Since I have read the manga — I think that was back in 2012 or 2013, I cannot really recall — I have been dying to find a game that is similar in style. Few years later, the genre is finally recognized and games with similar style are now gradually being published. To back that up, here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry of the Battle Royale (novel):

Why isn’t Black Survival mentioned here? 🤔😅

Anyway, from my google playstore comment — I was surprised they even replied to my dumb comment — Archbears shared that they took heavy inspiration from Battle Royale. Check this out!

5 ⭐, oh yeah!

I’m really happy that this is a genre now

The idea of the manga is really morbid and I like how the author didn’t hold back on its premise. I highly recommend the Battle Royale manga if you haven’t read it yet. Just a warning though, the manga has a lot of NSFW content such as gore and sexual nudity. But if you are cool with that, then go ahead and try reading it yourself.

Anyhow, despite all this Battle Royale talk, I got into the game because of the store’s screenshots. 😂 And to my suprise — finally! a Battle Royale game!

Comparing Black Survival to other Battle Royale inspired games

We can’t avoid to compare Battle Royale games to each other and I have played one recently in a friend’s house; Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds.

I have only played the game a few times but my first two matches are the most memorable for me.

Time for a little story again

In my first match I familiarized the game’s controls. The mechanics aren’t that hard to grasp (basically, it’s just be the last one standing while avoiding the restricted areas). In the first few minutes, I got some good loot, armour, and a vehicle. The island is HUGE and traversing it by foot is a pain in the arse. Luckily, I got a vehicle early on. I tried baiting my vehicle but no one ended up taking it and so I eluded the incoming restricted barrier by car. I escaped for a few rounds but I decided to try something stupid. Playing GTA or other open world games made me try dismounting in the middle of a high speed drive, and so, I tried it. Then, unexpectedly, I died on the spot. My friends laughed, and we took turns playing. There goes my first try of the game.

I asked my friends what’s their highest placement on the game. They said they haven’t won a single game yet. One friend’s top placement was 13, and the other one is in top 10, I forgot the exact number.

On my second game, my friends went downstairs to get some food and it was my turn again to play. I took extra caution that time, no more jumping-out-from-a-vehicle-in-mid-air, and survived pretty well. Then finally, I got my first kill. I killed a guy using a shotgun in a close quarters combat with the element of surprise. My friends cheered on me, but I’m serious playing the game so I ignored them. Shortly, I found a vehicle and got closer and closer to the middle of the island (the restricted areas are also limiting the battlefield). I made a huge blunder when only three survivors remain. I accidentally showed my location — which means I lost my advantage — and then suddenly, there are only two people left. Me and the other person engaged in 1 vs 1 combat but I lost since he has the automatic gun and I have slow shotgun and crappy aiming skillz. Not to mention, my friends pressuring me behind my shoulders. I got placed top 2. Shoutout to my friends Genesis and Val. 🙄😤😑

To put it plainly, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds is like a military-inclined Battle Royale. Everyone parachutes down the island, everyone is using military grade weapons and armor, and then everybody guns down everybody. I also don’t think they have the survival aspects in terms of eating, resting, crafting, and so on. Therefore, PUBG doesn’t directly translate to Battle Royale or The Hunger Games but it’s a good game nonetheless — the stats don’t lie. I cannot compare any other battle royale games though, since I haven’t played all of them.

I think more and more games will be added into the genre. Games focusing on the survival part; surviving the temparature, hunger, exhaustion, diseases, and other aspects than the combat part only, ala Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater. I think a battle royale game like that would be really interesting. (Don’t starve × Battle Royale? 😂)

If you are truly a fan of the genre, I think you will love Black Survival. The tension from restricted areas expanding and contracting, running away with very low health, crafting health & stamina survival items, defeating everyone else until you’re the last one standing, it all resonates to the genre’s main inspiration; Battle Royale.

Non-gameplay related

So enough story time

Time for something that’s actually discussing the game itself. But first, I’ll walk you through the non-gameplay elements. This includes the game’s business model, economy, the network, the art, the music, the ranking system, the in-game currency, the game’s built-in index or wiki, and much more.

Business Model

Black Survival’s earns revenue via microtransactions (and ads? I’ll explain later). Its business model is like that of League of Legends.

Free to play

Weekly rotation of trial characters

You can purchase characters and skins (cosmetics) via in-game currency (gold coins)

You can purchase characters and skins via premium currency (bought using real money or gained by other means, I’ll explain later)

You can also purchase other items such as name changer, etc., that doesn’t really impact the gameplay

Ads (more details below)

Economy

There are three types of currencies in this game.

Gold, Gem, and Bear Point

Gold is gained through a number of methods:

Winning a match Ranking up (only in Herbivore League) Finishing a match

The total gold collected from graduating Herbivore League can be used to purchase 2 or more characters permanently. It can also be used to purchase items in a match (lunchbox and backpack) and as well as revive your character when they die.