Best survival games for Android
Updated on September 23rd, 2025 - reformatted, fixed links.
The point of survival games is literally in the genre; to survive. Often, that means you are thrown into a new place, with little or nothing to start with. You will need to prevail, meet basic needs, craft, and ensure your own safety. There are several different types of popular survival games, from zombies to dinosaurs or just a realistic setting where weather conditions will get to you.
Many people prefer this genre for a number of reasons - be it to try out their skills in the wild (as wild as a game could get), or to see if they're cut out for the challenges that lie ahead. Regardless of this, it's a fun genre to dive into, especially if you love realistic games where spells and magic are not used that often, but rather your willingness to make whatever you have work in your favour.
Some of them take place during the cataclysmic events, while others take place on strange islands that you might be able to stumble upon one day. Let’s get into the 15 best survival games for Android, where you'll hopefully find one you really love.
1
Don't Starve: Pocket Edition
Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition is probably one of my personal favorite survival games. You are left alone in the wilderness in a mysterious world. You must explore, gather resources, build various tools to help you, and survive each night. As the night falls, the world becomes dark, and you will start to go mad if you do not hang out in the light. There are many dangers, strange creatures, and even seasons to deal with! You can eventually find your way out of this world and back home if you 'Don’t Starve' first.
2
Crashlands
Playing as an intergalactic trucker who has been stranded on an alien planet, Crashlands is a really fun Android survival game where you need to build a base, deliver lost packages, fight baddies and save the entire world - if you can. There is just so much content in Crashlands - with over 500 different items to create, creatures to fight and tame, and resources collected. It’s all about hunting, collecting, building and crafting - and is just fun to master.
3
Minecraft
Minecraft is a very popular title and it does fit under the popular survival games. If you haven’t heard of Minecraft, it’s a building and crafting, open-world game where you can travel around, explore biomes and collect various items to craft into more items. In survival mode, you have to eat food and watch out for dangerous mobs to prevail. Nighttime is dangerous and you'll need to watch out. You can create portals to other worlds, to gather even more resources and build up your world. It’s a wildly fun title!
Minecraft also lets players express their creativity. I mean, you can take a look at these house designs and Minecraft castles that will absolutely blow your mind.
4
Fallout Shelter
The next title on the list is well-known to any avid gamer. Fallout Shelter is another famous title where you have to build and protect your vault. To develop your shelter successfully, you have to make your inhabitants happy and give them various items, such as weapons and clothes. Also, you have to train your dwellers and send them to explore the world. If you want to develop your vault in the most effective way, make sure to find a perfect job for each of your inhabitants.
5
Terraria
Terraria is very similar, in a lot of ways, to Minecraft. It's 2D, where you can collect items, fight strange monsters, mine more profoundly and deeply into the world, and craft things! There are a lot of biomes to explore, local and online multiplayer, and many different modes that can make this survival game far more challenging. The monsters are quite diverse and interesting, especially in their attacks, which is one of my favourite aspects of Terraria.
6
Last Day on Earth: Survival
We wouldn’t have the topic without at least one good apocalypse. There has been an infectious outbreak, and the world is filled with zombies in Last Day on Earth. You need to keep yourself alive, along with helping other survivors. You can collect resources, gather needed requirements like food and water, and create weapons to kill off hordes of zombies. When the threat is zombies and your general needs, you will need to stay focused to endure. It has also made it to the list of best iOS survival games, which says a lot about it.
7
Survival Island: EVO
Survival Island: EVO has you stranded on an island, out in the middle of nowhere. You will need to find food, craft very basic tools, build a shelter and try to survive this mysterious island. Exploring can reveal treasures, which can be useful for your long-term life there. However, there are also enemies to fight, needs to be met, and a lot of the island to explore. It's easy to grasp the basics and just start playing; you don't need guides, which is a bonus if you're looking for something a bit lighter.
8
Vampire Survivors
Another fantastic survival game for mobile devices. There are quite a few interesting levels where you have to persist for as long as you can. The gameplay is simple but, at the same time, extremely addictive. It's an auto-shooter where you get to move your character around and pick the weapon evolutions, while the waves of enemies are trying to swarm you. There are a lot of characters in Vampire Survivors to try and many different weapon evolutions. We have covered it with a lot of different guides for a reason.
9
Day R Survival
Taking place during the Soviet Union in the 80s, you need to prevail after a nuclear power plant apocalypse. Day R Survival has hunger and radiation, as well as dangerous mutant creatures, all looking to kill you. There are tons of locations to explore, to find items, as well as lots of resources and crafting. It has a large mission and quest system to keep you busy and focused when you are trying to stay alive.
10
Grim Soul: Survival
Labelled as a more hardcore Android survival game, Grim Soul is a very popular title in the genre. You will find yourself in a dark land set somewhere in the medieval ages, full of enemies. You can build a fortress and then defend it, keeping you and any players you want to play with alive. There are lots of chat options that allow you to work with people around the globe, so you can take on this challenge with some friends.
11
Survivor.io
Survivor.io is another incredible roguelike where you have to endure for as long as possible. You have to pick the best weapon, choose the right skills and evolutions, and destroy crowds of enemies. There are more than a thousand different opponents that you can face in the game! If you are a newbie, feel free to read our tips and tricks for Survivor.io to improve your chances. It will run you through the core basics that every player needs to grasp if they want to prevail. There's also a list of Survivor.io codes for free gems and coins that are useful for various upgrades. Use them well.
12
The Escapists 2
The Escapists 2 is a strategy survival game with a lot going on. You start off by playing a convicted felon, living in prison. However, your real goal is to escape prison and survive without being locked up in cells. You can plan your escape, craft items, take along some of your friends, and then slowly make your escape. You will need to manage your time and actions carefully in prison - skipping meals and not being present in jail will cause suspicion, which will get you caught before you are even out of there.
13
LifeAfter
Another zombie-focused survival game, LifeAfter has some pretty impressive graphics to keep you impressed. There are lots of areas to explore and items to find that might be useful to prevail, but there are also tons of monsters looking to annihilate you. You can find camps to live in, build your own, and even help others if you’d like. There is a big blend of sandbox and survival in LifeAfter, which makes it memorable.
14
The Bonfire: Forsaken Lands
In The Bondfire, you are looking to build a shelter in a snowy, harsh landscape. There are management aspects in The Bondfire, with workers to control, resources to find and constructions that need to be built up so that you can last. Along with the horrible weather, you will also need to persist against monsters who see you as food. It’s a more casual experience, but still feels much like other popular titles.
15
Jurassic Survival
Jurassic Survival is a simulator in Jurassic Park! You will find many different types of dinosaurs. Moreover, you will have to fight with them for resources and territory. The gameplay is similar to classic survival games, where you must collect resources and build structures to protect yourself from dinosaurs.
You are not going to find zombies, an apocalypse, or a nuclear war. Indeed, the Jurassic Survival setting differs from other games in the genre. There is also a huge open world, and the map is divided into several locations. You can freely move to those locations, but some of them are full of dangerous dinosaurs, which might be a threat to you.
Otherwise, if you're looking to play something a little more relaxing without having to worry about surviving the apocalypse, you can check our finest Android games like Animal Crossing or our best farming games for Android!
