Food, water and medicine in Escape the Deep Forest

The forest has plenty to eat if you know what is safe. This page lists every food and drink in the game, what it gives you, what it risks, and the medicines you can make.

Water

Drink	Gives	Risk
Clean water (a bottle)	+40 water	None.
River water	+30 water	About a one in three chance of making you sick. Boil it at a campfire first.
Herbal tea	+35 water, and it clears sickness	None.

To carry water you need an empty bottle: fill it at the river (use the bottle while you stand by the water). To boil it, put the bottle of river water near a lit campfire and craft "Boil river water". Never drink swamp water.

Plants and mushrooms

Item	Gives	Risk
Wild berries	+6 food, +4 water	None. Berry bushes grow back over time: about one berry every two minutes.
Brown mushroom	+8 food	None. A plump brown cap with a nutty smell.
Red mushroom	+5 food	Poison. Drains health for about 25 seconds.
Pale mushroom	+5 food	Deadly poison. Drains health for about 70 seconds. Find a medkit fast.
Wild herbs	+2 food	None. Bitter to eat, but they are the base of tea, poultices and tonics.

The rule is simple: eat berries and brown mushrooms, leave everything red or pure white alone.

Meat and fish

Food	Gives	Risk
Raw meat	+15 food	About a one in two chance of sickness. Cook it.
Cooked meat	+45 food	None.
Smoked meat (jerky)	+30 food	None. Light, and it keeps: the way to carry food on a long walk.
Raw fish	+14 food	About a one in four chance of sickness.
Cooked fish	+35 food	None.
Canned beans	+35 food	None. Found in crates and camps.

You get meat from animals you hunt: rabbits and birds give a little, deer give several pieces, and big animals give the most. See the animal pages for what each one yields. Walk up to a carcass and press E to butcher it. To cook, use a lit campfire: Cook meat takes about eight seconds. Smoke meat turns two pieces of raw meat into three strips of jerky and takes longer. To fish, craft a fishing rod, face the river and press F.

Medicine

Item	What it does	How to get it
Bandage	Stops bleeding.	Craft from 2 cloth, or find one.
Herb poultice	Stops bleeding and halves an infection.	Craft from 3 herbs and 1 cloth.
Herbal tea	Clears sickness.	Craft at a fire from a bottle of water and 2 herbs.
Herbal tonic	Cures an infection, like antibiotics.	Craft at a fire from a bottle of water and 6 herbs.
Splint	Lets a broken leg heal faster and lets you walk on it.	Craft from 2 wood and 2 cloth.
Painkillers	Dull the pain of a broken leg for two minutes.	Found in the world.
Antibiotics	Cure an infection.	Found in the world.
Medkit	Heals you and clears poison and sickness.	Found in the world, mostly in camps and wrecks.

Collect herbs whenever you see them: with them and a fire you can make most of what you need. See the crafting guide for all recipes and the survival guide for when to use each one.