9 Essential Video Games Releasing In August 2017

3. Ark: Survival Evolved

A game that's been in early access for what feels like forever (two years), Ark's unique blend of Minecraft/survival game-influenced crafting and dinosaur-taming has helped it ship millions of units and amass a staggering fanbase.

Playing like the majority of open-ended survival sims, you'll need to ensure you've a place to stay, a fire to sit by and some fortifications for each night, but outside that, taming the 60+ species' of dinosaur are the order of the day alongside exploring, collecting, crafting... you know the drill.

Those dinos though; they can be used for transport, combat, flying - even swimming underwater at high speeds, provided you get the right types under control. All of this can be played offline, but Ark comes into its own when fellow players are pitting their fearsome creatures against one another, matching claw for tooth to get the next piece of loot back to base camp.

For the millions of gamers who can't get enough of survival games this will be essential, and thanks to its unique dinosaur-filled aesthetic, what better style of game is there to build a place to live?