In addition to the similar games listed above, which have been linked to this game specifically in the database, you may find games with a similar theme to DayZ in the following lists:
Surviving in games is often a key element. Some games, however, make it the main focus. With minimal resources and little light can you make it through to the morning? Can you prepare a shelter as the daylight dwindles in time for you to cope with the lurking creatures of the dark?
Whether this is as simple as closing the door to keep the zombies out in
Minecraft or as complex as crafting food, clothing and medicine to cope with the freezing blackness of
The Long Dark, these games are exhilarating as they pose a strategic puzzle with personal consequences.
Many of these games offer an open world in which to survive, which opens up more ways of preparing for and then making it through the night time. This, of course, leads to another day where you need to spend time and resources wisely while exploring your surroundings.
You can aid the happiness of your brain by taking on activities that generate key experiences and chemicals:
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Dopamine for motivation, learning and pleasure.
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Oxytocin for trust and building relationships.
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Serotonin for significance and importance.
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Endorphins for euphoria and elation.
Without dopamine you can be subject to procrastination, low self-esteem, inability to focus and feelings of hopelessness. It's the chemical that can give you determination to accomplish goals, desires and needs.
Along with getting outside for exercise, eating well and nurturing conversations, video games can also help. Games that generate dopamine are those where you can complete repeating tasks, like Fortnite or Rocket League, which have a lot of chances to win or excel. Other games, like Animal Crossing or Adopt Me, offer the the feeling of a job well done. This is increased in games where you are doing this not only for yourself but for the group you are a part of, like playing in a team in Sea of Thieves, Apex Legends or Sky Children of Light, where new players also need help and kindness.
Games use the spaces they create to tell stories. Some games do this by locking you in a key moment where the time of day doesn't change. Other games let you explore and revisit places at different times of day.
These day-night cycles invite players to explore at different times not only to find different things to do but to see how different locations change visually and audibly at different times of day.
Some games, like
The Long Dark, do this to offer a different environmental challenge at night, when the sun is in and the cold wind really affects your character. Other games offer more unusual ways to tie in-game light levels to the real world, like
Unmaze that uses your smartphone's camera to determine how much light there is in the game.
How hard a game is considered to be depends on who is playing it. A three-year-old tackling Zelda will struggle. But equally a new-to-games-parents will find
Mutant Mudds quickly gets beyond them. The games in this list are known for being difficult. They wear the difficulty as a badge of honour. "None shall pass," except this with the will, time and belligerence to get good enough at this particular activity to beat the high bar the game sets.
This might be grappling with the flying mechanics in
Rocket League, getting endlessly lost trying to find the next guardian in
Shadow of the Colossus or coming up with the right tactic to get enough money for the ship you need in
Elite. Of course, some of these games can be made easier, but to play them at their best is to ramp up the difficulty to max (crushing on
The Last Of Us for example) and let them give you all they've got.
Video games create worlds and then invite us to play in them. These worlds are sometimes nothing like our own. Others, however, look to recreate life-like spaces, or take the real world and bend it in interesting directions.
Weather is a big part of the experience of a video game. It can create a particular mood, a sense of changing time, or can be used to change the mechanics of your interactions.
Communication is a big part of why video games are enjoyable. Games provide this in different ways: voice chat, text chat or maybe just limiting it to pings or bleeps.
Voice chat is most useful in games where you need to quickly coordinate with teammates. Games provide this communication in different ways. Maybe you can only speak to one other person you select, or your whole squad, or perhaps you can communicate with other squads.
Proximity chat extends the realism of using your voice to communicate by mimicking how sound travels in real-life. The closer you are to another player, the louder you hear their voice. This not only means you need to be close to a teammate for them to hear you, but you also need to be careful about what opponents may overhear (or maybe you'll let them think they've overheard you to mislead or delay them).
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