I played The Forest for the first time last year. I loved it and also played Sons of the Forest. Even though the second game added more details, improved graphics, and cannibals that act more intelligently with better AI mechanics, I found the gameplay of the first game better and more sustainable, with a smoother learning curve that helps the player get used to the game naturally. Even at the beginning of the game, when I had nothing and was vulnerable, the cannibals were not too aggressive, the first game has a good startup mechanism, while the second game feels more complex. Overall, I like the first game experience more. After I finished both games, I came back to the first game for all the completions. I waited to write this review until I reached 100%. Positively, The Forest is the best open world survival game that I have ever played. I love the map and how everything is located. You learn about plants and animals in a fun way. There is also a building and crafting aspect that could easily be a separate game on its own. That is very creative. The graphics are also very good. I love the story. It is mysterious and engaging. I learned so much about the cannibals and how to kill or avoid them. If I have to say one negative thing about the game and this is the only one. It is how the AI was implemented for the cannibals. Okay, the developers wanted the cannibals to move unpredictably, and that is fine, but they were disappearing and appearing 5 meters away in less than a second. I do not think this is a glitch, but somehow it comes from the implementation. I am not sure it was intentional, though. Anyway, the whole game experience was fun for me. If I could erase my memory, I would want to play it again :D I saw The Forest 3 in the space mentioned online, and I simply cannot wait for it <3
The Forest
Playing now
Developer / Publisher
Endnight Games Ltd
Release date
Apr 30, 2018
Genres
Action, Adventure, Indie, Simulation
Russian language
Text only, no voice-over
Price
$4.19
Steam recommendations
582,574
Tags
Features
Veterans
10+ hours at review95%
positive · 6,150 reviews
Newcomers
Under 2 hours at review83%
positive · 426 reviews
Most criticized
At launch
First 30 days after release on Steam (30 Apr 2018)91%
English reviews: 91% at launch → 94% now
· Reviews at launch: 2,159
Russian reviews: 92% at launch → 94% now
· Reviews at launch: 699
How opinion changes with playtime
Share of positive reviews by hours played at the time of the review. Click a column to read those reviews.| Played | Positive | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2h | 83% | 426 |
| 2–5h | 93% | 1,544 |
| 5–10h | 93% | 1,879 |
| 10–50h | 95% | 4,954 |
| 50h+ | 98% | 1,196 |
How the score changed over time
Share of positive Steam reviews per period: the last 12 months month by month, earlier years one column each. Counts every Steam review in that language, not only the ones below.| Period | Positive | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 93% | 7,810 |
| 2019 | 96% | 12,201 |
| 2020 | 96% | 26,706 |
| 2021 | 96% | 35,182 |
| 2022 | 96% | 34,989 |
| 2023 | 95% | 21,420 |
| 2024 | 95% | 15,899 |
| Jan–Oct 2025 | 95% | 12,146 |
| November 2025 | 93% | 792 |
| December 2025 | 94% | 1,198 |
| January 2026 | 95% | 1,234 |
| February 2026 | 94% | 625 |
| March 2026 | 94% | 864 |
| April 2026 | 93% | 648 |
| May 2026 | 95% | 583 |
| June 2026 | 94% | 1,223 |
| July 2026 | 93% | 994 |
| August 2026 | 93% | 526 |
| September 2026 | 92% | 692 |
| October 2026 | 96% | 156 |
Best argument for
The most helpful review from a veteran (10+ hours at review)Best argument against
The most helpful review from a veteran (10+ hours at review)A survival crafting game with almost no reason to actually engage in the base-building mechanics. Combat is easy but exceptionally janky (poor hit detection). The story is somewhat interesting but very poorly told. This game does not hold up in 2026. There are numerous other games in this genre that do everything better.
Community reviews
9,999 matching
Based on the 9,999 most recent Steam reviews · updated 6 Oct 2026
- English reviews: 4,999, 25 Mar 2026 – 6 Oct 2026
- Russian reviews: 5,000, 10 Jun 2026 – 6 Oct 2026
- ▲ Recommended16 h at review16 h total10 Jun 2026
играл с лучшим друном, залезли в пещеру, убили толпу аборигенов, взорвали динамитом мутанта, убили 5 женщин. Пришли домой и скачали игру The forest. 10 аборигенов в пещерах из 10
118 found helpful · 60 found funnyReviews written: 13On Steam - ▲ Recommended12 h at review12 h total10 Sept 2026
Игра топ В отличие от моей жизни, где за мной не бегает ни 1 девчонка, в этой игре за мной бежит целая оргия голых аборигенов Всем советую
109 found helpful · 50 found funnyGames owned: 63 · Reviews written: 8On Steam - ▲ Recommended44 h at review49 h total11 May 2026
Turns out the game is a million times more fun when you cannibalize them back food has not been an issue for a consistent 44 hours 10/10 do recommend dumping hours into it
99 found helpful · 74 found funnyReviews written: 8On Steam - ▲ Recommended37 h at review59 h total6 Sept 2026
---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☑ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☐ Old Fashioned ☑ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☑ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☑ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☑ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☐ Minor bugs ☑ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☑ 8 ☐ 9 ☐ 10 ---{ Author }--- ☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template
95 found helpful · 12 found funnyPerformanceGraphicsGameplayStoryValueGames owned: 63 · Reviews written: 10On Steam - ▲ Recommended18 h at review24 h total5 Jul 2026
1-Download the Forest not knowing anything about it. 2-Get used to the mechs and the style. 3-Start to Enjoy the game but still no way to know how you're supposed to find Timmy. 4-go down a cave. 5-leaving the cave a different man, but with more loot and items. 6-reluctantly, go down another cave. 7-See something that makes you question your choice of games, but you leave with more loot. 8-start to piece together what's going on with the island and what might have happened. 9-get hooked to the game. 10-being stuck in a cave for hours. 11-leaving the cave but wanting to find more caves to explore. 12-spending more times in caves. 13-start liking the caves. 14-getting used to the caves. 15-forget about Timmy. 16-become a caveman.
