My Playtime: 2h (100% achievement, finished the game twice)
My First Playthrough: 1.8h
Grindy Achievement(s): No.
Optional Achievement(s): Yes (1 missable achievement).
Difficult Achievement(s): No.

Through Abandoned: The Forest is the second installment of the Through Abandoned series, taking place in a forest with some mysterious doors that lead you to other biomes. It focuses on key gathering, which will allow you to unlock doors with puzzles in them.

Pros:
- Cleverly designed puzzles

Cons:
- No hints in case you are stuck

Specs
Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

Yes.
If you like puzzle games and don't mind the short playtime, feel free to buy this game at a sale.

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The game was drawn in a cartoonish style, which somewhat reminds me of Flash games. The UI was made simple with hardly any instructions, although objects are easy to spot.

Some messages will be scattered across the area, allowing you to figure out what's going on with the place. Despite being the second title of the series, knowledge of the first title isn't needed at all since there is barely any story in it - you can even skip all dialogues and focus on the puzzles, especially since the font makes it hard to read the text. The game eventually dumps a lot of dialogue at the end of the game, although sadly, it serves no purpose except for a sequel hook. You won't get anything answered in the game, although I don't mind that since I'm not invested in the story either.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1935012424

Gameplay
The game is a point-and-click at its core, with you having to explore some screens to find keys that can unlock doors. The doors will have some sort of puzzles in them, which might or might not be constrained within the room. Since the game has no words except for the messages for the "story", you have to figure out how the puzzle works by yourself. Some might be obvious at first glance, although others will be harder to figure out. I spent some time to find out how to progress since I was stuck with one of the doors, and I still won't be able to figure out the solution without a guide.

You need to figure out how to unlock the puzzles. This can be done by using some items in your inventory, although it can be tricky to find where you can use some items, especially if you don't know what are they supposed to be. As I said before, some puzzles won't be that obvious to solve - you need to make out what the game wants with the information that you are provided and tinker around until you find that aha moment. It can be tough since there is no hint button, but it's satisfying once manage to figure it out.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2842508122

Length and Difficulty
I finished the game in 1.8h after getting stuck in one of the puzzles for a long time. I missed one achievement in that playthrough, so I replayed the game and managed to reach somewhere near the end in just 12 minutes - the game is very short if you know what to do. As for the difficulty, it can be challenging to some people, especially since some puzzles are too obscure and there are no in-game hints, but there are a lot of guides on the internet that you can refer to in case you are stuck.

Through Abandoned: The Forest is one of those games that can be hard to rate. It's very short, and it only fits niche audiences due to its difficulty. However, I liked the tricky puzzles - they are varied and you need to use your brain to figure out some of them.

This game somehow reminds me of Rusty Lake games due to their cartoonish style and genre, although it has a lower quality than those. I could only say to buy this if you are into Flash games, especially point-and-click games, and don't mind the difficulty and length. The game might be cheap already, but I'd rather recommend buying it on a sale for a cheaper price since it can be very short to finish.