Trains are taking over the survival genre: there are a half-dozen survival base-builders on rails coming in 2026

What are you doing over there in that survival game? Picking up rocks and gathering twigs, chopping down trees and collecting berries, all so you can… what? Build a little house that doesn't move and live inside it?

Get with the program! This year the survival genre is ditching those sad wooden huts in favor of mobile bases, and those bases are all trains. There are at least six—possibly seven—survival games set on moving trains all coming out in 2026!

Why the sudden rush to make survival games about trains? And why are so many of them set in a world that has frozen over, like Snowpiercer? Who cares! Trains are rad and I want to build bases on them. Here's a look at the train-based survival games careening down the rails at us this year.

Frostrail

I'm probably most jazzed about Frostrail from FakeFish, maker of excellent submarine survival game Barotrauma. In this solo or co-op survival FPS, brave the deadly cold as you scavenge for resources and fight swarms of hostiles. Upgrade your engine so it can speed faster and pull more weight as you restlessly explore a frozen world.

"Your train is more than a refuge, it is your only way forward. As you explore the frozen wasteland, it will keep you moving and alive, carrying everything you need to survive. Fuel the Eden Engine, manage its power, and operate your train to explore further, scavenging what little remains of this world."

EverRail

In EverRail the world is freezing, again, and the only way to survive is to keep your train moving. Up to four players can scout the landscape using drones, explore new areas to find resources on foot, and battle enemies in FPS combat. Plus, there's an interesting twist on respawning:

"Every time you die, you take the role of another passenger on the train. As long as passengers remain, you can respawn and keep exploring the procedural world. New passengers can be found in points of interest and dungeons."

Enginefall

Thematically, Enginefall sounds the closest to Snowpiercer—though it doesn't have any snow. What it does have is a monstrous megatrain that you fight your way through, from the last car to the first.

"From cramped tail slums to lavish first-class cars and guarded engine rooms, every carriage is a living space to loot, fight over, turn into a base, or eventually claim as part of your own rolling home as you climb from tailie to conductor."

Frostliner

The moon has shattered (never a good sign) and, you guessed it, the planet has frozen. Now you've got to manage and upgrade a massive train filled with citizens, almost a city on rails, as you speed through an icy world. Could Frostliner be Frostpunk on a train?

"On its steel tracks, you will carve a path across a frozen Earth, adapting your mobile city to meet the needs of those who call it home. Explore a handcrafted world and follow a gripping, linear narrative as you chase warmth, safety, and the faint promise of a future at the end of the line."

Steel Ark

I'm not seeing any snow in Steel Ark, but just because it's warm doesn't mean it's safe. Alone or in co-op, you'll scavenge, hunt, and mine for resources, use automation to increase your production, and of course, upgrade your mobile base. Your train isn't your only ride, either: there are other vehicles like buggies to pilot.

"The train is your base, transport, storage, and safe zone. You can add carriages for labs, storage, or protection. You’ll also paint it, decorate it, and customize it to survive in different environments. When you enter dangerous zones, you’ll need to prepare by installing special modules, like radiation shields or air filters."

Steel Artery: Train City Builder

This one is much more of a city builder than a straight survival game, but I'm including it because train. Also, there are definitely survival elements in Steel Artery: you build a huge steampunk city on rails and manage its inhabitants, which include elves and orcs.

"Every building generates or consumes resources. Workers need salaries, inns charge for rest, and diners demand payment for meals. To keep your city thriving, you must stop in resource-rich regions, extract what you need, and plan your wagon layouts carefully. Space is limited, logistics are complex, and efficiency is the key to survival."

Railborn

Railborn is the only game on this page that hasn't officially said it's coming in 2026—but we can keep our fingers crossed, right? The building system looks the most freeform of all of these train survival games, letting you build different cars for different biomes in your train, like greenhouses, aquariums, and even caverns as you cross an alien world.

"Railborn is a survival game where you scavenge for resources to build your train piece by piece. Collect rare plants to recreate dying biomes, navigate a world entangled by tracks, and uncover alien monoliths—all aboard your mobile sanctuary."