Last updated on December 7th, 2025 at 05:44 am
Heart of the House – Roleplaying Game Review
Heart of the House is a Roleplaying/Adventure/Books game from Choice of Games LLC, first launched in 26th October 2017.
It’s rated 12+ and currently has 114+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Heart of the House Stand Out
Destroy the evil at the heart of a haunted manor! As an orphan, you discovered your ability to commune with the spirit world and ghosts. When your uncle Kent mysteriously disappears, you'll embark on a journey to find out what really happened. With your trusty companion Devanand at your side, you make your way to Darnecroy Manor, where Kent was last seen. It is…The House.
"Heart of the House" is 360,000-word interactive Gothic novel by Nissa Campbell. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Within the manor, you'll encounter the master, Lord Bastian Reaves; his mysterious servants, Oriana and Loren; and the thousands of spirits teeming around and in this haunted mansion. But will you shatter the power that binds the ghosts to the House, or claim it for yourself? Can love bloom in a haunted house? Most importantly, how will you escape when the House comes for you?
• Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, bi, ace, or poly
• Explore the halls of the House, even as they seem to shift before your eyes
• Encounter ghosts, spirits, and echoes, as you search for your lost Uncle Kent
• Fight against an ancient evil or embrace its demonic gifts
• Indulge in steamy, chaste, sweet, or provocative romances, or go it alone
• Exploit the secrets you find for self-serving ends or use them to help your friends
• Defeat your greatest fears in bone-chilling moments of terror…if you can
• Choose whom you can save, if anyone, from the horrors the House contains
For some, there may be no escape from The Heart of the House.
This Roleplaying game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Heart of the House is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 28th June 2023
Recent improvements include:
Bug fixes. If you enjoy "Heart of the House", please leave us a written review. It really helps!
Download & Availability
Heart of the House is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Heart of the House on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
We have had this game on our phone for years, probably when it first came out. When we first got it, we played it through several times, and then played it a bit less as time went on. We just replayed it for the first time in 2 years, and we were just as enraptured by the story as the first time we played it. The story is so good, the characters are all great, and its just such a good choose your own adventure story. The choices you make, things you can do and say, all great. Do yourself a favor and play this game.
This story was beautiful and we were attached to all of the characters by the end. You can tell how much care and craft went into it. We are so attached to the characters we would even love to play a sequel! We really felt their pain and was so worried when we thought theyd get hurt. We also enjoyed the diversity and especially Loren being nonbinary and the option to be trans. It felt a little bit unrealistic (it would have been great if there was binding in the story etc but its not necessary) but the story was fantasy so it was not difficult to suspend disbelief. The one complaint we have is that the romance all seemed very hurried. We wasnt sure who to choose that quickly and was unsure if denying their advances at first would make them no longer romance-able. It was also frustrating because the choices all seemed to happen at very inconvenient times and so we would put off showing interest in them until a more convenient time but then theyd no longer be available. Spoilers: we were actually very sad when Dev and Loren got together. We love them both so much and Im glad they found each other but we would loved to have been able to romance them both (that may have been an option but it wasnt in our ending) or at least be able to choose one of them later in the story. Regardless, Im so thankful we were able to get them their happy ending.
We would give this app ten stars if we could! The story and characters are well written! We cant wait to see where our next choice will take us! This is highly reminiscent of Choose Your Own Adventure. It is well worth the money.
This game is worth the money and the read! 10/10 And would very much love a sequel.
When we start the game it tells us we need to download the new version and every time we try it fails Ive tried deleting the game and reinstalling it but is still doesnt work.
The whole story is very gothic in a way and kinda Lovecraftian and it draws you in from the get go. It's very kooky and every character is interesting..And the challenge of making sure your character thrives all the way to the end was very exciting.
Ive never read a story so captivating. We could barely stop reading, and even when we wasnt on this app we were thinking about it and what would happen next in the story. We plan to go through the story many more times because there are so many different paths to take and im excited to explore all of them. This game is amazing and completely worth the money; we hope the creator continues to write many more stories like this because Im excited to read more.
Our first game by this company was Choice of Romance, and Ive played a few more since then. Theyve all been very good, but this is the first one since that has bested our initial experience. We love spooky romances, and this definitely delivered! Additionally, the diverse cast of character was a breath of fresh air. There was something for everybody in this tale, yet it didnt feel at all forced. Without revealing too much, this game did something Ive long craved in text adventure games by allowing the reader to delve into the details of the intimacies of romance. We wanted to know even more about the lore of this story, and we did feel the reveal was a bit rushed at the end. We needed more time to truly comprehend the entirety of the supernatural elements that were at work, and especially their relationship with the gods. Even so, we were drawn in the whole time. We could hardly set the game down. It was quite long (which is great, especially since this one is a little pricey) and jam packed with content. Overall, this is a great game! Buy it! You wont be disappointed.
This game is one of our favorite COG, we recommend this especially if you are a sucker for a good romantic game.
This is a lovecraftian horror game. Its less about jumps and more about the unknown. Its a fantastic mystery game that kept us hooked through the entire night. We eagerly await a second installment. We know there likely wont be one but we will wait none the less.
We love CoGs. We have all our current games sorted by genre on our second page of apps, and we purchase all our favorite games on steam so that they are doubly available to play. Usually we restrain our interest to the brand, but this game has us wanting a fandom like all our favorite novels and television shows.
