Attention fellow base-building ghouls and survival masochists, I’ve got good news and bad news. Starting with the good: Some of the best survival crafting games are no longer in early access, and have hit their 1.0 milestones. The bad news? Three of them piled into the same one-month window.
I’ve seen a million posts all asking the same advice: “Should I get Valheim, RuneScape Dragonwilds, or Enshrouded first?” And as someone who can’t stop sinking hundreds of hours into mining the same three types of rock, I’m qualified enough to help you decide. I’ve also recruited my colleague, Chris Livingston, who is always up to in-game riffraff resulting in funny animal encounters or injuries like some sort of bizarre, survival-crafting Jeff Corwin.
Comparing Valheim, Dragonwilds, and Enshrouded
We’ve got our own opinions on who’s who among the recent survival crafting 1.0 launches, but maybe you just need something to compare features before getting into recommendations. It’s by no means everything included across all three games, but here’s a quick comparison of the differences and similarities between features and default settings in Valheim, RuneScape: Dragonwilds, and Enshrouded.
Feature
Valheim
RuneScape Dragonwilds
Enshrouded
Map
Procedurally generated
Handcrafted
Handcrafted
Fast travel
Player-crafted portals with item limits
Player-crafted portals that require runes as currency
Unlockable fast travel points and limited player-crafted bases
Thirst and starvation
No thirst or starvation mechanic, but food buffs are vital
Adjustable thirst and starvation mechanics with food buffs (enabled by default)
Adjustable thirst and starvation mechanics with food buffs (disabled by default)
Inventory capacity
Slots and weight
Slots and weight
Slots only
Death penalties
Skill XP/levels lost; leave behind a gravestone with inventory to retrieve
No XP loss; leave behind a gravestone with inventory to retrieve
No XP loss; leave behind a gravestone with inventory to retrieve
Item durability
✔️
✔️
✔️
Crafting from storage
❌
✔️
✔️
Structural integrity
✔️
✔️
❌
Sleep through nights
Skips nighttime
Skips nighttime
Speeds up nighttime
Comfort/Rest
Provides rested buff through furniture and decor with comfort values
Requires sleep to replenish rest meter; separate cosiness buff requires a bed
Provides rested buff through furniture and decor with comfort values
Dynamic weather
✔️
✔️
✔️
Grid snap
✔️
✔️
✔️
Terraforming
✔️
❌
✔️
Stats and leveling
Gain XP and levels in various skills and weapon proficiencies upon using relevant tools or crafting benches
Gain XP and levels in various skills and weapon proficiencies by using relevant tools or by collecting output from crafting benches. Some proficiency levels include stat bonuses or new abilities
Level up through combat and exploration; each level rewards skill points to spend on additional stats or abilities
Raids
✔️
✔️
❌
Dungeons
✔️
✔️
✔️
Fishing
✔️
✔️
✔️
Farming
✔️
✔️
✔️
Taming and ranching
✔️
❌
✔️
Mounts
✔️
✔️
❌
Quests
A few optional sidequests; progression is instead driven by exploration
Main story quests drive world progression; sidequests reward optional bonuses
Main story quests drive world progression; sidequests reward optional bonuses
Creative Mode
✔️
✔️
❌
Photo Mode
❌(Has option to hide HUD, can control camera with console commands)
❌
✔️
Custom difficulty
✔️
✔️
✔️
Official mod support
❌
❌
❌
Multiplayer
1-10 players
1-6 players
1-16 players
Steam Deck
Verified
Playable
Unsupported
Crossplay
✔️ Available between PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S (and Switch, pending an update)
✔️ Available between PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S (and Switch, pending an update)
❌ Planned for future update
Price
$30/£24 (Steam)
$30/£25 (Steam | Epic)
$40/£35 (Steam)
Valheim vs Enshrouded vs RuneScape: Dragonwilds
Most traditional do-this-or-else survival game
🥇 Dragonwilds🥈Valheim🥉Enshrouded
Mining sucks, and our debate on a winner here turned into “which is the least terrible” instead of an argument over the best. Hunting ore in Valheim’s swampy biome was the worst, and stingy Dragonwilds nodes were second worst.
Least terrible mining
🥇 Enshrouded 🥈Dragonwilds🥉Valheim
Mining sucks, and our debate on a winner here turned into “which is the least terrible” instead of an argument over the best. Hunting ore in Valheim’s swampy biome was the worst, and stingy Dragonwilds nodes were second worst.
Best in deforestation
🥇Valheim🥈Dragonwilds🥉Enshrouded
In Valheim, the trees hit back. Nothing beats getting crushed to death by an entire forest—the other two don’t even come close.
The one for building sickos
🥇 Enshrouded 🥈Valheim 🥉Dragonwilds
Enshrouded is the best set of Legos, hands down. It has blocks in all shapes and sizes, tons of furniture, terraforming, NPC villagers, and even tools for adding a sprinkle of decay to buildings.
Excellence in hunting you for sport (raids)
🥇 Dragonwilds🥈Valheim
Valheim raids are a close second (a great way to get resources delivered to your front door) but there’s something rad about a dragon boss showing up at your house and carpetbombing you with poison while you’re trying to get cozy.
Best ‘There and back again’ (exploration)
🥇Valheim🥈Enshrouded🥉Dragonwilds
The handcrafted worlds of Enshrouded and Dragonwilds are both awesome, but setting out on a voyage into the procedural world of Valheim is a mysterious thrill each and every time, which makes coming home again all the more satisfying.
Most deserving of a Michelin Star
🥇Enshrouded🥈Dragonwilds🥉Valheim
Enshrouded wins us over with its cooking mechanics—holding your own meaty kebabs over an open flame is a nice touch—but this was a close one. The multi-step process in Dragonwilds is fun to micromanage, while Valheim’s system feels the most rewarding.
Valheim vs Enshrouded vs Dragonwilds: Our picks
2026 games: All the upcoming gamesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
