Top 35 Subnautica Games Alternatives for Underwater Survival

August 23, 2022

Last Updated date: December 22, 2022

Welcome to the exciting game “Subnautica,” which takes place in the beautiful and dangerous world of the ocean. Here, you can go on an underwater adventure, look into the depths of the sea, and meet people from other planets. As a result of the space mission, the ship and the plane both crashed into the ocean. All of the people on board died, and only a scientist made it out alive. He will be the main character, and he and the player will have to figure out how to stay alive underwater.

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The main character Subnautica only has a rescue submarine, which has been standing in for his house for a long time. After falling to the bottom of the deep sea, the hero will have to learn everything he can about the area and try not to get eaten by sharks, sea monsters, and other dangerous creatures that live there. At the same time, the player is given new tasks that, when finished, earn him bonuses and points.

You can use them to improve the submarine, get more food and water, and get weapons to protect yourself from sea creatures. The story of the game is both interesting and calm. It will help you calm down and enjoy the beauty of the deep-sea horizons. There is no place for chases, gunfights, and bloodshed, but they add excitement and originality.

In this article, we are going to talk about everything about Subnautica. Stay with us.

Subnautica Gameplay at First Sight

This review of Subnautica showed that the game was almost as strange as its setting. But in some ways, the fact that a lot of the game was familiar made it seem even stranger. We’re used to exploring beautiful alien worlds, but not to them trying to kill us every second. In this kind of game, managing the meters is a given, but adding oxygen to the mix made it feel like a whole retro game.

Subnautica is really different from most survival games because it has a real story. You’ll have to follow a trail of bread crumbs across the ocean. Along the way, you’ll have to build things to get around certain problems and improve your gear to stay alive just a little bit longer. You will die sometimes, but more often than not it will be because you tried to do too much than because of the game’s world.

Is Subnautica Free to Play?

If you like indie games with aquatic themes, you may already know about Subnautica, which just won the 2018 Gamers’ Choice Award for Fan Favorite Indie Game.

But if you haven’t played it yet, you can get it for free now. Usually, the game costs $25. The company that made the hit game Fortnite, Epic Games, is letting PC users download Subnautica for free through the Epic Games Store.

In early December, Epic Games showed off its new games store. Valve’s Steam has been the most popular place to get the best PC games, but Epic wants to change that.

To make the Epic Games Store even more appealing, the company has promised to give away a free game every two weeks. The first free game is Subnautica, and Super Meat Boy will be the next one on December 28.

Epic Games also made its store more competitive by giving game developers 88 percent of the profits (Steam shares 65-70 percent of revenue with devs). This strategy is probably meant to get game makers to sell their games through Epic.

Not just Epic Games going up against Steam. This year, the chat platform for gamers, Discord, also opened a store for PC games.

35 Games like Subnautica You Can Play in 2023

Want to play other games like Subnautica? Then you want a dangerous world to explore, complex ways to stay alive, and maybe a few strange monsters to avoid at all costs. Don’t worry, this list of the best games like Subnautica has exactly what you’re looking for.

We’ve tried to pick games that do a great job of combining story, exploration, managing resources, and the occasional scare – all of which are important parts of the Subnautica experience. Even though there aren’t many games with underwater environments as beautiful as those made by Unknown Worlds, there is a lot that have the same sense of progress and mystery. So keep scrolling to find 10 games you can play right now that are like Subnautica.

The Long Dark
Vallheim
Abzu
Minecraft
No Man’s Sky
Subnautica: Below Zero
ARK: Survival Evolved
Terraria
Starbound
Firewatch
Astroneer
Raft
The Forest
Osiris: New Dawn
Stranded Deep
Breathedge
Grounded
SOMA
FarSky
Alien Isolation
Satisfactory
Green Hell
Rust
Miasmata
Out of Reach
Escape The Pacific
Space Engineers
The Souls Project
7 Days to Die
Dead Island

Best Game Like Subnautica with Details:

The Long Dark

The Long Dark doesn’t have as good of a story as Subnautica, but it’s just as atmospheric. You have to survive in the dangerous Canadian wilderness. That’s because of its hand-painted art style and beautiful weather, which can change in an instant and leave you freezing to death without enough wood to make a fire while wolves howl menacingly in the distance. It can be hard, and you’ll find yourself in a lot of scary situations where food and light are scarce, but there are also long stretches of quiet where you can think. You, the snow, and your steps are all that is there. And, of course, those wolves.

