The Forest similar games & best alternatives

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The Forest

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2018

Should you play it?

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.

What works

  • Immersive survival and horror atmosphere
  • Flexible and creative building system
  • Challenging and intelligent ai enemies
  • Engaging exploration and story elements
  • Cooperative multiplayer mode

Things to keep in mind

  • Early access bugs and glitches
  • Some performance and optimization issues
  • Combat can be frustrating at times
  • Lack of strong leadership mechanics
  • Story can be confusing or incomplete

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Sons Of The Forest

  • ELEX

  • MAZEBOUND: Hunt, Gather, Run!

  • Knights End

  • Warhammer: Vermintide 2

  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon® Breakpoint

More relaxing

Games that feels like The Forest but with a more relaxing feel

  • Valheim

  • Enshrouded

  • Dying Light: The Beast

  • Voidtrain

  • Monster Hunter: World

  • Everwind

Less social

Games that feels like The Forest but with less teamwork and cooperation

  • BLACKTAIL

  • Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders - Bandit's Trail

  • The Axis Unseen

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

  • Skinwalker Hunt

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with The Forest. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with The Forest. These titles are not in What to play next.

The Forest: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Cooperation, Fellowship, Intimacy, Leadership. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Survival, Violence. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Relaxation.

Last update: 21/08/2026