Games like DayZ and Rust
Looking for games like both DayZ and Rust? Below are 24 Steam games ranked by imho.run's hybrid recommender for players who enjoy both titles. Both DayZ and Rust share Action, Adventure, Massively Multiplayer roots, making the overlapping player base a strong signal for what to play next. Each pick is scored by combining collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries — players who own DayZ and Rust also tend to own these — with content overlap on genres, categories, and storefront tags, plus review-mined vibe embeddings that catch tonal similarity even when genre labels differ. No Steam login required.
Best matches for fans of both games
Ranked by collaborative filtering, genre overlap, and review-mined vibes — the same signals that power imho.run.
- 1
Don't Starve Together
Top pick for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
Fight, Farm, Build and Explore Together in the standalone multiplayer expansion to the uncompromising wilderness survival game, Don't Starve.
- 2
The Forest
Second pick for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.
- 3
SCUM
Third pick for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Traverse punishing environments, looting, crafting and evading the constant threats to your life. The unprecedented levels of character customization and progression are your ultimate tools for survival.
- 4
Dying Light
Ranked #4 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and RPG with both games.
First-person action survival game set in a post-apocalyptic open world overrun by flesh-hungry zombies. Roam a city devastated by a mysterious virus epidemic. Scavenge for supplies, craft weapons, and face hordes of the infected.
- 5
7 Days to Die
Ranked #5 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
7 Days to Die is an open-world game that is a unique combination of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games. Play the definitive zombie survival sandbox RPG that came first. Navezgane awaits!
- 6
XERA: Survival
Ranked #6 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
Action-focused, open world survival shooter, PvPvE against fellow mercenaries and lethal XOIDS. Raid for resources alone or with team-mates, build and defend your base, stash your gear and survive against the odds. You are the hunters. You are the hunted. And the robots never sleep…
- 7
Valheim
Ranked #7 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
A collaborative exploration and survival game for 1-10 players, set in a procedurally generated afterlife inspired by Viking culture. Battle, build, and conquer your way to a saga worthy of Odin’s patronage!
- 8
ARK: Survival Ascended
Ranked #8 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
ARK is reimagined from the ground-up into the next-generation of video game technology with Unreal Engine 5! Form a tribe, tame & breed hundreds of unique dinosaurs and primeval creatures, explore, craft, build, and fight your way to the top of the food-chain. Your new world awaits!
- 9
Project Zomboid
Ranked #9 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Indie and Simulation with both games.
Project Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customisable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..
- 10
PolyZ
Ranked #10 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Imagine DayZ mixed with Escape From Tarkov, but in Low Poly. A persistent world survival game featuring PvP, PvE, crafting, base-building, and zombies infected with a contagious virus.
- 11
- 12
Green Hell
Ranked #12 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Plunge into the open-world survival simulation set in the extreme conditions of the uncharted Amazon jungle. Use real-life survival techniques to craft, hunt, fight, and gather resources, set a makeshift shelter, or raise a fortress. Survive alone or team up with your friends and challenge the jungle together.
- 13
- 14
Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead
Ranked #14 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
Three years after the conflict in Chernarus, portrayed in the original Arma 2, a new flashpoint explodes in the Green Sea Region. Coalition forces led by the US Army are deployed to Takistan to quickly restore peace and prevent further civilian casualties.
- 15
Zombie Survival Game Online
Ranked #15 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
Zombie Survival Game Online is an open-world, post-apocalyptic, looter shooter. Craft, quest, explore, build, and fight for survival. Parkour up a mountainside, ramp a truck over a horde, and grab a gasmask to explore the sewers. Can you survive? Doubtful.
- 16
No Man's Sky
Ranked #16 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Adventure with both games.
No Man's Sky is a game about exploration and survival in an infinite procedurally generated universe.
- 17
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Ranked #17 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and RPG with both games.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl tells a story about survival in the Zone – a very dangerous place, where you fear not only the radiation, anomalies and deadly creatures, but other S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, who have their own goals and wishes.
- 18
The Front
Ranked #18 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
The Front is a survival open-world crafting sandbox game. You are a resistance fighter sent back in time to stop the rise of a tyrannical empire. Collect resources, craft tech, build shelters, and fight monsters to accomplish your mission.
- 19
Contagion
Ranked #19 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Contagion isn't your average Zombie Shooter but instead takes a more realistic and different approach to the popular genre with unique characters, environments, weapons, items, and a built in system that makes every round completely unpredictable with resources, objectives, and paths ever changing.
- 20
Deadside
Ranked #20 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
An Open World Survival Shooter blending hardcore PVP and PVE action. Secure precious loot in safe zones or build your own fortress in the wild. With intense gunfights, stunning visuals, and performance smooth enough for any system, the challenge awaits!
- 21
Miscreated
Ranked #21 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
Miscreated is a multiplayer online hardcore survival game set in a post-apocalyptic future. You will need to survive against mutants, players, and even mother nature herself.
- 22
Subnautica
Ranked #22 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Indie and Adventure with both games.
Descend into the depths of an alien underwater world filled with wonder and peril. Craft equipment, pilot submarines and out-smart wildlife to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, cave systems, and more - all while trying to survive.
- 23
Conan Exiles
Ranked #23 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
An online multiplayer survival game, now with sorcery, set in the lands of Conan the Barbarian. Survive in a vast open world sandbox, build your home into a kingdom, and dominate your enemies in single or multiplayer.
- 24
Crestfallen: Medieval Survival
Ranked #24 for fans of both DayZ and Rust. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
👑 Hail to the King! In Crestfallen: Medieval Survival, players clash for dominance over the realm through strategic castle 🏰 building and fierce combat. Craft epic armor, forge deadly medieval weapons⚔️, and build a kingdom worthy of legend 📜. Create a Guild 🐉, trade goods, and prevail! 🌟