Abzu

As you go deeper into the ocean, you’ll find a lush, hidden world where ancient secrets have been forgotten and majestic creatures are waiting. ABZ is a beautiful underwater adventure that makes you wish you could dive. It was made by the art director of Journey.

No Man’s Sky

This could get me some criticism. We all know that when No Man’s Sky came out, it was widely thought to be one of the worst games ever for misleading advertising. A trailer showed beautiful worlds full of alien life, but when the game came out, we found that the universe was almost lifeless and that most of the planets looked the same and were dull.

The game was boring, kept going over the same things over and over, and it didn’t have any personality or spark that would make people want to play it.
“Times Change,” as Garrosh said in the epic trailer for Warlords of Draenor (yes, the expansion was bad, but the trailer was awesome). No Man’s Sky has changed a lot and gotten a lot better over time. The game’s creators could have abandoned it like so many other open-world, or galaxy, survival-adventure games, but they stuck with it.

You can go on adventures in No Man’s Sky across many different worlds that are full of life, and you might even meet other aliens who live in space. If you tried it in 2014 and didn’t like it so much that you never opened it again, I’d suggest you try it again. No Man’s Sky is one of the best games like Subnautica in its current state.

Subnautica: Below Zero

The next logical step after Subnautica is… more Subnautica, and Below Zero gives you just that. After a time in early access, Subnautica: Below Zero is now a stand-alone expansion that will give you hours of underwater beach activities. As the name suggests, the water in Below Zero is much colder. The game takes place in the arctic region of an alien planet, and your job is to stay alive after a disaster on a research station in the sky. You can expect the same game loops you know and love from Subnautica. However, regular updates add new biomes, creatures, and tools that keep making the game better.

ARK: Survival Evolved

Aside from the fact that the base ARK game is a survival game, it has a lot in common with Subnautica because many of the expansion packs take place in strange places.

Even though there isn’t a nautical map, you can still explore underwater areas and fight with sea creatures. In the Aberration expansion, there is an underground realm that has a different kind of biome.

The new biome is full of strange creatures and dangers that you have never seen on the surface world. Even so, the risks you face in Aberration are more like those you face when you explore the depths in Subnautica. If you like stories that are hidden around the world, ARK has you covered.

Starbound

Starbound is a PC game with a wide-ranging building system and a huge number of planets to explore. If you like survival sandbox games, you will be interested in this. It’s like a sci-fi version of Terraria, but the story is more important.

As you move from planet to planet, you’ll collect resources that you can use to improve your tool and make it more advanced. You’ll go from using swords to using machine guns, from walking boots to jetpacks and teleportation.

The game’s different planets all have different biomes, which are made to be as different as possible. For example, you might be sneaking through a dense jungle one minute and flying through a puddle of magma the next.

It has a good storyline, bosses that are scripted, interesting characters, and a lot of folklore that will help you get through to the next world.

Firewatch

Firewatch is not at all like Subnautica, but it does have one of the underwater adventure elements. Even though you’re never really in danger, the game has a huge world and a lot of atmospheres.

This is a first-person mystery game for one player set in the wilds of Wyoming. The only non-player character in the world talks to you through a hand-held radio and tells you how to play the game.

The year is 1989, and your job, Henry, is to keep the wilderness safe. But something is wrong, so you go deeper into the woods to find answers during the hot summer.

The story then has adult themes, deep moral questions, and a lot of stories. You’d want to look at every note, every clue, and every place. And that’s good because the stories are wild, full, and beautiful.

Lastly, there are choices in the game. Depending on what you choose, the story changes. Even better, the mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Astroneer

Astroneer is an open-world sandbox game that takes place on a cute and colorful alien planet where oxygen is hard to find and there are lots of natural resources.

It’s different from other games in the same genre because it has a tool called the Terrain Tool. With this tool, you can change the environment to your liking by terraforming any natural surface while gathering resources.

Like Subnautica, the game has a unique crafting system that lets you stay alive as you explore by making networks of stations, vehicles, and tethered oxygen sources.

Even though there isn’t much combat in Astroneer, getting around the procedurally generated worlds and their many dangers is a challenge in and of itself.

Raft

In Raft, another game that takes place on the water, players faces off against the dangerous ocean in a slightly different way than they do in Subnautica. In this game, you have to find materials and trash to build complicated rafts so you don’t drown in the ocean. The ocean is full of both good things and dangerous things, and the crafting part is (mostly) kept above water.

Grounded

Obsidian Entertainment made the survival game Grounded, and Xbox Game Studios put it out. The player takes control of the main character, who has been shrunk down to ant size. The player has to stay alive in the backyard, which is full of bugs and insects.

