Hey everyone! Today we are happy to announce our official release date for The Forest: November 6.
The Forest casts you as a father looking for his missing son after you both survive a passenger plane crash. You’ll have to find food and water, and as night approaches build a fire and shelter to keep warm. Although tranquil at first, you soon find there is something sinister lurking in the trees.
Complete Freedom
Our game encourages creativity. The game doesn’t tell you what to do, so everyone will experience their own version of the story. We try to give players as many options as possible and it’s been surprising for us how different individual playthroughs can be. Some players will focus on combat and exploration, whilst others will focus on building the most insane base possible.
Interactions
We wanted to make a game that was almost fully interactable, where you would be able to chop down every tree or bush, pick berries and mushrooms for food or hunt animals and use their skin as armor. Our crafting system allows players to use items from the world to create new resources for survival. For example, make a spear out of sticks and then use it to catch fish, or smash open some suitcases, find some cloth and booze and combine them to make a Molotov cocktail.
The game also has an in-depth building system, where you can either choose pre-constructed buildings for your base, or be let loose with custom building options allowing you to make almost anything you can think of. Want to build a tree house connected by ziplines? Or a raft to try and survive at sea? Both are possible. Feel like an ocean side fortress surrounded by traps will be the best way to survive? You can also do that. We wanted to build a world that was scary and dangerous, then give players the choices for how to best survive.
Survival and Combat
As you’re not alone in The Forest, you’ll need to craft basic weapons to try and survive. Passive players can use stealth to evade most enemies by hiding in bushes, or even play the game in peaceful mode if you just want to focus on building and survival.
The game’s enemies initially appear relatively human-like, but over time more distorted and disturbing creatures will begin to appear from within the depths of the cave system hidden beneath the surface.
Our building system also allows dead enemies to be used in construction. Mount a head on a wall as a trophy, build a fence of out bones, or get creative and build a sculpture out of cut off limbs and then set it all on fire.
Caves
We wanted to create a real sense of fear and claustrophobia in our cave systems. As you explore the world underneath The Forest, you’ll find some of the game’s most terrifying creatures, along with some of the games best modern weapons and tools. Want a chainsaw to make chopping trees faster? You’re going to have to delve deep below to find it.
Multiplayer Co-op
We originally focused on the game as a single-player-only experience, but fans of the game encouraged us to implement a multiplayer mode. Set out as up to four dads on a horror adventure to find your missing kid. Join together with friends to build, swim, or mess around with turtle-shell sledding in the snow. We now feel multiplayer is the best way to experience The Forest, playing with up to three other friends for the ultimate survival horror experience.
The Forest launches on November 6, and will also be playable at PAX West this weekend. Come check it out.
