Which survival game's the best?

Nether is absolutely brilliant already and gets updates almost every two weeks too.

I can recommend this game to anyone and everyone.

I've been playing DayZ since autumn 2012 and of course I play the standalone version since it was released and I really love it.
I don't think that it's "boring" and it is not really more buggy than the mod has been. Also they are really working on it and there is already so much new content that has been released.
People just complain because people always complain on the internet. I don't think the 24€ are wasted, I've played 50 hours so far, that is more time than I spent in many other games that I paid more for ^^
However, DayZ is a very special game. Running simulator sometimes is a justifiable nickname. I suggest you watch some (hours of) video footage of the game before you purchase it. And you should pack some friends, because it most likely will get boring after a while if you play it alone.

From what I've seen of the game RUST it does look like a decent game. I've been thinking about buying it for a while now, only hesitating because I don't have friends that want to buy it ^^ Anyway, it seems to have a completely different gameplay than DayZ.

I tried Nether after I got a 3 day trial pass. I did not really like it. I love the realism of DayZ and Nether just doesn't keep up there (probably intentionally). I don't know, just can't recommend it.
So for me the race is between DayZ and RUST at the moment.

Hope I could be of help,
Malefitz

UnReal World RPG - Survival based roguelike game
www.unrealworld.fi/‎

Stand alone version of DayZ is more stable (less buggy) than Arma 2 mod. Rust is good so try this if you don't want to buy DayZ (Rust has bugs too).

My opinions:

Infestation: Survival Stories - Don't even touch it. Seriously, don't. Too much PVP focused with many hackers and no worth map exploration, since loot table is completely broken and most of the game is now pay to win. (F10 acess Global Marketplace, what the...)

RUST - Minecraft: Man Edition, sure worth looking at it.

Day Z - The most common one. Alpha is out and they update it from time to time. Many people play it, so you might find a lot of people to play together with...Or to kill ;)

The Dead Linger - Also in alpha, nobody plays MP much, but the single has many thing to explore. They just put Hunting into it and some other things, you will have always something to do no matter what.

Nether - Awesome survival game IMO. I like how PVE makes bandits less harder to find. You can always find more groups of 3, 4 people than lone wolfs trying to kill anyone that tries to steal their loot. The only bad thing is safe zone camping, witch happens from time to time. But since there's more than one safe zone, you will have to be very unlucky to die from camping.

Stalker - A masterpiece IMO.

Don't Starve - Awesome game, many things to craft and it's dark atmosphere will always keep you immersed. Sure worth buying.

Far Cry 3 - Just god tier as the first Far Cry game. But is it just me or survival is not THAT hard? I mean, hunting is cool, but is way too easy. Not because that kills the immersion or something, but just saying.

Contagion - Is more PVP focused than anything. The closest thing to survival is the mode where survivors find against themselves and the zombies.

State Of Decay - Remember Dead Rising? This. It's only gets hard when there are too many zombie hordes. Otherwise, it's Dead Rising. You know how it will be.

7 Days To Die - It's great. Imagine Minecraft with REAL ZOMBIES. It's like that. Finding loot isn't hard, it would be a bad thing, but since zombies in this game are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, it makes the game more fast-paced and hard. I've played it on a friend's house and loved every second.

Tomb Raider (2013) - Survival is the theme of the game. Even if you don't have to do many things to keep yourself alive (Aside from the game's introduction), Lara is human and seeing she trying to escape and save all her friends gets this "survival" feeling. Also, exploration in this game is awesome.

None!
Minecraft is only cool to build things in creative.
Tryed Rust yesterday and it was just awful, played 15 minutos with a friend and we both hated it...
And zombie stuff is just overrated...

I like the state of decay most.

Silent Hill 2. Duh.

Slender :P

I'd recommend Super Hexagon, it's the hardest survival game I've played.

Skyrim+Frostfall+Realistic Needs and Diseases nuff said

Nether for beginners, it's like COD in DayZ, smoother and more fluid combat

Project Zomboid looked nice.

Maybe NEO Scavenger? it's in alpha, tried it and loooks fucking cool.

I've been playing Rust almost non-stop since i got it friday. Its a lot of fun if you have friends to play with. But there definitely are zombies in it, and they can be really annoying when you first start out and don't have a ranged weapon. I don't really like the setting that much, I prefer a setting like Nether. But I can't wait to see what the final game will be like, because right now its pretty awesome (except for the lag).

Don't Starve. you can get insane in that game, that is awesome.

Nobody has mentioned "How to Survive" yet???
People have mentioned skyrim, COD and far cry 3...but not How To Survive...

/facepalm

Rust and no zombies/monsters? Unless you talk about some modded servers, that's not going to happen.

Garry said they are going to replace zombies (to not be called "cheap DayZ clone") with some other mutants.

I just wonder why they want to keep those PvE in Online Bastard Simulators - seeing how everyone gets their panties twisted talking how they (were) killed (by) a bandit...

The Stomping Land! It's not out yet, but it looks very promising and I for one can't wait to try it :) It has been greenlit and last I read, they are expecting to be able to do early access on Steam in a couple of months.

Don't Starve and How to Survive are in my wishlist, so I'd go with one of them...

DayZ is pretty hard.
But actually there is a new upcoming game called "The Forest" it will get an alpha in a few months,so i'm very excited about it and it looks very promissing.

You could always play something slightly older (but complete) games, like Robinson's Requiem or Deus. I've also heard mixed things about Miasmata, but it's a lot more modern than the previously mentioned games

I hate all these games because... well, naturally, you'd expect people to be friendly and helpful. But all they do is KoS. Ok, if I had supplies and shit. No, I just born and got nothing. Still dead.
And it is so easily fixed. Say, in DayZ mod, instead of calling people who kill other people Bandits, call them Faggots. And give em according skin - make up, lipstick, etc.
Problem solved. You either aren't a faggot, or you kill people.

Project Zomboid, still in alpha, and not your run of the mill FPS game, it's quite unforgiving, and even being singleplayer (for now) it throws curve ball after curve ball.
For what i've seen, MP features a persistent world (in that current server, of course) with or without pvp.