The Forest is about the scavenging that comes with surviving in the woods, but it's also about avoiding a band of cannibals that would very much like to scavenge the meat from your bones. The open-world survival horror game finally has a Steam Early Access release date of May 22. and while there's no news on a final release, the $15 alpha will hopefully make for a decent starter.

Ben Falcone, the lead of four-man indie dev Endnight Games, says The Forest is inspired by films like The Descent and Cannibal Holocaust, while gaming inspirations lie in Trespasser and Minecraft. The idea in The Forest is to explore the world around you and scavenge materials to build up your base and weaponry, then defend your base from the cannibals at night - or take the fight to the enemy, if you're feeling brave.

In terms of the nitty-gritty, the game runs on Unity 4 and Oculus Rift is supported, and while it'll be single-player only on initial release, there are plans to add "some form of co-op" further down the line. [Image: Endnight Games]