The Witch's Lullaby
A downloadable game for Windows
Famed for its mushrooming business and idyllic countryside, the land of Fungham has seen better days. A child has gone missing, a demonic witch haunts the woods and if you're not careful, gnomes will take your socks. Also, there is a pig king... don't ask. But why have all these creatures suddenly appeared? Where did the witch come from and what does she want? Could the answer to everything lie behind the ancient gate in the nearby mountains?
The Witch's Lullaby is a classical point and click adventure reminiscent of the King's Quest or Quest for Glory series. It was made in two weeks for AdvJam 2022, mainly to scratch a nostalgic itch for lush fantasy forests in glorious 320x200. Enjoy!
Credits:
Written, drawn and coded by Jan Vávra
Music by Paco Diago
Sounds by Maxim Grachev / freesound.org
Lullaby lyrics by Kasia "Hitohai" Wasylak
Developed using Adventure Game Studio and Adobe Photoshop
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Account hijacked, game replaced with malwareJul 27, 2024
- Version 1.2. - many small updatesDec 27, 2022
- Oops....Jun 19, 2022
- Version 1.1. - bugfixes!Jun 19, 2022
Comments
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Could you at least write a short update here? For those who can't access your posts on X.
I don't like social media in general, and now there are also other good reasons not to join Elon Rusk's cesspool.
Heyyy, I played this to completion a few days ago, with help from a friend. I'd started the game a while ago and *loved* the intro. Halfway between horror (or dark fairytale) and comedy, the main concept about the village seemed so cool to me.
From there, it took me two play sessions to get through. Probably a few hours total, I didn't think to count for statistics purposes, but at least 2h, possibly 4-5.
I really enjoyed the vibe, the humour and the graphics, as well as some clever puzzles. I don't know if I've ever seen anything like the pig one before. Only pixel hunt I've ever *enjoyed* because the idea was too funny and understanding how it worked was a big "no way... is it? Omg yes!!" moment.
I'll make a little donation to show my appreciation!
I'll add some critique too, but there's not much to complain about:
The walking around got a bit old for me after I had explored all the places. It's very much part of the old school feel and I appreciate the amount of work that went into the very pretty unique backgrounds, but it's the thing that made me the most impatient 😅 I didn't check, would a double click instantly get you to an exit? I think Monkey Island 3 had this feature?
I... thought I had something else but nope, really mostly praise I guess 😁
Is the extended version still in development? Unfortunately, there are no updates for the last two years on your Mastodon profile...
It is! I’m not active on Mastodon, but there have been updates on X.
Please take into consideration that some people can't read these updates since Elon Rusk hindered access for non-logged-in users.
Given what a cesspool X has become, I would anyway encourage you to move away from X to Mastodon or Bluesky.
I have to support this notion. Everyone can read a Mastodon post. You can even subscribe to Mastodon posts without having an account. (via RSS)
For twitter... all bets are off... Additionally they don't like my security hardenings. (So I only see their whining page.)
I even checked X and, since I don't have an account, I can't see any posts at all. Nothing, empty profile. Please consider that not all people use it, and those who don't may be unable to see your updates.
Good, nice, little point and click adventure game. Good art, good music and good story.
I don't want to complain or pressure you, but I just wanted to ask how is work on the extended version of "The Witch's Lullaby" going...
I was about to ask something similar but with the "HD" version (wich its the same than this but with higher resolution). I have seen some screenshoots and it's a very nice update. Or the HD and the extended are the same?
I loved this game when I played in its day!
Yes, this was what I meant. It's a pity that there are no updates...
Thanks for showing interest in the remake! I've been in a bit of a rut when it comes to making new stuff (some updates to older games should be coming soon though), but I'm planning to return to the Lullaby remake very soon, so keep your fingers crossed :). Updates will still probably be less frequent though, there is more coding/writing involved now that everything from the original has been redrawn and I'm adding new content, so having a new screenshot each week without spoiling the whole game is a challenge.
Nitter doesn't work well recently, so I'm mostly checking game updates on Discord, not Nitter... :( (I can't check on Twitter because I don't have an account, and my "anti-majority instinct"... and my autistic rigidity, I guess... prevents me from creating social media accounts.)
Thank you for this wonderful game. I love it.
This is one of the best point n clicks I ever played. Your stuff is incredibly good, especially the story, I can see you really thought through a lot of the story and it pays off fantastically. Cheers from Slovakia.
Excellent game ! I give 4,5/5 because of the in-time game stretching with the dumb pig pixel hunt... I love the atmosphere, the plot is predictable, but what an amazing work ! Thank :)
Thank you! Although I have to say, "the dumb pig pixel hunt" tends to be the most well-received puzzle in the game :P
Is it possible you missed that you needed to have the pig item selected as your cursor and then it points to the correct pixel?
Oh, I can imagine that would *really* make it frustrating... but I think the "pixel" (which is actually a reasonably sized square ;)) is inactive if the pig isn't selected.
