If You Loved Subnautica, You’ll Love These Underwater and Sci-Fi Games
Subnautica made waves with its unique blend of underwater survival, science fiction narrative, and exploration-driven gameplay. For many players, its deep oceans, alien ecosystems, and haunting mystery set a new standard for immersive adventure. But what comes next after you’ve braved the depths of Planet 4546B games like subnautica?
In 2025, the gaming world offers a variety of titles that can scratch that Subnautica itch. Whether you're looking for other underwater survival games, titles soaked in cyberpunk aesthetics, or exploration games with rich worlds to uncover, this article will dive into the finest alternatives available today.
Underwater Survival Games: Deep Dives Beyond Subnautica
1. ABZÛ – A Tranquil Underwater Experience
If you're drawn to Subnautica’s underwater atmosphere but want something more meditative, ABZÛ is a must-play. While it's not a survival game, ABZÛ offers an incredibly artistic and emotional underwater journey. Players explore vibrant coral reefs, ancient ruins, and mysterious marine life in a game that feels like a moving painting. The soundtrack and visuals together provide a relaxing experience, ideal for those seeking peace over panic.
2. Aquanox Deep Descent – Combat Under Pressure
In contrast to the serenity of ABZÛ, Aquanox Deep Descent delivers high-stakes underwater combat in a post-apocalyptic ocean world. This game blends first-person submarine action with team-based gameplay. It lacks the survival crafting mechanics of Subnautica but delivers an adrenaline-fueled experience beneath the waves, with plenty of missions, upgrades, and dangers lurking in the deep.
3. Barotrauma – Cooperative Deep Sea Horror
For fans who loved the eerie undertones of Subnautica, Barotrauma offers a unique 2D experience focused on multiplayer cooperation and survival aboard a submarine on Jupiter’s moon, Europa. Players must manage resources, avoid alien threats, and survive technical disasters. The game emphasizes teamwork and chaos, with a touch of dark humor, making it a hit among fans of deep-sea tension.
4. Diluvion – Steampunk Meets Submarine
Diluvion presents an open-world underwater game with a distinctly steampunk aesthetic. Players pilot submarines through a flooded world after a global cataclysm. Unlike Subnautica’s organic alien design, Diluvion leans into industrial environments and human storytelling. It features exploration, limited resources, and a compelling mix of strategy and combat.
Cyberpunk Games: For a High-Tech Narrative Edge
While not ocean-based, cyberpunk games share Subnautica’s appeal through sci-fi worldbuilding, survival elements, and exploration.
5. The Invincible – Narrative Meets Retro-Futurism
The Invincible, based on the novel by Stanisław Lem, offers a different kind of survival and exploration experience. Set on a mysterious alien planet with a cold retro-futuristic design, players must solve puzzles, survive strange encounters, and piece together a fragmented story. The game blends classic sci-fi with a strong narrative backbone, reminiscent of Subnautica’s unfolding plotlines.
6. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty – Deep City Exploration
Though Cyberpunk 2077 is far removed from the ocean floor, its sprawling cityscape offers a similarly dense, layered environment to explore. With the 2023 Phantom Liberty expansion and continued updates, the game has become a mature, gripping RPG. For those who enjoyed discovering secrets in Subnautica, Night City provides a different yet equally captivating setting filled with moral ambiguity, technological wonders, and personal storytelling.
7. Cloudpunk – Exploring a Cyber City in the Sky
If you appreciated Subnautica’s vehicle-based exploration, Cloudpunk may surprise you. Set in a vertical cyberpunk metropolis, you play as a delivery driver navigating through the clouds in a flying car. The game focuses on storytelling, characters, and atmosphere more than action or survival, making it perfect for players who enjoyed the quieter, narrative-driven parts of Subnautica.
Exploration Games: Expansive Worlds to Discover
Exploration is one of Subnautica’s strongest features. If you’re chasing the thrill of the unknown, these titles offer vast worlds just waiting to be uncovered.
8. Outer Wilds – A Space Mystery Masterpiece
Outer Wilds replaces the deep sea with deep space, but the core experience is familiar: a rich, mysterious world with an unfolding story, environmental storytelling, and a loop that constantly deepens your understanding. It offers a 22-minute time loop that resets the universe, forcing you to learn with each run. Like Subnautica, it trusts players to figure things out, and every discovery feels earned and profound.
9. No Man’s Sky – The Comeback King of Exploration
No Man’s Sky has gone through a massive evolution since its rocky launch. Now, it’s one of the richest exploration games available, with planets filled with alien ecosystems, survival mechanics, base-building, space travel, and multiplayer. For Subnautica fans, it feels like the natural next step: from a single underwater world to a universe full of surprises.
10. The Long Dark – Survival at the End of the World
Swapping oceans for frozen wilderness, The Long Dark is a slow-paced survival game that emphasizes solitude, realism, and atmospheric storytelling. It shares Subnautica’s sense of vulnerability and isolation. Players must manage warmth, hunger, and fatigue while navigating an unforgiving post-apocalyptic Canadian tundra. Its quiet tension makes every choice matter.
11. Journey to the Savage Planet – Colorful Alien Worlds
This game brings humor, color, and alien exploration into one vibrant package. Journey to the Savage Planet isn’t as intense as Subnautica, but it offers lots of exploration, light survival, and environmental storytelling. It’s perfect for players who want a lighter tone but still crave otherworldly discovery.
Why Subnautica Set the Bar So High
Subnautica isn’t just a survival game. It’s a storytelling experience, a world that reacts to your presence, and a sandbox that balances beauty and dread. Its popularity lies in the way it merges danger and wonder. That’s why finding alternatives can be tough—few games manage to blend survival, exploration, and emotional storytelling so seamlessly.
However, the games listed above show how different genres can recreate elements of Subnautica in their own ways. Whether through the vast silence of space, the neon pulse of cyberpunk cities, or the frigid isolation of snowy wilderness, developers are constantly pushing immersive worldbuilding and discovery mechanics to new depths.
Conclusion: Dive Into Your Next Adventure
Subnautica may be a one-of-a-kind gem, but it’s far from the only journey worth diving into. From the serene underwater realms of ABZÛ to the time-bending universe of Outer Wilds or the urban chaos of Cyberpunk 2077, there are plenty of finest alternatives to Subnautica that can deliver awe, suspense, and excitement in different flavors.