Dear inhabitants of the caves, Due to high demand for the original plushie, Makeship was kind enough to bring it back, again for a limited time only. They also started a campaign for new enamel pins of the Shade. Personally, I like the small pin of the Shade very much! The shipping for the pins is also a lot cheaper, in case you only want those. Here are the links for the campaigns: https://www.makeship.com/products/shade-enamel-pins https://www.makeship.com/products/shade-2-0-plushie So long, -Anselm

Dear cave inhabitants, The maintenance update that was previously accessible only via the beta branch is now available to all players. It mainly consists of small bug fixes accumulated over the last few years. We have also improved the anti-cheat system and removed the online-only constraint. The game can now be played offline on desktop, just like on all other devices (The Longing has been available on mobile and console for some time). Thank you for your help with testing! -Anselm P.S. The original Shade plushie will have a re-run next month.

Dear cave inhabitants, it has been some time since we released a maintenance update, for testing is always a complicated affair with this game. There have been a lot of small bug fixes accumulated over the last years, especially since the game was released for mobile devices and we optimised it for touch input. We also improved the anti-cheat and got rid of the online-only constraint. Now the game is also playable without internet on desktop, as on all other devices. However since Steam is the biggest player base for the game, this update will not be set live immediately but first via a beta access. If you're reading this, you can join the beta by taking the following steps: 1. Right-click on the game in library view 2. Choose Properties->Betas 3. Enter the secret code CaveSweetCave 4. Press "Check Code" and then opt into the longingupdate branch This will give you access to the newest version of the game. It would be great if many people joined this beta, so we know if there are still things we want to fix. After we're sure that the changes in the update are sufficient, we will then release it to all players. Important: If you still run into bugs after downloading this update, please comment directly under this news post so we know they are related to the new version. Thanks for your help! -Anselm

Hello folks, as many of you have noticed, Studio Seufz has been working on a new game for a few years now. For anyone interested, I'll talk a bit about what I and the studio have been up to: First off, The Longing was a very personal project of mine, where I handled all the game design, dialogues and (almost all) art exclusively. However, since the founding day of the studio we've had plans to make a sequel to our Lucky Tower game series, which was one of our first successful games (published on the web in 2010, hence the goofy name). It's quite different from "The Longing" and doesn't share many similarities at first sight, except maybe the art style and parts of the setting. It's a Roguelite/Adventure that comes from a place of fascination for medieval-themed dungeon-crawlers, "Ghost's And Ghouls," "Kid Paddle" comics, and Tomi Ungerer books. My dream with this game is to have something I can play myself and still be surprised, as the whole game is randomly generated. Also, I'm a very nostalgic person, and by going "back to the roots" and crafting a game that is like a game I'd have loved as a kid, I can fulfill another dream. Egotistical motivations, but if that still sounds like your cup of tea, you can check out the Steam page here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1700270/Lucky_Tower_Ultimate/
Currently, there's even a demo available as long as NextFest lasts. The full game will release this year and we're happy for everyone wishlisting it if you find it interesting in any way. All the best, Anselm

Dear inhabitants of the caves, I received many demands to make a new plushie. Today is the day! The new one is almost the same as the old plushie, with one major change: It's the happy version of the Shade, sporting its trademark smile. Alternatively, if you already own the previous Shade plush, you can use the new one to represent Angst/The Darkness.
The ordering works like a Kickstarter campaign: If enough people pre-order (200 pre orders are needed), the plushie will be produced. Else, everyone will get a refund. Here's the link to the shop: https://www.makeship.com/products/happy-shade-angst The campaign has started on January 2nd and will run for three weeks. Time is ever fleeting, so is the Shade plushie. After the campaign ends, there will be no way to buy them anymore. Let's hope we can make it again! -Anselm

Idle Games Variety Bundle

Cookie Clicker

The Longing

Placid Plastic Duck Simulator

Dear inhabitants of the caves, I received many demands for Longing merchandise over the years. We have now partnered with Canadian company Makeship to finally produce a Shade plushie! It will work a bit like a Kickstarter campaign: If enough people pre-order (200 pre orders are needed), the plushie will be produced. Else, everyone will get a refund. The campaign will start today (Friday the 27th) and will run for three weeks. Time is ever fleeting, so is the Shade plushie. After the campaign ends, there will be no way to buy them anymore. Here's the link to the shop: https://shop.makeship.com/3H3OuQ4 Let's hope we can make it, or even get to 400 Shades! -Anselm Below you can see some photographs of the plushie prototype:

The Longing on Steam Deck!

It has been a while, since the Steam version of THE LONGING has received any updates. This was mainly due to the fact that the game was ported to other platforms, like the Nintendo Switch. When I first started making the game I used ancient technology like Unity 5, so our publisher ASH had the terrifying task to overhaul the game technically in many aspects, making it smoother to play and hopefully fit for the future on PC as well! To add something more fun to this update, I also decided to finally add trading cards, since they actually fit quite nicely with the waiting concept. Here are all of the updates listed:

• Controller support added. In case you always wanted to walk through caves with a joystick.
• Small UI update for menues and the waypoint selection, since they didn't work with a controller before.
• Japanese added as a new language. After all, we owe a lot to them.
• 1.5 GB reduction in file size due to better compression. This is also the main reason for the relatively big download size of the update, but it will actually save disk space on your machine.
• Support of many different aspect ratios, like 4:3 or 16:10 and support of 4k full screen resolutions.
• Steam Trading Cards, for the weary at heart.
• Various bug fixes and probably new bugs as well.
• Dreaming doesn't skip an extra hour any more to prevent lock-ins inside the hidden door.
• Overall better performance.

