Witch Strandings

Cared for a frog and a fox. Made a path through some brambles. Pleasant.

I was going to recommend playing this game (if you use a controller instead of the mouse, cause it is actually painful to play) but then after trying to get the achievements and using a controller every minute or so a pop up comes up saying 'Lower your sensitivity' and completely freezes you for 10 seconds. And that ♥♥♥♥ is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stupid, ah yes more carpal tunnel developer. ♥♥♥♥ you. If you want to see what I originally had to say after finishing it (using a mouse instead) you can read it below. But straight up don't play this. It is not worth it. Pretty short exploration game with cool graphics and things. Would put it around a 6/10 if it wasn't for the controls. Instead of traditional WASD or Arrow Keys, your mouse is your controller. where if you move it up you move up. For the beginning it's cool, and with the added tiles of water having it drift and such. But all of that goes away after 20 minutes when your arm is sore from constantly moving it up and then re-shifting it all the while holding left click to hold an item to give to someone on the opposite side of the map. And then 90% of the tiles all they do is slow you down which means you need to move your mouse faster or you'll die and all I feel after this is for my mouse that had me slam it countless times trying to move fast. The ending was also okay, but i wasnt really reading anything so who knows

Very short, unique experience. Not procedural. My first playthrough, I got the good ending and helped all creatures at least 5 times (for the achievements) in about 90 minutes. It was an enjoyable experience, but felt over too quick. I also ran into an issue where the game wanted me to bring an object to the witch, but turned off the fast travel system. I had no idea where the witch was and suddenly unlocking new areas of the map was 10x as difficult, which was very annoying. Hopefully they'll change that so fast travel is only disabled while carrying the heart. My second playthrough, to get the achievement for killing the witch took about 10 minutes. I had assumed this map would be generated proceduraly, but it is not. Everything is in the same location, making subsequent playthrough negligible in difficulty, because you know where all the hazards, waypoints, and items are found. I still recommend the game as I enjoyed what little time I had with it. But if I'd known what I know now, I probably would have waited for a sale to pick this game up. If the developer adds random maps in the future, it could greatly improve replayability. Right now, the only long-term use of Witch Strandings would be speedrunning the single map.

For what the game is I did enjoy myself. This pixelated forest oozes character and atmosphere, and the mouse-only gameplay *is* engaging. But I was, apparently, confused by what the general understanding of a strand-type game is. I thought strand games included a sort of indirect cooperation with other players, through things appearing in your world like items or messages or already-built paths. Other people out there indirectly communicating to you with little signs and indications that they were there, and you're not alone. I read an article about what the creators of this game consider a strand-type game, Nurturing, Transportation, and Physicality. Witch Strandings definitely delivers on this front, but it's missing that interaction with a larger world. "A digital forest that extends beyond the boundaries of your screen"? I'm not sure I see it. I know this review sounds negative, but this game *is* very good. I think it's an interesting concept executed very well, and it's very well put together. It'd be worth your time and engagement with the unique systems at play here.

Unique concept, could be fleshed out more with more things to do / discover / secrets / etc. As it stands, I bought it played it for bit to try it out, saved to really get into it later and discovered that I had made pretty sizable progress into the game. It's a cool concept, and I enjoy it, but 15 dollars is a little too much to ask imo, this is more of a five dollar game with the size and type of content currently available.

Absolutely amazing and unique experience. Way you explore the forest and slowly put together stories of it's dwellers as you meet them build really disturbing and exciting adventure. Cannot forget about music which beautifully wrap whole ambience of the game together. My life felt full when boffee machine noticed my presence ☕🧈

Enjoyable strand game. Multiple game paths, many characters to help. Could use a nice hot cup of boffee. I think I'm still missing a secret though?

Short, straight to the point, unique movement system and very atmospheric. Took me less than to hours to beat, but you shouldn't go in expecting a long experience, just a nice and atmospheric one. Would love to see this idea iterated on into a more complex game. I got the "good ending" and I'm gonna go online to look up the other endings now!

It's a sweet, simple game. Haunting. The game play it's self is simple, find lost souls and give them what they need to heal. But it's almost scary in that i find myself worried I'm going to kill myself by accidentally wandering into a death tile. All my deaths were accidents in this game. I think that's interesting. It really pays to take your time, however, take too long and the day may rollover and the soul will move and want something different than what you crossed the map to bring. I got actually scared and and nervous the deeper I went into the forest, hoping I was going the right way. Pros: great game to play while watching a movie or tv show you've seen before or while talking to a friend. You need to pay attention, but the game play is calm enough you can take your eyes away. Rewarding. You spend most of the game only being able to drag an object, once you access the controls to have an inventory, its so freeing. There was this definite power jump that made all the work feel worth it. Cons: It got tiring to play with a trackpad on my laptop. The game is definitely set up for a mouse. I had to crank my sensitivity up to lower the stress on my hand, but I ended up hitting water and shooting directly into a death tile, so there is a balance to be made for trackpad users. I really wish there was a map. I know that the point probably was to be lost and confused just like your character and then you slowly learned where to go and where stuff is, but a map could have helped me a lot. I would absolutely play it again.

Thoughtful game that knows exactly what it wants out of a player. Get lost traversing a scarred forest and build a pathway back to the heart of the woods. Help the lost souls trapped with you in this dark landscape and come to terms with your role as steward. Play as a meditation on connection and community not as a list of goals to be finished.