The Witch's Bakery's Enchanting Story Left Me Speechless

Published Oct 14, 2026, 11:28 AM EDT Join Lunne as she heals the hearts of Paris, makes a few new friends, and shares her signature baked goods in The Witch's Bakery. The Witch's Bakery Review: A Magical Adventure That's Stolen My Heart When I sat down to play The Witch’s Bakery, I expected to find a cozy fall game where I would run my own magical little bakery. What I wasn't expecting to find was a game that is somehow the perfect blend of Cooking Mama and Persona 5, and no, that’s not a joke. The game itself is even aware of the similarities, making direct references to the latter. While you do play as a 21-year-old witch named Lunne who runs a bakery that serves magical baked goods, that’s only a fraction of what you’ll do during your time with this game. When she’s not at the bakery, Lunne is out managing schedules, building relationships, improving her magic through hobbies and activities, and entering Heart Palaces to help people. I was fairly confident I would enjoy The Witch’s Bakery going into it, but I did not anticipate coming out with a strong contender for my 2026 game of the year. A Day In The Life Of A Heart Mage The Witch’s Bakery opens with a stunningly animated and voiced introduction to Lunne, a witch, and her magical morph companion, Orio, as they move to Paris to open up their magical bakery. Lunne isn’t just any witch, though. She’s a Heart Witch, meaning the magic she imbues in the dough helps ease her customers’ emotional burdens. Most in-game days will begin at the bakery, where Lunne will accept and fulfill orders. Orio will take care of the actual cooking and stocking, but he’s unable to prep the dough since it needs Lunne’s magic. This means you’re responsible for finding breaks in service to rush to the back and prepare more without upsetting any impatient customers. If a customer appears with a Regret, which is a physical manifestation of their emotion that only Lunne and Orio can see, then you’ll complete a small mini-game when fulfilling their order. The mini-game you’ll complete is typically a maze, but the obstacles you’ll face in the maze vary with each negative emotion, of which there are only three: anger, fear, and sadness. Once you complete the customer’s mini-game, they are freed of that negative weight. This is a soft lead-in to the core of The Witch’s Bakery’s story. Not long into the game, Lunne will encounter a customer with a significantly larger Regret that cannot be purged by completing a quick mini-game. Instead, she will need to enter their Heart Palace, a magical inner-world manifestation of their deeper emotions, and get to the root of the problem bothering them. This is where, as I mentioned previously, things started to remind me a bit of Persona 5. After wrapping up at the bakery each day, Lunne can spend her evenings however she sees fit. She can shop, build relationships, complete side quests, or enter Palaces. Now, you can’t exactly choose when you enter a Palace as they’re tied directly to the story, but they do tire out Lunne on nights she does enter them. Every Heart Palace features a custom story-inspired design and gameplay that reflects the person it belongs to. Despite these differences, the overall process is relatively similar. Lunne will physically progress through the Palace, completing small puzzles and avoiding enemies, until she reaches a barrier. To pass each barrier, Lunne must learn more about the Palace’s owner, so she’s often ejected from the Palace until she can spend more time with them and discover the missing information needed to progress. While there isn’t any combat in the Palaces, Lunne still encounters enemies, and each one has its own boss, or Torment, that must be dealt with by completing a more complex version of the Palace's puzzles. The distinctive designs and emotion-fueled stories kept me invested, and I was eager to uncover the root cause of each Palace. When you’re not Palace diving, Lunne can spend her afternoons strengthening relationships with her community, some of whom can become more than friends, or participate in activities that help ease her ability to heal specific emotional Regrets. Some of these activities include visiting restaurants, attending concerts, or watching movies at the cinema, all of which you can invite someone to if you earn enough money at the bakery to afford the outing. Since everyone has their own busy schedule, keeping track of everyone is necessary to ensure you’re getting the most out of your week. If things aren’t moving along as quickly as you’d like, you’ll also have the opportunity to purchase gifts for your friends, but this involves checking the shops regularly for new items. Once Lunne and Orio return home, you will have one last chance to finish the day with a late-night activity. To further improve her Heart Witch magic, Lunne can enjoy a game or book, many of which are references to real media (including Persona 5), or visit the Atelier, where you’ll be able to practice the recipes you sell in the bakery and decrease the time it takes Orio to make them during business hours. Just be careful not to deplete all your energy; otherwise, Orio might put you on bed rest the next day, and you won't get to do anything else you had planned. Everyone Should Experience Paris With Lunne And Orio From the storytelling to the gameplay, I can’t narrow down anything I’d change about The Witch’s Bakery. Without giving too much away, the residents of Paris whom Lunne befriends have a variety of intense, relatable struggles, and helping them work through them by entering their Palaces is heartbreakingly moving. Each character was unique and well-written, and I couldn’t wait to spend more time with them. Though the gameplay might be the same general daily routine, not a second of it ever bored me. I loved starting the day at the bakery and then deciding how I’d spend my evenings. Each time I thought the map was complete, or I’d met everyone in town, a new section would open up full of new opportunities to explore. Balancing Lunne’s business, relationships, and magical growth as a Heart Witch was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had all year. With each passing in-game day, I fell more in love with the world and everyone in it. Now, I only want more players to experience the same joy I’ve had with The Witch’s Bakery, so do not let this one go overlooked. Released October 14, 2026 ESRB Teen / Fantasy Violence, Language, Suggestive Themes Developer(s) Sunny Lab Publisher(s) Silver Lining Interactive Pros & Cons Well-written and unique characters Player freedom to customize each day, even down to the baked goods sold at the bakery Appropriately challenging puzzles and tasks Side content that further enhances the overall experience Minor bug that did not impact gameplay