Games Like Subnautica 2 - 12 Best Underwater and Alien-World Survival Games

Quick Answer: Subnautica is the essential first stop if you want the purest version of this formula. Subnautica: Below Zero keeps the same DNA, but gives it a stronger story spine and a colder, tighter map. The Planet Crafter swaps the ocean for terraforming, but it nails the same slow-burn “make the hostile world yours” loop.

Why These Games #

Subnautica 2 is really about three separate cravings. You want the fear of going deeper into something you do not fully understand. You want the little dopamine chain of scan, gather, craft, build, repeat. And you want that strange comfort of turning a hostile alien place into a home.

So this list is built around those exact pressures, not just “survival games with crafting.” We are not stuffing in generic forest or Viking worlds and calling it close enough. Games like Valheim, Grounded, and The Forest are good, but they do not do the same thing. They give you the survival skeleton without the alien ecosystem mystery that makes Subnautica tick.

If you love the unknown, the base-building, or the quiet obsession of learning a dangerous world piece by piece, this is the right set of games. The honorable mentions are there for a reason, but they trade the ocean’s weirdness for a different kind of fantasy.

Top Picks #

1. Subnautica #

GAMIVO€6.21Steam €6.21查看價格 →

Made by Unknown Worlds, Subnautica is the original modern underwater survival game, and it still sets the bar. You crash-land on alien planet 4546B, scan plants and creatures, craft tools and submarines, and slowly push from shallow reefs into terrifying deep water. It is all about learning the ocean until it stops feeling random and starts feeling alive. The best part is how every new tool changes the map in your head. The worst part is that the dark still wins sometimes.

• Similar because it is the direct source of Subnautica 2’s scan-craft-base loop and alien-ocean dread.
• Different because it is single-player only and much more tightly authored.
• Best for players who want the cleanest, scariest version of the formula.

2. Subnautica: Below Zero #

GAMIVO€6.21Steam €6.21查看價格 →

This standalone follow-up from Unknown Worlds takes the same core loop and drops it into an arctic region of 4546B. You still scan, craft, dive, and build, but now there is more land traversal, a named protagonist, and a much more story-led structure. It feels less like getting lost in a mystery and more like following a guided expedition through one cold, dangerous region. That makes it a little less pure than the original, but it is also easier to settle into if you want clearer narrative momentum.

• Similar because it keeps the same studio, same systems, and same feeling of descending into something strange.
• Different because it is smaller, more linear, and more openly story-driven.
• Best for players who want more Subnautica without replaying the exact first game.

3. The Planet Crafter #

GOG€5.90-50%Steam €5.90查看價格 →

The Planet Crafter from Miju Games turns the fantasy sideways: instead of surviving a hostile ocean, you terraform a dead planet until it becomes livable. You land, survive, build bases, and push the whole world from barren to breathable by raising temperature, pressure, oxygen, and biomass. That gives it the same addictive arc as Subnautica: learn the environment, extend your reach, then slowly make the world yours. It is less about fear and more about satisfaction, which is exactly why it lands here so high.

• Similar because it nails the scan, craft, build, and push-further compulsion loop.
• Different because the progression is planetary terraforming rather than a hand-crafted underwater story.
• Best for Subnautica fans who care more about taming a world than about the sea itself.

4. Forever Skies #

Kinguin€10.78-63%Steam €10.78查看價格 →

Forever Skies from Far From Home takes the survival-research loop and moves it above a ruined Earth. You fly a buildable airship over toxic dust, scan samples, scavenge wrecks, and keep expanding your mobile base as you search for answers. It shares more DNA with Subnautica than most games on this list: science-driven progression, modular base building, and that satisfying rhythm of turning scraps into new reach. The difference is verticality. You are not diving down. You are drifting across a poisoned sky, which gives the whole thing a cleaner, more technical feel.

• Similar because it keeps the scan-and-research structure and the “turn the base into a lifeline” rhythm.
• Different because it is airborne, science-heavy, and less about primal dread.
• Best for players who want Subnautica-style progression in a fresh setting.

5. Raft #

GAMIVO€11.93Steam €11.93查看價格 →

Raft starts with almost nothing: just a tiny wooden platform on an endless ocean. From there you hook debris, expand your floating home, fend off sharks, and eventually sail toward story islands with friends. It is a more social and relaxed take on ocean survival than Subnautica, but the loop is familiar in the right way. You gather from the water, build outward, and keep making your little patch of the sea more livable. It is less eerie, more playful, and much better if what you really want is co-op chaos on the waves.

