Survival

Frame · Genre genre

Surviving under adverse conditions – resources are scarce, the environment hostile, every decision counts.

Design question – Your game is about survival. What makes the threat believable – and at what point does scarcity become frustrating rather than exciting?

Associations

• Typical Activities – Gathering, Crafting, Building, Defending, Exploring

Coherence

Core expectations: resource scarcity, hunger/thirst/cold, crafting, hostile environment, permadeath risk. Mechanisms: Resource Management, Crafting, Decay (hunger/thirst as a timer), Weather/Event, Exploration. Activities: Gathering, Crafting, Building, Defending, Exploring. Ludic Temporal Structure: day-night cycles, seasonality, escalating difficulty. Ludic Social Structure: solo (classic), co-op (surviving together), PvP (competition over resources).