• Interview
• Video

The Forest Quartet on indie game design, music & thematic puzzle gameplay

We caught up to The Forest Quartet creator Mads Vadsholt to talk about the design of the game, its music, and how the narrative inspired the gameplay.

TJ Denzer

April 27, 2023 11:30 AM

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Creating a game with distinct aesthetic isn’t necessarily easy. Blending the narrative, gameplay, visuals, and other factors into a cohesive picture can be quite the challenge, but Bedtime Digital Games sought to do just that with The Forest Quartet, which blends metaphysical puzzle-solving and music to create an interesting and heartwarming title. We recently caught up to The Forest Quartet creator, director, and producer Mads Vadsholt to talk about how this game came together and the challenges behind its design.

The Forest Quartet tells the story of a band who went to the woods to play their music because they were inspired by the sounds of nature. However, when the lead singer of the band tragically passes away, the rest of the band is left in disarray. They want to play one more gig in honor of their deceased singer, but each of them has personal troubles keeping them from playing. The player takes on the role of the spirit of the singer and navigates the afterlife, aiding each bandmate in overcoming their issues to play once more.

While music is a huge part of the thematics of The Forest Quartet, it’s not necessarily a music game. You don’t follow rhythms to succeed or move the story forward. Instead, it’s more of a puzzle game in which music plays a huge role. To that end, Mads told us that one of the biggest difficulties has been ensuring that the gameplay and puzzles fit the theming of the narrative and music in the game. It’s not always an easy balance to strike, but the team poured their hearts and souls into ensuring that each piece of the puzzle helped form a cohesive picture.

You can learn more about The Forest Quartet on the Bedtime Digital Games website. Want more videos like this The Forest Quartet Interview? Be sure to check out our YouTube channels at Shacknews and GamerHubTV for all of our latest video gameplay, interviews, unboxings, and more on the latest video games, technology, and toys.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.