• Similar because it uses the same ocean-survival expansion rhythm.
• Different because it stays on the surface and leans light instead of ominous.
• Best for friends who want an approachable co-op survival game.

6. Stranded Deep #

Kinguin€6.54-56%Steam €6.54查看價格 →

Stranded Deep is the rougher, harsher castaway game in this group. After a plane crash, you are left hopping between Pacific islands, crafting tools, building a raft, diving wrecks and reefs, and watching your hunger and thirst closely. It has co-op, but the mood is much more survival sim than adventure. Compared with Subnautica, it gives you less mystery and more grind. That is not a flaw if you want tension without the alien spectacle. It just means the game is working a different nerve.

• Similar because it delivers open-ocean exploration, diving, and a lonely survival mood.
• Different because it is grittier, less guided, and more punishing.
• Best for players who want a tougher castaway challenge.

7. Breathedge #

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Breathedge is basically Subnautica in space, but played for jokes. You are stranded in a debris field after a spaceship crash, scavenging junk, managing oxygen, building a station, and dealing with a sarcastic immortal chicken. Under the comedy, the structure is very familiar: oxygen management, wreck scavenging, crafting, and base expansion. The big difference is tone. Where Subnautica sells dread through silence and pressure, Breathedge keeps breaking the mood on purpose. That makes it a good fit if you like the loop but do not always want the anxiety.

• Similar because it mirrors the survival-crafting loop almost beat for beat.
• Different because it is a space comedy instead of an atmospheric horror game.
• Best for Subnautica fans who want the same systems with more jokes.

8. ABZU #

GAMIVO€5.50Steam €5.50查看價格 →

ABZU is the softest match on this list, but it earns its place because it captures the beauty of being underwater better than almost anything. Giant Squid turns diving into a short, wordless journey through bright reefs, fish shoals, and ancient ruins. There is no survival layer, no crafting, and no threat hanging over you. It is just movement, color, and calm. If what stuck with you in Subnautica was not the panic but the wonder of gliding through a living ocean, this is the cleanest reset you can get.

• Similar because it distills the beauty and movement of diving into a pure underwater experience.
• Different because it has no survival systems, no danger, and no sandbox.
• Best for players who want the atmosphere without the stress.

9. No Man's Sky #

Kinguin€14.47-74%Steam €14.47查看價格 →

No Man's Sky takes the exploration-and-building fantasy and blows it up to galactic scale. You scan, mine, explore, build, and even dive into alien oceans, but now the map is effectively endless. That makes it the broadest game here by a mile. It is less focused than Subnautica, and it never quite matches that hand-crafted feeling of sinking into one terrifying world. But if you want discovery, curiosity, and the pleasure of cataloguing the unknown, it can scratch a surprisingly similar itch, just spread across everything.

• Similar because it expands the scan-explore-build loop across a whole universe.
• Different because it is procedural, massive, and much less intimate.
• Best for explorers who want near-limitless discovery.

10. Astroneer #

Kinguin€5.40-73%Steam €5.40查看價格 →

Astroneer is the friendliest game on this list, and that is exactly why it works. System Era Softworks gives you a low-poly space sandbox where you shape terrain with a tool, gather resources, automate bases, and uncover secrets across colorful planets. Co-op is built in, and the whole thing feels welcoming instead of hostile. Compared with Subnautica, it swaps tension for comfort, but the pleasure of making a strange world usable is still there. If you like building and exploration more than fear, this is one of the easiest recommendations in the bunch.

• Similar because it keeps the explore-gather-build-automate loop intact.
• Different because it is bright, cozy, and much less threatening.
• Best for players and groups who want a relaxed building sandbox.

11. Dave the Diver #

Kinguin€6.65-67%Steam €6.65查看價格 →

Dave the Diver takes the thrill of diving into the unknown and wraps it in something much more playful. By day, you free-dive into a mysterious blue hole to catch fish and uncover oddities. By night, you run a sushi restaurant. That odd mix works because both halves feed each other, and because the game is always introducing something new. It is not trying to scare you the way Subnautica does. It is trying to surprise you. If you want discovery and ocean life without the survival grind, it is an easy one to recommend.

• Similar because it centers on diving, discovery, and cataloguing strange sea life.
• Different because it is a stylized management hybrid instead of a first-person survival game.
• Best for players who want ocean exploration with a lighter touch.

