The Forest Quartet (2022)
In the spirit of All Saints’ Day, I played the Danish indie title The Forest Quartet. The player controls the ghost of Nina, a deceased singer and saxophonist. After her death, her former bandmates struggle with mental health issues and a lack of creative drive. Nina must bring strength, light, and cooling to their lives so the memorial concert can take place. She appears as an ethereal human figure who can also transform into a swarm of butterflies. The Forest Quartet received the Independent Games Festival award for Excellence in Audio in 2023. It is a short and seemingly modest game, yet one that has been appreciated. I found it had potential and hope that its creator, Mads Vadsholt, continues creating puzzle-adventure games in the future.
Tiny Echo (2017)
Released in 2017, Tiny Echo feels like a pause — a breath taken in, deep yet feather-light. The player guides a small character named Emi, who receives a bundle of letters from above ground and must deliver them to recipients living underground, or perhaps at the very edge of the earth. This point-and-click game is driven primarily by its visuals, and its sense of “gameplay” is so pared down that it can feel almost illusory. It might be more accurate to describe it as an interactive animation rather than a conventional game — or perhaps as a kind of walking simulator, a wandering experience. Tiny Echo’s world is mysteriously charming, even sensually evocative in a digital sense. A summer night seems to come alive on the screen.
Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective (2021)
I picked up Humble Bundle’s Visual Delight game pack some time ago without knowing what to expect. From the selection, the 2021 hidden-object puzzle walking simulator Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective felt like the most approachable. The learning curve proved suitably gentle. The game is based on a popular international activity book for children aged 8–12, first known in English as Pierre the Maze Detective. The adaptation to game form is unusually successful, and it genuinely lifted my spirits. Despite the constant bustle and chaos of the game world, the hunt for a stolen maze stone felt like balm for the nerves — focused, refreshing and calming all at once.