13 Best Wilderness Survival Board Games of 2025 Reviewed
Wilderness survival board games bring adventure to your table. Build fires, gather food, and outwit nature—without risking bug bites or poison ivy.
13 Best Wilderness Survival Board Games for Adventure Seekers!
We all know that a good wilderness survival board game will test your skills, your grit, and sometimes your friendships. When we picked games for this list, we looked for tense decisions, teamwork, and that real ‘do-or-die’ feeling. We wanted games that can bring you from cozy living rooms into wild forests, icy mountains, and even sinking ships—all without leaving your snacks behind. Whether you love solo challenges or wild group adventures, there’s something here to make every nature nerd happy. Ready to see which games made us sweat the most?
On this list:
13 Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
This game might just eat you alive. We spent hours arguing about who should gather wood and who gets the privilege of fending off wild beasts (hint: not me). The collaborative gameplay and storyline keep everyone on edge. The wilderness survival feels real—you’ll scavenge for food, shelter, and hope. A must-try for anyone who loves tough choices and screaming at their friends over coconuts.
12 The Lost Expedition
If you want to feel lost without actually leaving your living room, this card game nails it. We bickered over which path to take, and the event cards never let us catch a break. Starvation, snakes, and all sorts of other problems roll in. It’s simple to teach, but tough to survive. Perfect for fans of quick, punchy wilderness survival games that still pack a challenge.
11 PARKS
This is the coziest wilderness survival trip you’ll ever take. Sure, you won’t get eaten by a bear, but you’ll need to make choices about food and gear as you explore national parks. We loved the gorgeous art and relaxing gameplay, which still keeps you thinking and planning if you want to win. An awesome pick for nature lovers who want a taste of adventure without the stress.
10 Outlive
Outlive gives us that gritty post-apocalyptic wilderness survival fix. You’ll ration food, send workers to scavenge, and endure some rough choices. It’s a bit like camping—if camping included radioactive mutants and rival gangs. Our favorite moment was stealing supplies from a friend, who then stewed in silence for half the game. Tense, mean, and oh-so-memorable.
9 Friday
Playing Friday feels like a solo boss battle against the wilderness itself. We took turns playing solo, each trying to outlast the deck and survive as Robinson’s imaginary friend. It’s clever, tight, and totally brutal. If you mess up, you can only blame yourself. Great for quiet nights or competitive sessions where your friends spectate and shout advice you’ll ignore.
8 Forbidden Island
This one’s less about wilderness survival and more about escaping sinking land, but it scratches the same itch. You’ll cooperate to grab treasures before the island vanishes beneath you. We love how it scales for all ages and lets everyone have heroic moments. Expect frantic last-minute rescues and groans when someone draws that one flood card at the worst possible time.
7 Bear Island
Wilderness survival with polar bears! In Bear Island, you’re racing, fishing, and avoiding bear attacks in the cold Arctic. We laughed every time someone landed right in front of a bear and panicked. Simple to pick up, tense throughout, and there’s always at least one person who insists on fishing instead of moving to safety. Classic rookie mistake.
6 Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game
This is wilderness survival mixed with zombie shenanigans. You’ll try to survive the cold, the undead, and maybe even betrayal. Our games always turn into a series of disasters, with people hoarding supplies and blaming the weather for everything. It’s story-rich, tense, and has plenty of twists. You might even survive—if you trust no one.
5 Castaways
You can really feel the ‘wilderness survival’ pressure in Castaways. You’ll gather food, build shelters, and deal with disasters—all while trying to signal a passing ship. We enjoyed scrambling to build tools before storms hit. The storytelling feels real, and the cooperative play means you’ll either bond or argue (a lot). It’s like being stranded, but with snacks.
4 Expedition: Northwest Passage
You’ll plot and puzzle your way through icy waters hoping not to freeze. We found the ship/sled combo super clever. Managing your team, resources, and time feels thrilling. More competitive than most, and you’ll have those ‘oh-no’ moments when someone beats you to a crucial spot. Score wilderness survival points for theme and for the sheer panic of hitting winter unprepared!
3 SOS Titanic
This solo/co-op game takes you off land and into the chill of the North Atlantic. Surviving here means working through a deck that simulates the sinking ship. We felt the time pressure and kept shouting at each other to save more passengers, which never ended well for half the boat. It’s tough, but rewarding when you pull off a miracle.
2 K2
K2 feels like classic wilderness survival—climb the second-highest mountain on earth with as few frostbitten toes as possible. You’ll juggle oxygen, weather, and risky decisions. One of us always gets greedy and pushes too high, too fast. Love the drama when someone barely makes it back to base camp. Cold, brutal, and a great test of nerves.
1 Race to the Raft
We picked this for its tense teamwork and fresh take on wilderness survival. It throws you into a sinking island full of hazards. You have to work together to save the cats before the flames get you! It is a great pick for fans of Robinson Crusoe, but less punishing and way more colorful. Plus, there’s at least one cat pun every ten minutes—trust us.
