Valheim's stint on Steam Early Access continues to be a monumental success and proves that the survival game genre is still as hot as ever. As of March 2021, 5 million copies of Valheim were sold only on PC, and the game isn't even finished yet. Developer Iron Gate Studios has plans for sizable updates that will introduce new enemies, features, and equipment players can discover as they continue their Norse adventure. The game might have only just been launched on February 2, but many players have fully exhausted everything the current version of the title has to offer. This means fans may want another gritty survival game to hold them over until Iron Gate expands Valheim.

Players have begun posting memes of themselves in Valheim, waiting for new content to drop. Luckily, there are nearly endless survival game options to choose from, and many of them include Valheim's best feature. Many first-person shooter survival games, like Rust and DayZ, are centered around PvP encounters. Users can choose to be hostile or barter with players they meet in-game, which forces anyone who plays to be watching their back for an ambush constantly. While this might make for some heart-pumping moments, it can also ruin the game for newcomers or players who want roleplay.

Related: Why Thor Is In Valheim (& Where To Find Him)

Advanced players in PvP-focused survival games can pick on newer players by destroying their structures and killing them, which greatly impedes their progression. Valheim is almost exclusively dedicated to co-op, PvE combat, which eliminates other players' possibility of griefing. This way, anyone who's trying the game for the first time can advance through its tech tree and bosses at their own pace, without the threat of a looming surprise attack. Here are five PvE-focused survival games which will hold Valheim players over until the next update.

Games Like Valheim - Niffelheim

Survival Games Like Valheim Niffelheim

If gamers are in search of another Viking-themed survival gameNiffelheim by Ellada Games delivers on the same Norse mythological setting with vastly different gameplay. The game's story also puts users in the boots of a deceased Viking warrior that's transported to the otherworldly realm of Niffelheim.

Instead of an open world like Valheim, the game is a 2D action scroller that fuses concepts from survival and dungeon crawler games. Players need to scavenge for supplies to progress through Niffelheim's four major crafting trees as they build up enough strength to take out undead hordes so they can escape to the paradise of Asgard. Niffelheim is a primarily-PvE experience that can be played solo or online co-op, and, much like Valheim, it comes with togglable PvP options if players want to test their gear and weapons against each other.

Games Like Valheim - Grounded (Early Access)

Grounded characters for multiplayer

Obsidian Entertainment's Grounded is one of the most distinctive approaches to the survival game genre in recent memory. Users play as one of four kids who inexplicably shrunk themselves in a backyard and need to figure out how to return to normal size before they're crushed or eaten. The game's tiny perspective transforms common backyard settings, like a spilled fountain drink or a forgotten Game Boy, into seemingly alien structures that can be crawled inside or climbed over.

Related: Valheim Player Manages To Create A Curvy Statue With Straight Pieces

Common household pests and suburban wildlife are also made into massive beasts that must be avoided at all costs, like the swimming spiders found in Grounded's Koi pond. The game can be played solo or with up to four players thanks to its co-op mode. Gamers will need to repurpose items like blades of grass and pebbles to craft increasingly advanced tools and armor.

Games Like Valheim - Don't Starve Together

Survival Games Like Valheim Don't Starve Together

Don't Starve Together is a sequel to Klei Entertainment's critically-acclaimed survival game Don't Starve. The second entry is every bit as inspired by Tim Burton and Minecraft as the first, but it lets up to six players attempt to live in its creepy-yet-whimsical 2D world. Player actions are ruled by the day-and-night cycle, as all sorts of hungry beasts will spawn in the dead of night in search of their dinner.

Teams have to craft light sources like campfires to ward off any monsters while also crafting weapons and armor to defeat anything brave enough to challenge them. Players also need to constantly be filling their hunger and thirst in between fending off the dangers found in the game. Don't Starve Together's gameplay loop inspires constant collaboration and only includes PvP in dedicated servers, so players don't have to worry about being hunted down by other gamers too.

Games Like Valheim - Subnautica

Games Like Rust On Xbox Subnautica Head Art

Subnautica sets players loose to explore the murky depths of an aquatic extraterrestrial world, Planet 4546B, after they crash land on its surface. Using their trusty Seaglide, players need to track down supplies to eat, drink, fill their oxygen tanks, and craft tools to live another day oand eventually try and escape.

Related: Valheim: Are Spears Or Swords Better For Combat?

Unlike Valheim, developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment only included a single-player mode, so users won't be able to dive in with friends. Still, the game's main allure is discovering the bizarre species that lurk around every sunken corner of the game's enormous underwater map. Plus, its anticipated sequel, Subnautica: Below Zerois set to launch on PC and all major consoles on May 14, 2021.

Games Like Valheim - Ark: Survival Evolved

Ark Survival Evolved Key Art

Ark: Survival Evolved takes after many of the same PvP elements that have popularized Rust and DayZ, but it offers players a lengthy campaign mode to sink their teeth into for weeks if they don't want to deal with enemy players. Developer Studio Wildcard lived up to its name and filled the game's procedurally generated islands with tamable dinosaurs and other fantastical beasts. Players need to avoid danger while scrounging up resources to sustain themselves while also hunting for key materials to progress through Ark's enormous tech tree.

The game's campaign can be played with up to four players in online co-op, two players with local co-op, or solo. Ark: Survival Evolved's online lobbies can host up to 100 players and give people the option to toggle on PvP, so just like Valheim, gamers don't have to worry about being griefed by other users.

Next: How To Find Odin And Thor In Valheim