As a game developer, I’m constantly fascinated by how different genres shape the player experience — from the tight mechanics of platformers to the strategic depth of tactical RPGs. In this blog series, I’ll be diving into a wide range of game genres to explore their history, mechanics, design philosophies, and what makes them resonate with players. Whether you’re a fellow dev, a designer-in-training, or just a curious gamer, my goal is to dissect what makes each genre tick — and reflect on how those insights inform my own development process.

8 Quick Summary (TL;DR) Bullet-point recap of your main insights – great for SEO and skimmers.

1 Introduction Set the tone and introduce the genre you’re discussing. Briefly explain why it’s worth dissecting or what makes it notable in the world of game development.

[16]

Define the Survival Craft Genre

  • Survival Focused (Manage Vitals)
  • Exploration or base building often involved.
  • Combat often involved.
  • Often open world.

Information Gathered

Example:

From The Binding of Isaac to Hades, roguelikes have become a cornerstone of indie innovation. But what exactly draws players back into procedurally generated chaos time and again?

2 Brief History of the Genre Provide context:

  • Origins and evolution
  • Key milestones and influential titles
  • Shifts in design philosophy or mechanics over time

3 Core Mechanics & Design Elements Break down the genre’s typical gameplay mechanics, systems, and player expectations:

  • Game loops
  • Progression systems
  • Controls/UI norms
  • Unique features (e.g., permadeath, deck-building, etc.)

4 Industry Impact & Notable Titles Discuss some of the most well-known or influential games in the genre:

  • What did they do well?
  • What did they change or influence in game design as a whole?
  • Any notable developers/studios?

5 Genre Strengths & Weaknesses Offer a balanced critique:

  • Why players love the genre
  • Common pitfalls or critiques
  • How developers innovate or iterate

6 My Developer Take Here’s where you shine. Use this section to discuss:

  • Your personal experience designing or playing games in this genre
  • Challenges you see in developing within it
  • What you’d do differently or explore if you made a game in this genre

7 Closing Thoughts Wrap up the post with a summary of your insights. You can:

  • Tease a related future post
  • Pose a question to readers (e.g., “What’s your favorite roguelike mechanic?”)
  • Link to your own relevant projects or design prototypes

Media & Extras

Add visual interest using:

  • Screenshots or gifs
  • Game design diagrams
  • Links to developer talks or postmortems


Survival Craft History

The survival crafting genre in video games combines the mechanics of survival games, where players must manage resources and maintain vital signs to stay alive, with crafting systems, where players create items and structures from gathered materials. This genre gained popularity in the early 2010s, influenced by titles like Minecraft and later popularized by games such as DayZ, The Forest, and Rust. Early examples like UnReal World and SOS laid the groundwork, but the genre’s modern form emerged with the fusion of open-world exploration and crafting.

In a general sense, survival elements have been around since the beginning of the video game industry. The basic concept of survival can be found in sports video games (as early as Pong in 1972), fighting games and adventure games,[8] while survival scenarios can be found in classic arcade action games (such as Space Invaders in 1978 and Pac-Man in 1980) and survival horror games (such as Resident Evil in 1996).[9] A more specific modern survival game genre began to emerge in the 1990s, but was not clearly defined until the early 21st century.

An early example of the survival game genre is UnReal World, which was created by Sami Maaranen in 1992 and is still in active development. The rogue-like game used ASCII graphics and placed the player in the harsh conditions of Finland during the Iron Age. Unlike traditional Roguelike games, where there was a goal to reach, UnReal World’s only goal was to survive as long as possible against wild creatures and the dangers that the snowy weather created.[10] Another early example of the survival game genre is the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game SOS, released by Human Entertainment in 1993.[11]

Wurm Online contains elements that have ultimately influenced a number of survival games.[citation needed] Being a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), the game sets players as characters in a medieval setting, allows them to terraform the land, create buildings, and effectively develop their own kingdoms. Rolf Jansson and Markus Persson began the initial development of the game in 2003, and although Persson left around 2007,[ambiguous] the game is still in active development.[10] Persson became instrumental in developing Minecraft, which many[who?] consider to have popularised the survival game genre.[10] From its initial public release in 2009, Minecraft focuses on resource-gathering and crafting in a procedurally-generated world, and requires the player to defend themselves during night cycles while gathering resources at other times.[10]

Another key title in the survival genre was DayZ. It was originally released as a mod for ARMA 2 in 2012, but was later released as a standalone game, making over $5 million in one day once it became available.[12] The game sets the players in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, where they must avoid hordes of zombies while scavenging through the remains of human civilization for resources.[10] As a result of the financial success of Minecraft and DayZ, numerous titles of the survival genre were released from 2012 onward. Some[who?] believe that the market has become saturated with titles based on the same post-apocalyptic setting, clones of more popular titles, and titles released as a quick attempt to make money using early access models.[13][14] The research firm SuperData estimated that survival games brought in over $400 million in revenue over the first six months of 2017, making the genre one of the largest markets in the video game industry.[15]

