Polygon just re-highlighted Studio Seufz’s oddball masterpiece, and the pitch still lands: The Longing hands you a Shade in an underground kingdom and tells you the king wakes in 400 real days. You can wait. You can wander. You can read the entirety of Moby-Dick in-game. The clock keeps running even when the game is closed. Nothing else on PC plays quite like it, but a few games chase the same feeling of quiet patience, careful looking, and time that refuses to be rushed. Here are seven The Longing alternatives worth installing on Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Why people look past The Longing
The Longing is intentionally singular. Once you finish (or abandon) the wait, the itch is real:
- The 400 days ended. The best moments were the small routines. You want a new game with the same slow rhythm, not another 400-day commitment.
- You want more actual gameplay. The Longing’s point-and-click layer is thin on purpose. Some players want atmosphere with more mechanics attached.
- You want the loneliness without the timer. The mood of quiet exploration hits, but you would rather set your own pace than have Studio Seufz set it for you.
- You want story with the same weight. The king, the Shade, the caves. That fable-like tone is rare. A few games get close.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Price (approx.) | Longing similarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Route Zero | Slow, contemplative adventure | ~$25 | Very high |
| A Short Hike | Calm, self-paced exploration | ~$8 | High |
| Yume Nikki | Dreamlike wandering and loneliness | Free | High |
| NEO Scavenger | Patient real-time survival | ~$15 | Medium-high |
| Universal Paperclips | Idle progression, quiet obsession | ~$2 | Medium |
| Anodyne | Surreal dream exploration | ~$10 | Medium |
| Outer Wilds | Patient discovery, wide silence | ~$25 | Medium |
The 7 best The Longing alternatives on PC
Kentucky Route Zero, best for slow adventure
Kentucky Route Zero (Cardboard Computer, 2013-2020) is the closest match on this list. It is a magical realist point-and-click told in five acts, and every scene lingers. Conversations set their own tempo, camera moves are deliberate, and the game treats silence as content. You can put it down mid-scene, come back a week later, and pick up the mood exactly where you left it. That is very Longing.
Where it falls short: No time pressure at all. The Longing’s ticking clock is part of the tension; Kentucky Route Zero removes it entirely.
Pricing:
- Paid only, no free tier
- Around $25 on Steam and GOG for the TV Edition (all five acts)
- vs The Longing: similar price bracket, no real-time waiting
Bottom line: The pick if you loved how The Longing treated time, atmosphere, and small human moments as the whole point.
A Short Hike, best for a calm afternoon
A Short Hike (Adamgryu, 2019) is what The Longing feels like when the sun is up. You are a bird climbing a national park mountain. That is the game. You can rush the summit in an hour or spend six wandering, fishing, and helping other hikers. It has the same low-stakes rhythm and the same reward for looking around instead of chasing goals.
Where it falls short: Warm and social where The Longing is cold and solitary. If you loved the underground loneliness specifically, this is the opposite tone.
Pricing:
- No free tier
- Around $8 on Steam and itch.io
- vs The Longing: much cheaper, much shorter
Bottom line: Best palate cleanser after The Longing. Same permission to move slowly, warmer light.
Yume Nikki, best for dreamlike loneliness
Yume Nikki (Kikiyama, 2004, freely re-released on Steam in 2018) is a wander-and-collect exploration game about a shut-in girl’s dreams. There is no combat, no dialogue, and the world map is enormous and mostly quiet. You pinch yourself to wake up. You go back in. The mood is dread and curiosity in equal parts, which is a very specific The Longing frequency.
Where it falls short: No structure. Yume Nikki gives you no guidance, no waypoints, no clear end state. Some players find that liberating; others bounce off within an hour.
Pricing:
- Free on Steam
- vs The Longing: free vs paid, similar hours if you commit
Download: Steam
Bottom line: Pick this if the specific pull was atmosphere plus solitude plus a world that does not explain itself.
NEO Scavenger, best for patient real-time survival
NEO Scavenger (Blue Bottle Games, 2014) is a turn-based post-apocalyptic survival game that rewards reading, planning, and long silences between decisions. Every hex takes a while. Every fight is more setup than swing. You spend real minutes deciding how to boil water or field-dress a wound, and the game respects that time investment.
