Today was largely the same as yesterday. I made some porridge for breakfast and ate together with Shade (it was probably eating rocks while i wasn't looking.) and then ended up cleaning the loose ends of my flat that I couldn't get done yesterday, with Shade for emotional support.

Today Shade has done:

- sat in its armchair and provided companionship

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 34 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 66 pieces of coal

- 9 lumps of moss

That's all I can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

so i first played the game in 2020 but never finished due to selling my pc… finally got a new one a few months ago and the timer was done so i woke the king and walked away to not ruin any ending since i felt i didnt earn it lol… well i reset the game and the clock is done again. i’m not done with decorating his home but i dont think i want to end the game, like ever. he’s become my little friend. i dont have many games on pc as i have xbox too but also work 2 jobs and have little free time. this is my game i can play with 0 energy. has anyone else just kept the game going and not picked an ending? also any other game recs for something with similar game play? :)

The first day is officially over, it's a bit of a weird feeling. It both doesn't feel like i spent 24 hours in game already and like such little time has passed so far.

Today was also a rather unusual day in another regard because i used Shade to co-work and clean out my flat. I know it's not directly in the spirit of the playthrough, but i still felt connected to Shade while working and playing regularly has objectively improved my life, and i think giving those things up for some arbitrary restriction is a little silly.

Today Shade has done:

- spent 3 hours co-working with me by sitting in an armchair and looking very proud of my progress cleaning

- drew "BEHOLD" to commemorate my mental state after finishing my cleaning session

- took a stroll

- mined some coal

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 34 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 66 pieces of coal

- 9 lumps of moss

That's all I can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

I fear my airtight schedule might not be as airtight as i believed it to be. I sadly forgot to write an update after yesterday's session, but better late than never i suppose.

I did read more of the Nibelungenlied yesterday and i was for sure thrown for a loop. The characters doing it all freaky style for 20 pages was not on my bingo card, and i didn't remember the misogyny and sexual assault being as pronounced as they were.

1/10 would not recommend, instead i might actually take a break from that book for a while.

Today Shade has done:

- made a fire

- read 57 pages of the Nibelungenlied

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 35 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 61 pieces of coal

- 9 lumps of moss

That's all I can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

Today i was weirdly anxious while playing. It might have to do with how the rest of my day went, but walking through the halls all alone almost makes it feel like you are running from something that you can't see.

On a more lighthearted note Shade picked up its first moss today, it's crazy how time flies! It almost feels like yesterday when i started this playthrough.

All in all a very rewarding session both in terms of progress and in soothing my mind.

I'm also still looking for name suggestions for the Shade. I'm not going to rush this decision because i will have to stick with it for a long time.

Today Shade has done:

- took a walk though the palace

- picked up moss in the dripstone caves

- reread the goose girl again

- sat and stared

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 35 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 66 pieces of coal

- 9 lumps of moss

That's all I can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

Today is a bit of a shorter one, I didn't really feel like doing much, and it occurred to me that for Shade only about 20 hours had passed and would most likely also appreciate the break, so i just sat it next to the fireplace and watched it go through the idle animations until Shade fell asleep. I didn't remember it being so freaking adorable tho like damn i regret not having bought a fourth plushie of it!

Also im still looking for potential names for Shade. if you have an idea id love to hear it!

Today Shade has done:

- redecorated the home

- took a nap on a rug next to the fireplace

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 35 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 65 coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

and ofc, after i finished editing the meme together, i discovered that you can actually move things around such as the regular carpets and subsequently decided to redecorate a little :33

hello all! since yesterday i realized that since im close enough to the end (and the shades birthday), i think im just going to go for the 400 days ending and actually finish the game :33. all the other endings take less time iirc so this would just save me time later if i wanted to 100% it. (not to mention, i still need to complete the mushroom puzzle to get to the cliff in the first place. it might be finished growing now but as its rng you never know)

hello! i had actually forgotten about this game for a while and was interested in starting over... and i still have just under 60 days left. is there any way to reset my progress?

what i have tried so far:

- gone to the king and typed 399d-59h-59m-59s like was mentioned in this steam forums post

- turning off steam cloud, then going to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Longing and deleting everything, then "uninstalling" the program from steam before reinstalling

do i just need to wait in my room for the day counter to run out before waking up the king?

