After a slew of earthquakes devastated American cities, a male survivor returns home to find that his wife and daughter have already left for safety. Not long after, he rescues a small girl named Mei, lost with only her walkie-talkie. Following the instructions of a man named Henry who speaks through the walkie-talkie, the male survivor traverses a broken and crumbled landscape to take Mei to safety, whose responsibility is now on his shoulders.

I Am Alive puts players in a game of survival, where they must fight to stay alive in a ruined world now filled with bandits, unpredictable terrain, and scant resources. Mere survival is a struggle, let alone finding your wife, daughter, and taking Mei to safety.