Games like Subnautica for the sea-and-survival itch

Subnautica 2, Raft and Under the Waves are the strongest picks after Subnautica. DREDGE and Abzu cover the ocean without the crafting grind. Roam underwater games are at the end.

What Subnautica is

Subnautica is an underwater survival game by Unknown Worlds Entertainment, released in 2018. You crash on an alien ocean planet and are left with almost nothing. You scan fish and wrecks, craft tools, build a base and a submarine, and go deeper as the water gets darker and the leviathans get bigger.

Subnautica: Below Zero followed in 2021. The first game came to iPhone and Android in July 2025. Subnautica 2 entered early access on PC and Xbox Series X|S on May 14, 2026, with co-op for up to four players.

What makes it work is fear of depth. The shallows are bright and safe, every new tool lets you go a little lower, and the map is a dark blue question mark. Good alternatives give you that same pull: one more trip down, one more thing to find.

Survival games with water

Subnautica 2. The sequel, on a new alien ocean. Play alone or with up to three friends.
Raft. Redbeet Interactive's co-op survival game, fully released in 2022. Start on a tiny raft, hook floating junk and grow it into a home.
Under the Waves. Parallel Studio's 2023 story game, published by Quantic Dream, about Stanley, a deep-sea diver working alone on the ocean floor.
Breathedge. RedRuins Softworks' 2021 survival game in space, with the same crafting and air meter, and a lot of jokes.

The ocean without the grind

DREDGE. Black Salt Games' 2023 fishing game with dark secrets under the surface. On phones since February 2025.
Abzu. Giant Squid's 2016 calm diving game. Swim with whales, no combat, no hunger meter.
Abyssal Drift (Roam). Underwater survival exploration. Lifepod 03. You are the only signal.
Underwater Oil Disaster (Roam). Dive down, find the leak, seal the pipe.
SUMP (Roam). A narrative cave dive: one diver, one headlamp, and a cave that keeps going down.

Play it on Roam

Make your own ocean survival game with Roam

Describe the planet, the base and what lives in the deep. Roam builds it, and you add danger by talking.

Try: "underwater survival on an ice moon, build a glass base, a giant eel hunts at night, oxygen runs out fast"

Create it with Roam See Roam

Questions people ask

Is Subnautica on mobile?

Yes. Subnautica came to iPhone and Android in July 2025. Abyssal Drift on Roam is another underwater survival game you can play on iPhone.

Is Subnautica 2 out?

Yes, in early access. It launched on PC and Xbox Series X|S on May 14, 2026.

Is Subnautica multiplayer?

The original and Below Zero are single-player. Subnautica 2 adds online co-op for up to four players.