Rust is one of those survival game experiences that I’ve found hard to exactly replicate. It has all the staples that most survival game enthusiasts enjoy:base-building, looting, and plenty of combat.
The aspect that makesRuststand apart from other survival games (and what’s made it so popular) is really its community and the intense PVP action. Playing Rust is sort of like a lifestyle since players need to devote a lot of time to it, especially to ensure their base and resources are safe from raiders.
Over time, other games similar to Rust have emerged, but not all of them live up to its standards. The best games like Rust should focus on PvP (or at least something similar), offer base building, and include survival mechanics like hunger or temperature control.
Rust: 10 Tips & Tricks For Beginners
Starting off in Rust can be a pain, especially for newcomers. These tips can help you start off on the right foot!
For those who haven’t fallen prey to Rust’s addictive gameplay, players spawn on the map butt naked and have to scavenge, loot, and kill to survive. There are tons of things that want to kill the player right back, like wildlife, NPCs, and other players.
Admittedly, there isn’t much of a story to follow, and a player’s main goal is to just make it through another night. However, with lots of other players all trying to get the same loot as yourself, intense gunfights and PVP action are inevitable.
10V Rising
Survive And Fight As A Vampire
In Rust, players are just normal humans, but in V Rising,they get to take on the role of a vampirewho has been slumbering for ages. Much like Rust, players have to take back and defend their territory, except this time they’re building castles instead of scrappy fortresses.
In fact, players who like to spend a lot of time decorating their bases in Rust, myself included, will find satisfaction with V Rising’s castle decoration. Not only do the decorations provide buffs for certain crafting workbenches, butthey also allow players to make the gothic castle of their dreams.
V Rising offers a lot of the same sort of experiences as Rust, such as PVP fighting with other vampires. It also provides boss fightsthat encourage players to work together to overcome them.
9Escape From Tarkov
Extraction Survival With Punishing PVP
Escape from Tarkov
One of the most prevalent parts of Rust is its PVP action, andEscape From Tarkovmirrors that experience. In the game, players spawn in different areas on the map and must reach an extraction pointwhile picking up quest items and resources along the way.
In Rust, players are typically alone, althoughthey can form groups with friends(unless you have my experience, where your friends immediately decided to scatter and leave you to fend for yourself). In Escape From Tarkov, players cantrust no one but themselves.
Dying in Escape From Tarkov is just as brutal as it is in Rust,since players can lose everything. Players who love the adrenaline-pumping gunfights from Rust will likely feel right at home with Escape From Tarkov.
Raid Other Players
Admittedly, PVP isn’t the primary focus ofValheim, butplayers can turn on a PVP option to turn the game into their own Viking raid simulator. Be careful, though, as I’ve experienced how quickly turning into raiders can turn a strong friendship into an episode fromGame of Thrones.
Valheim has a unique approach to survival mechanics, which encourages players to hunt and farm to make dishes that can boost certain attributes. Players will want those boosts since they’re going to face some pretty challenging bosses out in the open world.
Now, the real focus of Valheim is on working together or becoming stronger soloto defeat bosses,which is what makes the game primarily PVE or PVPVE. There are a lot of PVE-focused private servers for Rust, so if players prefer a PVPVE experience, then they might want to check out Valheim.
7Conan Exiles
Unleash Powerful Gods
Conan Exiles
Fextralife Wiki
Imagine building fortresses in Rust but havinga huge wasteland at a player’s disposal.Conan Exileshas a huge map, with many more DLCs providing even more maps to explore, with different biomes and challenges.
In the world of Conan, basicallyeverything wants to kill the player, and that includes other players. The game has both PVP and PVE options, which should satisfy both halves of the Rust player base.
One of the most exciting parts of Conan Exiles is when two mega tribes go against each other and use Avatars to utterly destroy one another. As a humble survivor in the wasteland, I always love grabbing some popcorn and watching astwo huge deities take on Avatar form and wreck a tribe’s fortress. It’s all the carnage of Rust with a bit of Conan mysticism.
6Sons Of The Forest
Fight Other Players And Cannibals
Sons of the Forest
Sons of the Forestis one ofthe best survival game experiencesof the last few years, and that’s mostly due to the incredible AI that the dev team, Endnight Games, has created. I’ve always felt that the cannibals and demons felt so real and lifelike because of how they interact with the player and world.