Where it falls short: Punishing. Where The Longing lets you fail forward, NEO Scavenger will kill you for a bad night of shelter. Save-scumming is discouraged by design.
Pricing:
- No free tier
- Around $15 on Steam and GOG, often on sale
- vs The Longing: similar price, much steeper learning curve
Bottom line: Right pick if The Longing’s daily-routine loop was the hook and you want that loop to have real consequence.
Universal Paperclips, best for idle obsession
Universal Paperclips (Frank Lantz, 2017) started as a browser game and now has a Steam release that adds cloud saves and quality-of-life touches. It is an idle game that turns into something else, then something else again. You are not asked to wait 400 days, but you are asked to leave the tab open for hours, and the payoff is one of the most memorable narrative arcs in idle-game history.
Where it falls short: No atmosphere in the visual sense. Everything is text and buttons. If you came to The Longing for the pixel-art caves, this is aesthetically bare.
Pricing:
- Free in the browser at decisionproblem.com/paperclips
- Around $2 on Steam for the enhanced version
- vs The Longing: much cheaper, similar patience
Bottom line: Pick this if the idle progression and quiet compulsion of The Longing hooked you more than the caves did.
Anodyne, best for surreal exploration
Anodyne (Analgesic Productions, 2013) is a top-down Zelda-alike set inside a stranger’s dreams. The environments shift tone constantly, from suburban lawn to underground dungeon to abstract void, and the game encourages you to sit inside each area rather than rush the objective. It has the same “what is this place, actually” texture that The Longing’s caves have.
Where it falls short: Combat and puzzle sections are more traditional than The Longing’s non-mechanics. Some players want no gameplay in their mood pieces; Anodyne is not that.
Pricing:
- No free tier
- Around $10 on Steam and itch.io
- vs The Longing: cheaper, more interactive
Bottom line: Pick this if you want the dreamlike side of The Longing with a bit more to do minute-to-minute.
Outer Wilds, best for patient discovery
Outer Wilds (Mobius Digital, 2019) puts you in a small solar system that resets every 22 real-time minutes. The game is entirely about looking, reading logs, and connecting dots at your own pace. It shares The Longing’s respect for the player’s attention and its refusal to spoon-feed. The universe waits for you to notice what it has already shown you.
Where it falls short: The 22-minute loop can feel opposite to The Longing’s expansive time. And once you know the answer to a puzzle, you know it forever, so replays are less mysterious.
Pricing:
- No free tier
- Around $25 on Steam, plus a $15 Echoes of the Eye expansion
- vs The Longing: similar price, much larger scope
Bottom line: Pick this if The Longing taught you to enjoy quiet, patient noticing and you want a world that rewards that attention with a real story.
How to pick the right one
Short version, name names:
- If you loved the tone and atmosphere most, get Kentucky Route Zero.
- If you want the same feeling without a time commitment, get A Short Hike.
- If the isolation was the pull and the caves the aesthetic, get Yume Nikki (it is free).
- If you want the daily-routine loop with real consequence, get NEO Scavenger.
- If the idle-and-wait was the hook, get Universal Paperclips.
- If you want the dream logic with a bit more gameplay, get Anodyne.
- If quiet exploration with a real payoff sounds right, get Outer Wilds.
There is no direct replacement for The Longing. Nothing else is exactly it. But if the mood keeps calling you back, one of these seven is where to go next.
FAQ
Is there another game like The Longing? Kentucky Route Zero comes closest in mood, and Yume Nikki matches the loneliness. Nothing else replicates the 400-day timer.
Are any The Longing alternatives free? Yume Nikki is free on Steam. Universal Paperclips is free in the browser. Both hit different parts of The Longing’s appeal.
Does The Longing have a sequel? No. Studio Seufz has released other games (browser-based experiments, short pieces), but no direct sequel is announced.
What’s the shortest game on this list? A Short Hike, comfortably. You can see credits in an hour if you rush; most players spend three to five.
What’s the best The Longing alternative for Mac and Linux? Kentucky Route Zero, A Short Hike, and Universal Paperclips all ship native Mac and Linux builds. Anodyne runs cleanly under Proton on Steam Deck too.
