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Best Games Like Rust: Top Multiplayer Survival Games to Play

August 15, 2023
9 MIN READ
Games Like Rust

If you're a fan of the survival genre and have played Rust, you might be on the lookout for similar experiences. Rust has set a high standard in the world of multiplayer survival games, offering a blend of hardcore survival mechanics, PvP action, and open-world exploration. But what if you want to explore more games like Rust? Whether you're a PlayStation 4 enthusiast or an Xbox One gamer, there's a vast world of survival games waiting for you.

In this post, we've curated a list of the best survival games like Rust, each offering unique twists on survival, exploration, and multiplayer gameplay. From the zombie-infested world of DayZ to the Viking-inspired lands of Valheim, these games offer something for every Rust player. Dive into the survival evolved mechanics of ARK, build and explore in Minecraft, or take a break from the main PvP action in Rust's community servers.

Rust Community Servers

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Rust is well-known for its intense PvP survival environment, but did you know that you can take a break from the main PvP action and explore the PvE susvival servers? It's like stepping into a totally different game. Rust's community servers offer a wide variety of modifications and customizations that can completely change the way you experience the game.

These community-driven Rust PvE servers often focus on collaboration, exploration, and building rather than combat. Players can work together to build structures, gather resources, and explore the world without the constant threat of PvP combat. Many servers offer unique mods, new challenges, and special events that provide a fresh and engaging experience. Most veteran Rust players might scoff at this, but trust me, it can be really fun!

ARK: Survival Evolved

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ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Ark is one of the closes survival games like Rust, but with added dinosaurs. Stranded on the mysterious shores of an island called ARK, you must learn to survive. Use your cunning to kill or tame the primeval creatures roaming the land, and encounter other players to survive, dominate, and escape. Engage in a dynamic ecosystem with its own predator & prey hierarchies, where you are just one creature among many species struggling for dominance and survival. Tames can also be mated with the opposite gender, to selectively breed successive generations. Explore the vast ARK, find clues left by other Survivors, and discover the true nature of the ARK, all while facing the constant challenges of survival.

Satisfactory

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Satisfactory on Steam

Satisfactory is a first-person open-world factory building game with a dash of exploration and combat. Play alone or with friends, explore an alien planet, create multi-story factories, and enter conveyor belt heaven! As an employee of FICSIT, it's your duty to utilize the planet's valuable natural resources. Construct your factories with perfection, automate trucks and trains, and venture on expeditions to search for new materials. Customize your factory to your liking, travel the world with various vehicles, and conquer nature by building massive factories across the land.

Conan Exiles

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Conan Exiles on Steam

Conan Exiles is an online multiplayer survival game set in the brutal lands of Conan the Barbarian. Survive in a vast open-world sandbox, build your home into a kingdom, and dominate your enemies in single or multiplayer modes. The game features brutal combat where you can cut off limbs and heads of human opponents, and blood is shown frequently. Players may choose to play the game with either no, partial, or full nudity enabled. Engage in intense battles, explore the mysterious world, and strive to become the ruler of your own kingdom.

Raft

Raft

Raft on Steam

Raft throws you and your friends into an epic oceanic adventure! Alone or together, players battle to survive a perilous voyage across a vast sea. Trapped on a small raft with nothing but a hook made of old plastic, players awake on a vast, blue ocean totally alone and with no land in sight. Gather debris, scavenge reefs, and build your own floating home, but be wary of the man-eating sharks. Expand your raft from a simple wreckage to a buoyant mansion, navigate towards new destinations, overcome challenges, and uncover the story of previous inhabitants. Whether you're diving for resources or fighting off dangers, Raft offers a unique survival experience on the open sea.

Terraria

Terraria on Steam

Dig, fight, explore, build! In the world of Terraria, nothing is impossible. This action-packed adventure game offers a blend of classic action with the freedom of sandbox-style creativity. Delve deep into cavernous expanses in search of treasure, craft ever-evolving gear, or construct your own city to house mysterious allies. The choice is yours! With randomly generated worlds and free content updates, Terraria provides a unique gaming experience where both the journey and the destination are completely in your control. Are you up for the monumental task of exploring, creating, and defending a world of your own?

DayZ

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DayZ on Steam

How long can you survive a post-apocalyptic world overrun with an infected "zombie" population? In DayZ, you compete with other survivors for limited resources. Will you team up with strangers and stay strong together, or play as a lone wolf to avoid betrayal? This multiplayer-focused sandbox game offers a unique survival experience where unpredictable player behavior significantly impacts the game. Frequent violence, gore, and mature content make DayZ a thrilling and intense adventure. Whether you choose to cooperate or go solo, this is your story in the harsh world of DayZ.

Space Engineers

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Space Engineers on Steam

Space Engineers is a sandbox game that combines engineering, construction, exploration, and survival in space and on planets. Players can build space ships, space stations, and planetary outposts for various purposes, pilot ships, and explore space to gather resources for survival. The game offers a realistic, volumetric-based physics engine where everything can be assembled, disassembled, damaged, and destroyed. Whether you're constructing space stations, exploring planets, or engaging in survival mode, Space Engineers provides a creative and immersive experience. The game can be played in both single-player and multiplayer modes, allowing you to collaborate with friends or compete against them.

