The Shop That Opens Once

One shop. Seven nights. Seven keepsakes to return.

A cozy pixel-art mystery for macOS and Windows.

Download free
The Market Square, morning

A village that lives its own day.

Everyone in Bellwood has somewhere to be. Talk to them and they stop, turn, and answer in their own voice, then go back to what they were doing. From morning to dusk the village keeps its own clock, and it remembers what you do for it.

Morning
The Market Square, morning

The shop opens at midnight.

Once a night, for half an hour, a shop opens at the foot of the old banyan by the station. Marlow keeps the shop, and each night he gives Satria one keepsake that someone in Bellwood has lost.

  1. Midnight Take the keepsake from Marlow.
  2. Morning Ask around: who knew it?
  3. Midday Mend it with the one who can.
  4. Dusk Give it back, and a lantern goes out.
The Banyan Grove, night

No quest markers, just people.

Nothing on the map tells you where to go. Turn each keepsake over and look closely: what you notice goes into your notes. Then show it around Bellwood, and listen for who remembers it.

AD to turn the watch over, or tap it

Night 1: the brass pocket watch

Mend it with your own hands.

Every keepsake is mended by hand, at the bench of whoever can: seat a watch's wheels, knead the Baker's dough, stitch at a treadle. When it goes wrong, nothing is lost. Your teacher says a word, and you try again. Try it here: seat the three wheels, then catch the pendulum at 3.0 Hz.

The Mender's gear bench

Seven nights, seven lanterns.

Marlow hangs seven lanterns over his shop, one for each night. Each time a keepsake is home, one goes out. Five of the nights are told here. The last two stay sealed, for you to open in the game.

  1. Night 1 The Stopped Watch
  2. Night 2 The Stitched Rabbit
  3. Night 3 The Old Film Camera
  4. Night 4 The Key With No Engraving
  5. Night 5 The Mismatched Running Shoes
  6. Night 6 Sealed
  7. Night 7 Sealed
A postcard from each night

Bellwood is waiting for you.

  • 1 to 3 hours Seven nights, with a prologue and an epilogue.
  • 14 minigames Every keepsake mended by hand.
  • English and Indonesian Switch any time in Settings.
  • Free For macOS 12 or later, and Windows 10 or 11.
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All of Bellwood
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