Put Ark: Survival Evolved and The Forest down for just a moment.

Why?

Those games have been living on fine line that defines the evolution of survival games! Those two games are great, do not get me wrong for a moment (I mean, just look up the Crazy Night story from Ark or find a funny playthrough from The Forest) but they have this... pizazz to them that differ them from the nitty-gritty.

Enter: Subsistence.

Subsistence brings back the 'ol grind and the actual challenge to the survival genre. I saw it on Steam a couple of days ago and then saw its price.. Now it sits a whopping twelve hours in my queue!

What happens is that you are in the forest and need to find these supply crates scattered around the map to get certain items that you cannot craft yourself. Next, you need to harvest materials, and when I say harvest, I mean HARVEST! I restarted five times because A LOT of materials means A LOT of materials.

The wildlife?

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT try to shoot the wolves nor bears. They are legitimate sponges created by the "gods" to mess you up. Melee attacks don't work much as you WILL be absolutely screwed.

Now, survival-grinding has always been a staple of the genre, and Subsistence is no exception. You need to take for account your food (such as protein and vegetables) as well as water and the temperature outside. Be mindful of the temperature, as you will die horribly if you cannot warm yourself up during the evening.

Funny thing... there's a twist.

I know. I lied about this game not having the pizazz... but it gets interesting.

A few days after you move-in and not die, AI NPCs will appear in the world and start to build bases to HUNT YOU DOWN. You need to be prepared.

So, if you are looking for a great game to get yourself into during whatever time you have free, go grab Subsistence from Steam. I bought it for $12!