‘Sons of the Forest’ goes large on early release

Sons of the Forest, a survival horror video game, sold over 2-million copies within 24 hours of release on Steam on 23 February 2023, via early access for Microsoft Windows. On launch day, it had over 250,000 concurrent players on Steam. That alone makes it a candidate for Game of the Year.

Developed by Endnight Games and published by Newnight, it is the sequel to the 2014 game, The Forest.

It is an open-world survival game, in which players build, explore, and survive in a first-person horror simulator. They can chop down trees to build a camp, or start a fire to keep warm, scavenge food to keep them from starving, and find plant seeds to grow food. Eventually, even decorate their homes with found items, and lay traps and defenses to keep a safe perimeter.

Below ground, players explore a vast network of caves and underground lakes.  They use stealth to evade enemies or engage them directly with crude weapons built from sticks and stones. Defend against a clan of genetic mutant enemies that have beliefs, families and morals and that appear almost human.

Crash land alone, or with friends in up to 8-player cooperative multiplayer.

Wikipedia offers this description:

Similarly, to The Forest, Sons of the Forest puts players in control of a protagonist stranded on an island inhabited by cannibals. Players can build weapons and buildings to aid in their survival. New to the game are friendly NPCs. One is a companion named Kelvin, who is deaf and unable to speak. Players can give Kelvin written commands on a piece of paper to help with simple tasks such as collecting crafting resources or setting up fires. Players will also encounter Virginia, a three-legged, three-armed woman who can be equipped with weapons to aid in combat situations. The map in this game is four times bigger than that of its predecessor. The game supports up to eight-player cooperative multiplayer, though players can also opt to play the game solo.