Personally, I really don’t like most of these games due to the tedium and frustration that comes with hunger/thirst mechanics. Most of the exceptions that I do actually like either make up for it through something else that elevates the experience enough - or they either don’t have these mechanics or allow for players to disable them.
Subnautica is an example of the latter. There’s already a lot to like here: A gorgeous, hand-crafted world that skillfully strides the balance between being alien and familiar, a cool sci-fi aesthetic for everything that isn’t natural, purposeful progression, fantastic atmosphere, swimming that feels great. The fact that I can play this game having only to worry about my breath and health is the cherry on top.
The Long Dark still has hunger and thirst, but I’m willing to overlook this just so that I can soak in the atmosphere of this frozen post-apocalypse. With relatively simple tech and straightforward mechanics, this game effortlessly manages to engross the player. I will admit though that when I found a nice deserted cabin at one point, I decided to end the game there, deciding that this was a suitable end point. I’ll definitely pick it up again in the future, but not during this time of the year.
NEO Scavenger: It’s kind of ironic that one of the most “hardcore” examples of this genre is also one of my favorites. Like with the other two, it’s the atmosphere and the world that drew me in, but it’s also that all of the intricate, unforgiving survival mechanics this game has, down to getting sick due to exposure, feel realistic and purposeful, instead of merely existing to tick a standard survival game checkbox. It’s hard, not unfair, it’s punishing and random without feeling uncontrollable.
If they count as survival then survival horror like Resident Evil and Signalis.
Most of the traditional survival games I’ve played end up being annoying to play because of the constant use of your resources outside of your control and I find gathering for crafting kinda boring. This kinda ruined Subnautica for me, since I was mostly interested in exploring but I had to constantly return to base to do chores.
Which chores do you mean?
Harvesting food, collecting water, random gathering for materials to craft. I guess it gets better later in the game, but I tried starting it twice and after ~10h I dropped it both times because I was annoyed with the resources.
You can play Subnautica, like I mentioned in my submission, without hunger and thirst. I highly recommend it. Normal resource gathering remains, of course.
Ah I didn’t realize that. I might try it again then.