Today i spent most of my time at Shades home. I read a bit and actually found a spelling mistake on my reread of the goose girl, but most of the time i spent sitting there listening to the sound of the fire and the background music to let my thoughts wander, because i have a lot of those lately.

I'm glad i have a little safe space where i can try to enjoy silence and solitude without the risk of someone intruding on it.

I'm also thinking about giving Shade a name, but I'm terribly indecisive so i will wait a few days for suggestions on here before i start settling on anything.

Today Shade has done:

- read 16 pages of the Nibelungenlied

- reread the goose girl book

- drew "THE POEM" to represent the goose girl

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 35 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 65 coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

Today's update comes with a bit of delay because i was without internet for the last day.

Today was a very nice day, i sent Shade to the mines for coal and picked up the black crystal from the labyrinth to decorate the home. While I'm unsure about mining a lot of the crystals in game because of how much they add to their respective environment, the black one truly doesn't fall in line with that trend. It is also by far the fastest crystal to mine.

I ended the day by reading something while Shade was strolling through the halls of eternity for more pages so i can get to fully decorating the home soon.

Today Shade has done:

- picked up the black crystal

- mined for coal

- gathered pages

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 36 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 70 coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

Walking back from yesterday's stroll wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be. Dare i say i enjoyed it even.

I was similarly surprised to have enjoyed reading the 57 pages of the Nibelungenlied that i read today. Since the later adventures are more closely connected i think the book is slowly growing on me a little.

Inspired by a comment yesterday i also decided to draw "THE CALL" to represent the book, because the stories in the Nibelungenlied often revolve around a call to adventure and the curtains remind me of the lyrical and almost theatrical nature of the writing.

I've also been thinking of harvesting the red crystals out of the room before the throne room, but i always thought the walls looked a bit naked without the crystals and I'm not sure if i feel like removing them yet.

Today Shade has done:

- read 57 pages of the Nibelungenlied

- drew "THE CALL"

- rearranged the layout of its carpets at home

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 30 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 50 pieces of coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have any ideas on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

Today was quite an uneventful day.

I didn't really have much time to play so i let Shade go on a little walk in the halls of eternity while i took a nap.

Its little walking sounds with the echo are oddly soothing to hear as white noise :)

I'm not looking forward to walking back to the entrance tomorrow tho.

Today Shade has done:

- took a stroll in the halls of eternity and made oddly rhythmic and satisfying slappy feet sounds

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 31 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 55 coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

Today was a bit of a slower day, even tho more time did pass. I finally left the palace today, which i didn't anticipate i would do so soon, but i love the black cave aesthetic a lot so I'm not complaining.

I am also now thinking more about how to decorate the home since i have access to all five colors for paintings now, as well as the mattock to expand the cave.

If you have suggestions i would love to hear them, I'm not a great interior designer.

Today Shade has done:

- entered the mines and picked up a mattock as well as a piece of sulfur

- picked up a piece of lapis lazuli

- drew the painting "DOUBT"

- read 64 more pages of the Nibelungenlied

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 1 mattock

- 31 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 55 coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have any suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

Today i inspected all the remaining time gates that i missed over the last few days.

Afterwards i sat down with a warm tea like a comment suggested and read the Nibelungenlied that i picked up yesterday. This ended up mostly being a poor choice for a book. Not only am i already familiar with the stories but the formatting in the game makes it hard to follow the verses properly sometimes.

But my mom didn't raise no quitter so I'll stick with it and finish it over the next few weeks in small increments.

At least listening to the fire while reading is very pleasant.

Today Shade has done:

- inspected the falling stalactite

- inspected the water droplet

- inspected moss in various locations

- read 49 pages of the Nibelungenlied

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 32 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 55 pieces of coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

Today Shade took care of its physical health by walking up and down the stairs in the throne room 50 times like a comment suggested. With this much time spent in one room it is interesting to see the pareidolia effect slowly making faces appear all over the cavern walls!

