State of Decay vs The Forest
State of Decay is a horror open-world game from Undead Labs (2013) while The Forest is a horror open-world game from Endnight Games (2018).
What each one is
Steam files State of Decay under Horror and Open-World. In contrast, it files The Forest under Horror and Open-World.
The end is here. Life as you knew it has gone to hell after the mother of all zombie outbreaks. Now you and the few scattered survivors must band together to survive and rebuild in a 3rd-person action game set in a dynamic open world.
As the lone survivor of a passenger jet crash, you find yourself in a mysterious forest battling to stay alive against a society of cannibalistic mutants. Build, explore, survive in this terrifying first person survival horror simulator.
At a glance
| State of Decay | The Forest | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.4/10 | 8.3/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (85%, 17,480) | Overwhelmingly Positive (96%, 680,814) |
| Critic aggregate | 79/100 | 83/100 |
| Price | Not listed | $19.99 |
| Install size | 3 GB | 5 GB |
| Steam Deck | verified | playable |
| Released | 2013 | 2018 |
| Developer | Undead Labs | Endnight Games |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
State of Decay vs The Forest, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
State of DecayHorror open-world gameThe ForestHorror open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
State of DecayZombies, Survival, Open WorldThe ForestOpen World Survival Craft, Survival, Open WorldThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
State of DecayScore 7.4 · 85% on Steam · 79 criticThe Forest ✓Score 8.3 · 96% on Steam · 83 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
State of Decay17,480 reviews · 2 add-ons · 3 GBThe Forest680,814 reviews · 5 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
State of DecayNot listedThe Forest$19.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
State of Decay ✓VerifiedThe ForestPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueState of Decay and The Forest on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: The Forest (GamingPickz Score 8.3)
- Better on a Steam Deck: State of Decay (verified)
- Lighter on storage: State of Decay (3 GB)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: The Forest (680,814 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
ZombiesSurvivalOpen WorldActionSingleplayerSandboxSimulationExploration
Where they differ
Post-apocalypticRPGThird PersonBase-BuildingMultiplayerThird-Person Shooter
Open World Survival CraftCraftingBuildingFirst-PersonGoreRealistic
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, State of Decay is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Forest is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| State of Decay | The Forest | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | Radeon HD 2600 XT / GeForce 9600 GSO / Intel HD 3000 | NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT |
| Minimum CPU | Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz (E6600) / Athlon X64 3400 | Intel Dual-Core 2.4 GHz |
| Minimum RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB |
| Install size | 3 GB | 5 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: State of Decay · The Forest.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for State of Decay and 1 for The Forest. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are State of Decay and The Forest in scope?
State of Decay has drawn 17,480 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 3 GB. The Forest has drawn 680,814 Steam reviews and installs in 5 GB.
Is State of Decay or The Forest better?
By the GamingPickz Score, The Forest rates higher (8.3 to 7.4). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, State of Decay or The Forest?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.