As the game gets harder, more areas of the map will open up with more valuable resources and new, more dangerous enemies. The game can be played alone or with other people. Grounded is out now for PC and Xbox One, and it will soon be available Xbox game Series.

Green Hell

Green Hell is another survival game that takes place in a jungle instead of the ocean. It has a lot of the realism and difficulty that come with living in both of these biomes. It’s also a very pretty game. It can also be played in VR, just like Subnautica, for a deeper sense of immersion.

Pros and Cons of Subnautica Game

Subnautica is a great exploration game. The player crashes on an unknown planet with strange terrain, depths they haven’t seen, and strange animals. Some smaller animals will seem to be more afraid of you, but it’s the bigger predators that will cause your oxygen levels to drop quickly because your heart rate will go up. It’s a game that grabs your attention as soon as you step out of the lifeboat, thanks to the beautiful water effects and beautiful setting.

Pros

Gorgeous visuals.
A job well done.
A real sense of wanting to live.
A rich setting that makes you feel both wonder and fear
combines survival sim gameplay with a story that keeps you interested.
Dozens of scares that are all different and well-made

Cons

Can sometimes be a little rough.
Land parts are boring and hard on the eyes.
Some technical problems that got in the way

On its own, a game with a lot of liquid isn’t much of a selling point, but when you add base building, meaningful progression, and the feeling of being way out of your depth, you get quite an experience. At $24.99, you can buy a game that will keep you busy for hundreds of hours, whether you are exploring, building bases, playing with animals, or just trying to stay alive.

Final Thoughts

All of these games are fun and interesting to me, but The Long Dark and The Forest are the ones I play the most.

During the summer, I like to play The Long Dark to cool off. In the next few weeks, I’m most excited to play Zomboid, Stranded Deep, and Raft. If you like Subnautica, you might also like one of the games on this list. Also, don’t forget that Subnautica has a sequel. Below Zero, you can’t do a better job of making a game like Subnautica than the people who made it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Subnautica

Is Subnautica a Horror?

The Subnautica games are not horror games, but they have a lot of scary parts. The leviathans that live in the more dangerous parts of the map are the most obvious.

Is Subnautica free to Play?

If you like indie games with aquatic themes, you may already know about Subnautica, which just won the 2018 Gamers’ Choice Award for Fan Favorite Indie Game. But if you haven’t played it yet, you can get it for free now. Usually, the game costs $25.

How long does it take to beat Subnautica?

Subnautica is about 29 and a half hours long if you just focus on the main goals. If you’re a gamer who wants to see everything the game has to offer, it will probably take you about 55 hours to finish it.

Is Subnautica kid friendly?

Some of the violence is made up, like when you use your knife to kill fish-like creatures. There are also some scary parts that parents should be aware of. There are also a few times when the words “damn” and “hell” are spoken.

Is Subnautica before or after Below Zero?

Subnautica: Below Zero is an action-adventure survival game with an open world that was made and sold by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. It comes after the game Subnautica, which came out in 2018.

Can you leave the planet in Subnautica?

Planet 4546B can be left by using the Neptune Escape Rocket. It can be built from five parts: the Neptune Launch Platform, the Neptune Gantry, the Neptune Ion Boosters, the Neptune Fuel Reserve, and the Neptune Cockpit.

Will they make a Subnautica 3?

Subnautica fans can now celebrate because Unknown Worlds Entertainment has confirmed Subnautica 3. Still in its early stages, but still! We’ll finally get another video game trip to 4546B at some point in the future.

What planet is Subnautica on?

Subnautica is an action-adventure survival game with an open world that was made and sold by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. After their spaceship, the Aurora, crashes on the surface of planet 4546B, players are free to explore the ocean on that planet.

What is the end goal of Subnautica?

The player takes control of Ryley Robinson, the only survivor of the Aurora, as he is stranded on a planet called 4546B which is in the middle of the ocean. The main goal is to explore the ocean and stay alive while doing tasks that move the story along.

What type of game is Subnautica?

Subnautica is an action-adventure survival game with an open world that was made and sold by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. After your spaceship crashes into 4546B, you’d be exploring an ocean on a planet you don’t know much about.

Where can I buy Subnautica?

The games on this list, including Subnautica, can be bought on Steam, and if they are available for consoles, they can be bought on the console’s store.

What games would you recommend on the list?

The Long Dark and The Forest are two books that I would recommend. I also sometimes like to play No Man’s Sky and Ark. I’d like to try Grounded the most.