90 found helpful · 80 found funnyReviews written: 1On Steam - ▲ Recommended2.1 h at review3.9 h total9 Jul 2026
Когда заходишь в игру, сразу понимаешь что своего сына искать не надо и его не существует. А по ночам нападают голые люди с палками. В общем это симулятор избиения женщин топором. Ставлю этой игре 11 оторванных конечностей из 10
80 found helpful · 36 found funnyGames owned: 85 · Reviews written: 2On Steam - ▲ Recommended17 h at review21 h total26 Apr 2026
this game is so cool i see all the cannibals' bare naked asses they should add jiggle physics
80 found helpful · 74 found funnyReviews written: 2On Steam - ▲ Recommended91 h at review91 h total8 Aug 2026
смаковая игра, слышал для прохождения игры нужно спасти сына, думаю это просто слухи
64 found helpful · 32 found funnyReviews written: 1On Steam - ▲ Recommended80 h at review84 h total3 Aug 2026
The Forest — это игра про экологию и защиту лесов. Ты мирно прилетаешь на остров, начинаешь аккуратно вырубать гектары тайги для своего скромного пятиэтажного дворца, а местные эко-активисты без одежды почему-то начинают бегать за тобой с криками и топорами. Приходится объяснять им правила хорошего тона с помощью сигнального пистолета и бензопилы. Прекрасный курорт, аниматоры очень навязчивые. 11/10.
62 found helpful · 61 found funnyReviews written: 12On Steam - ▲ Recommended72 h at review72 h total25 May 2026
I played The Forest for the first time last year. I loved it and also played Sons of the Forest. Even though the second game added more details, improved graphics, and cannibals that act more intelligently with better AI mechanics, I found the gameplay of the first game better and more sustainable, with a smoother learning curve that helps the player get used to the game naturally. Even at the beginning of the game, when I had nothing and was vulnerable, the cannibals were not too aggressive, the first game has a good startup mechanism, while the second game feels more complex. Overall, I like the first game experience more. After I finished both games, I came back to the first game for all the completions. I waited to write this review until I reached 100%. Positively, The Forest is the best open world survival game that I have ever played. I love the map and how everything is located. You learn about plants and animals in a fun way. There is also a building and crafting aspect that could easily be a separate game on its own. That is very creative. The graphics are also very good. I love the story. It is mysterious and engaging. I learned so much about the cannibals and how to kill or avoid them. If I have to say one negative thing about the game and this is the only one. It is how the AI was implemented for the cannibals. Okay, the developers wanted the cannibals to move unpredictably, and that is fine, but they were disappearing and appearing 5 meters away in less than a second. I do not think this is a glitch, but somehow it comes from the implementation. I am not sure it was intentional, though. Anyway, the whole game experience was fun for me. If I could erase my memory, I would want to play it again :D I saw The Forest 3 in the space mentioned online, and I simply cannot wait for it <3
62 found helpful · 3 found funnyPerformanceGraphicsGameplayStoryGames owned: 257 · Reviews written: 109On Steam - ▲ Recommended12 h at review12 h total25 Mar 2026
The Forest nails mixin survival building and psychological horror rly well. Devs built a full, coherent world with minimal writing and also setup the sequel. It might be outdated in tech and optimization nowadays, but playin coop with friends is still insanely fun. u should turn off motion blur, it helps SO much with 3d sickness.
53 found helpful · 4 found funnyPerformanceGames owned: 377 · Reviews written: 288On Steam - ▲ Recommended81 h at review81 h total29 May 2026
Playing with another person makes this game 10x funnier because something dumb is ALWAYS happening. We spent HOURS building our base just for one badly aimed tree to fall directly onto everything we made 💀 genuinely stared at the screen in silence after that. The survival part is actually super addicting too. After a while we genuinely forgot there was even a story in the game, the main objective just became building the biggest base possible and surviving another night. I also love how the enemies sometimes just stand there watching you from the trees like they’re judging your entire existence before sprinting at you full speed 💀 Some of the bugs honestly make the game even funnier too, sometimes physics just stop making sense completely and weird random stuff starts happening for no reason. And somehow every play session turns into: “okay one more thing and then we stop” Definitely one of the funniest and most enjoyable survival games I’ve played.
