Every Subnautica game, ranked
All 2 Subnautica games we hold, spanning 2014 to 2021: 2 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 487,280 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Subnautica (GamingPickz Score 8.4), the highest-rated entry we can score.
The Subnautica games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 2 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
2 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 2 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Mobile
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
2 best Subnautica games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Subnautica
Best for: Handheld play, small install and Deck verified
8.4GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceSubnautica at a glance Released 2014 Studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment Player sentiment 97% positive of 379,053 Critics 87/100 Price $29.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 20 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 97% shrinks to 97.0 on 379,053 reviews, then blends with the 87 critic aggregate, giving 8.4.
What the data supports- 97% positive across 379,053 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
- 2
Subnautica: Below Zero
Best for: Handheld play, small install and Deck verified
8.1GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceSubnautica: Below Zero at a glance Released 2021 Studio Unknown Worlds Entertainment Player sentiment 90% positive of 108,227 Critics No aggregate Price $29.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 15 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 90% shrinks to 90.0 on 108,227 reviews, giving 8.1. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- 90% positive across 108,227 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Subnautica game we can score is Subnautica at 8.4. The lowest is Subnautica: Below Zero at 8.1, a 0.3-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Subnautica at $29.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Subnautica, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Subnautica entries on Steam:
- Verified: Subnautica, Subnautica: Below Zero
Platforms across the series
Where the 2 Subnautica games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 2 of 2 |
| PlayStation | 1 of 2 |
| Xbox | 1 of 2 |
| Nintendo | 1 of 2 |
| Mobile | 1 of 2 |
The Subnautica series, game by game
Every Subnautica game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2014
Subnautica
8.4Descend into the depths of an alien underwater world filled with wonder and peril. Craft equipment, pilot submarines and out-smart wildlife to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, cave systems, and more - all while trying to survive. (Steam)
Plot
Roughly 1,000 years prior to the game's events, an alien race known as "the Architects" begins investigation of the ocean planet 4546B for a cure to the Kharaa bacterium, which has devastated their civilization. They discover that the Sea Emperor Leviathan species naturally produces "Enzyme 42" in its digestive tract, which makes the species immune to the bacterium. The last of the species is too old to produce the enzyme in sufficient quantities, and… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Subnautica received positive pre-release reception. Ian Birnbaum of PC Gamer described Subnautica as an "underwater Minecraft ", remarking that "with an experienced developer at the helm and a limitless variety of the oceans to play with, it's going to take a lot for Subnautica to go badly wrong. As the toolbox gets deeper and the shape of the end-game gets set, Subnautica will be a unique example of the ways survival can be tense, rewarding,… (Wikipedia)
- 2021
Dive into a freezing underwater adventure on an alien planet. Below Zero is set two years after the original Subnautica. Return to Planet 4546B to uncover the truth behind a deadly cover-up. Survive by building habitats, crafting tools, & diving deeper into the world of Subnautica. (Steam)
Plot
Two years after the events of the original game , the Alterra corporation that originally crashed the Aurora on planet 4546B had built several bases on the planet for research on the Kharaa bacterium, and on the alien precursor race, dubbed Architects, that had studied the bacterium prior. Xenologist Robin Ayou smuggles herself onto the planet in a frozen sector named "Sector Zero" to investigate the circumstances of her sister Sam's death, which Alterra… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Subnautica: Below Zero received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . Andrew Reiner of Game Informer praised the game, saying "Below Zero is what every sequel should be, building upon the established core formula in clever ways to make the new content feel just as exciting and unpredictable. " IGN 's Leana Hafer commented "New vehicles, new gadgets, and across-the-board tune ups to… (Wikipedia)
Subnautica, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Subnautica vs other series
How Subnautica stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Subnautica vs Dead Island, Subnautica vs Mafia, Subnautica vs Max Payne, Subnautica vs Red Faction, Subnautica vs State of Decay, Subnautica vs Burnout Paradise, Subnautica vs Friday the 13th, Subnautica vs Jurassic World Evolution, Subnautica vs Metal Gear, Subnautica vs POSTAL, Subnautica vs Prototype, Subnautica vs The Evil Within, Subnautica vs Thief, Subnautica vs Transport Fever, Subnautica vs Universe Sandbox, Subnautica vs Zombie Army
Common questions
How many Subnautica games are there?
We hold 2 Subnautica games in the catalogue, released between 2014 and 2021. 2 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Subnautica game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Subnautica rates highest at 8.4. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Subnautica games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2014 to 2021. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
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