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# *Ants* Can Step Over This Bar.
- URL: https://www.hashtagsurvival.net/tt1/
- Published: 2024-07-02T18:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T18:00:52.000Z
- Description: When everyone's a survival game, no one is. Or something.
- Author: Jordan
- Tags: Ponderings, Gaming

Back in the day it seemed like people were more vocal about the "survival" tag being slapped on anything with a hunger meter or a flimsy crafting system. Sure, there were always the cheerleaders on Steam and YouTube, but at least you’d see plenty of skeptical comments on Reddit.

These days, though, there’s a noticeable shift. Players, especially on Steam, are pushing back against the trend of dumbing games down to the point where "survival" feels more like a boring simulation. It’s like the criteria for being a survival game have become **laughably simplistic:**

- **Food**: Magical or not, if it restores HP or fixes a broken leg, it's suddenly "survival."
- **Crafting/Building**: It counts, even if it’s just making a stick or building a shack. Never mind that MMOs, RPGs, and countless other genres have had these mechanics since...forever.
- **Zombies**: If the game has aggressive AI zombies, indie developers will swear it's a survival title.
- **Avoiding Death**: Trying not to die? Congrats, you're playing a survival game!

If a game showers you with food and weapons, trivializing any potential threats, what sets it apart from your run-of-the-mill adventure or action game? Survival, by definition, should involve a certain level of grit and challenge. (That's why I wrote [these Pillars!](https://www.hashtagsurvival.net/the-5-pillars-of-survival/))

But with this low (low low) bar, we're left wondering:

What the hell happened to the survival in survival games? 🤔

![EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Wilson From Cast Away - Where Is He Now? - Her.ie](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsocialnewsdaily.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F02%2Ftom-hanks-wilson.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=2a06fa86ee14602e7b5578ff539181b843cb64bde01c9d0702c05c0f0b73c314&ipo=images)