25 Games Like Rust

Our list of games like Rust features other survival adventures where you will battle the environment, AI and other players.

Rust quickly captivated a large audience when it began its alpha (through Steam Early Access) in late December 2013. Challenging players to not only survive the zombies in the game but also the elements and other players, it’s one of the great open world survival games.

As the game developed zombies were eventually removed and the focus of the game shifted more towards the player interactions (or lack of) that players would experience in each and every game. With only a single life to make a name for yourself it’s a journey of constant fear and strange encounters. AI controlled enemies weren’t completely removed from the game though to ensure a good balance of PvE and PvP experiences.

Crafting and shaping the game world is also at the heart of the Rust experience with players able to forge tools, weapons and houses to increase their chances of survival. With the large range of resources needed and the potential upgrades to find through the blueprint system Rust encourages players to group together to form factions and even raid others in large group engagements.

The games like Rust on this page focus on other games were survival is a key theme. While the majority of the games here are multiplayer focused some of the options are single player adventures, we’ve also included some free and online options. Please note only games in later stages of development are included on our pages.