Welcome to Into Indie Games’ complete guide for Forest Escape: Last Train, where we’ll take you through the puzzles in all the locations you’ll encounter in the game.
It’s a solo/co-op survival game where you have to operate a train through a dark, horrific forest in search of a way out. Along the way, you’ll solve puzzles, loot resources, and collect six Keys before inevitably facing off against the Warden. The forest is divided into multiple locations, six of which contain the special Keys needed to unlock the path to the Warden.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the solution to every puzzle you’ll encounter in each of these locations. You’ll find additional content for the game in our guides hub.
As of writing this article, the game is in Early Access and features 13 different locations (including the Warden) and three starting Stations.
For more information about the game, check out their website here.
Table of contents
The Station
Objective: Bring the Dead Train Back to Life
The Station is where you start your escape. There are currently three different stations (North, East, and West), and your starting station is randomized each playthrough. But the core idea of all Stations is the same.
You’ll have to collect 10 Coal and 10 Rock. You can use your pickaxe to mine them from Rock and Coal Formations nearby. The Coal Formation is black while the Rock Formation is grey in color.
Then you’ll have to find the three missing parts and attach them to the Train:
- Train Headlight
- Train Horn
- Engine Lever
The Train Headlight and Train Horn can be found by exploring the surrounding areas, whereas the Engine Lever is found by solving a puzzle. The puzzle is different for all three stations, but they are pretty simple. To solve the puzzle in the Eastern Station, for instance, you need to break a bunch of bottles by using Rocks.
Once you’ve got all the missing parts, mount them on their respective spots. Add some Coal to the Engine Firebox and set off.
Carousel
Mission: Spin the Carousel
You’ll find the Carousel hidden in a jungle of giant mushrooms directly to the east of the Northern Station. It’s arguably the easiest location to complete in the game.
All you have to do is stand in front of the Carousel and keep trying out the Dance Emotes until the Carousel begins to spin. Switch Emotes when the Carousel stops spinning. The default button for the Emote Wheel is C on the keyboard.
Keep spinning the Carousel until all the lights turn on and the chest will unlock, completing the mission.
Trippy Grid
Mission: Find Keys in the Maze. Beware of Clowns!
Located near the Northern Station, the Trippy Grid can be a tough location to complete if you’re playing solo. The location is split into two parts: the lower part is a maze, while the upper part is a floating bridge with steps missing.
The maze section is split into four color-coded quadrants: Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow. In each quadrant, there’s a key hidden inside the maze. You’ll have to find a key from each quadrant and bring it back outside to open a chest to complete the zone.
To solve the puzzle, you’ll want to first climb to the floating bridge using the ladder. Then carefully make your way across so that you can get a bird’s-eye view of each zone. Once you spot the Key. Drop down close to it, pick it up, and run back to the exit.
What makes things tricky, however, are the Clowns patrolling each zone. These Clowns can’t be killed, but a few Rock throws can knock them out for a brief while as you make your escape. Collect all four keys and unlock the chest to complete this location.
Iris Lake
Mission: Unlock the Cave Entrance
Iris Lake is another location you really don’t want to try on a solo playthrough. It’s located to the eastern side of the map. When you reach the location, you’ll spot the entrance to a cave near the outpost by the lake. Head toward it.
You’ll spot a torch on the ground and a series of torch holders on the wall nearby. Place the torch in one of the holders. To open the entrance, you’ll have to find five more torches. The rest of the torches can be found by navigating the nearby lake. There are several huts and islands scattered across the lake where you’ll find these torches.
The problem here is the Giant Eyes that pop out of the water as you get near them. They spawn Small Eyes periodically that chase you around the lake. You can hit the Small Eyes with a Rock to take them out. Keep your eyes on the Giant Eye as you make your way across, or they’ll follow you around, spawning more Small Eyes.
Once you have all the torches collected, make your way back to the Cave Entrance. Place all the torches on the holders, and the Cave Entrance will open. Head inside to find a Chest that you can loot to complete the mission.
Music Rails
Mission: Play the Melody Notes
Music Rails is a simple and straightforward location to clear whether you’re playing on your own or with friends. It’s located near Iris Lake. Once you arrive at the location, you’ll spot two houses. You’ll notice some Wind Chimes hanging on the porch of the house straight ahead. You can interact with the Chimes to create sound.
