The Forest Quartet
A spirit reunites her band through puzzles in a forest.
The Forest Quartet is a 2022 puzzle adventure game from Danish indie developer Mads Vadsholt, working as Mads and Friends, and published by Bedtime Digital Games. Players control a spirit who must reunite her former band members by bringing life back to their forest home. The spirit floats through three stages, using her voice to interact with objects and solve puzzles—assembling machinery, lighting up dark areas, and transforming into butterflies to guide water through pipes to extinguish fires. Critics gave the game average reviews, praising its audiovisual design and the link between graphics and sound, but found the puzzles lacking in challenge and complexity. The game won the 'Excellence in Audio' award at the 2023 Independent Games Festival.
The story follows the Forest Quartet, a Danish jazz band led by singer and saxophonist Nina, who has recently died from an illness. The three remaining members plan a final tribute concert in the forest where they moved from the city at Nina's insistence, but grief and isolation have overwhelmed them. As Nina's spirit, the player helps each member confront their mental health issues: pianist Kirk's depression appears as black blobs, bassist Jean-Baptiste's anxiety as lumbering black creatures, and drummer Sebastian's anger as a wildfire. After Nina's invisible help, Kirk and JB call each other and agree to do the gig, but Sebastian doesn't answer. They apologize to the audience and head through the forest to fetch him, both experiencing mild panic attacks that Nina must soothe. Sebastian reluctantly joins, but on the way back the trio nearly gives up due to emotional friction until they find Nina's grave. Admitting she held them together, they apologize, say goodbye, and perform the concert, allowing Nina's spirit to find peace.
Vadsholt, a computer graphics and animation graduate from The Animation Workshop in Viborg, developed the game from 2016, mostly working part-time independently. He described it as a personal project tied to growing up in a musical family, becoming "very much about my own grief and the life of my family," inspired by his mother's death from cancer in 2013. Grants from the Danish Film Institute Games Scheme and the Danish Arts Foundation let him hire extra artists and animators.
Quick Facts
- Title
- The Forest Quartet
- Developer
- Mads & Friends
- Publisher
- Bedtime Digital Games
- Platforms
- PlayStation 4 · PlayStation 5 · Windows · Nintendo Switch
- Genre
- Adventure, Puzzle
- Designer
- Mads Vadsholt
- Composer
- Kaspar Vadsholt
- Released
- 8 December 2022
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Forest Quartet was created by Danish independent developer Mads Vadsholt, a computer graphics and animation graduate from The Animation Workshop in Viborg. Vadsholt developed the game from 2016, working part-time independently for most of the period, and cited the game as a personal work relating to growing up in a family of musicians, inspired by his mother's death from cancer in 2013. Development was supported by grants from the Danish Film Institute Games Scheme and the Danish Arts Foundation, allowing Vadsholt to hire additional artists and animators. Family members contributed: sister Nina Vadsholt voiced the main character, and jazz bassist Kaspar Vadsholt, the developer's father, composed the soundtrack, performed by members of the Copenhagen band The Danish Radio Big Band. Publisher Bedtime Digital Games promoted the game with a pre-release party where the soundtrack was performed in a forest in Gisselfeld.
Reader's Guide
The Forest Quartet received mixed or average reviews according to Metacritic. Critics praised the game's audiovisual design and the relationship between graphics and sound. The Guardian described the music as 'phenomenal' and a 'wonderfully apt musical ode to the confusing aftermath of death', while Edge highlighted its 'forlorn' and 'ethereal soundscapes'. Multiplayer.it commended the sound design for recovering 'the magic underlying music and jazz'. However, Gaming Age found the music 'awfully forgettable'. Visual presentation was also praised: The Guardian called the art 'striking' and 'painterly', and 4Players commended the 'great atmosphere' and 'attractive warm light'. Critics were lukewarm on the narrative and treatment of grief; Edge found the game elevated 'in both form and tone' with an ending 'touching yet hopeful', while 4Players found the representation of mourning abstract and 'not particularly effective'. Puzzle design was considered straightforward and not the centerpiece; Edge noted puzzles were 'straightforward enough to allow the story to flow', and Multiplayer.it called them 'simple but clever' but 'very linear'. The game's significance lies in its award-winning audio design and its personal, grief-driven narrative, though its puzzle gameplay was seen as lacking challenge.
Did You Know?
- The game's main character is voiced by Nina Vadsholt, the developer's sister.
- The soundtrack was composed by jazz bassist Kaspar Vadsholt, the developer's father.
- A pre-release party for the game featured the soundtrack performed live in a forest in Gisselfeld.
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