The Forest was created by Endnight Games with a team of four people. It was released in Alpha state through the Steam Early Access Program and instantly became a hit among players. This was in due part thanks to YouTubers such as Markiplier and Pewdiepie providing publicity through their own channels. It was released during a time when survival horror games were at their most popular. But, what exactly makes The Forest unique, especially when we consider that survival games are not unique to gaming?

The whole survive in an untamed island concept is not new to videogames. Games such as Lost in Blue (which spawned four sequels on DS and Wii), Survival Kids on Game Boy Color, and even Stranded Deep, which was released after The Forest, all share a similar concept. Like it or not, survival games such as these are here to stay, and while their premise is relatively close, the differences are in the details. These differences are usually the method of how your character landed in the island, the enemies, what you’re capable of constructing, and the food available, otherwise they’re pretty similar.

In The Forest, you begin as a man who crash lands on an island after his plane was shot down. Having the child next to your character abducted, and with no further explanation, he proceeds to explore the island and avoid whoever or whatever took the kid away. Your intentions are to get out of this island as soon as possible. To do this, your character will have to build, kill, sneak, and ensure he eats regularly, all to avoid one of the many possible deaths which can happen.

These deaths can be caused from falling from trees to being trapped by the cannibals who are in the island. The cannibals in The Forest are a mixed bag, however, as sometimes they display an intriguing artificial intelligence and other times the opposite is true. A mixed bag could possibly be a consequence of the games Alpha release state, but one that is fun nonetheless. In fact, one of the most recognized tactics in taking them down is building three walls and a door while placing a campfire in front of the entrance. The cannibals will not be able to enter and you’ll be safe every night. This will allow you to experience the plot mostly uninhibited and shouldn’t be done unless you want the game’s difficulty nerfed.

But, just what is the underlying plot in The Forest? I’m not going to spoil it for you, but, if you’re a fan of the television series Lost, you’re in for a treat. The Forest features a nice little shout-out to that series and any fans of both will instantly recognize them. While the game is still in Alpha build, this means that perhaps there are a lot more things coming to the game which haven’t been added yet. If you’re a fan of survival horror give The Forest a try. It’s currently only 15 USD on Steam and regularly goes on sale. It’s definitely one of the better Early Access releases in the market. It’s currently also released on the PlayStation 4.