SCUM

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SCUM on Steam

SCUM is a next-generation open-world survival game that redefines the genre with unprecedented levels of character customization, control, and progression. Set in a massive 225 sq km terrain, players can explore dense forests, serene fields, and rugged terrains. SCUM's gameplay is about long-term survival, where knowledge and skills are the ultimate weapons. Engage in thrilling PvP network events or manage your character's complex simulation aspects. Join the ruthless war of survival on SCUM Island and battle for fame, gifts, and a chance at life after death.

Escape from Tarkov

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Escape from Tarkov official page

Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore and realistic online first-person action RPG/Simulator with MMO features and a story-driven walkthrough. Set in the fictional Norvinsk region, the game plunges you into a chaotic warfare-ridden metropolis isolated from the outside world. Choose your side – USEC or BEAR – and make your way out of the city, navigating unseen borders controlled by different groups. Engage in story-driven scenarios, explore unique and authentic locations, cooperate with ex-enemies, and experience immersive combat with real-life ballistics and projectile hit physics. With a system module like HECS - Hazardous Environment Combat Simulator, you'll feel your character's health and physical characteristics. From weapon modding to environmental interaction, Escape from Tarkov offers a thrilling survival experience where every choice matters.

Sons Of The Forest

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Sons Of The Forest on Steam

Sent to find a missing billionaire on a remote island, you find yourself in a cannibal-infested hellscape in Sons Of The Forest. Craft, build, and struggle to survive, alone or with friends, in this terrifying new open-world survival horror simulator. Experience complete freedom to tackle the world how you want, fighting against a range of mutated creatures, building your own shelter, and surviving through changing seasons. Whether you're plucking fresh salmon from streams or building defenses with friends, Sons Of The Forest offers an intense and immersive survival experience filled with horror themes and occasional nudity.

The Forest

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The Forest on Steam

As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. In The Forest, you must build, explore, and survive in this terrifying first-person survival horror simulator. The game contains intense violence, blood and gore, as well as horror themes and occasional nudity. Construct shelters, set up traps, and discover the secrets hidden within the forest. Whether you choose to play alone or with friends, The Forest offers a gripping and immersive survival experience where every decision can mean life or death.

Unturned

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Unturned on Steam

You're a survivor in the zombie-infested ruins of society, and in Unturned, you must work with your friends and forge alliances to remain among the living. This free-to-play survival game offers a wide variety of activities, from foraging wild fruits and vegetables to hunting animals or fishing for food and garbage. Build your stronghold with barricades, furniture, traps, and more, or explore massive worlds with officially developed and community-created sandbox maps. Whether you're dealing with other players as friend or foe, struggling against nature, or helping the new society, Unturned offers a rich survival experience with plenty of neat features like two-way radios for immersive communication. Play solo or with friends, and explore a world where most objects can be destroyed to create new pathways.

7 Days to Die

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7 Days to Die on Steam

7 Days to Die is an open-world game that uniquely combines first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing elements. Set in a brutally unforgiving post-apocalyptic world overrun by the undead, the game offers a rich survival experience. Explore huge, unique environments, craft and repair weapons, clothes, armor, and more with over 500 recipes. Design your fort with traps, electric power, auto turrets, and other defensive measures. Work together to build settlements or compete against each other in a wasteland ruled by zombies and outlaws. With over 16 million copies sold, 7 Days to Die has defined the survival genre, offering combat, crafting, looting, mining, exploration, and character growth in a way that has captivated fans worldwide. Navezgane awaits!

Minecraft

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Minecraft Official Site

Minecraft is a game that allows you to explore your own unique world, survive the night, and create anything you can imagine. Whether you're building structures, crafting tools, or engaging in thrilling adventures, Minecraft offers endless possibilities. With various game modes, including survival, creative, adventure, and spectator, players can approach the game in their preferred style. The game also supports cross-platform play, allowing friends to join together on different devices. From solo exploration to multiplayer fun, Minecraft provides a versatile and engaging experience that has captivated millions of players worldwide.

Valheim

Valheim screenshot

Valheim on Steam

Valheim is a brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally-generated purgatory inspired by Viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage! Explore a world shrouded in mystery, discover distinct environments with unique enemies, resources, and secrets. Raise Viking longhouses, craft powerful weapons, sail the open seas, and slay mighty foes. The game offers a massive procedurally-generated world with immersive biomes, stamina-based combat, rewarding food systems, and intuitive crafting. Play alone or with friends on player-hosted dedicated servers, and experience a survival game that has captivated players with its rich content and engaging gameplay.

Conclusion

These games aren't just alternatives to Rust; they are experiences in their own right, with engaging survival aspects, challenging environments, and many games like Rust to choose from. Whether you're looking for hardcore survival, base building, or simply a game to play if you like Rust, this list has it all. So grab your craft weapons, prepare to be stranded on an island, and explore the many games that offer a survival experience worth keeping an eye on.

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