Sons of the Forest
Games review
As of Aug 12, 2026, Sons of the Forest is rated 86/100 on Metacritic (17 critic reviews), and 88% positive on Steam (316,921 reviews). Each source is shown in its own units, never blended into one score.
Opens Sons of the Forest's own site, not a review site.
Is Sons of the Forest worth it in 2026?
An 88% positive rating across nearly 317,000 Steam reviews and an 86 on Metacritic tell a consistent story: Sons of the Forest is a genuinely excellent survival sandbox that outclasses its predecessor in graphics, building, and AI companions, and it shines brightest in co-op. The story is the single most-complained-about element across sampled reviews, more than any praised feature, and the ending has been called a '15-minute running simulator with a weak boss fight,' so this is almost entirely a systems game with a narrative that fails to pay off. Solo players should weigh this carefully: without co-op's social glue, the weak story, an inventory system that starts immersive and turns annoying, and low replayability combine into a noticeably thinner experience. Frequent base raids add tension that can shade into tedium, and the difficulty curve does not suit every playstyle.
Players who want a visually stunning, atmosphere-rich survival builder to experience with friends in multiplayer, the co-op loop is where the game earns its scores.
The story is the most-criticized element in the game and the ending is broadly considered a letdown; the inventory system grows frustrating over time; and low replayability means the island may feel exhausted after a single run, problems that hit solo players hardest.
ReviewPond's conclusion, drawn only from the verified scores and review themes below. Not a paid or editorial opinion.
Different sources measure different things, so each is shown in its own units and never merged into one number.
Pros
- graphics and visuals7
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- ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's jus...
- Sons of the Forest takes everything that made The Forest great and improves on it. The graphics are incredible, the atmosphere is tense, and exploring the island always feels rewar...
- Sons of the Forest is one of the best survival games I've played. The graphics are amazing, the world feels alive, and exploring the island is both exciting and terrifying. Buildin...
- building system7
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- Sons of the Forest takes everything that made The Forest great and improves on it. The graphics are incredible, the atmosphere is tense, and exploring the island always feels rewar...
- I was so conflicted on what to rate this game. I enjoy everything about it as all of it is a HUGE improvement on the first game. The base building is so fun, the survival mechanics...
- Sons of the Forest is one of the best survival games I've played. The graphics are amazing, the world feels alive, and exploring the island is both exciting and terrifying. Buildin...
- multiplayer experience6
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- Sons of the Forest is one of the best survival games I've played. The graphics are amazing, the world feels alive, and exploring the island is both exciting and terrifying. Buildin...
- SotF is a very fun game and best played with multiple people. the system in the game are relatively simple and the skill ceiling is low enough for newer players and possibly even g...
- Really fun game to play with friends. I loved the forest and this was a great sequel. The story was a bit all over the place, there are a lot of different plots and they all don't...
- improvement over first game5
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- Sons of the Forest takes everything that made The Forest great and improves on it. The graphics are incredible, the atmosphere is tense, and exploring the island always feels rewar...
- I was so conflicted on what to rate this game. I enjoy everything about it as all of it is a HUGE improvement on the first game. The base building is so fun, the survival mechanics...
- SotF is a very fun game and best played with multiple people. the system in the game are relatively simple and the skill ceiling is low enough for newer players and possibly even g...
- atmosphere and exploration4
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- I honestly didn’t expect much when I started playing Sons of the Forest. I thought it would be just another survival game where you collect resources, build a base, and fight enem...
- Sons of the Forest takes everything that made The Forest great and improves on it. The graphics are incredible, the atmosphere is tense, and exploring the island always feels rewar...
- Sons of the Forest is one of the best survival games I've played. The graphics are amazing, the world feels alive, and exploring the island is both exciting and terrifying. Buildin...
- ai companions4
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- I was so conflicted on what to rate this game. I enjoy everything about it as all of it is a HUGE improvement on the first game. The base building is so fun, the survival mechanics...
- Sons of the Forest is one of the best survival games I've played. The graphics are amazing, the world feels alive, and exploring the island is both exciting and terrifying. Buildin...
- Solid survival mechanics, exploring the island and fighting the locals is fun. Story is kinda whatever but the building mechanics are surprisingly good. Also there's my boy Kelvin...
Cons
- weak story8
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- Bad story but a decent gameplay. Don't rush yourself in this game.
- Sons of the Forest takes everything that made The Forest great and improves on it. The graphics are incredible, the atmosphere is tense, and exploring the island always feels rewar...
- Really fun game to play with friends. I loved the forest and this was a great sequel. The story was a bit all over the place, there are a lot of different plots and they all don't...
- frequent base raids3
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- I was so conflicted on what to rate this game. I enjoy everything about it as all of it is a HUGE improvement on the first game. The base building is so fun, the survival mechanics...
- I really wanted to like Sons of the Forest. It has gorgeous visuals, an interesting atmosphere, and some of the best building mechanics I've seen in a survival game. Unfortunately,...
- Great atmosphere. Deep and immersive mechanics. But for a base building and crafting game... every 7 minutes of gameplay your base is going to get attacked by the enemy. Doesn't ma...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 29 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 316.9K ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.