Songs of Glimmerwick is a story-driven witch academy RPG developed and published by Eastshade Studios. Set on a woodland fantasy island recovering from a forty-year ban on music known as the Silence, the game puts you in the shoes of a newly arrived witch enrolled at The Etchery School of Magic and Melody. In this world, every spell is cast through music played on your trusty flute.
The demo gives players a generous taste of the opening days, introducing character creation, musical spellcraft, campus orientation, botanical gardening, potion brewing, and various town interactions. Because time freezes during evening hours and scheduled calendar events, you can explore every nook and cranny without fear of passing out or missing deadlines. This walkthrough guides you through each step of the demo.
Character Creation and Arrival on the Coast
Your journey begins aboard a small ferry bound for the Island of Glimmerwick. During character creation, you can adjust your hairstyle, hair color, facial features, facial hair, glasses, and skin tones. Once finished, a prologue explains the world's lore: after forty years of enforced silence, you have left a secretive ink-communicating village to study magic.
Upon disembarking at the Salt Wind Coast, you can pick up loose shells and mushrooms on the beach. Follow the trail upward:
- Interact with the speaking dragon statue near the beach trail, who attempts to recall an ancient welcome speech.
- Continue along the path past winged capeta sheep, which you can pet.
- Cross the bridge to meet Headmistress Abigailia outside The Etchery School of Magic and Melody.
Headmistress Abigailia confirms that your name is on the university roster and explains the school's primary requirement: every witch needs an instrument to channel magic. She clears an overgrown path to the south so you can visit the local flute maker, giving you a letter to collect all your essential school supplies in town at no financial cost.
Acquiring Your Flute and School Supplies
Before attending the evening welcome ceremony, you must procure your magical gear. Your shopping list includes a custom flute, robes, a cauldron, a potion starter set, and a registered skill trinket.
Visiting Bristlecone the Flute Maker
Head south down the newly cleared path into the woods to find the workshop of Bristlecone, a craftsman whose body is partially made of wood. Bristlecone asks several attunement questions to determine the nature of your instrument:
- Resonating element: Crystal, acorn, spark, or dew
- Flavor profile: Salted, pickled, spiced, or honeyed
- Water affinity: Crash of the sea, roaring waterfall, pattering rain, or babbling brook
- Lifespan preference: One week or 1,000 years
Your answers influence the wood used to craft your instrument (such as ochre bark, honey walnut, cobalt juniper, or ancient ghost pine). Bristlecone instructs you to pick up your other school supplies in the nearby town of Whisk while he completes your flute.
Running Errands in Whisk
Head east over the stone bridge to enter the town of Whisk. Speak with the greeter near the entrance to receive a town map. Using Headmistress Abigailia's letter, collect your supplies from the local merchants:
- The Practical Practice: Talk to the shopkeeper to choose your licensed skill trinket. Options include bonuses such as increased mana capacity, higher seed-yield rates when harvesting, or improved potion-crafting efficiency. You will also receive a booklet containing starting crafting schematics for stone paths and garden lanterns.
- Newt's Eye Potion Supply: Speak to the shopkeeper to collect your complimentary cauldron and potion starter kit. The shop prides itself on ethically harvested ingredients, and you can browse other reagents here later.
- Swish and Stitch: Visit the tailor shop to acquire your school uniform. You can pick between two standard styles—one featuring a skirt and one featuring trousers. Both offer equal functionality.
Once you have gathered these supplies, head back west to Bristlecone's workshop. Your flute will be finished. When prompted, test your instrument using the home-row keyboard controls (A, S, D, F for the left hand; J, K, L, and semicolon for the right hand, with Spacebar held to play higher octave notes).
The Welcome Ceremony and The Etchery Dorms
With your flute secured, proceed directly north to The Etchery castle gates. A fellow student alerts you that the welcome ceremony is about to begin:
- Watch the assembly in the Great Hall, where Headmistress Abigailia delivers an opening address welcoming new bards, mages, and witches.
- Meet Weather, the dorm chaperone, at the entrance to the residential wing. She directs you down the stairs to your room, marked by a rectangular doormat at the end of the hall.
- Weather mentions that your assigned roommate, Clover, has been temporarily delayed and will arrive in a few days.
- Step inside your dorm room to unpack. You can interact with your wardrobe anytime to modify your hairstyle, hair color, or facial features.
- Check your bed to sleep and trigger the next day.
Each morning, school mail arrives at your door detailing class schedules and announcements. Your first letters announce an introductory music class on Tuesday and instruct you to report to Dean Clary's office to receive your mandatory campus job.
Campus Employment: Restoring the Botanical Garden
Dean Clary's office is located on the upper floor of the castle, accessible through the smaller doorway positioned between two statues. Inside, you can see her pet tortoise, Bastion.
During your employment interview, Dean Clary asks about your personal traits and comfort levels with creatures like spiders or fire-breathing rabbits. Regardless of your dialogue answers, she assigns you as the official caretaker of the university's overgrown botanical garden, located just off campus along the road to Whisk. She also enrolls you in an Herbotany course.