First Games

  • UnReal World (1992)
  • The Fortress of Dr. Radiaki (1995)

Top Survival Craft Games 2025 - PC Gamer

  • Rust
    • 1st Person
    • Realistic
    • 3D
    • Fast (Short wipes, fast-paced fights)
    • No story
    • PVP Survival - Shooter
    • Base building/defense
    • PVE and PVP
    • Difficult - Steep learning curve, high skill floor
    • Realistic graphics, semi-realistic gameplay

  • DayZ
    • 1st & 3rd Person
    • Realistic
    • 3D
    • Slow (short wipes, slow trek, occasional fights)
    • No story
    • PVP Survival - Shooter
    • Player interaction
    • PVE and PVP
    • Very Difficult - Steep learning curve, medium skill floor
    • Realistic graphics, semi-realistic gameplay

  • Escape from Tarkov
    • 1st Person
    • Hyper Realistic
    • 3D
    • Medium (Short wipes, very short gameloop (arrive in world, complete objectives, extract), slow/careful trek, constant danger/fighting with occasional downtime)
    • Medium story
    • PVP Survival - Shooter
    • Objective/quest completion/ inventory management
    • PVP & PVE
    • Very Difficult - Extremely Steep learning curve, extremely high skill floor

    • Hyper Realistic graphics, Hyper Realistic gameplay

    • !!! Interesting take on the ‘crafting’ part of “survival craft”


  • Abiotic Factor
  • Sons of the Forest


  • The Long Dark


  • Subnautica
  • Raft
  • Grounded


  • Don’t Starve
  • Valheim
  • Minecraft
  • Terraria


  • This War of Mine
  • Darkwood


  • Project Zomboid
  • Rimworld
  • Unturned


Research:

  • Palworld
  • Frostpunk
  • Pacific Drive


Game Review Template:

  • Perspective
  • Art Style
  • Dimension
  • Pace
  • Progression (E.g. Linear Story, Open World, No Story, etc)
  • Main Focus (E.g. Exploration, Automation, Building, Fighting, etc)
  • Sub-Genre (E.g. Horror, Sandbox, etc)
  • Single vs Multi player
  • Difficulty/Balance
  • Realism

References

  1. Macdonald, Keza (January 1, 2014). “6 OF THE BEST SURVIVAL GAMES”. IGN. Retrieved August 10, 2015.

  2. Lane, Rick (July 5, 2013). “VIRTUAL SELECTION: THE RISE OF THE SURVIVAL GAME”. IGN. Retrieved August 17, 2015.

  3. Stuart, Keith (October 11, 2021). “Dungeon crawler or looter shooter? Nine video game genres explained”. The Guardian. Retrieved October 12, 2021.

  4. Roberts, Samual (September 9, 2015). “No Man’s Sky: how to play a game with 18 quintillion worlds”. PC Gamer. Retrieved September 9, 2015.

  5. Ross, Andrew (May 8, 2014). “Rust, H1Z1, and the emerging ‘survival MMO’ genre”. Engadget. Retrieved August 10, 2015.

  6. Hillier, Brenna (23 February 2015). “Dying Light and the survival renaissance”. VG247.

  7. Burford, GB (February 4, 2015). “Most Survival Games Have Problems That S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Solved Long Ago”. Kotaku AU. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2015.

  8. Arai, Kohei; Kapoor, Supriya (23 April 2019). Advances in Computer Vision: Proceedings of the 2019 Computer Vision Conference (CVC), Volume 2. Springer Science+Business Media. p. 374. ISBN 978-3-030-17798-0.

  9. Hand, Richard J. (2004). “Proliferating Horrors: Survival Horror and the Resident Evil Franchise”. Horror Film. University Press of Mississippi. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-61703-411-4.

  10. Smith, Graham (October 20, 2014). “Survival Games Are Important”. Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved August 7, 2015.

  11. Kurt Kalata, SOS / Septentrion (プテントリオン) - Super NES (1993) Archived 2017-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Hardcore Gaming 101

  12. “DayZ’s standalone release made more than $5 million in one day”. VentureBeat. 2013-12-18. Retrieved 2021-01-22.

  13. “Has the open world survival genre run its course?”. PC Gamer. March 27, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.

  14. Orr, Lucy (February 4, 2014). “The revival of survival – the gaming genre that refuses to die”. The Register. Retrieved August 10, 2015.

  15. Wilson, Jason (August 17, 2017). “PC Gaming Weekly: the magic of the $398 million survival game market”. Venture Beat. Retrieved August 18, 2017.

  16. JohnTheKraken (August 9, 2023). “Crafting Realities: The Past, Present, and Future of Open World Survival Craft Games”. Medium.