What I am supposed to be doing? I went out and collected all the things, bought the 3 upgrades, and just stayed inside the house the last night waiting out the clock as I didn't know what else to do.
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Thank you — this is the most useful comment I've had on this game, and you are right.
You found the hole in my design, not a misunderstanding on your part. The game teaches its rules but not its purpose, and on the last night, once you'd collected everything and bought the upgrades, there was genuinely nothing pulling you back out into the field. Waiting out the clock was the rational choice. A game where waiting is rational has a broken last act. That is on me, not on you.
For the record, what the game wanted from you: your family can only re-warm while standing in a warm spot, and a warm spot only exists where you stood a few seconds ago. So the whole game is meant to be you walking constantly, laying heat down ahead of them like a trail of bread, while the Hollow eats it behind you. The house was never safe — it is only where they start. Staying in it was supposed to lose. The fact that it didn't (upgrades plus the hearth made idling survivable) is the bug you walked straight into.
I have just shipped a fix for exactly this:
- There is now a one-line objective under the clock at all times, in the game's own voice, so "what am I supposed to be doing?" always has an answer.
- The last night now has a reason to leave the house. After 03:00 on night three the game asks you to go stand a while at your own stone in the graveyard. Doing it warms all four of them a little and leaves 4,000 rutabagas under the stone — and it sets up the ending, where that stone is the last thing you see.
- Idling no longer wins. The house shelters them less each night — the winter comes in through the walls — so on night three "hide inside and wait" loses the way it always should have.
If you are willing to give it one more run: play the third night as a pilgrimage instead of a siege. Walk the field, leave your warmth behind you, and go stand at your stone before the light. I think the last five minutes will land completely differently.
Thank you for playing it honestly and for telling me the truth about it. That is worth more to me than a good score.
I made a video of my 3rd playthrough, I again stayed inside the entire time and all 4 still survived on Bitter difficulty. Is the family supposed to be following me outside? I tried fighting the enemies outside the second play though, but always just had my light go out and had to slow walk back to the house. Could you make a video of how it is intended to be played?