Head into the house on the left. You’ll find a music player inside. Interact with it to play a Melody. Remember the Melody.
Head outside and play the Wind Chimes to recreate the Melody. This will unlock the door to the house where you’ll find a chest.
Stepfall Bridge
Mission: Cross the Unstable Bridge
Stepfall Bridge of the most annoying locations to clear, regardless of whether you’re on a solo run or with a party. When you arrive at the location, head up the building with the large sign until you reach the Unstable Bridge above.
You’ll spot several floating platforms on the bridge, hovering over a pool of lava. There’s a chest all the way on the other side that you’ll have to reach and loot to clear the mission.
What makes things difficult is that not all these platforms are stable. Some of them can be slippery, some bounce you back to a previous platform, and some, worst of all, can disappear as you jump, causing you to fall into the lava below.
If you happen to fall off, jump across the rocks to the exit so that you don’t take unnecessary damage. Once you manage to loot the chest, the mission clears, and you can move on with your escape.
Tower
Mission:
When you spot a giant head made of stone with cracks in it near the center of the map, you’ll know that you’ve reached the Tower. It’s a pretty long mission to cover, but all in all, it’s not too difficult.
First, make your way around the head until you see some stone platforms on a wall. You’ll have to use these platforms to make your way to the top.
Along the way, you’ll have to keep tabs on spiked floors that will damage you if you step on them and fans that will push you off.
Once you make it to the top, you’ll see four breakable floors on the roof of the Tower. Break the floors until you find one that you can drop through.
When you’re inside the tower, make your way forward, past the obstacles, until you reach another hole in the ground that you can drop through.
You’ll reach a room with a number written on the walls. There’s a Clown patrolling below, and some Gargoyle statues.
Break the Gargoyle statues while avoiding the Clown until the number on the wall reaches zero.
This will open an exit. Drop thorugh the opening.
You’ll reach another lava-filled zone. Make your way past the obstacles and activate the levers to reach a chest. Open the chest and make your way out through the exit.
Bootball Court
Mission: Score 5 Goals or Die
The Bootball Court is a fun little location with a simple mini-game. You’ll spot two goalposts manned by moving cardboard goalkeepers and a ball hovering over the center of a court. There’s a Chest near the entrance to the court.
Head inside the court to begin the game. The ball drops in, and you have to score 5 Goals to win. You’ll be playing against a Clown. Don’t worry, it won’t attack you.
Just bump into the ball and guide it to the Blue Goalpost past the keeper five times to open the chest and clear the mission.
Depot
Mission: Attach the Carriage to the Train
The Depot is a relatively large area that’s at the center of the map, just before the entrance to Warden. This is a mandatory mission to clear since you’ll get the Cannon Carriage for completing it.
To clear the mission, you’ll have to switch the train tracks around and move your Train so that it attaches to the Cannon Carriage. Use the junction switches and interact with the gates to clear the way for your Train.
Once you’ve lined them up properly, back your Train into the Cannon Carriage to attach it and open the nearby chest, clearing the mission. Reset the junction switches to move on.
From this point onwards, you’ll be chased by a Giant Nose whenever you start up your Train. It will fire Snot Projectiles at you as you move. You can use the Cannon to take out the projectiles, but each Cannon Fire costs 1 Coal and 2 Rock
Acid Pit
Mission: Flush Away the Acid
The Acid Pit is located near the Depot at the center of the map. Once you reach the location, make your way to the section where some of the breakable floor is missing. You’ll spot a safe area in the acid where you can drop down.
Make your way around the safe zones until you can spot a breakable wall. Break it down using your Pickaxe. There might be enemies inside, so be ready to move out of the way.
Check the area past the breakable wall and look for a red valve. If you find one, activate it. This will cause the Acid level to go down. Continue going around the safe area looking for more valves behind breakable walls.
You’ll have to repeat the same thing and keep heading down until the entire pool of acid is depleted. Once that’s done, you’ll find a chest at the bottom of the zone.
As soon as you open the chest, Acid will start filling up from the bottom. Climb back to the surface to complete the mission.
