Don't Starve: Pocket Edition

Don't Starve: Pocket Edition brought Klei Entertainment's survival game to mobile phones in 2015 - a studio renowned for its distinctive, darkly grotesque hand-drawn style reminiscent of silhouettes from silent-era horror films. The player takes on the role of the scientist Wilson, finding himself in a strange wilderness controlled by a mysterious man in black, and must survive by gathering resources, building a camp, and keeping watch over hunger, cold, and declining sanity, which worsens as darkness falls and triggers its own dangerous phenomena - the game openly expects that the player will die and will have to learn from their mistakes in a brand new attempt.

Controls were adapted for touch via a virtual joystick for movement and contextual buttons for gathering resources, fighting, and crafting, which keeps things clear even on a small display - the game, after all, is built more around planning supplies and thinking ahead than fast reflexes, so the reduced precision of touch controls matters less than in more action-oriented titles. Permadeath, meaning the need to start over from the very beginning after death without a saved position, is central to the experience, and the mobile version doesn't soften or ease it in any way, whether the player died of hunger, cold, or their own madness.

An atmosphere of silence regularly interrupted by danger, heightened further by a sparse, minimalist soundtrack, makes Don't Starve one of the most distinctive survival games of its generation, whether on PC or in its pocket-sized form.

Why play it: For fans of demanding survival games with a distinctive visual style who accept permadeath as part of the experience - playable on touch thanks to the game's slower, planning-focused pace.