The Witch's Bakery Review - Freshly baked emotions

Some games don't have a hard time of winning you ever, even if you haven't played one minute of them. For me, that was The Witch's Bakery. A young witch that opened a bakery in a big city, inspired by one of my favourite Ghibli movies, Kiki's Delivery Service? Everything about that screams "an amazing time" in my head, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on this game. When you add a hand-drawn Paris to the mix, I never stood a chance. I knew I was going to love it.

You get a cute bakery, and a witch and her pink cat associate, and one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it all combines leads to a fun little game that will surely steal your heart. The Witch's Bakery is a recipe for something sweet, and the game is very aware of the stakes and what it talks about, so it takes its time, doesn't rush or stress you, and allows you to enjoy in the cute music and the gorgeous visuals. It has a lot to say, and it easily pulls you in, but what's most important is that under all of that cuteness, the pastries, and Paris, the game holds something meaningful waiting for you.

Oh and after playing this game, I guarantee you'll want a Pain au Chocolat or an Éclair.

Le Croissant de Lunne

The Witch's Bakery puts you in the magical shoes of Lunne, a young witch who opens her own bakery - Le Croissant de Lunne - in modern Paris. She isn't alone though, with her is her cat, Orio, which is also some sort of familiar, so the journey is a bit less scarier. 

Lunne, however, isn't a normal witch, she is a kind of witch that deals with people's emotions and feelings, what they call a witch of the heart. She can recognise the emotions of people around her, even when they are hiding them away or trying their best to pretend they don't even exist. And as you might expect, Paris is full of people who are trying their best to appear like they are chill and relaxed and not troubled by different emotions.

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While in the bakery, there are a bunch of things to pay attention to.

When you look at this game, you'd expect something like Overcooked 2 , where you're running around and cooking and trying not to have a mental breakdown while multitasking (or is that just me?), and there are some similar aspects, but at its core, this is a game about emotions. Some people wear their emotions on their sleeve, while others do their best to hide them away and keep them as far as possible from other people. And they have their reasons for it, I don't judge. As you play the game, you'll meet different characters - and also regular NPCs who come to your bakery to get bread - who have done their best to hide away their emotions, but since Lunne is a witch of the heart, she can still see them. What Lunne sees around them is Regret, which manifests like a little animal-like ghost that walks wherever the character walks, never leaving their side. These people carry all sorts of things with them, buried inside, sometimes it's sadness, sometimes it's fear. The stories that you see all talk about real, actual things that might happen, so it's a rather relatable story and it's hard not to get invested in it, especially if some of the characters resonate with you.

The game's message is not hard to understand, and it is very important: there is no point in hiding away our emotions, and it is certainly never the solution. 

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Preparing the dough is a fun little mini-game.

What I especially liked was how the game never represents the emotions as bad things, because there are no bad emotions. The Regret that Lunne sees is either a small, almost dragon like animal that floats around the NPCs that you meet in your bakery, or it is manifested as an animal when it appears on some of the characters you meet during your stay in Paris, such as a squid, or a turtle. Having emotions means being human, and every one of us had our moment with at least one of them, be it regret, heartbreak, or fear.

The Witch's Bakery combines baking, an easy-going and fun activity, with emotions, which are usually complicated and hard to decipher most of the time. However, maybe if we had a witch and her cat familiar helping us out while we munch on a croissant, dealing with emotions surely would be easier.

The Witch's Bakery screenshots

Rise and shine

Each of the days is split into three phases. During the day, you're running your bakery and serving customers, while in the later afternoon, you get to explore Paris, do fun activities and meet up with your friends. And in the evening, you decide whether you want to go to sleep, read, work on your baking, or just admire the beautiful city you're in. As you play, more people will get to know about you, and you'll earn money obviously, which keeps the entire routine moving forward.

Running your bakery is where most of your day goes. While Orio is the one who actually bakes everything, you still need to prepare your dough, and I mean actually prepare it, so you're kneading it and rolling it, like you'd do in real life. At the end, you get a sequence of buttons to press and you're done, it's nothing too complicated or stressful, but it's a fun addition to make you feel like you're actually baking. I did feel that it's a shame that the developers didn't utilise the haptic features of the DualSense for the kneading, as I believe it would be a neat addition for the immersion. I also didn't like how when you go to the other room to prepare your dough, and an additional screen appears for the kneading and spreading, Lunne just stands there in view. I would've preferred her hidden behind the activity screen, or at least with her back turned to us and towards the table.

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After closing hours, Lunne has many activities to enjoy.

You can create and perfect your recipes, and when I say "you", I mean that. You're adding flour, eggs, salt, you're preparing the baked goods, they don't just appear on the screen. 

When your customers arrive, it's important to pay attention and serve them before they run out of patience. You'll encounter different challenges here, some of them will have regrets, so Lunne will need to dive their hearts to help them embrace what they're feeling. In order to do that, you go through a small labyrinth, and the obstacle you face depends on the emotions they feel. It might be darkness, it might be fire, or a large wave. Some of them have conflicted feelings, which means you need to go twice. Besides that, you'll also meet nitpicky customers, customers in a rush, and indecisive ones. 

With certain people you meet, characters you can talk to, their hearts will look a bit different, and they create a whole new world for Lunne to visit. Each of these heart palace (Persona 5 , anyone?) that Lunne visits, comes with different colours and different challenges. These are the special ones, that take more visits than usual, carry puzzles and obstacles, and even enemies that Lunne needs to defeat. 

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You'll meet many characters, some magical and some not.

After the work is done, Paris is your world to explore. Each of the districts has its own characters and activities to do, and there is also fast traveling. You can sit on a bench, go to caffes and restaurants, buy books, chat with people, and take part in different activities to improve your skills, all while building relationships with people. Some of the characters you meet end up helping out in your bakery, too. 

And also you can decorate your shop, to make Le Croissant de Lunne feel like home.

Soft sounds and sweet sights

The art style of this game is just beautiful. The surroundings and characters are nicely done, they're colourful, charming and expressive, and with the characters being hand-drawn, they fit perfectly into the cosy world the game has built. 

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Depending on the emotion, the obstacles that Lunne faces change.

The music is just as lovely, it goes perfectly with the game overall, and changes depending on what you're doing. So if you're exploring a heart palace, you get one type of music, while if you're baking, the music will shift and become a bit more cosy. It's a nice addition, a small touch, so that each of the activities you do feel different and special.

One of my favourite moments is at the end of the day, when Lunne admires Paris. If you go with that option, you'll be treated with a beautiful view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower, but you'll also get the chance to listen to some musician playing tunes in the background. And by playing, I mean trying their best and messing up, which has it's own charm.

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The Heart Palaces are different than regular labyrinths, and more challenging.

I've encountered no issues while playing the game, it all ran smoothly and looked beautiful while doing so. 

Baked with love

When I turned the sign from "open" to "closed" for the final time in Lunne's bakery, I realised that the game gave me more than I'd bargained for. I came for the cosy environment, the fun baking, and the beautiful Parisian streets, but I stayed for the people, the relationships, hearts and emotions. 

While there are a few small things that I would've liked to see done differently, The Witch's Bakery was one of the highlights of this year for me, such a warm and comforting experience and a game that knows its strengths, and leans into them  with a lot of care. 

I also want to mention how lovely it is to see developers include the people who backed their game, in any way. Hollow Knight did it for example, and it was a nice surprise to see that The Witch's Bakery did the same, so kudos for that! It's a small gesture, but it also shows care and appreciation.

After booting this game up, I thought I'd spend some time making croissants and bread, and I ended up spending time thinking about my emotions, and emotions in general.