Through the building of different submarine vehicles, Subnautica lets you explore the ocean floor and make progress.
There are many games that take place at sea or involve naval battles. But not as many that are set on a submarine or use one as their main gameplay element.
There are a lot of simulators that focus on realism and tactical gameplay that are like submarine games. These examples will include some of those, but they also want to show you a variety of games that aren’t just complicated simulations that are about or involve submarines.
Subnautica
There are other parts of Subnautica besides submarines, but finding pieces and plans to build different submarines is an important part of exploring and progressing through the game.
The player can go farther from their base and deeper into the ocean with these vehicle. Which are important to the game’s development. Part of the game’s main loop is also gathering the needed pieces and plans for these vehicles, especially early on. When you finally finish crafting and piloting these vehicles, you get a nice reward.
UBOAT
In this WWII strategy game, players are in charge of the crew of a German U-boat in a sandbox where they have to stay alive. In contrast to many other submarine simulations, UBOAT puts a lot of emphasis on the crew. Players must take good care of the crew. Because if they are sick or injured, the chances of winning are very low.
UBOAT has a complex damage system that requires players to stay calm under pressure and make sacrifices to keep the ship whole. To get across the open sea, players will need to carefully handle their resources.
We Need To Go Deeper
You can play with bots if you want to, but We Need To Go Deeper is a submarine game meant to be played with friends. The game lets up to four people play together online, and the goal is to explore the randomly generated depths while piloting and keeping one of the unlockable submarines.
We Need To Go Deeper even lets players get out of the submarine and travel on foot with an adventurer that they can customize. The game also has a lot of tools and weapons to help players on their way. The cooperative and rogue-like elements of the game make it fun, hectic, and sometimes stressful as players try to keep their submarine together.
Song Of The Deep
A little girl’s quest to find her father takes place in this dramatic underwater adventure. Which is a Metroidvania game made by Insomniac Games (the makers of Ratchet & Clank).
The game Song Of The Deep puts players in charge of a small submarine and lets them explore the game’s beautiful underwater worlds in search of 30 different upgrades for the submarine. The puzzles in the game range in how hard they are. And you have to beat monsters and bosses along the way. Even though players don’t spend all of their time in the submarine. They do spend a lot of time exploring the ocean in it. Song Of The Deep is a beautiful, well-polished story experience that is surprisingly cheap.
Barotrauma
This 2D survival-horror game is very intense because it simulates a submarine and has RPG elements. Eggy Car players have to finish the different missions by controlling their submarine, keeping it in good shape, and making items.
What makes BaroTrauma even more unique is that it has an in-game editor that lets players build their own monsters and submarines. As well as online co-op that can have up to 16 people. Barotrauma is often hard, and its systems are complicated, so it’s not for everyone. But for people who like this kind of game, it’s a deep experience that can be played again and again.
Silent Hunter 3
It was launched in 2005 and is the third game in Ubisoft’s Silent Hunter series. It is still one of the best submarine simulation games available today.
Silent Hunter 3 is mostly about realistic naval battle in World War II that takes place in a 3D world with a day/night cycle and vehicles that are based on real ones. They can also handle U-boats that have detailed interiors, and there are different kinds of U-boats to choose from. This game is marketed to both experienced and new simulation gamers. As it has an easier learning curve than many others and lets you change the “realism settings.” Silent Hunter 3 also has an unscripted, non-linear story that players must complete.
Iron Lung
This short sci-fi horror game from David Szymanski (Chop Goblins, Dusk) is a hit with independent gamers. You control a very small submarine through an ocean of blood on an alien moon. Setting plays a big role in creating a dark and scary atmospher. Even though there isn’t much to do in the game itself.
Iron Lung is a very short but dramatic experience that is meant to be played in less than an hour. Horror fans will enjoy it for the low price. The main way for players to get a sense of their surroundings is through a blurry camera, an unfinished satellite map, and the submarine’s devices that are close by. In addition, Iron Lung has its own music, and in April 2023, a trailer for the movie based on the game came out.