The Steam winter sale is going on, and this is the best time to stock up on those co-op survival games! As a huge fan of open world games with crafting, building, and surviving in the wild, I’ve played dozens of titles in the genre.
In this article, I’ll rank my top 10 most favorite multiplayer survival games of recent times. Some of them are popular, while others are somewhat underrated. Either way, I’m sure you will find something new on this list.
Best PC Co-op Survival Games With Crafting, Building, and More!
10. ‘Dysmantle’
Zombie survival games are hands down one of the best in the genre. Popular titles like “Project Zomboid” have definitely made their mark in the gaming community.
But today, we are going to talk about something relatively new and underrated—Dysmantle. This is your perfect co-op survival game where you have to remain alive in a zombie apocalypse.
What makes “Dysmantle” amazing is its building and crafting themes. You can build amazing bases, powerful weapons, and, of course, delicious food. Oh, did I mention there’s farming too?
The only downside is that this isn’t a horror story, so the zombies aren’t as difficult to deal with.
9. ‘Tribes of Midgard’
At number nine on our list is an open world Viking action RPG that you can play with your gaming buddy. There are two modes in this game: Saga and Survival.
Now, the Saga mode is actually more challenging where your death is imminent. This is kind of a “tower defense” mode where you have to protect your village.
In this mode, you will have a base with a few villagers. These guys are your “crafting table.” From powerful weapons and armors to useful foods and potions, you can craft everything using these NPCs.
Every day bosses, mini-bosses, and other grunts will raid your small village. But there’s a twist. It gets more and more difficult every day.
Meanwhile, the survival mode is much more relaxed. You will be the one attacking your enemies. They don’t raid you. So, you get all the time in the world to explore the game slowly. You can build your dream fortress here, but there won’t be any villager NPCs. Instead, you will have actual crafting tables.
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8. ‘Outward’
Outward is more of an RPG than a survival game, but there are certain aspects of the game that make me want to add it to this list. First of all, it is a perfect multiplayer game with loads of action and adventure.
The enemies are extremely tough, and you will die a lot initially. You will have to make your own fighting strategies to live on and become strong.
While you can’t exactly build anything, there is a little bit of crafting in Outward. And most of these are battle items, some of which are EPIC!
You can eventually find masters and unlock magic. There are different kinds of skill progression, which definitely impressed me. Also, the necessity to eat, drink, and sleep makes it a bit more realistic.
7. ‘SmalLand’
Smalland is one of the trending co-op survival games on Steam with a fun theme. As the title suggests, you are a tiny creature who will have to adventure in a dangerous world.
Most enemies are insects that are kind of giants compared to your playable character. But fear not; you can craft armor, tame insects, and build camps to start dominating the world.
With stunning visuals and amazing music, this game is sure to entertain you and your gaming partner. It gets a good 8/10 when it comes to its theme and execution.
6. ‘Grounded’
Grounded is basically an upgraded and more popular version of Smalland. In this game, you and your co-op partner play as characters who are shrunk to the size of ants.
You will have to get crafty in order to live and thrive in a backyard filled with deadly creatures.
This is a perfect base-building multiplayer game with tons of stuff to craft. But what makes “Grounded” amazing is its storyline. Especially the fact that you can experience the story with up to three friends makes it even better.
With a diverse cast of characters and horrifying creatures, this is one of the best multiplayer games where you have to survive in the wild.
5. ‘Medieval Dynasty’
We’ve mostly been looking at the “fantasy” genre so far, but let’s take a step back and look at a real world simulation game. Medieval Dynasty is an amazing co-op survival game that simulates the medieval period.
In an open world setting, you can build, craft, cook, fight, and make meaningful connections with NPCs. You also get to do trading and other economic activities.
What sets “Medieval Dynasty” apart is its realism. You can create your own family, have children, and experience the good and bad parts of medieval life.
Some reviewers say the UI isn’t exactly intuitive, but it just takes a little getting used to. Otherwise, this is a fantastic title that is completely worth your time.
4. ‘Starbound’
This is one of my favorite co-op survival games that I seriously need to revisit. Some might call Starbound an imitation of Terraria, but others call it an upgrade.
Starbound introduces an interplanetary adventure where you can build your settlement on multiple planets.
The main story is interesting, but the real excitement is in the exploration and adventure parts.
I especially loved the part where you can build colonies, rent rooms, and make money.
You can then go to this giant spaceship to spend the money on all sorts of items. For example, you can invest in farm animals and build your farming empire.
Or, you can go all evil and kill off the inhibitants of a new planet, take over their homes, exploit their resources, and become the most powerful being in the universe. It is literally up to you!
3. ‘Terraria’
Terraria needs no introduction in the multiplayer survival game genre. It literally started the craze for the genre in the first place.
This is a 2D side-scrolling game where you can build, craft, farm, and much more!
What makes “Terraria” unique is its crazy boss fights and tunnel-digging adventures. You will have to dig around a lot to get resources, but they are surprisingly fun.
You might find new treasures or an entire new species of creature beneath the ground. Hell, there’s even a civilization in the sky, which I never saw coming.
Terraria is creative, but it definitely has some limitations because of its two dimensional nature. But, you can always expect something new to explore, and you’ll always have something to do.
2. ‘Valheim’
I know I’m going to piss off a lot of folks for placing Valheim above Terraria, but hear me out. Valheim is a hardcore co-op survival game that will make you realize how HARD survival actually is.
This is an open world Viking RPG that you can play with your friends. I’ve personally been playing Valheim for a good half of this year. This is why I can tell you that it is pretty amazing when it comes to its survival theme.
You can build, craft, farm, fish, and even tame animals. But no matter what you do, there will always be enemies far stronger than you.
There are all sorts of enemies—ones that fly, crawl, giants, dwarfs, you name it. Literally everything in the world wants to kill you.
Resources are hard to get initially. You will have to take a boat to various biomes, only to encounter some undead enemies ganging up on you.
If you are a true fan of HARDCORE survival games, then I’d say Valheim is the only title that can challenge you.
1. ‘Conan Exiles’
“Conan Exiles” is one of the newest co-op games I purchased on Steam. I literally got it a couple of days ago, and I got to say, It is VERY VERY GOOD! Far better than I had imagined.
The skill progression is masterful. The storyline is brilliant. The battle mechanism is just amazing. And the fact that you can ENSLAVE PEOPLE is a chef’s kiss.
Just kidding.
But yes, you can force people into becoming your “friends”! Just a good old beating and torture is all it takes to make local tribes into your loyal followers.
There is a ton of stuff to do in “Conan Exiles”. You can build bases, craft items, cook food, farm, tame animals (and humans), and literally do anything you want.
Like I said, I haven’t experienced “Conan Exiles” fully yet, but I can already tell Conan Exiles is GRAND! I love it. I’m sure you will, too.
This is by far the best survival game I have ever played in my life.
And there you have it, folks! My top 10 best co-op survival games of all time that you can play with a friend. These titles are good for solo play as well, but the multiplayer part makes them even better. These ten titles are sure to take months of your time, but they are totally worth it.
I hope you found something new and interesting to play! Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in the next article (^^)