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ARK: Survival Ascended

Intense overall intensity

Highest flag: Substances — player uses or trades

MMOSandboxSurvival

What's in it

Substances player uses or trades

High

Beer can be brewed at a beer barrel and consumed to produce an in-game intoxication effect on the character.

Violence realistic

Moderate

Melee and ranged combat against dinosaurs, wild creatures, and other players' characters draws blood and leaves bodies that linger, but there is no dismemberment or gore.

Nudity revealing/suggestive attire

Low

Characters spawn wearing only minimal loincloth-style clothing, with no exposure shown.

Dark themes mild

Low

In-world explorer notes recount extinction, faction warfare, and the deaths of past characters as written backstory rather than shown events.

Horror & psychological spooky

Low

Dark caves and menacing creatures create tense, unsettling moments, without sustained scripted scares.

Animal combat combat mechanic

Low

Dinosaurs and other creatures are hunted and killed for meat, hides, and other resources as ordinary survival play.

Spending pressure optional

Low

Who can reach your kid

Voice chatChat with strangersDirect messagesUser-created contentStranger friend requests

What it is

ARK: Survival Ascended is a rebuilt version of the 2017 dinosaur survival game, set on a hostile island where you gather resources, craft tools and shelter, and tame, ride, and breed dinosaurs and other primeval creatures. Play centers on surviving hunger, weather, and hostile wildlife while advancing from stone-age tools to advanced technology, alone or with a tribe on shared online servers. Combat against creatures and rival players draws blood and leaves bodies, though without gore. The player brews and drinks beer and crafts sedative narcotics, and characters start in minimal clothing. Online servers include proximity voice and text chat with strangers, and the game supports player-made mods.

How it's framed

The game frames its world as an unforgiving struggle for survival where hunting, killing, and taming creatures are practical means of progression rather than acts weighted with judgment. Raiding and fighting other tribes is presented as open competitive play on shared servers, and technological advancement is the central reward.

Details

Developer: Studio Wildcard
Publisher: Studio Wildcard
Released: Oct 25, 2023

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