too long don't care to read: it's less game and more experience and I recommend it on the basis that you get it on a sale or in a bundle.

Witch Stranding is full of atmosphere, from visuals to sound. A lot of the game is conveyed purely from being in the world. There is very little text, but it's well written and mostly between the lines. It adds to the mystique of it all, but doesn't make anything clearer. Most of the game is simply felt.

Especially through your movements. You only have your mousecursor, and you will move it around a lot. Quite strenuous on longer play sessions tbh. It is very tactile and a lot of the gameplay, as well as the feeling of your surroundings, is conveyed through your your movements. To me that's the biggest plus of Witch Stranding.

Unfortunately the game doesn't really give much feedback on what you're doing. Are you performing well? Are you on the right way? What should you do next? ... I couldn't figure it out.

I played the game for 3 hours, unlocked "the heart", couldn't find the witch and stopped playing at some point.
I started a new game (which deletes the previous save), played for another hour. I performed better by my own metric (ie less deaths, faster progress towards "the heart", more requests fullfilled), but I do not feel, like I am getting it now.

Actually it feels like it makes no difference at all. Helping the animals and reconstructing the structures, clearing hexes and brambles ...I am pretty sure the game doesn't care about anything of it. There is a clock tracking time, and when you die, time is sped up. A new day makes the animals move a few tiles, creates new requests and replenishes some items. But it doesn't seem to make any difference to the gameworld, or the witch ...or me. It's weird.

Despite being confused and not able to finish the game I am quite fond of the experience. My only gripe is, that it's way too expensive. The price generates an expectation that Witch Stranding can't fullfill.

too long don't care to read: it's less game and more experience and I recommend it on the basis that you get it on a sale or in a bundle. Witch Stranding is full of atmosphere, from visuals to sound. A lot of the game is conveyed purely from being in the world. There is very little text, but it's well written and mostly between the lines. It adds to the mystique of it all, but doesn't make anything clearer. Most of the game is simply felt. Especially through your movements. You only have your mousecursor, and you will move it around a lot. Quite strenuous on longer play sessions tbh. It is very tactile and a lot of the gameplay, as well as the feeling of your surroundings, is conveyed through your your movements. To me that's the biggest plus of Witch Stranding. Unfortunately the game doesn't really give much feedback on what you're doing. Are you performing well? Are you on the right way? What should you do next? ... I couldn't figure it out. I played the game for 3 hours, unlocked "the heart", couldn't find the witch and stopped playing at some point. I started a new game (which deletes the previous save), played for another hour. I performed better by my own metric (ie less deaths, faster progress towards "the heart", more requests fullfilled), but I do not feel, like I am getting it now. Actually it feels like it makes no difference at all. Helping the animals and reconstructing the structures, clearing hexes and brambles ...I am pretty sure the game doesn't care about anything of it. There is a clock tracking time, and when you die, time is sped up. A new day makes the animals move a few tiles, creates new requests and replenishes some items. But it doesn't seem to make any difference to the gameworld, or the witch ...or me. It's weird. Despite being confused and not able to finish the game I am quite fond of the experience. My only gripe is, that it's way too expensive. The price generates an expectation that Witch Stranding can't fullfill.