We dont even know where to start. By far this has become one of our favorite COG. The dialogue fits in the time period and location; the characters can be fleshed out and the replay value is 10/10. Character wise; many of them broke the main stereotypes of the time. As a history buff, the fact that the whole situation of the town was strange was what kept our annoyance to certain reactions down. The first run through took us almost 6 hours total and each replay is at least two hours- because there is so much to discover in the text. Its very beautiful. Each choice you make really does lead you to new dialogue and choices. The different romantic routes were each in their own. We enjoyed them and wont spoil it. We only have two issues. The first is how the leading character finds themselves in the House. (Considering this story deals with the super natural this next comment sounds stupid but we have to say it) Its just not realistic and feels forced. There is also a character we meet early on, learn a good amount about only to have them drop off after a chapter and never heard from again. Why waste our time with someone who doesnt matter.
We'll be honest. We did not expect this to last more than an hour and a half and thought of it little more than a ghost story in the CoG lineup. We were pleasantly surprised to find it a well written Lovecraft-inspired (albeit with some minor typos or coding errors, mostly to do with Bastion/Sophia and their pronouns) work, worth the asking price. The chapters are of a decent length and have a good pace to them, even the labyrinth surprising us on our consecutive playthroughs with having more than one set of rooms. This is the first entry into the CoG catalogue that we wholeheartedly endorse and await dutifully for a sequel or successor.
Funny, decorous, romantic, and just plain eerie–in short, a strange delightful mix! The writing feels like it's coming into its own and is already quite strong. The author presents unique choices, including influencing strings of dream sequences which were quite fun. Choices matter everywhere from relationships to world-building flavor to life and death situations. Characterization gets better with every game this company releases and we hope they will continue to encourage this in their writers. :-).
We would have liked to see a bit stronger of a romance with Oriana at the end of the story, but it was terrific nonetheless. We would love to see a sequel.
Brilliant writing, though a bit forceful with the whole LGBT promotion. Great story, reminds us of Darkest Dungeon crossed with Supernatural. We would recommend a few changes for future releases. We would have liked a Telltale style graph showing what percentage of people chose which path in the story. The end of the story (at least the ending we received, SPOILERS) came rather abruptly, with finding a demon in Kent, exorcising it, then meeting back up with Sophia all happening in a few brief pages.
Oh this is such a fun game! And we loved every character they were all sweet and 3 dimensional. They really do make you want to save everyone, especially Loren, such a sweetheart. The story was great as well, by the end, we felt like Id just starred in our own gothic romantic adventure. We got the friendship ending where we saved everyone but didnt date and we feel like our heart grew three sizes, it was so heartwarming. If we did have any feedback though, we would love the option to be of another race. Being non-white, it felt a little odd to be compared to Dev and Bastian as if we were white(such as the scene where you have to chose whether to go to town or send Dev, and it says something like they might not take to well to him bc of his skin. We remember bc we thought well theyd hate us then lol). Speaking of, we really appreciated the attention put into identities in this game, in race, sexuality, and gender identity (there was even a poly option???). It was put in seamlessly, but it still felt like they werent just cosmetic identities. We loved it. Games should really follow this games example when it comes to diversity.
This has to be the BEST Choice of Game story. Wonderful and memorable characters. An awesome story…keep us on our toes and made seriously consider our choices. Wonderful, wonderful story.
This is seriously one of the best of these games we have ever played. Decisions matter, both for story flavor and plot, and there is a really high replayability factor. Its quite long, in the most wonderful and fleshed out way. We could really feel like our character was shaped by choices as well. Stop reading this and get it already.
Amazing writing to complement an amazing story. Easily one of the best writers and choice of games Ive ever read. The romance is perfectly done and the story telling is captivating. Choices dont necessarily change the outcomes but each choice provides more information into the story so multiple reads is still enjoyable. Im looking forward to reading more content from this creator.
We dont even know where to start. Its a long, powerful, gripping journey where moral questions we never considered gripped us. We havent felt so attached to characters in a long time and the length of the story let the grow so well and become powerful and striking people. The story is nothing short of astounding. A tale and a concept we have never seen done and it was done so well that it was made to feel familiar in its approach. The ideas and the universe are so novel and new and exciting that it can seem overwhelming considering them but the story explains and paces it so well that it feels organic, smooth and almost caring. It doesnt hold your hand but it doesnt leave you high and dry in jargon or theory. What we found the most important and for us powerful element is that the story, centered around one relatively inconsequential question creates the entire plot, an entire discourse on ethics, morality, power and even life and asks some powerful question in the story and then answers them. Or better yet lets you answer it yourself. It is truly hard to describe the elation we had at this story and just how much it moves us without spoiling it so we will wrap up here with this. We laughed and cried with the characters. We walked and ran with them and we danced and wondered with them. We were there and that is not something we can say about a lot of stories.
Will definitely play this through again. Spooky and twisty, with a lot of complex magic and a very powerful conclusion. Loved it.
This one wowed us. We look forward to playing this through a million more times. One of the best choice of games released.
We were engrossed for most of the day. Solid writing, although not better than what you'll find in any run-of-the-mill book set in this period. The story starts to come apart at the end; the writing gets broader, less specific, and choices you have made are referenced incorrectly, not built on, etc. A warning: we bought this because we like ghost stories, but this is a Lovecraftian story. If you're not into Cthulu derivatives, maybe skip.
So far so good. The story is pretty interesting so far, but we have noticed a few technical errors. For instance, sometimes, when we try to scroll down, we are met with a blank page. We can easily get out of it by pressing the home button, but this happens quite often and is getting a tad annoying. Also, we noticed a small problem with the coding, as it says "Page Break:Right" or something like that; we don't remember exactly what it said, but it said something along those lines. Anyway, back on topic. This is a pretty detailed story that has so far kept our attention and is just in time for Halloween.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.0.9
- Size: 26.35 MB
- iOS: 11.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence, Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes, Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References, Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
- Developer: Choice of Games LLC
Last updated: 28th June 2023 | Genre: Roleplaying, Adventure | Developer: Choice of Games LLC