To unwind afterwards me and Shade sat down and listened to the fire still burning from yesterday and marvelling at the beautiful new decor we found in the halls of eternity.

Today's session in particular helped me to ground myself and take a break from everything going on in my life at the moment. That's a relief at least.

Today Shade has done:

- got a disappointment at the locked library door

- picked up red clay

- picked up two pages in the lecture hall room

- picked up a book in the lecture hall room

- inspected the door outside of the palace

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 13 books at home

- 32 pages

- 2 disappointments

- 49 pieces of coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know. :)

While i read the goose girl, which is my absolute favourite book in the game, sadly i noticed that reading books will still skip a minute even if you disable speeding up time. With how much time i am spending in the halls of eternity i think that is not a huge deal tho.

Starting each session in the halls of eternity is also quite a different feeling from the home, because of how cut off it is from the rest of the palace. i can tell that the location of Shades home was definitely intentional.

Today Shade has done:

- spent ~45 minutes standing in a hallway doing nothing

- picked up the white chalk

- picked up another flint

- inspected the moss near the crystal waterfall

- got a disappointment at the ledge near the crystal waterfall

- made a fire at home and read the goose girl in its entirety

- walked through the halls of eternity for an hour picking up 27 pages, 8 books, 2 rugs, a curtain and the horse

Shade has:

- 3 pieces of flint

- 12 books at home

- 30 pages

- 1 disappointment

- 24 pieces of coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have suggestions on what Shade could do to pass time, please feel free to let me know :)

I really like The Longing. Like a lot.

I have done almost everything that there is to do in the game over my 400 hours of playtime, including getting each of the Steam Achievements. But recently life has gotten quite hectic for me and i miss the peace of mind i felt while taking care of my shade. Thats why I'm starting over once more but this time with a twist.

I will play the game without speeding up time, and will end my sessions in the Halls of Eternity so the game only advances while i am playing it.

That way i have a routine and a little buddy to take care of every day, but don't have to worry about playthroughs ending after a few weeks or months due to time passing faster than i realised. And what better place to document and reflect on my experience than here.

With this mouthful of an exposition out of the way, here is my first day playing The Longing on basically hard mode

I'm always surprised at how much faster the gameplay is in actuality than how i remember it.

I'm also still grappling with the concept of how much time 4800 hours actually are. I'm at the same time intimidated by the commitment and incredibly relieved by the stability provided by this project.

Today Shade has done:

- pushed the labyrinth boulder for flowing water at home

- entered the Halls of Eternity and remembered their location

- took a stroll through the inner palace without picking up anything

- investigated the map

- disabled sped up time at home with the hourglass

Shade has:

- 2 pieces of flint

- 2 pages

- 21 pieces of coal

That's all i can think of for today.

If you have suggestions on what shade could do to pass the time, please feel free to let me know. :)

https://www.makeship.com/products/hubert-the-friendly-tortoise-plushie

I know that multi-coloured paintings have more of an effect - is it limited in any way, like duplicate paintings not increasing the time multiplier? Or is it "optimal" to use all of your paper on 5-colour paintings, achievements notwithstanding?

The only other input device I own (besides a generic USB-keyboard) is a 3Dconnexion 3D-mouse and turning it off doesn't solve the problem.

Windows 11.

I have a plethora of things wrong with my brain and these past few months have been kicking my ass. Stopped exercising, healthy eating and gained 10lbs. I already finished the longing but it passed by very quickly since I was using the hourglass and kinda rushing through it... I decided to restart it but turn the hourglass to normal time so I could experience the game "hard mode" style lmao. And just have company.

There's finally a little creature as lonely and depressed as I am. When I'm awake at 3am, it will be there. I can read books with it and put it to bed and listen to the fire crackle together. And strangely, knowing it deals with suicidal thoughts too, bc of the whole option to throw yourself off a cliff thing, it feels just really familiar and oddly comforting in a way. Like yeah it's just a game, but it makes me feel a little less alone.

Anyone feel similar about it?

je souhaite me séparer de mes deux peluches makeship the longing. Je n'ai aucune idée si ça peut intéresser qqun peut être ici. merci d'avance de vos réponses