Sons of the Forest dropped you onto a remote island to survive cannibal mutants, brutal weather, and a dark mystery beneath the surface. Freeform base building, deep crafting, cave exploration, and genuinely helpful AI companions like Kelvin made it one of the tensest survival games around, and a worthy sequel to The Forest. If you have escaped the island and want more games that hit the same notes, this list is for you.
These 15 picks each deliver on what makes Sons of the Forest work: tense survival horror, resourceful crafting, or exploration into the unknown. No filler, no loose “survival” tag-alongs.
Quick Comparison: Top 5 Picks
| # | Game | Setting | Price | Platforms |
| 1 | The Forest | Cannibal peninsula | $19.99 | PC, PS4 |
| 2 | Green Hell | Amazon jungle | $24.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 3 | Subnautica | Alien ocean | $29.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 4 | The Long Dark | Frozen wilderness | $34.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 5 | Grounded | Backyard | $39.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
1. The Forest
Why it’s similar
The direct predecessor, built on the same survival-horror foundation of base building, crafting, and mutant encounters.
What makes it unique
A gripping search-for-your-son story runs beneath the survival loop, with a terrifying cannibal cave network.
Key features
- Atmospheric horror
- Defensive base building
- Cave exploration
- Co-op survival
Price: $19.99 Platforms: PC, PS4
Where to Buy
Available on Steam.
2. Green Hell
Why it’s similar
Hardcore jungle survival with realistic crafting, injuries, and resource management, close to Sons of the Forest’s grounded systems.
What makes it unique
A detailed sanity and disease system in the Amazon makes survival feel unforgiving and deeply immersive.
Key features
- Amazon rainforest setting
- Sanity and disease systems
- Realistic survival
- Co-op mode
Price: $24.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox, Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
3. Subnautica
Why it’s similar
Survival crafting in a dangerous environment with exploration, base building, and mysterious creatures lurking below.
What makes it unique
An entirely underwater alien ocean makes every dive into the dark deep a test of nerve.
Key features
- Underwater exploration
- Submarine base building
- Alien creature threats
- Gripping mystery
Price: $29.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox, Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
4. The Long Dark
Why it’s similar
A harsh survival experience focused on realism, managing hunger, temperature, and dwindling resources.
What makes it unique
There are no zombies or monsters, only the cold, the wildlife, and the wilderness trying to kill you.
Key features
- Realistic cold survival
- Story and Survival modes
- No combat crutches
- Hand-painted art style
Price: $34.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox, Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
5. Grounded
Why it’s similar
Co-op survival with crafting and exploration, building bases while surviving dangerous creatures, a tight, focused sandbox.
What makes it unique
You are shrunk to bug size in a backyard, so ants and spiders become terrifying survival threats.
Key features
- Shrunk-to-bug-size premise
- Backyard exploration
- Base building
- Four-player co-op
Price: $39.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox, Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
6. Valheim
Why it’s similar
Survival crafting with strong progression systems, exploration, building, and boss encounters, a co-op favorite.
What makes it unique
A Norse-purgatory setting and biome-gated boss progression give it a clear, satisfying march forward.
Key features
- Norse survival world
- Boss-gated progression
- Deep building system
- Up to 10-player co-op
Price: $19.99 Platforms: PC, Xbox
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
7. ARK: Survival Evolved
Why it’s similar
Open-world survival and crafting with creature encounters, taming, and base building on a huge map.
What makes it unique
You tame and ride dinosaurs, each with roles from transport to base defense, across sprawling maps.
Key features
- Dinosaur taming
- Massive base building
- Huge open maps
- Co-op and PvP
Price: $19.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox, Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
8. Rust
Why it’s similar
Multiplayer survival with resource gathering, base defense, and constant player-driven encounters.
What makes it unique
It is brutally social, so other players are the biggest threat and the best source of raids and alliances.
Key features
- Multiplayer survival
- Base raiding and defense
- Resource gathering
- Player-driven world
Price: $39.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
9. 7 Days to Die
Why it’s similar
Survival crafting mixed with horror elements, base building, and enemy wave defense, a familiar tense loop.
What makes it unique
Every seventh night, a blood-moon horde swarms your base, forcing you to fortify on a strict clock.
