ARK: Survival Evolved similar games & best alternatives

ARK: Survival Evolved - Trailer
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ARK: Survival Evolved

Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Linux, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch • 2017

Should you play it?

Stranded on the shores of a mysterious island, you must learn to survive. Use your cunning to kill or tame the primeval creatures roaming the land, and encounter other players to survive, dominate... and escape!

What works

  • Large open world with diverse biomes
  • Deep survival and crafting systems
  • Extensive dinosaur taming and breeding
  • Strong multiplayer tribe and pvp mechanics
  • Frequent developer updates and content additions

Things to keep in mind

  • Poor optimization and high hardware requirements
  • Numerous bugs and glitches
  • Steep learning curve and unfriendly to new players
  • Toxic pvp community on official servers
  • Grindy gameplay with time-consuming tasks

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • STALZONE

  • Hunt: Showdown 1896

  • Dune: Awakening

  • DARK SOULS™ III

  • SMITE®

  • Conan Exiles Enhanced

Less dominating

Games that feels like ARK: Survival Evolved but with less domination over others

  • Enshrouded

  • The Forest

  • Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen

  • Warframe

  • Karnage Chronicles

  • Dungeons of Sundaria

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

ARK: Survival Evolved: Less representative of its motivational profile, with noticeable differences. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Competition, Status, Fellowship, Domination. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Domination, Leadership, Intimacy.

Last update: 03/08/2026