Upper Village
Mission: Crack the Code and Open the Chest
The Upper Village is located to the west near the Western Station. When you reach the entrance of the Upper Village, you’ll spot a bunch of treehouses in the area with numbers written on them. There’s also a chest near the entrance. But to open it, you need to find the code.
To do so, head into the village and check each of the numbered houses. You’ll find a burning fireplace in each of the numbered houses. Interact with the fireplace. If the number is part of the code, the fire will turn green. If the number isn’t part of the code, the fire will go out.
Check each house until you find the code. But you’ll also have to avoid the Clowns patrolling the area below the treehouses.
Once you have the code, exit the village and enter the code into the chest to open it and grab it’s content. The code will be written on the lock once you uncover it.
Mystic Room
To Be Added Soon!
Black Skull
To Be Added Soon!
Warden
Mission: Slay the Warden
When you have all six Warden Keys in your possession, you can make your way to the Warden location on the map. It’s to the south of the Depot and Acid Pit. Once you get near the location, you’ll see a barrier in front of a tunnel. Interact with it to insert the six Warden Keys.
Make sure you’ve done all your shopping and spent all your Gold before heading in through the tunnel that opens up. Eventually, you’ll see the giant head of the Warden rise ahead of you.
The fight against the Warden is a tough one and is split into multiple phases. When the fight begins, you’ll see a glow on his mouth. Use your Cannon to fire at the glowing spot to whittle down his health pool. Once enough damage has been dealt, the Warden will become dormant.
The Warden has two main attacks that he will switch between periodically. The first one is when he opens his mouth, and a swarm of Eyes comes out and attacks you. For the second attack, he sends out a swarm of flying Ears. You can use the Cannon or any of your other weapons to fend them off.
If you stop the Train, the Warden will spew out poison that covers the entirety of the Train. Staying on the Train during this attack will damage you.
As you move along the tracks, you’ll see different platforms where you can stop. Each of these platforms has a different puzzle for you to solve. Solving this puzzle and activating the switch afterward when the Warden is dormant is the only way to defeat him.
Owl Statue Puzzle
For the Owl puzzle you see in the image above, you need to interact with the small Owl Statues until their eyes stop glowing.
Then use your Pickaxe to break the Statues one at a time. Once all four small statues are broken, break the big Owl Statue in the middle.
This will bring up a switch where the big Owl Statue was. Interact with the switch when the Warden is dormant to damage it. Get on the train and move on to the next puzzle platform. Make sure you’re attacking the Warden on his next glowing weak point to turn him dormant.
Whack-a-mole Puzzle
The Whack-a-mole puzzle is pretty straightforward. Get off the platform and use your pickaxe to hit the Moles as they poke their head out of the holes. As you hit the Moles, the number counts down. Once it reaches zero, the switch will appear.
Some of these Moles have explosives in their hand. Make sure you don’t strike them or you’ll take damage.
Activate the switch when the Warden is dormant and move on to the next platform.
Maze Puzzle
The Maze Puzzle is also quite straightforward. You’ll see a board with lines scribbled on it. Activating the levers moves one of the points on the board.
You need to arrange the levers so that the yellow dot from the left can move all the way to the yellow dot on the right.
Eggs in a Nest Puzzle
This puzzle has two Chickens perched on a beam on the left side. These chickens periodically lay eggs. As soon as you enter the zone, you’ll have a small trampoline in your hands.
Your goal is to make the eggs bounce on the trampoline and guide them all the way to the other end of the platform. There’s an egg nest here where you need to place the bouncing egg without dropping it on the floor.
Keep attacking the Warden after solving all the puzzles, and eventually a cutscene will trigger as you escape the Forest.
This concludes our all locations and puzzles guide for Forest Escape: Last Train. For more interesting articles related to indie games, click the links below:
- Into Indie Games Homepage
- Palworld – Walkthrough Hub
- Moonlight Peaks Walkthrough Hub
- Lumina Veil Walkthrough Hub
- Treasure Beach – Complete Walkthrough Hub
Muhit Rahman lives off two things: gaming marathons and endless cups of tea. He writes guides, reviews, and occasionally forgets that real life doesn’t come with checkpoints. His favorite genres are Soulslike and Metroidvania, with Dark Souls III, Hollow Knight, and Dota 2 forever holding top spots on his all-time list.
