Since Minecraft first burrowed its blocky way into players' brains back in 2009, survival games have gone on to become one of the biggest genres in the medium. The idea of building a shelter and hiding in it from hostile elements and creatures has been adapted into every imaginable scenario, from the depths of the ocean in Subnautica to the farthest reaches of space in No Man's Sky.
The influence of the best survival games can be seen across the industry. Big-budget action-adventure titles such as Tomb Raider and God Of War have adopted elements of survival games – not least the crafting system – while you can trace a direct line from the open-ended zombie survivalism of DayZ to the battle-royale supremacy of Fortnite. Survival games have even changed how videogames, regardless of genre, are made, pioneering the early-access model of development used to create outstanding recent titles such as Hades 2 and Baldur's Gate 3.
