The Witch's House

The original title screen (translated version)

**The Witch's House** (魔女の家 *Majo no ie*) is a 2012 horror game developed by Fummy, using the RPG Maker VX program. The game originated in Japanese-language and later in English translation was first released in October 2012, for Windows and Mac.
The game later developed a remake of the same name released on October 31st, 2018, by DANGEN Entertainment on Steam, under the name *The Witch's House MV* (魔女の家 *Majo no ie* MV), using the RPG Maker MV program.

## Synopsis

Viola is a young girl who wakes up in the middle of a forest, soon discovering that her only way out of the forest is completely blocked off by roses. Her only option is to enter a mysterious house nearby in hopes of finding some means of escaping. Accompanied by a black cat, Viola must try to survive the magical and dangerous house.

During her stay in the house, Viola encounters many strange phenomena, a result of the house's shapeshifting nature. She also finds diary entries written by the house's resident, a witch named Ellen, detailing her past. To progress further into the house and hopefully eventually leave the forest, Viola must solve various puzzles, unlocking doors in the house.

## Features

The game features puzzle and survival horror elements in which the main goal is to solve all puzzles correctly and escape the titular house. It contains a creepy atmosphere, complex riddles, jump scares, death traps, and creature encounters, the latter two will kill you in a single hit. This game is played from top-down perspective using ornate 16-bit graphics in a style of JRPGs and *The Crooked Man*, and controlled via keyboard.

A black, talking cat can be met at various places in the house, serving as a save point, as well as something of a companion. Throughout the vast majority of the game, the cat is the only source of conversation, usually talking in a casual, nonchalant manner.

## Characters

### Viola

A 13-year-old girl and the only daughter of a huntsman. Viola befriends Ellen, the witch who lives in a large house on the edge of the forest. Her adventure throughout the game takes her through Ellen's house as she tries to make an escape from it; avoiding every trap and solving every puzzle to make it out of the house safely, along with her faithful black cat.

It's revealed at the end that she made a deal with the witch Ellen saying she'd switch bodies for a day. However, Ellen broke this promise, thus, Viola was in Ellen's body most of the game.

### Ellen

The titular witch, and the antagonist of the game. Ellen lives in a house on the edge of the forest, surrounding by dark legends of kidnapping the children who go into the forest. Having lived alone for centuries, due to being very ill and having killed her own parents in retribution for neglecting her, Ellen befriended Viola, a young girl who came to play with her; effectively getting her first friend. Before switching bodies with Viola, she cut off her legs, and gouged out her eyes.

### Black Cat

A sarcastic talking cat that accompanies Viola throughout the duration of the game, functioning as her save point.

## Endings

Normal Ending
If you manage to just escape from the final chase, Viola finally reunite with her father, only for The Witch suddenly appear and barely follows Viola outside the house. Although luckily, Her father kill it just in time and they hurry to leave. We last see Viola giving the house a long look before leaving.

True Ending
It basically the same ending as normal ending, but with a major change. If you able to pick up Ellen's knife in the cabinet before escaping the house, Viola will use it to stab the witch's eye & taunts her when she can no longer continue to chase her, followed by the reveal that she is, in fact, Ellen, having traded bodies with the real Viola. Ellen also explains how she managed to do it before Viola's father appears, who's mistaking Viola to be Ellen in her crippled body and proceed to kills her with his shotgun. Viola's father and Ellen give a brief look before leaving, with her pausing for a second to giggles. After that, the black cat appears for a moment before it disappears along with the body.

Extra True Ending
Obtained by fulfilling the True Ending conditions on Extra Mode in the 2018 remake. It is a slightly extended version of the True Ending. Returning the front of the house before leaving will cause Viola's spirit to appear before Ellen before the house disintegrates. The final scene is appended by an added monologue by Ellen, who realizes that Viola finally gave up living after her father failed to recognize her.

Pseudo Ending
If Viola chooses not to interact with the black cat at all for the duration of the game, Viola will instead find that the black cat has not been reduced to a corpse, contrary to the previous endings. Through a one-way dialogue between the black cat and Ellen, he mentions that the magic is about to fade in the house, and everything in the house will die once the "witch" dies, since "she" seems to have the magic again. In the middle of his dialogue, his name will change from "Black Cat" to "Demon".
He mentions that while demons have no physical forms, this does not mean that they are immortal. The demon's final words to Viola are, *"Good luck with the rest, Ellen. My faithful witch."* The demon's dialogue confirms that the black cat that helped Ellen throughout the house was indeed the demon that made the contract with Ellen.

\_\_\_\_ Ending
Ellen waits outside the house for a full hour until the roses that are blocking the path disappears. Afterwards, the witch's roses and the magic in the forest will disappear, allowing Viola to escape the forest before evening. Since it is still the morning, Viola's father will not be looking for Viola, and Viola will only escape the forest in this ending.
Combined with the information in *The Diary of Ellen*, this reveals that Viola's body was in such a mutilated state that even if Ellen only waited, the "witch's" magic would eventually fade regardless of whether Ellen intervened or not.

## Trivia

* Fummy later released a prequel comic book series titled *"The Witch's House: The Diary of Ellen"*, telling the story of the witch Ellen.
* In *The Diary of Ellen*, the black cat reveals that he's the demon which gave Ellen her powers.
* *The Diary of Ellen* reveals more about her backstory. Ellen's father ignored her very existence while her mother struggled to give her attention but couldn't cope entirely with having a terminally ill daughter and tried to leave her family for a rich man. Ellen, in a furious rage, killed them both. She then met the black cat, who offered to give her powers and a magical house.