Atari 2600 Forest is a game where you help a woodcutter navigate through a forest filled with hostile animals to cut down trees and support his family. A witch has cast a spell on the animals, turning them against the woodcutter.
To begin the game, press the reset button. Animals will appear at the bottom of the screen and move toward the woodcutter. If they touch his legs, he will be killed, and you must start over. A bird will also fly overhead, trying to drop stones on the woodcutter. If hit, he will be immobilized for 2 seconds.
Control the woodcutter using the joystick:
- Move up to jump over animals
- Move right or left to walk forward or backward
- Press the fire button while moving the joystick down to destroy animals with the ax (except for the snake, which must be avoided)
The goal is to guide the woodcutter across two screens to the right. On the third screen, a tree will appear, and the woodcutter must cut it down while avoiding animals. The tree requires four ax blows on each side to be cut down. Note that the woodcutter can also climb a short distance up the tree by moving the joystick up.
Once the tree is cut down, the game restarts, and the woodcutter proceeds to the forest again. The game’s speed increases as more trees are cut down. There is a time limit of 5,000 points for each woodcutter; if time runs out, you will lose one woodcutter, but the game will continue in the same situation. Bonus points are awarded based on the time remaining when the tree is cut down.
Scoring:
- 10 points for each animal destroyed
- 100 points for each ax blow (800 possible points for each tree)
- Bonus points for remaining time