Finding Food and Water to Survive

Food and water are essential if you want to survive in The Forest. Wild berries, mushrooms and other fruits are easy pickings from the forests plants and trees. For bigger meals, players can hunt animals such as fish, rabbits and lizards.

Be careful though. Over-hunting will affect the forests ecosystem, which over time can disappear unless you farm responsibly, giving the forest time to regrow. Creating your own garden is a great way to create a sustainable food supply that will continue to provide food on a regular basis without fear of it running out.

Finding food

You'll find many different types of food in The Forest including smaller items such as fruit to much larger meals such as rabbits and lizards. Berries and vegetables can easily be picked but you'll need to hunt and kill larger animals yourself.

A suitable hunting weapon, such as the Spear, is required to catch animals. A good example is catching a fish:

1. Find a shallow area of a lake
2. Look downwards towards the water
3. Hold the Spear
4. Hover the cursor over the water
5. Aim at a passing fish, click the mouse to use the spear

It's that simple.

Catching other animals is a similar process that simply requires a well timed chop. Players can kill rabbits, lizards and birds by swinging their Axe when standing close enough to the animal. If the animal is on the ground, the animation will change to a downwards chop thus signifying that you're attempting a killer blow.

Increasing health and stamina

Eating food will increase your health and stamina, both of which are essential in order to survive. Sprinting, hunting and cutting down trees all consume stamina which eventually drains your health. The following list shows the various food items and how much health they restore:

Berry: 1 Health, 4 Energy, +2% Fullness
Chocolate Bar: 20 Health, 80 Energy, +20% Fullness
Fish: 20 Health, 80 Energy, +80% Fullness
Rabbit: 20 Health, 80 Energy, +90% Fullness
Aman Mushroom: 0 Health, 1 Energy, +2% Fullness, Poisons player
Chant Mushroom: 5 Health, 4 Energy, +2% Fullness
Deer Mushroom: 4 Health, 3 Energy, +2% Fullness
Jack Mushroom: 3 Health, 3 Energy, +2% Fullness
LibertyCap Mushroom: 5 Health, 4 Energy, +2% Fullness
Puff Mushroom: 2 Health, 2 Energy, +2% Fullness
Airplane Food: 5 Heatlh, 30 Energy, +45% Fullness
TwinBerry: 0 Health, 0 Energy, 2% Fullness, Inflicts pain
Soda Drink: 0 Health, 80 Energy, reduces hunger messages
Alcohol: 0 Health, 80 Energy

Cooking

Whilst smaller vegetables and fruits can be eaten immediately, raw meat such as fish and rabbits must be cooked first, otherwise you risk contamination. A fire is the only prerequisite required for cooking, which can be started using your lighter.

If you have an abundance of food, you can store some food items for later. However, you cannot store raw meat and you should avoid leaving meat in the sun for too long. Flies will contaminate the food before long, making you ill if you eat it.

Creating your own Garden

Building your own garden is the perfect way to create a sustainable food supply. The advantage of a garden is that you can plant new crops within easy reach of your own shelter, thus avoiding the need to venture into the forest when your stamina runs low.

The garden doesn't provide the same wealth of energy as a hunting animal but its certainly a bonus to have one in your back pocket.

To grow a garden you need to plant new crops using seeds.

Water

Water can be collected straight from the source e.g a lake. However, players should boil the water before drinking it, otherwise they take a risk of illness.