The Longing, an adventure and idle game from Studio Seufz, challenges players to commit to a real-time wait of 400 days. In the game, players control Shade, a small creature tasked with waking an underground king after his 400-day slumber. Shade's existence revolves around this singular duty, and the player shares in this extended period of waiting.
During this time, players guide Shade through hand-drawn caves at a deliberately slow pace. Activities include decorating Shade's underground home, drawing with scavenged coal, and even reading classic literature such as Moby Dick, The Secret Garden, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The game's progression is heavily reliant on real-world time rather than player skill or conventional game mechanics. For instance, a patch of moss may take two weeks to become soft enough for Shade to fall on safely, and mushrooms might need a full month to mature for in-game objectives. Stalactites will eventually fall to create new paths, and tunnels may collapse permanently, underscoring the game's deliberate pacing.
The game fosters an intimate and surreal experience, encouraging players to observe the environment's subtle changes over time. The idle mechanics allow players to assign Shade a task, close the game, and return days or weeks later to find it completed. If the game is kept open, Shade will sit idly, occasionally remarking on ambient sounds like dripping water.
Reception to The Longing is varied. On Steam, it holds a "Very Positive" rating, with some players expressing a deep connection to Shade, even restarting the game if they abandon it for too long. Others question the game's purpose, with one critic likening it to "Animal Crossing: Depressing Edition." The game offers exploration, dangers to avoid, and multiple endings, including one where the king is woken on time and others that are more ambiguous.
The Longing's appeal lies in its focus on the experience of waiting itself, elevating it from a mere passive element to the game's central theme. This approach has drawn comparisons to John Cage's 4'33", a musical piece consisting of silence, highlighting experiments in art that question attention spans and the nature of engagement in an era of rapid digital content consumption.
Despite its passive nature, players may find themselves checking in on Shade with a sense of curiosity and care, developing an unusual attachment to the character. The Longing is available on Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. Players who start the game now can expect a unique appointment to keep in the fall, with ample time to decorate Shade's home, witness geological events, and delve into extensive literary works.