49 found helpful · 26 found funnyPerformanceStoryGames owned: 710 · Reviews written: 46On Steam - ▲ Recommended6.1 h at review13 h total12 Sept 2026
Огромный лес, голые мужики и женщины, кабаны, что нужно еще для счастья?
47 found helpful · 11 found funnyGames owned: 112 · Reviews written: 8On Steam - ▲ Recommended3.4 h at review3.4 h total6 Aug 2026
Зашол думал что буду карол и лес в итоге миня загризли ♥♥♥♥♥ местные оборогены и сьели за то что я поджарил их гнилых детей на костре
38 found helpful · 24 found funnyGames owned: 10 · Reviews written: 2On Steam - ▲ Recommended24 h at review24 h total5 Jul 2026
очень красивые и сексуальные аборигены, очень меня возбуждали когда в первый раз играл
38 found helpful · 21 found funnyGames owned: 12 · Reviews written: 3On Steam - ▲ Recommended51 h at review51 h total6 Jun 2026
Day 1 i don't want to kill any cannibal i'm peacefully Day 52 I ate an entire family of cannibals because it's look delicios it's like reality i see a lot of people following me 100/10
38 found helpful · 42 found funnyGames owned: 18 · Reviews written: 1On Steam - ▲ Recommended19 h at review19 h total9 Sept 2026
И так, The Forest... и я до сих пор не понимаю, зачем вообще полезла в этот лес. Но по порядку. Сама завязка банальна до неприличия: самолёт падает, сын пропадает, ты очухиваешься на острове. Сюжет можно уместить в одно предложение, но игра почему-то считает, что этого мало. Первые пару часов ты радостно рубишь деревья, строишь шалаш, жуёшь ягоды и думаешь: "О, уютный survival, сейчас тут обустроюсь". А потом наступает ночь. И ты понимаешь, что лес - это не лес, а филиал ада. Какие-то бледные пижамики с красной краской на лице бродят вокруг твоего костерка, как будто ты им что-то должна. Я им ничего не должна! Мутанты - отдельная песня. Сначала ты пугаешься до мурашек, потом привыкаешь, а потом встречаешь многоногую тварь, которая бегает быстрее тебя, и пугаешься снова. Дизайн врагов - пожалуй, лучшее, что в игре есть. Это реально жутко, особенно когда они не сразу атакуют, а сначала стоят и смотрят. Зачем вы так? Я и так уже почти поседела. Сами голопопые челики - как шакалы, гасят толпой, а когда остаётся один из пати - убегает, как обычная трусливая псина. Строительство неплохое, но чтобы построить что-то серьёзное, нужно либо часов двести фармить, либо включить режим миротворца и перестать притворяться, что ты выживальщик. И да, после обновления до Sons of the Forest возвращаться в оригинал немного больно - всё-то там красивше и плавнее. Но The Forest держит свою атмосферу до сих пор, и это не отнять. Пещеры - вот где настоящий ужас. Спускаешься туда раз, вылезаешь с пульсирующей раной, полным инвентарём палок и новым страхом темноты. Каждый спуск в пещеру - это маленький акт храбрости, за который никто не даёт медаль. Мультиплеер спасает и убивает одновременно. С друзьями - это комедия, а не хоррор: кто-то ушёл за брусником и пропал на час, кто-то построил дом из костей и гордо называет его "наш особняк", а кто-то умудряется умереть от собственного костра. Но соло - это где настоящий опыт. Только ты, топор и тишина, которую нарушают крики каннибалов в 3 часа ночи. Финальный босс - мы загасили его с мужем буквально... меньше минуты. Мы предвкушали эпичность, а получили ровным счётом ♥♥♥♥♥. В итоге. The Forest - это игра, которая заставляет тебя одновременно ненавидеть и обожать каждую минуту на острове. Ты строишь дом, его разрушают. Ты находишь сына (или не находишь), и финал оставляет тебя с чувством, что ты вообще зря садилась в тот самолёт. 7 разрисованных челиков из 10, поседела, но не жалею. Почти. P.S - если тебе понравился отзыв, можешь накидать наградки :)
35 found helpful · 7 found funnyStoryReviews written: 55On Steam - ▲ Recommended107 h at review439 h total4 Jul 2026
построил тотем из голов каннибалов, чтобы отпугнуть их от лагеря. они пришли толпой, посмотрели на него, поаплодировали мне, сожгли мой дом и избили меня дубинками. дипломатия провалилась
32 found helpful · 27 found funnyGames owned: 199 · Reviews written: 54On Steam - ▲ Recommended11 h at review44 h total7 Jul 2026
u lowkey get ur ass eaten by cannibals if u dont fight back, game promotes deforestation, and killing bambi a lot, 10/10 game
28 found helpful · 22 found funnyReviews written: 2On Steam - ▲ Recommended48 h at review63 h total3 Aug 2026
play this before sons of the forest or only play this game because the story is way better and its way scarier
26 found helpful · 2 found funnyStoryReviews written: 4On Steam