The Witch's Yarn

Witch Wednesday Brooks has recently become a widow. She married the mortal Hubert, much to the anger of her mother Angelica, and after his death she decides to give up witchcraft and start a yarn shop instead. The Witch's Yarn follows the events on the first day of her new life, through 8 chapters on 12 locations. Mixing classic adventure gameplay with an adaptation for the casual market, the player is cast as a director, steering the events on an abstract stage with cues and props, rather than directly controlling every action of the characters.

The game is conflict-based and focuses on the complex interpersonal relationships between the characters. The player selects cues from the top of screen, which are either characters or objects, to further the story. At any give time, cues can be turned back or the story can be rewound when stuck. For instance, it is possible to make Wednesday depressed, closing her store; which would end the game. Not all choices are available all the time and they depend on the player's decisions. When a cue is selected, the story unfolds through still images with text boxes. There is an inventory and mini-games to solve puzzles.

The goal of the game is to explore the different locations, compete against the other stores on Cherokee Avenue, earn 1 dollar at the end of the day, foil Angelica's plan to ruin Wednesday's shop, defeat the 8 witches sent by Angelica to boycott the store, and rebuild the bonds between characters, especially between Wednesday and her children Erin, Alec and Michelle. Wednesday is assisted by Greta, an unusually talkative fungus. Although the interface and gameplay are intuitive and more accessible than classic adventure games, a good command of the English language is needed to solve the puzzles and understand the witty conversations. There is no save game system. Instead, players can place manual bookmarks, or quit and resume playing at any given time.