The Deer Trail by DarkForestMedia

It is a chilly and grey October day; perfect weather for an afternoon hunt. You exit your truck and head down the trail towards a deer blind you had set up a few weeks earlier while scouting the forest. A thick fog hangs in the air, making visibility difficult. As the leaves crunch underneath your feet, you decide that you must hurry North to the blind, as you only have a few hours until dark.

But when the darkness consumes the forest, you find yourself tracking an elusive buck through a maze of deer trails. Deep within the trail, a horrifying revelation awaits you.

The Deer Trail is a classic parser-style text adventure. It was created in two weeks for the 2021 Ectocomp game jam by Justin Squires (@darkforestmedia).

Download the walkthrough here: https://dark-forest-media.itch.io/the-deer-trail

Play online

Legacy Player: The "Play online" link above uses the new Quest Viva WebPlayer, which is currently in Beta. In case of issues, you can try the old WebPlayer.

Review by Servergmr

16 Mar 2024

This is my personal favourite of the text-based adventure games. It's been a long while since I've played it but it's super ambient and creepy. It reminds me of my family's farm and also some horror films set in similar environments.

(5)

Review by RememberMeEliseMarie

29 Mar 2022

This is AMAZING!! The atmosphere is amazing, the imagery is exquisite, the story is perfect and haunting. It's also refreshing to see a relatively accurate depiction of responsible hunters (although we don't often stumble upon long-forgotten murderous schemes XD). Brilliantly executed. Well done!

(5)

Review by JonQ

05 Nov 2021

I haven't finished this game yet, but I have really enjoyed exploring this strange and haunting farmland. The sequences I've played are the type of game I had wanted to make myself at one time, but never got around to it. I am impressed with the writing and the level of detail. It is a fair set of challenges with sufficient clues, and lots of chilling atmosphere. This has been a pleasure to play, and I hope to return soon and solve it!