The Forest

First-person survival horror with base building and mutant cannibals

Endnight Games Ltd · Released Apr 30, 2018

Reviews: Overwhelmingly Positive; 96% of 683K
Recent reviews: Very Positive; 94% of 3,092 in 30 days
Playing now: 1,580; right now
Steam Deck: Playable
Last update: 11 months ago; Oct 3, 2025

What is The Forest?

A first-person open-world survival horror game set in a forest after a passenger jet crash. Alone or in co-op, you gather food and materials, craft tools and weapons, build shelters, explore caves, and fight or evade cannibalistic mutants while searching for your missing son.

For you if...

+you enjoy scavenging, crafting, and elaborate base building
+you want tense survival horror with cooperative play
+you prefer piecing together a story through exploration

Not for you if...

−you want a clearly guided path through the story
−you dislike repetitive resource gathering and extensive tree chopping
−you expect base building to drive story progression

What players say

96% of 682,967 reviews are positive · 94% of 3,092 in the last 30 days

Players praise co-op for turning tense survival and exploration into chaotic fun, along with the eerie nighttime atmosphere and unpredictable enemies. Common complaints include repetitive tree chopping and cave exploration, weak guidance, janky combat and construction, and persistent bugs.

Screenshots and trailer

The Forest system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel Dual-Core 2.4 GHz
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Storage: 5 GB available space
DirectX: Version 9.0
Notes: 32bit windows users need to ensure they have at least 4gb of ram usable on their system.

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows
Achievements: 45
Steam features: Cloud saves, Family Sharing, VR

Steam Deck: Playable

The launcher or setup tool may need the touchscreen or virtual keyboard
All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
Shows Steam Deck controller icons
In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck

Multiplayer and co-op

Languages

Full audio: English. Text only: French, German, Czech, Finnish, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Italian, Spanish - Spain.