The Cursed Forest

Great adventure where you search the forest for bones and runes while avoiding a creature that just wants to play.
After receiving word that your mother is ill, you jump into your car and begin driving. To save time and get to the city faster, you choose to take a shortcut through the forest. But there is something in there that makes you crash your car. Now you need to get out, but the forest will not let you go easily.
First and foremost, despite the fact that this game is five years old, the graphics are still good today. You will spend the majority of your time in the forest, admiring trees, bogs, caverns, rocks, and so on, but everything is original and designed to make the location stand out. You will progress through five distinct chapters.
The gameplay follows the first-person adventure template. This means you can jump and run around without worrying about much. I really appreciate how you do not have to hold down the run button; simply tap it and you will sprint.
Nothing is marked with visual cues, therefore you will have to come near to something and look for the hand icon when hovering over an interesting item. Using them is also simple because you only need to interact with a location and the game will use it immediately if you have it in your inventory. However, objects are extremely rare and hardly worth mentioning. There are also no logical puzzles.
On the other hand, you will find a large number of notes organized into three sections. One is for Sarah, who you will learn more about in the game, an explorer who comments on the forest, and various people who wandered into the woods. Notes appear to glow in vibrant colors, making them more noticeable. You know how many there are for each chapter, so it is worth looking for them because they are quite long and include the majority of the game's lore.
Since there are no puzzles and items, the game is is all about looking for bones and runes. The goal is the same across all chapters. Although each stage provides some choice, there are specific paths you must take to reach your destination. To aid you out, each chapter contains a map that shows where to go. The number bones and runes for each level is seen in your inventory, however this is irrelevant because you must find them all to continue.
Despite the fact that a dark creature with glowing eyes and teeth is following you about and messing with you, you are rarely in danger. Its appearance is primarily linked to jumpscares because it might show up anywhere.
Of course, you can still die from a variety of other threats, including falling from heights, stepping into piranha-infested water, dark swamps, and so on. That is why, if you come upon an altar, you should always save. Sometimes the game will create an autosave, which is usually a clue that something dangerous is going to show up.
There are numerous achievements. Some are rewarded as you progress, some by encountering an event, and some are missable. Fortunately, you may replay any chapter to easily find the tricky achievements.

I personally really enjoyed this game. The eerie and mysterious atmosphere is perfectly crafted as I walked along the old forest paths, I constantly felt on edge, afraid that something might suddenly jump out and scare me. The hidden traps and that damn rake on the path were both annoying and funny at the same time :D I especially loved the moment when it started raining and raindrops appeared on the screen it made the experience feel even more immersive.

Loved this game. I think they simulated a dark forest sooo well. Fun aside, I played this just before going to Shenandoah and it was so spot on. The story is really strong and interesting. The creepy factor was exquisite. Highly recommend if you love exploration, supernatural horror and unraveling mysteries.

Review of The Cursed Forest – 6.5/10

The Cursed Forest has a genuinely interesting story at its core, and that’s what kept me going. However, I found it frustrating that the game doesn’t use any voice lines or in-game narration to guide the player. Instead, the entire story is told through scattered notes and environmental clues, which really increased the complexity and made it easy to miss important plot points unless you explored every corner meticulously. That approach made the pacing feel a bit slow and at times even confusing. On the positive side, the visuals are excellent, especially for an indie game. The forest atmosphere is dense, eerie, and immersive, and the lighting and environmental effects do a great job of setting the tone. I just wish the storytelling was a bit more accessible or better integrated into the gameplay. Overall, I’d give it a 6.5 out of 10.

I'm not TOO far into the game yet, but I'm pretty much sold on this.
The atmosphere and art direction is GREAT! It's dense with detail, and beautiful with the colors and natural-feeling shapes. The horror feels like a lot of early-mid 2010s indie horror games, but that's not a bad thing. My love for these kind of games never really left, and can even be nostlalgic.

Great game, highly recommended.
One of the most atmospheric spooky games I have ever played, and the way that the forest is done is excellent - great 3D sound, excellent lighting, lack of invisible barriers, paths that are not so obvious. Very realistic and well done.

I like this game. Great little jumpy-jump scares throughout. Puzzles not so great but fun anyhow.