How to escape the forest: the three routes

There are three ways out of the forest, each in a different direction and each with its own dangers. You can pick any one of them. This page explains what each route needs, without giving away the gate code, which you must find for yourself.

Route A: the old logging road (north, about 3 km)

A ruined road runs north through the forest. It has five checkpoints, old camps with loot and, at the end, a logging truck that no longer runs. To drive out you must find four parts, which you find along the road: a truck battery, spark plugs, a fuel can and a spare tyre. Fit them to the truck, then drive through the north gate. The parts are heavy, so plan how many trips to make, and keep away from the dead trees in the far north.

Route B: the river raft (south, about 3 km)

A river runs through the south of the forest and leaves it at a town. You need a raft: craft a raft kit from 10 pieces of wood and 5 pieces of rope (it takes a knife and some time), carry it to a place where the river is knee-deep and use it to set it afloat. Then press E to board. The river has a current, rapids and hazards, and each rapid can damage the raft. How well the raft survives decides how you end. Do not fall off: the river can batter you to death on the rocks.

Route C: the ranger tower (east, about 1 km, the hardest)

The nearest exit is the ranger tower, to the east, but it is the hardest to open. A fenced yard around it has a keypad gate. The ranger scratched the code into three trail markers: wooden posts with an orange flag, spread along the way east from where you landed. Each one gives one digit, so you must find all three. Inside, you need to restore the tower:

• find a fuse for the dead winch (in the ranger hut);
• find radio tubes and an antenna cable for the radio;
• break the hatch with an axe, climb the tower, repair the radio and call the helicopter;
• then survive until the helicopter arrives.

The tower is the shortest route but the most demanding one.

Endings

There are 18 endings. Each way out has several, depending on how well you did: a clean getaway in a truck that barely felt the gate, or one held together with hope; smooth water on the river, or a raft that comes apart one log at a time; a helicopter that answers at once, or a second try after you missed the first. If you escape by all three routes, you unlock a final ending, Every way out. There are also endings for the ways you can die: to an animal, to cold, to hunger and thirst, to a wound, to a fall, to the river, to marsh fever, or to the thing in the dead trees.

Tips for any route

• Open the journal (J) often. It records every note you find and gives a hint for each route.
• Find a map or a compass early. Camps, crates and the wreck sometimes hold them.
• Set up a base near the start before you go far: a fire, a bed, a chest.
• Keep food, water and bandages for the way. Do not set out at dusk.
• The daily and weekly challenges use the same forest for everyone, so you can compare routes and times.

See the survival guide and the animal guide to prepare for what you will meet.