Aground vs Starve.io
Aground
Aground is a 2D, side-scrolling, survival-themed adventure game where you'll be digging out the bowels of the earth for precious ores to turn into tools, weapons, and armor or to sell to gain coins. Similar to games like Kingdom: Classic or its sequel, Kingdom: New Lands, the game will have you venture out to explore new islands to discover more about the story behind the land, to meet new characters and to obtain better resources to craft superior items.The storyline in this game is pretty intriguing as well. It features a Bermuda Triangle-like area where people often get shipwrecked and are washed up to one of the shores of the small archipelago. The islands are filled with weird creatures and is rich with minerals and resources. As survivors starting from scratch, they do not have access to the technologies they used to enjoy that is until apparently a mysterious tribe, called the Mirrows, helped to set stuff up.
Aground offers players the sort of freedom that Minecraft is able to provide and yet, is not fully a sandbox game nor does it have a procedurally generated map. Of course, this game has a great storyline, along with quests to help drive those plot points forward, and that alone makes it a really fun game to play.
Starve.io
Starve.io is a unique IO game mainly because it is more of a base-building and survival game rather than just a hack-and-slash arena. In this game, you will need to collect resources and turn them into useful items which will marginally improve your chances of survival. The crafting aspect of the game is very much simplified but it can still take you a while to figure out crucial crafting details like how much resources you need to create a certain item. Also, a quick tip if you will - grab as much food and wood as you can at the get-go.As a survival game, there are several important "meters" that you will need to keep an eye on, such as temperature and hydration. Hunger also something that you will need to frequently deal with, aside from other potentially hostile players as well as other monsters like vampires and zombies if you happen to play its other game modes. There is even a "hunger games" version which frankly feels a lot like a battle royale game.
Unlike many other IO games where players are always pitted against one another, Starve.io is a game in which you can actually choose to coexist with other players rather than just swinging whatever weapon you have in hand at anyone you see... though, many players still do that pretty often, especially those better-equipped ones.