Subnautica

Director Charlie Cleveland saw it as an exploration game rather than a survival one, drawing on Minecraft, scuba diving and the films of James Cameron. After the Sandy Hook school shooting the team chose to do without violence and lethal guns.

Nobody meant to make it scary, but as executive producer Charlie Huston admitted, fans say the studio accidentally made a horror game. The fear comes from the dark, from the seabed suddenly dropping into an abyss, and from whatever you cannot see down there.

When the game entered Early Access in December 2014 it had no hunger or thirst. They were added after one player's criticism, and it turned out they helped newcomers find their bearings.

If you would rather not bother with food and water, there is a mode without hunger and thirst, while in hardcore mode death deletes your save. One early access preview found some crafting recipes arbitrary. Players leave 97% positive out of 343,908 reviews, critics give it 87 on Metacritic. By our Recommended Score it is #90 of 4,736 games.

Liked it? Next, try Subnautica: Below Zero, which was first planned as an expansion, and The Forest, where the cannibals attack harder the more aggressive you are toward them.