Surviving the Aftermath received mixed reviews on Metacritic. The Finnish version of Gamereactor said it is not revolutionary but is a fun game for those who wish more of a focus on city-building than survival. NME described the game as "competent enough" but said it focuses on quantity over quality and has an uninspiring setting. PCGamesN said its strengths are its explorable world map and configurable events. Though they said it starts off well, PC Games faulted the game's replayability and story.