Even in PVE mode, Rust fans will enjoy Sons of the Forest for its emphasis on harsh survival and base building. With its 1.0 release, however,Sons of the Forest also provided PVP options for players who want to make surviving on the cannibal-filled island even more deadly.
Players will need to fend off both the island inhabitants and their fellow players while they attempt to survive through winter and find a way off the island. As a big fan of Sons of the Forest, I think it really scratches the itch for Rust players who want a more hardcore survival experience.
Rust But Better
When Deadside first launched, a lot of long-time Rust players, including myself, saw it asa Rust spin-off. It offers many of the same gameplay loops with base building, raiding, and looting.
The aspect that sets Deadside apart, however, is its better graphics and game modes.Deadside is newer than Rust, and it has more polished graphics as a result.
It also has several different game modes to give players more agency on how they want to play. For example, it has PVP, PVE, PVP with no raids, and PVP with scheduled raids.
One problem I’ve always felt Rust had is with its raids. It can be really frustrating making a lot of progress only for a raider to take everything when you’re offline.
Deadside’s approach to their raid system is a vast improvement on Rust’s system, and after players give it a try, they’ll likely feel the same way.
Hello, Zombie Neighbors
In Rust, players have to deal with each other and NPCs. While players can offer some variety, there isn’t much else for players to go toe-to-toe with.
DayZoffers a slightly new experience. While players can still fight each other,they also have infected enemies to deal with.
These “zombies” aren’t the standard slow-moving hordes players encounter in other games.They’re fast, violent, and intent on tearing players apart.
That raises the stakes for everyone in DayZ, making every choice and exploration feel that much more tense. Just like in Rust, I never knowif I’m going to find an ally or an enemyaround the corner.
DayZ is something like a spiritual successor or even a sister game to Rust, thanks to its similar gameplay loop and features. However, players who are like me and tend to get a bit bored with the repetition of Rust may find that DayZ’s infectedadd some much-needed spice to the experience.
37 Days To Die
Ultimate Survival Sandbox
7 Days to Die
If players enjoy a mix of PVP and PVE, then they should look at 7 Days to Die. Much like DayZ,players will have to face several different types of zombies.
The gimmick here is thatevery seven days, players will face a Blood Moon where an increasingly difficult horde of zombies appearsto destroy their base and attack them. It’s sort of like the raid system in Rust, but players are given a good warning ahead of time to prepare for it.
7 Days to Die also has a number of small-time quests given to players by traders in the world, so there’s never a dull moment. Add in some PVP, and things start to get really interesting.
Admittedly, my partner and I spend a lot of time building our Blood Moon base to fend off zombies, so we don’t always join in on the local PVP drama in our servers. That said, if players want the same sort of crazy PVP action as Rust, but with zombies, then they should take a look at 7 Days to Die.
Take Survival Mechanics To The Max
Besides fighting players, Rust istechnically a survival game, too. Playersneed to stay fed and comfortableto survive.
However, the survival mechanics in Rust pale when compared to those in SCUM. While SCUM has many of the same gameplay looks as Rust (fighting players, building bases, etc.), it hasextensive survival mechanics.
Players can monitor things like body weight and the number of macronutrients in their bodies. Allthese levels impact the character’s stats and performance.
It requires players to really pay attention to what they’re eating and how often. I love this type of deep survival mechanics, so if players feel the same, they’re going to find SCUM pretty satisfying in that regard.
1Ark: Survival Ascended
PVP Action With Dinosaurs
Ark: Survival Ascended
Ark: Survival Ascended andArk: Survival Evolvedhave a lot of similarities to Rust.Both have large open worlds and intense PVP action.
The main difference is that Ark encourages playersto fight each other with dinosaursrather than modern weapons. Players will spend time training up war dinosaurs and raiding bases to get their resources and prove they’re the alpha of the server.
There are PVE servers, too, for the Rust players who want something more relaxing and calm. The base building in Ark is quite enjoyable, and there are some players out there, like myself, who have madeincredible bases in the game(shout out to when I spent weeks making a pirate ship on Crystal Isles).
It’s incredibly easy to lose countless hours to Ark, which can also be said of Rust. So, if players are looking for a Rust-like experiencethat takes up their entire life, definitely consider Ark.
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