Best Games Like The Forest

Those looking for new and terrifying open-world survival crafting experiences need only play the best games like The Forest on PC and console.

Much like Endnight Games’ hit indie survival title these games provide a ton of challenges where players must use every resource at their disposal to stay alive.

In this list, we’ll highlight the best games like The Forest on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch platforms to add to your library.

Make sure to check back in the future to see new recommendations for games similar to The Forest!

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Any fan of The Forest is likely already familiar with the upcoming sequel currently in development at Endnight Games.

Touted as an ambitious successor, Sons of The Forest builds upon the original with new characters and a story set on yet another cannibal-infested hellscape.

Players will get to work with their friends to explore the world while reaping the benefits of improved combat, survival mechanics, and graphics.

Next up on our list of the best games like The Forest is Odd Woods, a survival crafting game that takes place in a mysterious forest with a vicious day/night cycle.

During the day, players must hunt for food, gather resources, and build a shelter to withstand nights filled with attacks from horrific creatures.

While barebones in its Early Access state, developer Matt has been consistent with adding new content and bug fixes via monthly updates.

Survival fans searching for more Steam games like The Forest are welcome to pick up Urge, an atmospheric open-world crafting game that comes courtesy of EnDrew.

In it, players on the role of a survivor tasked with fighting, building, and exploring in a dynamic world shrouded in a hazardous fog that’s infected every living creature.

Like The Forest, every decision made in this game can make or break your chances of surviving an onslaught of deadly wildlife and unforgiving environments.

Dying Light 2 casts you and your friends as free-running survivors fighting for their lives in a post-apocalyptic open world infested with zombies.

Expanding on the original Dying Light, it features improved animations, physics, and enemy AI along with a host of new traversal tools for exploring the world.

While it’s admittingly less challenging than The Forest in regards to survival mechanics, both place an equally large emphasis on player choice.

When it comes to open-world PlayStation games like The Forest, Days Gone is a solid alternative that’s since been ported to PC via Steam.

In it, players assume control of Deacon St. John, an outlaw biker carving his own path in the Oregon wilderness following a zombie outbreak.

To stay alive, he’ll have to scavenge for supplies while crafting new weapons and traps to deal with enemies in addition to parts and fuel for his motorcycle.

Moving along, V Rising is one of the best survival games like The Forest that casts you as a blood-thirsty vampire on a mission to grow their empire in a mysterious world.

Similar to The Forest, this entails a hefty amount of open-world exploration, base-building and crafting, and action-driven combat with tough enemies.

Additionally, V Rising features a day/night system that impacts the world and activities made available to the player.

Replacing vampires with Viking warriors, Valheim is among the top Steam games similar to The Forest that provide open-world discovery and strong crafting systems.

In it, you take on the role of one of Odin’s fallen warriors who ends up in a magical Norse world teeming with natural resources and predators.

To get by, players must explore their surroundings while gathering raw materials to craft weapons, tools, shelter, and other equipment necessary for survival.

Consistently ranked among the best survival games like The Forest, The Long Dark is a single-player-driven survival game set in a barren frozen wasteland.

Assuming control of a bush pilot whose plane crashes on a sprawling remote island during an especially harsh Canadian winter, it’s up to you as the player to try and stay alive.

Like The Forest, this requires managing your time effectively to prevent your character from succumbing to fatigue, hunger, and thirst as well as countless other threats.

Our next suggestion for the best games like The Forest is the PvP-focused survival game Rust, which sees you contesting with other players to stay alive.

This is done by first spawning onto a nearby shore as a “naked,” with nothing but a rock to your name before heading off to explore the world and gather resources.

Along the way, there’s a good chance you’ll encounter other players who can either be friendly or hostile depending on how the situation plays out.

Green Hell is another game that’s frequently compared to The Forest as the two share many similarities in terms of gameplay and world design.

Instead of mutated cannibals, players must deal with untrusting tribespeople while navigating the extreme conditions of the Amazon jungle.

This requires a good sense of judgment to know which areas are safe and which are off-limits as well as how to find materials for crafting weapons and shelter.

For some people, the thought of exploring underwater worlds is just as harrowing if not more as anything The Forest has to offer.

To prove it, look no further than the award-winning survival crafting game Subnautica, which has garnered a passionate following of fans over the years.

In it, your ship crash-lands on a submerged alien planet with a rich ecosystem of both prey and predators that must be leveraged or avoided to stay alive.

ARK is another popular survival game that offers similarly open-ended gameplay as The Forest while putting its own sci-fi twist on the genre.

The game tasks players with building a home and exploring a massive world overrun with giant dinosaurs and futuristic technology.

Both of which can be bent to your will through research, resulting in new tools, weapons, and methods of traversal that will help you discover new mysteries.

Rather than contesting with cannibals, tribespeople, or aquatic nightmares, what if you had to face giant bugs in your own backyard?

This is the premise set forth by Grounded, a survival sandbox title by Obsidian Entertainment that tasks you with fending for yourself after being shrunk down to the size of an ant.

Coming to grips with your newfound perspective, you’ll live out your days scavenging for food, water, and other resources while exploring the yard in search of secrets.

Considered one of the best co-op games like The Forest, Raft has you and your crew working together to build and maintain a home on the open seas.

Standing in your way are powerful ocean currents and a deadly shark that’s prone to ripping off parts of your raft and any nearby players.

Over time, you’ll turn your vessel into a formidable fortress with all the amenities and resources one could ever hope for, in turn allowing you to chart a course for new lands.

Rounding out our list of the best games like The Forest, Stranded Deep is an open-world survival crafting game about fighting for your life in the wild.

After their plane crashes in the middle of the ocean, your character is tasked with constructing shelter on a beach and finding food both above and underwater.

With enough effort and progress, you’ll eventually gain the ability to travel to nearby islands to gather more resources, craft better tools, and take on powerful bosses.