Games like DayZ and The Forest
Looking for games like both DayZ and The Forest? Below are 24 Steam games ranked by imho.run's hybrid recommender for players who enjoy both titles. Both DayZ and The Forest share Action, Adventure roots, making the overlapping player base a strong signal for what to play next. Each pick is scored by combining collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries — players who own DayZ and The Forest also tend to own these — with content overlap on genres, categories, and storefront tags, plus review-mined vibe embeddings that catch tonal similarity even when genre labels differ. No Steam login required.
Best matches for fans of both games
Ranked by collaborative filtering, genre overlap, and review-mined vibes — the same signals that power imho.run.
- 1
Rust
Top pick for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
The only aim in Rust is to survive. Everything wants you to die - the island’s wildlife, other inhabitants, the environment, and other survivors. Do whatever it takes to last another night.
- 2
Don't Starve Together
Second pick for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
Fight, Farm, Build and Explore Together in the standalone multiplayer expansion to the uncompromising wilderness survival game, Don't Starve.
- 3
Green Hell
Third pick for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Plunge into the open-world survival simulation set in the extreme conditions of the uncharted Amazon jungle. Use real-life survival techniques to craft, hunt, fight, and gather resources, set a makeshift shelter, or raise a fortress. Survive alone or team up with your friends and challenge the jungle together.
- 4
Sons Of The Forest
Ranked #4 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Sent to find a missing billionaire on a remote island, you find yourself in a cannibal-infested hellscape. Craft, build, and struggle to survive, alone or with friends, in this terrifying new open-world survival horror simulator.
- 5
7 Days to Die
Ranked #5 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
7 Days to Die is an open-world game that is a unique combination of first-person shooter, survival horror, tower defense, and role-playing games. Play the definitive zombie survival sandbox RPG that came first. Navezgane awaits!
- 6
Subnautica
Ranked #6 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Indie and Adventure with both games.
Descend into the depths of an alien underwater world filled with wonder and peril. Craft equipment, pilot submarines and out-smart wildlife to explore lush coral reefs, volcanoes, cave systems, and more - all while trying to survive.
- 7
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Ranked #7 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and RPG with both games.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl tells a story about survival in the Zone – a very dangerous place, where you fear not only the radiation, anomalies and deadly creatures, but other S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, who have their own goals and wishes.
- 8
Grounded
Ranked #8 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Adventure with both games.
The world is a vast, beautiful and dangerous place – especially when you have been shrunk to the size of an ant. Can you thrive alongside the hordes of giant insects, fighting to survive the perils of the backyard?
- 9
Dying Light
Ranked #9 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and RPG with both games.
First-person action survival game set in a post-apocalyptic open world overrun by flesh-hungry zombies. Roam a city devastated by a mysterious virus epidemic. Scavenge for supplies, craft weapons, and face hordes of the infected.
- 10
PolyZ
Ranked #10 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Imagine DayZ mixed with Escape From Tarkov, but in Low Poly. A persistent world survival game featuring PvP, PvE, crafting, base-building, and zombies infected with a contagious virus.
- 11
Project Zomboid
Ranked #11 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Indie and Simulation with both games.
Project Zomboid is the ultimate in zombie survival. Alone or in MP: you loot, build, craft, fight, farm and fish in a struggle to survive. A hardcore RPG skillset, a vast map, massively customisable sandbox and a cute tutorial raccoon await the unwary. So how will you die? All it takes is a bite..
- 12
- 13
SCUM
Ranked #13 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Traverse punishing environments, looting, crafting and evading the constant threats to your life. The unprecedented levels of character customization and progression are your ultimate tools for survival.
- 14
XERA: Survival
Ranked #14 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
Action-focused, open world survival shooter, PvPvE against fellow mercenaries and lethal XOIDS. Raid for resources alone or with team-mates, build and defend your base, stash your gear and survive against the odds. You are the hunters. You are the hunted. And the robots never sleep…
- 15
The Front
Ranked #15 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
The Front is a survival open-world crafting sandbox game. You are a resistance fighter sent back in time to stop the rise of a tyrannical empire. Collect resources, craft tech, build shelters, and fight monsters to accomplish your mission.
- 16
ARK: Survival Evolved
Ranked #16 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Stranded on the shores of a mysterious island, you must learn to survive. Use your cunning to kill or tame the primeval creatures roaming the land, and encounter other players to survive, dominate... and escape!
- 17
How to Survive
Ranked #17 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Adventure with both games.
“A real Gem” – Destructoid at E3 “Offers a different experience for zombie game veterans” – Co-Optimus“Has a lot more going for it than smashing brains and gory, red goo ... With a surprisingly deep crafting system” – GamesRadarYou're shipwrecked on an isolated island, a desperate castaway in a total freakshow world. How will you survive?
- 18
Survival: Lost Way
Ranked #18 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
An open-world post-apocalyptic survival sandbox. Scavenge, craft, build, and survive solo or in co-op.
- 19
Left 4 Dead 2
Ranked #19 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action with both games.
Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 is a co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns.
- 20
Don't Starve
Ranked #20 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Indie and Adventure with both games.
Don’t Starve is an uncompromising wilderness survival game full of science and magic. Enter a strange and unexplored world full of strange creatures, dangers, and surprises. Gather resources to craft items and structures that match your survival style.
- 21
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Ranked #21 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and RPG with both games.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the direct sequel of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. As a Major Alexander Degtyarev you should investigate the crash of the governmental helicopters around the Zone and find out, what happened there.
- 22
Night of the Dead
Ranked #22 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
'Night of the Dead' is an open-world game that combines elements of exploration, tower defense, survival, and crafting. Traverse a world dominated by zombies while collecting various resources and powerful equipment. Build a fortress to survive the hordes of zombies that swarm every night!
- 23
Contagion
Ranked #23 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Indie with both games.
Contagion isn't your average Zombie Shooter but instead takes a more realistic and different approach to the popular genre with unique characters, environments, weapons, items, and a built in system that makes every round completely unpredictable with resources, objectives, and paths ever changing.
- 24
Miscreated
Ranked #24 for fans of both DayZ and The Forest. Shares Action and Strategy with both games.
Miscreated is a multiplayer online hardcore survival game set in a post-apocalyptic future. You will need to survive against mutants, players, and even mother nature herself.