Heart of the House

One of the most excellent works of fiction I've ever read. Buy it.

Been a long time since a game I played was so good! The story and writing are, as always, amazing!!! I played for 5 hours which is much longer than usual. I had to play two times to figure things out mostly. I loved the choices and stat raising as well as the characters. This is my probably my favorite Choice of Games entry so far and I try to play one every Sunday. Please keep making more so I can do this forever <333. You won't regret playing this game as it was one of the best choose your own text adventures on Steam!!!

This is a fantastic story. While the ending (of the path I took) was bittersweet, it was also beautiful at the same time. The writing is wonderful, the choices feel impactful, the story contains a lot of the unexpected and elements of tension... I'm only playing it once not because it doesn't have replay value but because I enjoy the story as it is so much that I want to keep it as 'the story' rather then trying to game-a-fying it to get the ending I'd have preferred and hope would be there. Absolutely recommend it

[h2] Introduction / TLDR [/h2] Heart of the House is an absolutely delightful interactive Gothic novel written by Nissa Campbell. Excellent pacing, a story that has kept me engaged throughout, really evocative and imaginative environments and really well done characters with some of the most delightful (optional) romance I've read in a CoG book. If being trapped in a haunted manor in Victorian England sounds appealing to you, or if you just want a good Gothic horror story that maybe isn't too dark, then this book is for you. (Also check it out if you enjoyed any of the World of Darkness books, lots of overlap with themes and atmosphere what with the Gothic literature inspiration.) [h2] Writing and setting [/h2] Pacing is great throughout Heart of the House. The story is given the room it needs to never feel rushed while still being engaging, and a well planned mystery progression has made it feel like there has been a constant through-line running through the story that still has kept me reevaluating characters and their motivations as new things have been revealed. One of the highlights of this interactive novel has been the environments. Campbell is very good at setting scenes, where a greatly varied set of vivid spaces and moods are used very appropriately. In particular the otherworldly parts of the manor have been a joy to experience; it's a very good haunted house! I've also quite liked the authors / narrators voice. The Main Character is very much their own character in this work, whose experiences and thoughts shape the perception of the story as you experience it. This is used to great effect, and helps contextualize and give emotional weight to the story. Further there's a sort of effortless believability to the writing that makes me swallow with hook, line and sinker the parts I would otherwise have thought felt a little bit cliche or out of place. There is something in that that reminds me of reading Terry Pratchett (but its been years since last time). [h2] Characters and romance [/h2] It's not a very wide group of characters in this novel, but they make for a very engaging and appealing cast. While the setting and literary genre shapes how the characters speak, Campbell has managed to write them with unique voices and incorporate them as driving forces in the story without making them seem out of place. My one complaint is that the missing parental figure Kent that the main character has set out to search for at the start of the work would have needed some more development at the start to make me care for him, which in turn would have made the main characters' motivation a bit easier to share. I really need to highlight the romance in this novel. It's not a massive part, but there is a healthy dose of character interaction, flirting and romance (and even some scandalous sex!) that is on offer here, and I've really loved it. The characters are just darn cute and attractive, and Reaves is an amazingly well realized character that believably takes on the gender preference as stated by the main character. (State you prefer women in the Inn early on in the story and she will be a woman.) It's almost entirely worth a second playthrough with a different sexual preference just to see how well Reaves works written as either a woman or a man. I want to see myself as a pretty avid reader of romance, but lately I tend to gravitate towards fanfiction that has been pretty grounded, unassuming and surprisingly unsentimental. Heart of the House is the direct opposite. A healthy dose of sentimentality and affect in the writing really elevates the romance while still managing to keep it feeling sincere. This novel has made me blush, giggle and felt the need to look away from the screen (in a good way) multiple times throughout the romance parts, and I have absolutely loved it. Also the sex scenes have been surprisingly good (and explicit lol) [h2] Mechanics [/h2] Heart of the House is a relatively linearly laid out interactive novel; you will hit the same chapters in the same order and the main impact your choices have is how to tackle the obstacles along the road or deciding on what to bring along. But it's got enough sections breaking things up that it never feels monotonous or too railroaded, and in particular reactivity works really well where many small details seems to remind you of what has happened as a result of your choices. For game mechanics there are skills and personality / reputation / relationship trackers, where the first chapter has you setting up a character build and then your personality keeps growing while the skills (and to a lesser extent personality etc.) decide the outcome of choices made in the story. If I'm going to be nitpicky it is not always entirely obvious if the result of a given choice is a success, a failure or just a thing that happens without a skill check. This is definitely a flavor thing, but I think a little more clarity in how the mechanics chug along being shown through the text would have benefited the novel. At the same time this is a very minor complaint, and overall I think this has been a very satisfying CoG novel to read through. [h2] Conclusions [/h2] Go read it!

This is one of my favorite choice games in terms of intrigue and romance. I was looking for a good story with a good romance, and I played the demo and decided to give it a chance it. Needless to say I was hooked and it did not fail to captivate me throughout the game.The story was captivating in a sense that the characters were fleshed out and the writing is just so so lovely. The imagery and language made me swoon. (and I fell in love with Dev) It's quite an immersive game too. This is one of the few IF games I replay truly would shelf as a favorite.

This story was quite interesting. I have to admit that I'm surprised that my choices resulted in such a good ending. The good points: interesting and varied characters, enjoyable writing, and well-developed sense of place. The bad points (and really, not very bad): the romance was a little rushed. I felt that more time was needed to actually develop interest in any of the characters. There seems to have been a plot thread that somehow involved the voice from the main character's childhood. That was poorly developed (at least with the choices I made). I would have cut out that introductory part and all references to the voice, as the intro slowed down the story. If it was somehow important, the author should have made it much more important. Still, even with these small quibbles, the story was definitely worth it.

I'm not 100% on board with this one, but the story is interesting enough that I still finished it. Though, I admit I really had to push through some parts. The flow wasn't my favorite, and the outcomes of the choices sometimes felt a bit random and unintended. Nevertheless, the writing style itself was pleasant. The romance was present, but for my taste, there could have been a bit more.

love it

I’ve read through "Heart of the House" multiple times, and it’s fantastic. The choices have enough impact to make each playthrough fun. There are plenty of exciting twists and turns, and the romance options are great. I’ve no complaints other than wishing it was longer. (9/10)

Do I recommend this story? Yes. Is Nissa Cambell a strong author? Yes. Are the choices that make this story interactive well-conceived and imaginative? Yes. Do these things prevent me from being salty that I did my best to help everyone only to die and be unable to help myself at the last possible moment in the story? No. No, they do not. I am salty. HOWEVER, this is still a well-written story worthy of your attention - especially if you like Lovecraftian mystery.