TOP 5 Games Like The Cycle: Frontier

by Mike Alexander / Top Lists, Articles / 08 Feb 2023

The online survival/multiplayer game genre has exploded in the past few years, spurred on by the success of games like Fortnite and Rust. The thrill of scavenging for supplies, building shelter, and fighting off other players while you manage your food and water levels is something that many other online games can’t provide to their players. Add those mechanics to a massive open world with its own dangers, and you have The Cycle: Frontier.

This recently-released online survival game has taken the industry by storm, probably due to its high-quality and free-to-play nature. That high level of accessibility means that anybody can dig into The Cycle’s awesome gameplay with minimal impediments. If all of these features boasted by The Cycle sound enticing to you, you’ll be happy to know that there are many more games like it in this genre. You’ll find some of the best ones on this list of the Top 5 Games for Fans of The Cycle: Frontier.

Hunt: Showdown

Hunt: Showdown has been a dominating force in the genre since it was released in 2019. It uses its combination of supernatural elements and PvPvE competition to rope players in and keep them coming back. The game takes place in the late 1800s, in a southern bayou that has been infested with supernatural rot and decay, giving rise to nightmarish creatures and monsters. You’ll play as a hunter who tracks down and collects bounties on various monsters while competing with other hunters for the same bounty in a given match. You’ll have to be mindful of every corner because while your target will be a challenge on its own, other crafty hunters might have you in their sights to take you out of the competition.

Badlanders

Fans of PUBG will feel right at home in Badlanders, a survival shooter being developed by 101.Studio. This game drops 25 players into an area called the Red Beach and tasks them with collecting awesome loot and gear while fighting other badlanders. Use the spoils of war to upgrade your equipment in hopes of getting stronger and taking down more skilled opponents, but be careful, having higher-level gear will make you a target for everyone else on the map. The game’s most unique feature is its player-run economy, where everything you find on the battlefield and even equipment purchased through microtransactions can be resold on the market. Badlanders is currently available in Steam Early Access and is free-to-play.

Vigor

Developed by Bohemia Interactive, Vigor is an online survival game that is unique in that it is only present on consoles, with no PC version in sight. It is even available on the Nintendo Switch, a console that typically gets left out in the cold with games like this. The game itself is free-to-play and set in a post-apocalyptic version of Norway, where beautiful snow and scenery contrast with the violence being committed. You’ll collect resources, blueprints, and weapons to stockpile and fend off other live players who want to take everything from you.

Escape from Tarkov

Escape from Tarkov is a household name at this point since its popularity surged after Twitch streamers started broadcasting their gameplay of the title. The long-in-development survival shooter has a closed beta available for those who pre-order the game, which is currently the only way to gain access to all of the survival action. Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore experience where when you die, everything you collected on-site as well as everything you went into a match with will be lost. This can be crushing, especially since the gameplay is inspired by realistic military shooters, where a few bullets will drop you. Smart use of cover and suppressing fire is often the only way to succeed in a match of Escape from Tarkov.

Marauders

Marauders is a tactical FPS survival game set in a diesel-punk world. The game takes place in an alternate timeline version of the late 1990s. You’ll travel through space, stopping off at stations to explore them, search for loot, and combat anything you happen to find there. In addition to the on-foot FPS battles, you’ll also engage in starship dogfights in outer space, where your ship’s weapons and your own skill will determine if you come out the victor or float through space eternally as space junk. You are able to upgrade many parts of your ship to fare better in heated battles, including weapons and armor. Or, if you happen to like the parts your opponent has, you can take them away and use them for yourself. Marauders is not released yet, but is listed on Steam as “Coming Soon”.

Mike Alexander

Mike has been playing video games since he was able to hold a controller, having been fascinated by Sonic 2 on his mom’s Sega Genesis. That fascination and passion for the art form has grown exponentially nearly 30 years later, and he doesn’t see that fading away anytime soon.

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