Lovely, lovely old time-y point & click adventure!
I liked the art, the atmosphere, the story, and the music really brought the whole thing together. I especially liked the violin part of the main theme!
Thanks!
very good
This was absolutely enchanting!
Finally, after digging through endless trash I found it - a game with a well-written and well-paced story. The best thing I played this year, for sure. The twist with curtain, the humor - everything works.
Legit, cute simple game. Just like fairy tales it was inspired by, the moral and ending are great and really make it worth playing.
Great game!
The backgrounds are great, I like how every room in the world is connected, you really feel like you're exploring a real environment!
The puzzles were fun and the game had a nice flow: I didn't get stuck, but I didn't feel they were too easy either.
The music was lovely as well.
Incredible work, especially for a jam game!
Absolutely great game! Puzzles, story, music... thank you!
Really great story and puzzles and wonderfully atmospheric, captivated me from start to finish. Congrats!
Really great game, also had a bit of difficulty finding entrances and exists like a couple of others but apart from that the story, game play and world were all built perfectly.
A walkthrough if anybody's stuckGreat game! I loved the gnomes and the pig king :D.
Congratulations!
The pig thing was very ingenious hehe
The only thing I have to contribute is that it was a little difficult for me to find some paths because they were not very obvious (the ones that went down and the one that led to the candle of the guard tower).
Thank you very much, glad you had a good time! I'll make the exit hotspots bigger in the next update :).
I just finished the game, it's amazing
Having fun with this game, though I ran into a glitch I think I will have to replay the game to fix. (spoilers)
From Anna's walkthrough, after you investigate Tobin's room and get his mom's blessing to look for him, one of the statues is supposed to let you activate it's switch. Then you can ask the Pig King for his blessing. However, when I played it, the statue never activated. I have no idea what I might have done, since no one else seems to have had this issue. I plan to replay the game another day and hope I don't mess up the variables this time.
Ha, that's really strange. The only thing I can think of is - if you investigate the room before you know you need a mother's blessing (so before you examine the statues or before Helga translates the symbols for you), the player character doesn't ask Masha for her blessing after the flashback cutscene. You then have to talk to her again once you know what you need from her, and she will give you her blessing.
If this doesn't work, then it's probably really a bug. Let me know how it played out, thanks for reporting!
Or maybe - and sorry if this is insultingly obvious, just making sure - you're clicking the statue's mouth, right? :)
I have talked to Helga many times, but I never had an option to have her translate the symbols, nor can I find a spot on the statue to examine the symbols. I must have missed something that activates that discussion? That is probably why the mother's blessing is not working.
No need to worry about "insultingly obvious" questions. I've uploaded some games myself and you can't know if something was missed/broken unless you ask :)
Ok, let's see if we can crack this :)
- right-click either one of the statues. You memorize the symbols.
- talk to Helga. You tell her about the statues and try to describe the symbols, but she wants you to show them to her more directly.
- use the stick (found in front of Tarik and Masha's house) on the patch of sand in front of Helga. You draw the symbols and she tells you they mean "mother's blessing" and "king's blessing".
- now talk to Masha. If you have examined the room, she should give you her blessing.
- this should also allow you to visit the king once you get a "royal" seal. Otherwise the clerk doesn't let you in, you must first state the reason of your visit, which is to ask for the king's blessing.
Right click! That was what I did not think to do. I skipped past the instructions quicker than I should have and did not notice I could right click on items until about halfway through the game and there are apparently some places I had not thought to investigate yet. I will go right click the statues.
Finished the game today. Thank you for your help.
No problem, hope you had a good time!
Badass game. Good story, puzzles and writing. Loved it. Super well done.
This game is really good! I like the art style, lots of things to interact with, logical progression (though the pig thing confused me for a second but I got there) and a good little story. All done in 2 weeks? Amazing!
Nice story and good game, congrats. Pixel hunting is not my thing, but in this case is not a random thing.
Muchas gracias Ana! Yo hice la musica, y como no puedo jugar al juego, me he visto tu gameplay un monton de veces
Gracias Paco! Enhorabuena por el resultado y un buen merecido primer puesto.
Very well made game. A bit easier than your other games, I felt, but it kept up a nice pace with both puzzles and story. I'll never cease to be amazed at how you manage to churn out those wonderfully drawn backgrounds and animations so quickly. Really felt like the illustrations in my fairytale book from my childhood coming alive and playing one of the stories.
Would have liked to see a bit more "fluff" with some more descriptions for background items, to add a bit worldbuilding on top of the great visual atmosphere.
My only small gripe is that the resolution of the game may be a bit too low in this case to match the amazing quality of your art. When running full-screen on a large monitor, it feels a bit fuzzy or blurry (the graphics in Off the Clock and Long in the Tooth felt sharper). But really, that is just a minor thing.
Great work!
Wonderful game, and lots of fun!
verybiuuutifull ... which engine did you use?
Thank you! AGS.
Congratulations 😍!
Thank you! :)