Sons of the Forest: Beginner's Guide

Getting Started in Sons of the Forest

You crash-land on the island with a small survival pack. Immediate priorities: gather logs (chop trees with your starting axe), build a basic shelter before night, and find water. Your starting gear is minimal, so pick up the items you find at the crash site and nearby. Your first shelter needs only four walls, a roof, and a door; complexity comes later. Place it near a river for water access and fish trap proximity.

Kelvin is available from the crash site — he's injured and can't fight, but write him notes immediately: "Gather logs" gets your building material stockpile growing while you explore. He can gather, build fires, and retrieve fish traps autonomously. Give him clear, simple instructions — complex notes confuse him.

Finding Key Items Early

Several key tools are in caves. According to the community wiki, the Rebreather is deep inside the Rebreather Cave, in a large flooded chamber that contains a shark, and no progression item is needed to reach it. The flooded Shovel Cave requires the Rebreather. Use the GPS locator markers to find other items; exact locations of the Shotgun, Rope Gun and others are best checked on a dedicated wiki (not verified here).

Befriending Virginia

Virginia approaches your base multiple times before she can be befriended. Never attack her; put your weapon away when she approaches and back off slowly if she seems scared. The community wiki says you must earn her trust through kind, non-threatening interactions, and she can be scared off or killed. Once she trusts you, you can give her a pistol and a shotgun, and she will attack enemies that threaten you.

Essential Tips

1. Build before the first winter. Stock 200+ berries, 50+ fish, and 20+ raw meat before autumn ends. Winter food scarcity is serious.
2. The cave system is the story. Most narrative content is underground — explore every cave systematically as you acquire the tools to access them.
3. Cannibals scale with your activity. Killing many cannibals attracts more aggressive variants. Early game: avoid large cannibal villages until you have good weapons.
4. Kelvin can die. Cannibals attack him if he's near your base during raids. Build a Kelvin shelter (a small hut away from the main base) to protect him during attacks.
5. Upgrade your tools. Better axes and weapons found on the island speed up wood cutting and combat.
6. GPS trackers (blue markers) indicate points of interest with key items and story content — prioritize them over random exploration.
7. Log sleds (craftable with logs and sticks) let Kelvin drag large amounts of wood at once — teach him to build one for faster base construction.

Exploring Caves Safely

Enter caves slowly with a light, crouch to move quietly past mutants you do not want to fight, and bring a reliable weapon. Do not linger on a first visit; return when you have better gear.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can Kelvin die permanently?
A: Yes — if killed by cannibals, Kelvin is gone for the rest of the playthrough. Protect him during raids by building him shelter away from your main base.

Q: Is Sons of the Forest better than The Forest?
A: Sons of the Forest is a larger sequel with companions and seasons; whether it is better is a matter of taste. Metacritic is 86 for Sons of the Forest.

Q: How long is Sons of the Forest?
A: Playtime depends on how much you explore; expect a campaign of a few hours up to a few dozen with full exploration.

Q: Is multiplayer good?
A: Excellent — up to 8 players create a tribe-like survival experience. Roles naturally emerge: builders, hunters, cave explorers.

Q: Is Virginia required to complete the game?
A: No — she's optional. But she significantly simplifies combat encounters in the game's second half.