Key features
- Blood-moon horde nights
- Voxel base building
- Zombie survival
- Co-op play
Price: $44.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
10. Raft
Why it’s similar
Survival, crafting, and exploration where you build and upgrade a floating base across the ocean.
What makes it unique
Your base is a raft you expand by hooking debris from the sea while sharks circle beneath you.
Key features
- Ocean raft survival
- Base expansion
- Island exploration
- Co-op play
Price: $19.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Steam.
11. Stranded Deep
Why it’s similar
Island survival and resource gathering, crafting tools while surviving a hostile environment, close to the castaway fantasy.
What makes it unique
A procedurally generated Pacific archipelago and a focus on raft-building make every playthrough different.
Key features
- Pacific island survival
- Crafting and rafting
- Procedural world
- Split-screen co-op
Price: $19.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox, Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
12. Project Zomboid
Why it’s similar
A deep survival simulation with resource management and constant danger, for players who want punishing systems.
What makes it unique
An incredibly detailed sim tracks everything from mood to injuries, and death is always permanent.
Key features
- Deep survival sim
- Permadeath
- Detailed injury system
- Co-op multiplayer
Price: $19.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Steam.
13. Enshrouded
Why it’s similar
Survival crafting mixed with RPG progression, exploration, building, and combat systems, a modern hybrid sandbox.
What makes it unique
Voxel building and a class-agnostic skill tree let you shape both your base and your character freely.
Key features
- Voxel base building
- Flexible skill tree
- Shroud exploration
- Up to 16-player co-op
Price: $29.99 Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
14. Icarus
Why it’s similar
Survival missions in hostile environments where crafting, exploration, and preparation genuinely matter.
What makes it unique
A session-based structure sends you on timed drops to a hostile planet, mixing survival with mission stakes.
Key features
- Session-based survival
- Environmental hazards
- Deep tech tree
- Co-op sessions
Price: $34.99 Platforms: PC
Where to Buy
Available on Steam.
15. Don’t Starve Together
Why it’s similar
Co-op survival with difficult systems, resource gathering, and teamwork-focused gameplay, a stylish, punishing classic.
What makes it unique
A hand-drawn gothic art style and brutal, unforgiving systems make simple survival a real achievement.
Key features
- Gothic hand-drawn art
- Punishing survival
- Co-op multiplayer
- Constant content updates
Price: $14.99 Platforms: PC, PS, Xbox, Switch
Where to Buy
Available on Green Man Gaming and Steam.
Full Comparison Table
| # | Game | Setting | Price | Platforms |
| 1 | The Forest | Cannibal peninsula | $19.99 | PC, PS4 |
| 2 | Green Hell | Amazon jungle | $24.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 3 | Subnautica | Alien ocean | $29.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 4 | The Long Dark | Frozen wilderness | $34.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 5 | Grounded | Backyard | $39.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 6 | Valheim | Norse purgatory | $19.99 | PC, Xbox |
| 7 | Enshrouded | Fantasy Embervale | $29.99 | PC, PS5, Xbox |
| 8 | ARK: Survival Evolved | Dinosaur island | $19.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 9 | 7 Days to Die | Zombie apocalypse | $44.99 | PC, PS, Xbox |
| 10 | Stranded Deep | Pacific islands | $19.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 11 | Rust | Post-apoc island | $39.99 | PC, PS, Xbox |
| 12 | Don’t Starve Together | Gothic wilderness | $14.99 | PC, PS, Xbox, Switch |
| 13 | Raft | Open ocean | $19.99 | PC |
| 14 | Project Zomboid | Zombie Kentucky | $19.99 | PC |
| 15 | Icarus | Alien planet | $34.99 | PC |
Conclusion
Sons of the Forest fans have plenty of directions depending on what hooked them. Want more of that survival-horror tension? The Forest, Green Hell, and 7 Days to Die keep the danger high. Craving deep, realistic survival systems? The Long Dark, Project Zomboid, and Stranded Deep make every decision count.
Here for the co-op base building? Grounded, Valheim, Enshrouded, and ARK are built to play with friends. And if the mystery and exploration were the draw, Subnautica, Raft, and Don’t Starve Together offer worlds worth uncovering. Every game here earned its spot through real survival-crafting craft, not just a “survive” tag.
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