#The forest skidrow series#

You can think of No ManвЂ™s Sky like a palate cleanser: a colourful dessert for when youвЂ™ve finished the main course of cannibals, endless death and hopeless despair.

#The forest skidrow series#

Green HellДЄvailable on: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5 Its underwater world is teeming with colourful fishes, but donвЂ™t worry about it being too tame: when a deep-sea tentacled monsters skirts your peripheral vision, youвЂ™re bound to need a change of scuba suit. It doesnвЂ™t have co-op, sadly, but between managing resources and exploring the ocean around you, thereвЂ™s more than enough going on to keep you busy as a solo player. But when you start constructing your HQ youвЂ™ll find the tools satisfying, and you get plenty of freedom for placing items exactly where you want them. Being at sea is, naturally, very different to being on dry land, and you have fewer tactical options for where to build your base. Subnautica takes the same approach and, arguably, executes it better, doling out tasty clues that keep a sense of mystery, but reveal enough of a grander tale to keep you pushing onward. One of our favourite things about The Forest is how it blends traditional survival gameplay with a gripping story, something few games in the genre even attempt. (Image credit: Unknown Worlds Entertainment)ДЄvailable on: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch It doesnвЂ™t have a story to speak of, but when it comes to collecting resources, surviving hostile biomes and building a dream home, Minecraft is the best in the business. If youвЂ™re after more adventures in caves, then Minecraft again has you covered: youвЂ™ll sneak through abandoned mineshafts, deep ravines and snaking canyons in search of goodies, slaying monsters as you go. If you enjoyed planning and constructing your base in The Forest, youвЂ™re going to love MinecraftвЂ™s building tools, which are completely freeform and let you create virtually any project you can imagine, from humble shack to a replica of the Pyramids of Giza. And in the dead of night, among the trees, it can also be a unnerving game in which the hiss of an explosive creeper makes the hair on your neck stand to attention. Mining the wrong block can lead to a swim in lava, meaning any precious diamonds in your pocket are lost forever.

Taking on one too many skeletons will get you killed, and youвЂ™ll drop all your gear in the process. But itвЂ™s also an unforgiving survival game when you dial the difficulty up. On the surface, Minecraft looks simple and, at the right time of day, serene. Its standalone multiplayer expansion, DonвЂ™t Starve Together, rebalances items, and feels like the best version of an already excellent game. And like The Forest, itвЂ™s fantastic in co-op. Sandbox is the default mode, but thereвЂ™s an Adventure mode if you want to uncover a story. The visuals make monsters more silly than scary, but you still want to steer clear at all costs, and if your sanity dwindles your mind will make enemies out of ordinary bushes and shadows.

It can be supremely punishing when it wants to be, and when you die, you have to start all over again. But the unique art style sets it apart, turning what would otherwise be mundane animals into curiosities, rivers into pop-ups straight out of a childrenвЂ™s fairy-tale. The bones of DonвЂ™t Starve are classic survival, either solo or co-op: a harsh world where you must gather resources, stave off hunger and battle monsters in the dark. Conan ExilesДЄvailable on: PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS Rust proves that hell really is other people. Or, if youвЂ™re feeling really sneaky, you might wait for them to go offline, blow their base to smithereens and grab anything valuable from their chest. That might involve catching them as theyвЂ™re gathering resources, downing them with a few well-placed headshots. One of the best ways to get better loot is to straight up rob other humans. Those other players make Rust feel tense and interesting, and create plenty of opportunities for mischief. Eventually, youвЂ™ll be wielding powerful guns and wearing thick armor. You know the drill: bash rocks and trees, build crafting tables, hunt down rare resources and, slowly, acquire better and better gear. Rust trades in smart AI enemies for even smarter, crueller, human ones by dropping you in a vast multiplayer server with nothing but a rock and a torch. ThereвЂ™s only one group more evil than The ForestвЂ™s gangs of cannibals: other players.