Digging the Earth Bundle

Mutropolis has launched

• one of the best adventure games that have appeared in recent years - 100/100 itc.ua, Yuri Melkov
• An enjoyable adventure and a first class debut for Pirita Studio - 85/100 ragequit.gr, George Dembegiotis
• Exciting detective story with great characters and lots of love for archaeology. - 75/100 4players.de, Maja Verfondern
• Mutropolis is an absolute recommendation for any point-and-click lover. - 8/10 indieplanet.de, Christina Knauf
• interesting puzzles, good humor and a good audio/visual setting 9/10 forum.przygodomania.pl, Urszula Kuchmistrz
• a good choice for all fans of point-and-click and logic games 92/100 omegascopio.com.br, Julia Barcelos

Book Converter After the release, we promised to have translations of the books and finally we have found a solution: Players can now upload and download custom books via the Steam Workshop of The Longing. This doesn't change the number of books in the game, but you can replace the ones you found with different ones, for example translations in your language. Of course there is a limited number of books in the workshop as of now, since it's quite impossible for us to find translations in every language. You can find the instructions of how to up- and download HERE. We are thankful for every player, who uploads new translations and texts to the public library and helps to spread the beauty of literature. Small changes Aside from this, there is some new content and bug fixes in the game with this new update, albeit nothing too special. For example golden coins now show up in the home cave, although they are still rather useless, and the "face" has some new wisdom to share.

Dear players, I am quite impressed with the reception of the game so far. When I started it in my cave back in 2014, I made it just for myself. But it's quite heartwarming to see so many people enjoying the game for what it is. As a result, I got motivated to add some more stuff in, so I decided to work on some of the things I abandoned before release. You can consider these (early) "Easter eggs". With this update, which should download automatically, there are finally enough books in the game to fill the shelves entirely. They will appear throughout the caves after enough time has passed. Most are not that hard to find. There are some new items to put in your home: for example, you can learn to weave carpets made out of moss. The other things will be left to you to find out. Of course, the update also includes several bug fixes (and probably new bugs as well...). For example, the flipping of crystals is finally saved correctly. Also achievements should now hopefully work on all Macs. Regarding the translation of books, we are still working on a neat Steam Workshop integration, where you can download/upload translations or new texts in your native languages and replace the ones in the game with them. This should be done hopefully sometime this month. Oh, and we have finally managed to release the soundtrack! It features original tracks made by Lord Redstone for the game and various old tracks by other dungeon synth artists, such as Vindkaldr, Erang, Spectral Kingdom, Erdstall and Dungeontroll: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1275730/THE_LONGING__Soundtrack/ Greetings from isolation, Anselm
PS: If you have finished the game already and want to jump back in to find the easter-eggs, there is most likely a way to restore your old save. I will give instructions for this via email: anselm.pyta@studioseufz.com

After a few hundred days of waiting, we finally have a release date for the game: It will be the 5th of March, which is in approximately 52 days. We are also proud to announce that the game has been nominated for an IGF Award in the "Nuovo" (innovation) category. Oh, and you can watch a new trailer here: [previewyoutube=Fp-CUEB0H_c;full][/previewyoutube]

Today marks the 400-day anniversary of this Steam page. A good date to post some news: First, we like to announce that THE LONGING now has a publisher, namely Application Systems Heidelberg! This cooperation will result in more in-game languages (soon-to-be added), ports to Mac and Linux and an overall better product. Since we get asked similar questions all the time, here is a short FAQ regarding the game: Q: Do I have to leave the game and computer running for 400 days? No. You can quit the game and you can switch the computer off. Time will inevitably pass inside the game nonetheless. Q: Do I really have to play for 400 days? No, you could actually start the game once and come back after 400 days to find out how it ends, but you would miss a lot. Also remember that time is subjective and can feel a lot shorter if you learn to keep yourself occupied. Q: What happens after 400 days? We won't tell you. However, there are multiple endings and not every one of them might involve waiting for 400 days. Q: Is this game an adventure game? It is, in the sense that there are puzzles that you can solve. There are items to collect and you can do stuff with them. But you don't have to. There is a ton of well hidden content that you can discover if you like. And of course there is a story. Puzzles are often time based, as you would expect in a game like this. Q: What is a time based puzzle? Obstacles in the game need time to be overcome. If you want to climb up somewhere, it might involve waiting for a drop to fill up a pit or waiting for a spider to craft a web. Q: Why is the character so slow and is there a way to make him walk faster? The game is about time and loneliness. It is not about speed. But you can save waypoints and walk there automatically. Just quit the game and come back later, or watch the character take a stroll. Q: Is this a Tamagotchi game? It is and it isn't. You want to take good care of the lonely shade and you may start to like it, but you don't have to feed it. It is a shade so it'll not starve to death. Q: When is this game going to be released??! We still don't have a release date yet, since this new cooperation with the publisher will take some time to bear its fruits. Please keep in mind that this still is a one-man project at large. Patience will pay off after all. And you won't have to wait for another 400 days...