Garden Mechanics and Starting Spells
Meet Dean Clary at the botanical garden entrance to begin your groundskeeping training:
| Task / Feature | Mechanic & Controls | Key Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Song of Tilling | Cast using the flute after learning the notes. | Charms your hoe to prepare soil plots for seed planting. Consumes mana. |
| Planting Seeds | Right-click the seed packet in your hotbar to equip, then press Spacebar over tilled soil. | You can also manually drop seeds directly onto an empty plot. |
| Watering Crops | Equip the watering can and press Spacebar while standing over crops. | Refill the watering can at the freshwater pond within the garden grounds. |
| Chant of the Wood Cutters | Cast via flute practice menu. | Enchants your axe to chop down dead trees and fallen logs. Living trees are protected species. |
| Weed Removal | Cannot be cleared with magic. | Weeds resist spells and require a physical scythe, which can be acquired in town. |
| Selling via the Well | Toss harvested crops or forageables down the stone well near the entrance. | Dean Clary automatically calculates compensation in gold petals overnight. |
Dean Clary gives you a starter packet of basil seeds and asks you to bring three clippings of grown basil to her office for her tortoise.
First Day of Classes and Campus Life
After working in the garden, time advances toward scheduled campus events. Time automatically freezes once an event starts, allowing you to participate at your own pace.
The Student Meet and Greet
At 8:00 PM on your first full day, head to the student common room:
- Help yourself to complimentary pretzels from the snack counter, which replenish daily to restore spellcasting mana.
- Interact with student pets, including the common room cat.
- Converse with your peers to learn about their backgrounds, including students studying oceanic magic, mycology, and culinary baking. An NPC classmate will also offer you apple chips.
Music Class: Mastering the Melody
On Tuesday morning, make your way to the Music Hall in the castle's west wing:
- Listen to the professor's lecture regarding the history of the Nocturn Forest, the Cult of Silence, the toxic spore rot blight, and instructor Nataline's historical resistance.
- Learn the mechanics of song mastery. Playing a short sequence of notes manually casts a spell. However, practicing a full song in the classroom's time-dilated chambers earns stars.
- Achieving a one-star rating adds the melody to your quick-cast flute wheel, allowing you to cast the spell instantly without manually playing individual notes.
- Report to the professor after class to receive the Melody of Stones, a song designed to break large rocks and boulders cluttering your botanical garden plots.
Potions 101 with Professor Sylvine
On Wednesday, attend Potions 101 in the castle's east wing potions lab:
- Set your cauldron on the laboratory workbench.
- Follow the blackboard instructions to brew a basic hydrating tonic designed to keep indoor plants healthy.
- Professor Sylvine assigns homework requiring you to brew five potions of your choice and present them for potency grading. The lab remains open at all hours for practice.
Notable Demo Side Quests and Roadblocks
While working through your coursework and garden duties, you will encounter several unique town interactions:
Martha the Prickly Sentinel Shrub
Near the southern exit of Whisk, an enormous talking plant named Martha blocks the public road. She refuses to allow newcomers to pass through her branches. Bystanders explain that Martha is obsessed with plant nutrients and can only be won over with a high-quality Hardiness Potion. You must gather ingredients and craft the tonic in The Etchery's potions lab before she will grant access to the south trail.
The Blocked Wagon Mystery
A local resident named Sticky Beak Reed complains about a dilapidated cart abandoned directly across the town thoroughfare for seven days. He asks you to investigate the owner:
- Inquire with local shopkeepers, including the tailor, the potion vendor, and the werewolf painter Florian.
- Talk to Kavita, the seed merchant in the marketplace, who confirms that the wagon actually belongs to Reed himself.
- Confront Reed with the truth. Flustered, he denies ownership before offering to buy the wagon from you on the spot for 300 gold petals.
Roommate Shenanigans
Upon returning to your dorm room mid-week, your roommate Clover will have finally arrived. Known for ignoring standard recipes and testing boundaries, Clover accidentally mixes dragon spittle with pure water, blowing up the dorm fireplace and leaving behind a pile of rubble. This introduces subsequent comedic dorm repair tasks.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can you fail or pass out if you stay up too late?
No. The game features no penalty for staying out late. In the evening, the clock freezes entirely, allowing you to forage, craft, and explore as long as you want before interacting with your bed to sleep.
What should you do if you run out of mana while gardening?
Casting musical spells like the Song of Tilling consumes mana from your gauge. You can restore your mana by eating snacks, such as the free daily pretzels available on the counter in the student common room or foraged ingredients like mushrooms and wild leaks.
Do you need a 100% perfect score on songs to cast spells?
No. You do not need a perfect rhythm score to execute a spell. Playing the basic sequence of notes from your songbook will cast the magic. Earning a single star in practice mode simply unlocks the instant quick-cast feature on your tool wheel, while higher ratings offer minor performance and power boosts.