12. Dredge #

Kinguin€5.25-79%Steam €5.25查看價格 →

Dredge is here for one reason: it understands the fear of dark water. Black Salt Games built a short fishing game about sailing a cursed archipelago, catching stranger and stranger fish, and getting home before night falls. It is not a survival-crafting sandbox, and it does not pretend to be one. But the mood is right in the same place as Subnautica when the lights go out and the deep stops feeling safe. If you were mostly drawn to the uneasy atmosphere, this is the sharpest smaller-scale hit on the list.

• Similar because it nails the quiet horror of being on dangerous water after dark.
• Different because it is a top-down fishing adventure, not a sandbox survival game.
• Best for players who want dread more than building.

Comparison Table #

Game	Similar because	Different because	Best for
Subnautica	It is the source of the alien-ocean scan/craft/base formula.	Single-player only, with a tighter hand-crafted story map.	Players who want the purest version of the series’ DNA.
Subnautica: Below Zero	Same studio, same systems, same underwater rhythm.	Colder, smaller, and more explicitly story-led.	Fans who want more of the same world with narrative focus.
The Planet Crafter	It scratches the same learn-build-push-further compulsion.	It is terraforming on land, not exploring an ocean.	Players who love taming a hostile world.
Forever Skies	It keeps scan, research, scavenge, and mobile base-building.	You explore upward in an airship instead of downward underwater.	Players who want a science-heavy twist on the loop.
Raft	Ocean survival plus outward expansion from scraps.	Surface-focused and much less tense.	Friends looking for co-op sea survival.
Stranded Deep	Diving, crafting, and lonely castaway survival.	Grittier, harsher, and more simulation-driven.	Players who want a tougher survival challenge.
Breathedge	Oxygen management and scavenging wrecks in space.	It is a comedy, not an atmospheric dread piece.	Fans who want the same loop with jokes.
ABZU	It captures the wonder of moving underwater.	No survival systems, no crafting, no threat.	Players who want calm and beauty.
No Man's Sky	Scan, explore, build, and discover across many worlds.	Procedural scale over focused atmosphere.	Explorers who want endless planets.
Astroneer	Gather, build, and automate in strange places.	Bright, cozy, and far less hostile.	Players who want a relaxed co-op sandbox.
Dave the Diver	Diving into the unknown and learning what lives there.	A management hybrid, not a survival sim.	Players who want ocean discovery with momentum.
Dredge	It captures the fear of dark water.	Top-down fishing adventure instead of 3D survival.	Players chasing atmosphere and unease.

Filters #

• Closest to the source: more Subnautica — Subnautica, Subnautica: Below Zero
• The scan-craft-terraform loop, on land or in the sky — The Planet Crafter, Forever Skies, Astroneer
• Surface ocean survival you can play co-op — Raft, Stranded Deep
• The exact loop, in space, played for laughs — Breathedge
• Just want to dive and unwind — ABZU, Dave the Diver
• Endless worlds to explore — No Man's Sky
• Here for the dread of the deep — Dredge

FAQ #

Is Subnautica 2 worth playing while it is still in Early Access? #

Yes, if you already care about the series. It is sitting at a very strong Steam rating and it already adds drop-in co-op to the classic scan-craft-dive loop. Just keep in mind that it is still growing. If you want a finished game right now, start with Subnautica or Subnautica: Below Zero. If you want the new co-op direction specifically, Subnautica 2 is the one to watch.

Which one is best for co-op? #

Raft is the easiest, most social co-op pick here. Astroneer and The Planet Crafter also work really well if you want shared building and progression. And if you want the actual Subnautica formula with friends, Subnautica 2 is built for that from the ground up. The original Subnautica stays single-player only, so do not buy that one expecting multiplayer.

I love Subnautica but not the underwater setting — what should I play? #

Start with The Planet Crafter if you want the same slow transformation fantasy on land. Try Forever Skies if you want a mobile base and a science-first loop in the sky. Or go with Astroneer if you want a co-op-friendly version that feels softer and more relaxed. All three keep the same basic satisfaction of learning a hostile world and making it livable.

Which game is scariest or most atmospheric? #

The original Subnautica still wins for pure deep-sea dread. It knows exactly how to make silence feel dangerous. If you want something smaller but still nasty in the dark, Dredge is the other strong pick. For players who want the atmosphere without the terror, ABZU is the opposite end of the spectrum.