Factsheet
Developer:
STUDIO SEUFZ
Based in Stuttgart, Germany
Publisher:
Application Systems Heidelberg
Based in Heidelberg, Germany
Website:
399d-23h-59m-59s.com
Press / Business Contact:
xoxo@studioseufz.com
Social:
facebook.com/studioseufz
instagram.com/studio_seufz
twitter.com/AnselmPyta
Platforms:
Steam (PC/MAC/Linux)
GOG (PC/MAC/Linux)
Nintendo Switch
Release Date:
5th of March, 2020 (PC/MAC/Linux)
14th of April, 2021 (Nintendo Switch)
Genre:
Idle, Adventure, Indie
Description
THE LONGING is an unusual mix of an adventure and an idle-game. The player controls a Shade, who is told to keep watch of a sleeping King for 400 days until he awakens. The catch: These 400 days start to count down in real-time.The player will be completely on his own, in a giant underground cavern. Do you simply want to wait? Do you want to build a home for yourself? Do you want to find a way out of the cave? Over time, parts of the cave change – moss and mushrooms grow, spiders craft their webs, water is dropping from the ceiling, stalactites break and fall. It's a game about loneliness, escapism and the eternal search for purpose.
Concept
THE LONGING is a unique, slow-paced experience which makes excessive use of time as a game mechanic. The player only receives one task: to wait. But there are various ways how to play the game that the players will need to figure out themselves: You can speed up the time by collecting items in the cave and putting them in your underground living room. Or you can try to escape from the cave by taking the dark and dangerous path to the top. There are a number of obstacles the player has to overcome, each of them using the concept of time differently. You have to let a spider craft its web, which lasts days, or plant mushrooms in the right spots to let them grow bigger.
No matter how the player wants to play the game, THE LONGING guarantees a unique experience far from the hyperactive offers of today's entertainment. Unlike any other art form, games can make extensive use of time to tell stories - an idea that hasn't been explored enough yet. The game deals with the feelings of solitude and longing, which make their way into the players' hearts in combination with the overlong duration of the experience.
Trivia
THE LONGING was heavily inspired by the German Kyffhäuser legend, where a King under a mountain is waiting for the right time to awaken; The story is also described in a famous poem by Friedrich Rückert. Part of the graphics are a hint to the real Kyffhäuser caves and the 6.5-metre-tall Barbarossa sculpture.
In the game you can read real, complete books, mostly classics of world literature obtained from Project Gutenberg.
The music and the atmosphere of the game are inspired by dungeon synth music, an obscure subgenre of dark ambient and black metal.
Games that served as influence or comfort: Clicker Heroes, Arx Fatalis, Desert Bus, Tamagotchi, Dear Esther.
Other inspirations: David Firth, The Moomins, German Lore.
Awards

Nominee, Nuovo Award @IGF 2020


Winner, Long Feature Award @A Maze.2019


Special Mention, Animated Games Award Germany 2019


Winner, "Best Debut" @Deutscher Computerspielpreis 2020


Winner, Innovation in Games Award @Ludicious 2020

Videos
Images
easier to download: dropbox-link to all images










































If you have specific requests, please do contact us!
The Studio

STUDIO SEUFZ (En: "Studio Sigh”) was founded in 2017 by Stefan Michel, Benedikt Hummel and Anselm Pyta, all alumni of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, with the goal to create unique animations and games with soul. Anselm Pyta and Benedikt Hummel know each other since school; Their free-to-play games like LUCKY TOWER, LUCKY TOWER 2 or MURDER (under their former moniker "exotworking") were played over 100 million times on the web.



The Team
Anselm Pyta
Art, Animation, Game Design, Sound, Scripting
Thomas Krüger
Code
Stefan Michel
Producer
Laura Brosi
Technical Artist
Jan Roth, Jürgen Härtenstein
Music/Sound Supervision
The game was supported by the MFG Baden-Württemberg.
It's based on Anselm Pyta's student project at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. www.animationsinstitut.de
Contact
Business Inquiries
xoxo@studioseufz.com
Facebook
facebook.com/studioseufz
Game Website
399d-23h-59m-59s.com
presskit() by Rami Ismail (Vlambeer) - also thanks to these fine folks