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The Forest

The Forest

Endnight Games Ltd · released Apr 29, 2018

ActionAdventureIndieSimulationPC

As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.

Steam page ↗OpenCritic ↗Metacritic · users 8.6 ↗
89
VGC Score
■Stablehigh confidence
85%
At launch
96%
Steam all-time
81%
Press
69%
Player sentiment
94%
Recent sentiment

Screenshots & trailers

What players say

Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 391 sampled Steam reviews (358 positive / 33 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.

What positive reviews talk about

  • Story & writing11% mention it
  • Multiplayer & servers6% mention it
  • World & exploration5% mention it

What negative reviews complain about

  • Bugs & crashes30% mention it
  • Story & writing9% mention it

Satisfaction by hours played

Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.

Under 5h

83%

48 reviews

5-15h

89%

107 reviews

15-40h

92%

132 reviews

40-100h

97%

77 reviews

100h+

96%

27 reviews

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (OpenCritic)–8110
All-time Steam reviews96%901833
Metacritic user ratings––0
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)94%89803
Calibration prior (typical game)–7250

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 2295 total reviews in window · weighted 227.7 up / 13.8 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (27)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 90
    Gaming ProfessorsGaming Professors
    trust 76Aug 4, 2021

    “The Forest has been one of the best survival games for several years now, and it's not easy to top it somehow. Few other similar titles can offer what The Forest has been offering for years. You and your friends are sure to have dozens of hours of fun searching through caves, killing cannibals, finding your son and building your base. The development studio has even announced a sequel, which will be titled Sons of the Forest. Unfortunately, the release date is not yet known.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    Push SquarePush Square
    trust 69Nov 15, 2018

    “An eerie open world filled with deadly AI enemies elevates The Forest above a good number of survival horror experiences out there. Don't let the lack of story and minor repetition turn you off this atmospheric title.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    GameSpotGameSpot
    trust 66Jun 2, 2018

    “The Forest's survival mechanics are captivating, but its unforgettable horrors steal the show.”

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    Metro GameCentralMetro GameCentral
    trust 64Nov 14, 2018

    “A brutal, albeit familiar, survival game that's thoughtfully designed and elegantly refined, and as a result easily the best game of its type on PlayStation 4.”

    read full review ↗
  • 77
    GamerskyGamersky
    trust 64Jul 12, 2018

    “The Forest is an awkward open-world survival game. It's thrilling to play because of the intense atmosphere, but confusing maps and annoying enemies make it really hard for me to immerse into the game. ”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    GameblogGameblog
    trust 64May 8, 2018

    “The Forest is one of the best survival game to date, especially because of its interesting story, inspired by horror movies like The Descent. Everything is here to remind you that the surrounding nature will do everything to destroy your morale and your life. Oppressive, stressful, but so exhilarating, The Forest is made for any survival games' fans, even if it suffers from weird physics and perfectible AI.”

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    FandomFandom
    trust 63May 4, 2018

    “With the support of its community, this four-person project was made into one of the better survival games (and one of the better horror games) this year. ”

    read full review ↗
  • 84
    IGNIGN
    trust 61May 10, 2018

    “I've never been terrorized, stalked, or fascinated by enemy AI quite like I was in The Forest. It's a harrowing survival ordeal that knows how to play with tension and create the sense of a real world with complex inner workings and mysteries I was eager to discover. It's I Am Legend told in the depths of the hinterlands, with a meaningful story progression that doesn't overstay its welcome. Disregard the warnings on the walls and hidden between the trees at your own peril, and if you want a unique and memorable survival horror experience, then you should absolutely dare to do so.”

    read full review ↗
  • 98
    TeamSmoresTeamSmores
    trust 61Jun 3, 2018

    “This is a genre defining game that is an absolute must have if you even remotely like survival games. Amazing presentation, solid gameplay, and enough content to keep you going for awhile, this is a game that I would recommend at its full price of 20 dollars.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    Thumb CultureThumb Culture
    trust 60Mar 14, 2019

    “Overall I believe the forest has and is continuing to be a survival game I have thoroughly enjoyed to play both with friends and alone. a very scary eerie world with many possible outcomes and situations that will happen will be sure to give you hours of enjoyment.”

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    GamePittGamePitt
    trust 59Nov 17, 2018

    “The Forest was an experience that took me some getting used to because I'm not used to non-linear games. However, once you realise that you can do whatever you want, you eventually grow to enjoy it. It did take me a few hours to appreciate what the game has to offer, but once I figured out what I was doing, I understood the hype behind the game a little bit more. Trophy hunters beware, this game will be a VERY difficult game to achieve the coveted Plat!”

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    DestructoidDestructoid
    trust 58May 10, 2018

    “Jank and sometimes dumb mutant cannibals aside, what Endnight Games accomplished with The Forest with only a team of four people is simply extraordinary. It's one of the best survival games I've played in recent memory. Whether I was creeping my way through the woods alone at night or playing with friends during the day and showing the local residents who the true masters of their domain are, I haven't played anything like this that's been so fun and terrifying all-in-one in a long, long time.”

    read full review ↗

…and 15 more tracked reviews.

Patch history

  1. Unity security update
    Oct 3, 2025
  2. V1.12 - VR
    Sep 10, 2019
  3. v1.11
    Jan 23, 2019significant · resets scoring window
  4. Hotfix-v1.10d
    Dec 12, 2018
  5. V1.10
    Dec 10, 2018
  6. Update Trailer
    Dec 4, 2018
  7. New update details
    Oct 28, 2018
  8. v1.09
    Aug 16, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  9. VR beta patch 3
    Jun 15, 2018
  10. Patch 1.08
    Jun 8, 2018
  11. VR beta patch 2
    May 29, 2018
  12. VR beta hotfix 1
    May 22, 2018
  13. V1.07
    May 17, 2018
  14. V1.06
    May 14, 2018
  15. V1.05
    May 8, 2018
  16. V1.0
    Apr 30, 2018significant · resets scoring window
  17. Pre-release patch 04
    Apr 30, 2018
  18. Pre-release patch 03
    Apr 30, 2018
  19. Pre-Release Patch 02
    Apr 29, 2018
  20. Pre-release patch
    Apr 28, 2018
  21. V1.0 release date
    Apr 5, 2018
  22. V1.0 release date
    Apr 5, 2018
  23. V0.73 and release plans
    Feb 1, 2018
  24. V0.73 and release plans
    Feb 1, 2018
  25. V0.72b - hotfix
    Jan 19, 2018
  26. V0.72b - hotfix
    Jan 19, 2018
  27. V0.72
    Jan 19, 2018
  28. V0.72
    Jan 19, 2018
  29. V0.71b hotfix
    Dec 19, 2017
  30. V0.71b hotfix
    Dec 19, 2017
  31. V0.71
    Dec 15, 2017
  32. V0.71
    Dec 15, 2017
  33. V0.70c hotfix
    Nov 21, 2017
  34. V0.70c hotfix
    Nov 21, 2017
  35. V0.70b hotfix
    Nov 21, 2017
  36. V0.70b hotfix
    Nov 21, 2017
  37. V0.70
    Nov 18, 2017significant · resets scoring window
  38. V0.70
    Nov 18, 2017significant · resets scoring window
  39. V0.70 update
    Nov 17, 2017
  40. V0.70 update
    Nov 17, 2017

…and 55 earlier patch announcements.