and a multiplayer mode, The Survivalists is another great survival game on the Switch. Its pixel art style is charming, but don't let that fool you: you'll hunt or be hunted by animals, including mythical enemies, and you'll have to survive by making the most of the resources around you.

You can tame monkeys and train them to help you with your everyday tasks or provide backup when you raid camps, and you can even go dungeon crawling in the island's labyrinths.

3 Ark: Survival Evolved

When Ark: Survival Evolved first launched on the Switch, it was one of the worst gaming experiences, but with the release of Ark: Ultimate Survivor Edition, the game has been reborn. With updated graphics, better optimisation, and the inclusion of every expansion pack, you'll have hundreds of hours of gameplay here.

Exploring prehistoric jungles and trying to survive amidst dinosaurs, this game is finally the experience it should have been back in 2018. In addition, the developers have been transparent about future updates and diligent with bug fixes, and the community is thriving with dedicated players.

2 Terraria

Often described as '2D Minecraft', Terraria is a pixelated survival game that sees you forage, mine, craft, and build up a home for you and some characters. Explore the world and delve deep beneath the surface in order to face the great threats that await.

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With years worth of content, you can easily get lost in this game for hundreds of hours, building, fighting, and even adapting to the post-game content that will keep you coming back for more. It's one of the best survival games out there, and on Switch, it's even better.

1 No Man's Sky

No Man's Sky is another survival game that seemingly crashed and burned upon its buggy launch, but with tons of free updates over the years, its port on the Switch is the exact kind of space exploration survival game you'd want to play.

You can explore infinite galaxies of unique planets and alien lifeforms to find rich resources on long-forgotten planets, with the ability to craft, upgrade, and build anything you need for your exploration.

Next: The Best Open-World Games On The Nintendo Switch