Best games with dangerous cave environments

Key insights

• Caves in open-world games can feature tough enemies, puzzles, and environmental hazards to overcome to get rewards.
• Terraria's deep, dangerous caves require fighting monsters and traps and offer an excellent risk/reward ratio.
• Deep Rock Galactic's procedurally generated caves are filled with environmental hazards and hostile creatures.

Not every game takes place above ground, some take place in a completely underground environment. Others simply feature large cave systems as part of an open world map for players to explore. Caves are often used as spawn locations for bosses or for rare loot and resources.

Developers often populate caves with tough enemies, puzzles to solve, and environmental hazards the player must overcome in order to survive. Some games have integrated the underground aspects of the map so well that they are characterized by the most difficult and dangerous caves to explore and, of course, the best rewards for completing that challenge.

8 Terrariums

2D sandbox adventure

Since its introduction Terrariums has become something of a surprise hit, considering it was created by a small indie developer. Exploration is crucial in this game, and that means venturing into the dangerous cave systems.

Some of the caves in Terraria are very deep and the deeper the player goes into the cave, the more dangerous the environment becomes. This includes dangerous monsters that need to be fought and nasty traps that need to be discovered and avoided. The risk/reward ratio in these caves is excellent, and that's why Terrariums I created this list.

7 Ark: Survival Evolved

Survival in the open world

Ark: Survival Evolved is one of the most successful open-world survival games of all time, with a huge fan base and a fairly large esports scene. In Ark: Survival EvolvedPlayers must learn to survive on an island inhabited by prehistoric creatures.

There are numerous caves on the map, and many of them are the best places to find the best resources and fight the most dangerous creatures. Good preparation is the key to descending into the most dangerous cave in the world Ark: Survival Evolved.

6 Far Cry: Original

Survival in the Stone Age

The second game on this list that's about prehistoric creatures, Far Cry: Originaltakes place in the Stone Age. Players must survive in a unique survival scenario while competing against other Stone Age tribes.

Caves are an important part of the gameplay in this game. They make great shelter and many players live in caves. However, the larger cave systems can be very dangerous and are generally used as locations for larger combat encounters. But of course there is a reward for exploring these caves in the form of valuable resources.

5 Deep Rock Galactic

Play as a space gnome!

Deep Rock Galactic is a pretty unique game in many ways. The premise of this first-person shooter is simple. Players explore procedurally generated cave systems on alien planets and mine the valuable resources they find.

But of course the reality is a little more complex. The cave systems in Deep Rock Galactic All pose environmental hazards and are populated by hostile alien creatures. Additionally, there is always the risk of a tunnel collapsing, which brings its own set of problems. The cave systems are exceptionally well crafted, even though they are all procedurally generated.

4 Grave robber

Combines puzzle solving with combat

The Grave robber The franchise includes films, books and of course video games. The first game in the franchise was released back in 1996. However, this list entry focuses on the reboot of the original game in 2013. As Lara Croft, the player must explore and overcome the treacherous cave environment.

The underground cave systems in Grave robber require puzzle-solving skills and combine a platform gameplay style with combat mechanics. Caves are packed with traps and puzzles that the player must solve. There's a real sense of exploration in Tomb Raider, as the player never knows what's in the next cave just around the corner.

3 Hollow knight

Underground action adventure

Hollow knight is another successful indie game. It has a unique, dark and foreboding aesthetic and takes place entirely underground. This is a 2D action-adventure game that combines solid platforming gameplay with fiendishly challenging puzzles and plenty of hidden secrets to discover.

The cave system itself was lovingly crafted by hand and the attention to detail is noticeable everywhere. Even for a 2D game, the combat is surprisingly complex. However, it's the dark, dangerous cave system that steals the show from Hollow Knight. Players who prefer 3D games might also like to give Hollow knight Try it because it is truly exceptional.

2 The forest

Survival horror on a foreign island

This survival horror game is known for being tough. The player finds that he has survived a plane crash and is now stranded on a strange island inhabited by cannibalistic natives and strangely mutated creatures. This begins the search for the secrets of this island and its strange inhabitants.

The forest features some of the toughest cave systems in any video game. Unfortunately, the player cannot simply avoid going into the caves in the forest. Much of the game's lore and clues can be found in the cave systems, as well as the most powerful weapons and rare resources.

1 Subnautica

Breathtaking underwater cave systems

Set on a sea planet almost entirely covered in water. Subnautica offers a different take on survival gameplay mechanics. Oxygen is always worth considering, but there are other, different dangers, such as deep pressure, that must be taken into account to avoid death.

The open world map contains many underwater cave systems, many of which are only accessible once the player can craft the equipment needed to explore safely. These caves contain many dangers, including hostile monsters and increased pressure that can crush the player.