THE LONGING
DEVELOPER STUDIO SEUFZ • PRICE TBA • RELEASE 5TH MARCH, 2020 https://store.steampowered.com/app/893850/THE_LONGING/
I’m pretty sure The Longing has broken my 9 year old’s brain. “Mum, what are you doing in this game, exactly?” he asks. “I’m waiting for 400 days to pass, in real life.” I reply. “Wait, what?” As usual, he’s incredulous. “So, in 400 days, like around February, 2021, I have to wake the king.” “WAIT, WHAT?!” “He needs to regain his power and that’s how long it’ll take.” “And that’s it?” “Well, I can explore, but I don’t have to. Sometimes I’ll find a piece of coal and, if I have 5, I can make a fire. It burns for a few (real life) hours and then stops.” “WAAAIT, WHAAAT?!?”
I’m not confused by his confusion, because the game speaks to the weary, mature part of me. I have a room where I can make music (if I can find components to assemble an instrument.) There’s a bookshelf and I’m part ways through Thus Spake Zarathustra, which has always fascinated me (after studying Strauss’ tone poem of the same name) but never quite enough to actually read it. Why am I reading it in a game? It’s as noble a pursuit as any, for entirely unstructured time. The Longing is an escapist fantasy for adults with responsibilities.
It’s also an intrusive thoughts simulator. To the right of my room, the king slumbers in a grand chamber. The music depicts power and anticipation, through the use of wide, compound chords, perhaps inviting me to wake him early. It’s a constant, looping climax. If I woke the king now (and the game ended badly), I’d lose six weeks from the clock. What if I can’t resist waking him on day 350? What if my kids play without my permission and WAKE HIM? (I’m glad I didn’t think to wake him in the first 5 mins of play. The tension of not knowing is incredible.)
Equally tense and unknowable is the amazing “Eternity”. I found this bright and beautiful place at the end of a complex tunnel system. A sign reads “Only a fool tries to reach the end of Eternity”. Did I start trying to reach the end of Eternity? Of course I did. I have hundreds of days and no commitments, so why not? A short way into my journey I got a sense things felt wrong. I looked at the clock. It had stopped. I immediately started back towards the entrance in a panic. Failure, curiosity, sunk costs. My son may not be able to relate to these yet. I certainly can.
Another thing the average 9 year old doesn’t appreciate, in life or as a gamer, is patience. As well as a maddeningly slow, enforced walking pace, and doors that take minutes to open, I found a cliff that was too dangerous to climb down. My character noticed moss growing at the bottom. I came back two (real life) weeks later, for a soft landing and new areas to explore. Thankfully, once you’ve found a place, you can remember it and walk back automatically. This still takes time, so I often have The Longing open in a window while my character walks.
Overall, I’m finding this unusual idle game fascinating, even if my son is still coming around to it.
He had a couple more questions that were actually very thought provoking. “What happens if you forget to wake the king on Day 400?” I’ve now marked it on our family calendar. “What if you find a way to leave the caves?” It’s hinted that this is possible, yet forbidden. Given my avatar’s lonely life and unquestioningly servile manner, I suspect this choice may be extremely difficult to make, as the final deadline approaches. Start now and you won’t be far behind.
I’m not confused by his confusion, because the game speaks to the weary, mature part of me..