Tell us which video game would be hardest to survive, then tell us how you'd do it

Video games can take us to all kinds of other worlds: weird, wonderful, and deadly. But therein lies the challenge! For this bounty, we want you to tell us which video game's world would be the most difficult to survive in... and then tell us how you'd survive it.

The key word there is "you". This bounty's no fun if you can just repeat the steps the main character takes to survive, but it gets a lot more interesting when you're not a genetically enhanced supersoldier and can't eat dragon souls. In original writing or video, tell us what steps you'd take, as a regular old human being, to survive the particular horrors of your chosen video game. The best, most entertaining, creative, or thoughtful answers get the rewards!

Bounty Rewards

$225 rewards

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Created at 3:16pm, 11th September, 2024. Page last updated at 2:54pm, 3rd October, 2024.
Deadline at 11:00pm, 2nd October, 2024.

Submissions (30)

AndyRice10/2/2024

I would say 'This War of Mine' is probably the most difficult game for a regular person to survive. And this is actually what this game trying to tell us, 'In modern war there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason.' - Ernest Hemingway.

War, war never changes.

Sturmer10/2/2024

Won$2

Overcooked

A game that turns the heat of a busy kitchen into a literal trial by fire (sometimes on a pirate ship, slippery ice floes, lava or space). Surviving in the world of Overcooked would be an extraordinary challenge, even for someone who's faced the real-life pressures of a restless kitchen.

Why Overcooked is a Culinary Hellscape

Absurd Environments
Cooking on shifting rafts or in haunted mansions isn't exactly covered in culinary school.
Time Constraints
Orders fly in at breakneck speed, each with a ticking timer that threatens customer dissatisfaction and lost points.
Multitasking Mayhem
Juggling multiple recipes with different cooking times, all while navigating obstacles, requires… focus?
Teamwork Trials
Coordination is key, but when your teammate is separated by a gap that's widening every second, passing the chopped onions becomes a feat of acrobatics.

My Survival Plan

Despite the insanity, here's how I'd attempt to survive in Overcooked's chaotic kitchens:

I'd recruit friends who can keep cool under pressure and have a good sense of humor. Laughter can be the best seasoning in stressful situations.
We'd assign specific roles based on strengths. If I'm great at chopping and prepping ingredients, that's my domain. Others might focus on cooking or plating.
We'd develop a system of quick, clear signals. Perhaps code words or hand gestures to convey urgent information without wasting time.
I'd train myself to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, perhaps by cooking at home while balancing a book on my head—gotta start somewhere!
Focus on high-value orders or those close to timing out to maximize efficiency and keep customers happy.
Non-slip shoes, heat-resistant gloves, maybe even a helmet for those pesky asteroid levels. Safety first!
Keep Morale High - celebrate small victories. Positive vibes can boost performance.

JHenckes10/2/2024

Won$2

As an average human living in the universe of Resident Evil, I would avoid confrontations at all costs. I would be hiding, scrounging my food and water and basic utilities, stealing my way around zombies and bio-organisms such as Lickers and the Tyrant. Not superhuman or military-trained myself, I would lie in diversion tactics, throwing things down corridors for deflection in other directions or starting little fires for a diversion. I would not be close to other survivors except in situations where it is absolutely necessary, since they could also be so dangerous. I want to remain mobile, heading out to safe locations like the police station, but meanwhile preparing myself through a mindset of how to escape. Alert, quiet, and hopeful would probably be my only real chance at survival with such a nightmare.

I'm not so sure I could do all that, but it's certainly what I would try. It's very likely that in many situations I would remain static, not knowing what to do, until I got used to this dystopian zombie apocalypse universe!

Makster10/2/2024

Won$2

Harvest Moon/ Stardew Valley

Trying to go a little unusual and lateral thinking with my pick here as a lot of the bounty replies have been post-apocalyptic answers related to zombies, in-coming threats, and fantasty settings. But there is no greater threat than the taxman and mother nature.

In these 'cozy' games, you are given an acre of land and expected to live off it (Of Mice & Men style). Growing veggies, rearing animals, and selling produce as a humble farmer. It's not much it is a simple life. But as Clarkson's Farm has reminded us - it ain't that easy.

In these games you are one person having to operate a farm. Doing all the planting, harvesting, feeding, plowing etc. And personally speaking, my profession is ICT. I rarely go up 2 flights of stairs in my day to day.

Suffice to say, I think my chances of making a living or surviving on a farm is just as if I were in a zombie outbreak. Although my downfall wouldn't be on a nasty infectious bite, it'd be the government sending the baliffs to seize my prized cow and land for not paying income tax.

TrialByStory10/2/2024

Won$2

My answer for this one is Baldur's Gate 3. Now a lot of the random citizenry and peasants in any DnD setting manage to live fairly idylic lives, but if you look at mechanically how that world works, every 'regular' person, which is what I would be in this scenario has low stats. BG3 runs off 5e, and in those rules that core statblock uses 10 as the average, most villagers, have their base stats below that level, and HP low enough that the giant rats and poisonous spiders can bring them down in one hit, as you can see anytime a fight breaks out involving random NPCs in the area.

As an average person in Baldur's Gate 3, most of the time nothing exciting would be happening around me. But when something does start to kick off, which is honestly only a matter of time, making it through unscathed is a hell of a longshot.