10 Mobile Survival Games You Can Sink Hours Into

Survival games on mobile are a special kind of addictive. In this genre, you start with nothing, grab a stick, build a little shelter, and suddenly you are planning supply runs like it is a serious life decision.

The best mobile survival games give you that constant push and pull. Explore for loot, risk getting wiped, bring it back, upgrade your gear, then go out again a little braver. Some are chill sandbox worlds. Some are brutal and stressful in the best way.

If you like crafting, base building, zombies, or just making it through one more night, this list has you covered.

Quick List of Mobile Survival Games

1. Minecraft

Minecraft is a survival sandbox where you punch trees, build shelter, and try to not get cooked on your first night. It’s cozy when you want it to be, and it’s chaos when you dig too deep.

Gameplay

You drop into a random world, gather wood and stone, craft tools, and build a base. Survival mode adds health and hunger, plus hostile mobs at night, so planning actually matters.

If you want co-op survival, you can play online with friends, and Realms is the simple option for a shared world that stays available across devices.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ A survival game where you set your own goals
• ✅ Building a base, farming, and exploring at your own pace
• ✅ Big caves and loot runs that feel like mini adventures
• ✅ Easy shared-world setup with Realms

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Figuring stuff out by experimenting, because the game expects that
• ❌ Resource gathering and crafting loops
• ❌ Losing progress when you die far from home
• ❌ Survival games where you have to make your own fun instead of following a strict story

2. Terraria

Terraria is a 2D survival sandbox where you mine, build a base, gear up, and fight bosses that push you into tougher phases of the world.

Gameplay

You start by chopping trees, digging for ore, and crafting better tools, weapons, and armor. Then the game opens up into exploration and progression, with biomes, caves, and boss fights that unlock new materials and upgrades.

You can also play multiplayer on mobile, so you and friends can build together, share loot, and take on bosses as a squad.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ Survival plus crafting, but with tons of combat and boss goals
• ✅ Building bases, arenas, and weird little projects that keep growing
• ✅ A sense of progression where each boss makes the world feel bigger
• ✅ Co-op runs where someone builds while someone else hunts loot

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Inventory management and lots of item sorting
• ❌ Getting wrecked by a boss and realizing you need a whole new plan
• ❌ Long mining sessions when you just want instant action
• ❌ Learning by messing up, because Terraria loves surprises

3. Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition

Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition is a tough, moody survival game where the goal is simple: stay alive as long as you can in a weird wilderness full of monsters and bad vibes.

Gameplay

You roam, gather stuff, and craft tools, weapons, and a base before the world punishes you. You’re always juggling hunger, health, and sanity, and the day night cycle matters a lot. If you die, the run is done, so every risky choice feels real.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ A real survival challenge that does not hold your hand
• ✅ Crafting and base building that actually matters
• ✅ A creepy cute art style and lots of strange creatures
• ✅ The feeling of learning from failure and lasting longer each run

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Losing everything when you die and having to restart
• ❌ Harsh survival games where one mistake can snowball
• ❌ Managing meters like hunger and sanity all the time
• ❌ Touch controls feeling a bit fiddly during tense fights on small screens

4. ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition

ARK: Ultimate Mobile Edition is the full-on dinosaur survival sandbox on your phone, with taming, base building, and big multiplayer tribes.

Gameplay

You spawn with nothing, punch trees for basics, then climb the tech ladder into metal bases, guns, and dino armies. The loop is gather, craft, tame creatures, and take on tougher zones with friends, or solo if you like suffering.

On mobile it’s free to download, but it’s huge. The store listings warn you’ll download extra data after launch, so you want good storage and decent Wi-Fi.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ Taming dinos and riding them like it’s your day job
• ✅ Big survival projects, like building a real base with defenses
• ✅ Multiplayer tribe life, raids, and co-op grinding
• ✅ Multiple maps and expansions on mobile, starting with The Island plus Scorched Earth and Aberration

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Huge downloads and storage demands
• ❌ Survival games that punish you for being unprepared
• ❌ Performance dips in busy areas on weaker phones
• ❌ In-app purchases or subscriptions for extra content and convenience

5. Last Day on Earth: Survival

Last Day on Earth: Survival is a zombie survival game where you loot zones, build a base, and try not to get jumped while you’re carrying all your good stuff. It’s online and has multiplayer features, so it can feel like survival plus MMO vibes.

Gameplay

You start weak, grab materials, craft tools and weapons, then build out your home base with storage and defenses. The main loop is picking a location, doing a risky loot run, and making it back alive so you can upgrade and prepare for harder areas.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ Base building and crafting that keeps getting deeper
• ✅ Tense loot runs where every trip feels like a gamble
• ✅ Long-term progression with gear, upgrades, and better zones
• ✅ An online survival game where multiplayer stuff exists beyond just solo grinding

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Grinding materials, because you will be farming a lot
• ❌ Losing your best kit after a bad run and feeling pain
• ❌ Always-online games with timers and systems pushing you to check in
• ❌ Survival games that can feel unfair when you wander into the wrong place too early

6. LifeAfter

LifeAfter is an online zombie survival game where you loot, build a home base, and team up with other survivors in camps to handle tougher threats.

