As I’ve gotten older, I don’t have the opportunity to game nearly as much as I did as a teenager or college student. I probably ill-spent too much of my youth playing video games, even though some of those games were steeped in lore, exploration, and critical thinking. Now I actually get paid to play video games with kids a week or two every summer!
Otherwise, I don’t game nearly as much as I used to, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I do enjoy the opportunity to revisit old favorites and try intriguing new games. My taste in games, like my taste in films, is eclectic, but increasingly inclined towards the experimental and quirky.
Enter The Longing, a 2020 indie game that has you controlling a tiny Shade who, after 400 days of waiting, must awaken the great, slumbering king of the underground. The king must sleep for 400 days in order to regain his strength, at which time he will “end all longing” forever.
In the meantime, the Shade keeps a lonely vigil—for 400, real-time days.
The Portly Politico 