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.

EDIT: The funding goal has been reached, so the plushie will definitely get made!

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

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!
Edit: We have over 400 orders already, so the Plush is definitely going to be made!

-Anselm

Below you can see some photographs of the plushie prototype:

Great news: The Longing is now fully compatible with the gamepad of the Steam Deck and all necessary adjustments for font readability and playability have been made. The game can also be played with touch.

Furthermore, a Polish translation was added to the game. Big thanks to the fans Jakub (OD-Jake), Michał and Filip who have invested a lot of time to make that happen!

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.

This update will not change your experience with the game in any significant way, but it will fix some technical issues and hopefully make for a pleasant addition in combination with the trading cards.

So long!
Anselm

In The Longing, a Shade digs his way through an underground cavern labyrinth. He's taking his time. Why? Because he's got 400 days of real time to hand.
Despite living in the 50th century, Henry (Mutropolis) is old-fashioned and prefers a good old trowel for his archaeological adventures. But rare treasures are not all he will dig up!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/18084/Digging_the_Earth_Bundle/

MUTROPOLIS is a lovely sci-fi adventure set on the abandoned Planet Earth. Play as Henry Dijon (hero, nerd, detective) in search of a legendary lost city. Uncover weird ancient artifacts. And PLEASE don’t get obliterated by an ageless evil. You’ve been warned.

After five years of hard work by Bea and Pablo (Pirita Studio, Madrid) the new mystery point & click adventure Mutropolis finally has launched. Here are some reactions by the press the product has received:

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

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.