Gameplay

You roam a big world, grab resources, craft gear, and upgrade your manor so you can survive longer. The core loop is risky loot runs, crafting, and coming back home alive with your haul.

Multiplayer is a big part of the vibe. You can join camps for mutual support, do PvE content together, and run into PvP in certain activities, so it can feel like survival plus MMO routines.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ A survival game with co-op camps and lots of social stuff
• ✅ Base building and crafting that keeps expanding
• ✅ Third-person combat mixed with gathering and exploration
• ✅ A long grind game you can sink into for months

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Always-online games with live systems and routine check-ins
• ❌ Losing progress from a bad run when you carried your best gear
• ❌ Big installs and heavy performance demands on weaker phones
• ❌ MMO-style menus, events, and currencies around the survival core

7. Frostborn: Survival RPG

Frostborn: Survival RPG is an online Viking survival game where you build a base, grind gear, and team up for co-op fights and raids in a dark Norse-themed world.

Gameplay

You gather resources, craft equipment, and upgrade your base so you can survive tougher zones and dungeon runs. The game pushes co-op hard, since you can team up with other Vikings, join groups, and run raids while also dealing with PvP encounters and base attacks.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ Co-op survival where building and fighting with friends is the main vibe
• ✅ Viking theme, classes, and a world that feels like survival plus MMO
• ✅ Raids and PvP moments that keep the world feeling dangerous
• ✅ Base upgrades and long-term progression you can sink into

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Always-online survival games with MMO-style systems
• ❌ Getting raided or losing stuff because you fell behind
• ❌ Grinding materials and crafting loops for days
• ❌ Big installs and lots of moving parts in menus and progression

8. This War of Mine

This War of Mine is a survival game about civilians stuck in a besieged city. It’s less power fantasy and more hard choices, day after day.

Gameplay

The game runs on a day and night loop. In the day, you stay in your shelter, craft, trade, cook, and manage your group’s needs. At night, you send someone out to scavenge, which can lead to fights, theft, or moral gut punches.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ Survival gameplay with tough choices that actually matter
• ✅ A day and night loop that feels tense and smart
• ✅ Base management, crafting, and scavenging that hooks you fast
• ✅ A heavy story vibe that sticks with you

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Games that feel bleak or emotionally rough
• ❌ Losing a run because one bad night snowballed into disaster
• ❌ Reading logs and making careful plans instead of nonstop action
• ❌ Slow, stressful survival where mistakes hurt more than usual

9. Day R Survival

Day R Survival is a post-apocalypse survival RPG set in the former USSR, where you manage hunger, health, and radiation while traveling, looting, and building up your gear. It supports both offline play and online multiplayer.

Gameplay

You move across a big world map, scavenge locations, and craft a ton of stuff like weapons, armor, and supplies. The game leans hard into planning, like packing enough food, meds, and tools before a long trip. You can also build and upgrade vehicles, which becomes a huge deal once distances get crazy.

Online mode adds player interaction like trading and other social systems, so it can feel more like a survival MMO if you want it.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ A slow-burn survival game where planning matters
• ✅ Crafting and progression with lots of recipes and upgrades
• ✅ Offline play for chill solo runs
• ✅ Online multiplayer for trading and teaming up

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Long sessions of looting and resource management
• ❌ Survival pressure from hunger, disease, and radiation systems
• ❌ A slower pace with lots of map travel
• ❌ Online modes with extra rules and social grind

10. DYSMANTLE

DYSMANTLE is a post-apocalyptic survival action RPG where the main joy is simple: if you can see it, you can usually smash it for materials, then turn that junk into better gear.

Gameplay

You explore an open island, break objects for resources, craft upgrades, and fight off nasty creatures while pushing into new zones. Progress feels very loop-based: smash, loot, upgrade, then come back and smash bigger stuff.

Co-op exists, but it’s local co-op. On mobile, it’s commonly done with two controllers connected to the same device.

Play it if you want:

• ✅ A chill grind where breaking things is the whole dopamine engine
• ✅ Exploration plus crafting that keeps opening up over time
• ✅ A survival vibe that’s more about progress than punishing hunger meters
• ✅ Local co-op on one device with controllers for couch sessions

Skip it if you hate:

• ❌ Repetition, because the loop is the loop and it’s a long game
• ❌ Local-only co-op, since there’s no built-in online co-op
• ❌ Touch controls feeling awkward during fights, unless you use a controller
• ❌ Big downloads and storage use on mobile

Final Thoughts on Mobile Survival Games

What makes mobile survival games so good is the story you create without even trying. The near-miss escape, the lucky drop, the base you swear you will not overbuild, and the moment you finally feel safe, then the game reminds you you are not.

If you are new to survival games, start with a sandbox pick that lets you learn at your own pace. If you want the intense stuff, jump straight into the harder titles and enjoy the chaos.

Explore More Games

• Games like Minecraft
• Games like Terraria