The Forest Deep
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
In a deep forest stands a path, once a common route for travelers, that is now avoided at all costs. Lately, it seems anyone who enters the forest never exits - including the most recent missing person, a renowned young knight. Thus, the path is no longer walked, and the townsfolk have lost hope of finding those gone to the forest... Except for a young magical prodigy, determined to find their brother - or at the least, answers.
They might get more questions than answers...
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The Forest Deep is a visual novel told through the eyes of a young mage named Rune as they search for answers to their brother’s disappearance. There are no choices or alternate endings, just story.
Play time is ~45-60 minutes.
Content Warning: psychological horror, themes of abuse, implied body horror, some strong language
Recommended for ages 16+, not suitable for those under 13
Languages:
English (original)
Turkish
(message me if you'd like to add a translation!)
Translations: Turkish translation done by Naamk
Note: While The Forest Deep is its own standalone short story, it is also connected to my larger project, Strange Little Town - where any remaining questions will be answered. Strange Little Town is currently in development.
For visually-impaired readers, Ren'Py offers a self-voicing option by pressing V when you open the visual novel. This will lower the volume of the music and allow you to hear the text being read to you via the default voice on your computer.
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‣ 4 special images
‣ 10 unique songs composed for the game
‣ ~45-60 minutes of story
‣ The beginnings of a mystery
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The soundtrack is available for purchase on my bandcamp, and includes two bonus tracks that never made it into the final game if you buy the full album!
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CREDITS:
All credits including coding, story, art, characters, and music go to drearyprince.
The game was built in Ren'Py and some special visual effects were made in FL Studio’s ZGameEditor Visualizer.
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Want updates on my next project? You can check my Twitter!
If you're interested in the song about this game, you can find it on my youtube under the same name or by clicking this link.
This is my first ever finished project, so I appreciate any constructive feedback!
Last update/bugfix - 10/12/2022
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Major Revamp In the Works!Sep 11, 2024
- The soundtrack is now available!May 22, 2022
- Added Turkish translationMay 16, 2022
- Name Change + UpdateFeb 06, 2022
- Linux supportJan 15, 2022
- My first gameJan 12, 2022
Comments
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Great game. Looking forward to the rest of the story.
L Protagonist.
Hey there! Dev here, thank you for playing my game!
Just a heads up though, Rune and Ellie both use they/them pronouns. You're also not too far from the ending! It's a bit of a prologue to another story, but I hope you enjoy the ending regardless.
This the last part to the game, ending took my ankles!
So I think I know what the creature is lol
You're absolutely welcome to make any theories, I love to see them lol
I had been about to download this game, but then I saw the bit about strange little town being the prequel. Where can I get it?
Strange Little Town is a sequel that's currently in development! The Forest Deep is the prequel. I'm sorry for any confusion!
Ahhh, thanks for the explanation :-)
No problem!
A lot of things happened in this story all at once. I feel like the explanation wasn't there so there could be more mystery. It works because I'm interested in the rest but, I felt like a lot of the events weren't connected and were kinda clumped together. I do like how you write the story though, it's not overly descriptive to a T and gets to the point. I like the suspense you portrayed between the main characters and I liked how you described how their magic felt. That was an interesting and good detail to add. Good job on this hope to see more of the story soon!
Thank you so much for the feedback! I completely understand where you're coming from. I left a lot to theorization and speculation in this story by itself on purpose, but the clearer explanations will come in later games, slowly but surely. I'm excited to reveal it all lol
For your first game, I like the dark color scheme that gives this story a cool, mysterious vibe, from the characters to the background. I also enjoyed that it retains the element of mystery, and doesn't bombard the reader with details and exposition.
Maybe I'm just oblivious, but I didn't see the twist coming, my bad. If I have something to gripe about, it would be that the character's clothes are a bit too simple for a fantasy setting. Good luck on your next game! ^_^
Thank you so much! I really appreciate the feedback. I'll definitely take that into consideration about the designs in my next project!
Show post...
FANTASTIC VN GAME DEV
Thanks so much! I really appreciate the video!
It's nice for a first game. I wasn't expecting Judas and them to be who they are, which made it more interesting. 10/10
Thanks so much for playing! I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the game and it's so cool that you made a video on it! I'm seriously super happy lol
I’m glad you enjoyed the video. The story was really good and I’m glad it made you that happy. It’s great to know. :)