Heart of the Woods
A fantasy yuri visual novel filled with magic, fairies, and a ghost girl. When Maddie and her best friend, Tara, journey to a remote forest village to investigate rumors of the supernatural, they find a whole lot more than they bargained for.
All Reviews:
Overwhelmingly Positive (765) - 95% of the 765 user reviews for this game are positive.
Release Date:
Feb 15, 2019
Developer:

Sign in to add this item to your wishlist, follow it, or mark it as ignored

Download Heart of the Woods Demo

Buy Heart of the Woods

SPECIAL PROMOTION! Offer ends December 4

-50%
$14.99
$7.49

Buy Studio Élan Yuri Game Bundle BUNDLE (?)

Includes 4 items: Please Be Happy, Heart of the Woods, Highway Blossoms, National Park Girls

-10%
-44%
$52.96
$29.48
 

Reviews

“Heart of the Woods is one of the best visual novels, Yuri or otherwise, I have ever had the pleasure of playing.”
9/10 –

“Heart of the Woods is the quintessential modern day fairy tale. With enough love, drama and touches of fantasy to make for a ride like no other.”
5/5 –

“It comes pretty darn close to perfection and we can’t say that too often.”

About This Game



Heart of the Woods is a fantasy yuri visual novel about paranormal investigation, ancient mysteries, and a love between two girls that transcends life and death.

Maddie Raines has had enough. After years of serving as manager, editor, and general business-handler for her best friend Tara's popular paranormal vlog channel, she's finally ready to move forward with her own life. But when she agrees to take one last trip with Tara to the mysterious village of Eysenfeld, she's suddenly swept up in a dangerous supernatural crisis that will change the course of both of their lives forever. A strange young woman named Morgan has promised them undeniable proof of real paranormal phenomena, and what she has to offer eclipses anything they’d ever seen before.

However, out of all the strange occurrences the three of them bear witness to, one in particular captivates Maddie in a way she’s never been before: the ghost of a young woman. This woman is Abigail, the victim of a centuries-old injustice now bound eternally to the forest surrounding Eysenfeld. Drawn to Maddie in a way she can’t explain, Abigail reveals herself to another person for the first time in more than 200 years.

While Tara and Morgan investigate the mysteries surrounding the village itself, Maddie begins to form a bond with Abigail that grows to be more intense than any bond she’s felt before. As she learns the truth about Abigail’s death and imprisonment, she realizes that it falls to her and her friends to break the curse that has ruled over Eysenfeld for centuries. But more importantly than that, it falls to her to finally free the woman she loves.





A part-time manager, part time video editor, and full-time babysitter, Maddie has the thankless job of handling the absolute whirlwind that is her best friend.

She’s professional, meticulous and intellectual; the first person to turn to when a problem needs solving. But when their investigation entangles her in an ancient curse, she's forced to confront phenomena beyond her comprehension, and more importantly, her own self doubt.



For the last two centuries, the ghost of a young woman has haunted the forests of Eysenfeld. That ghost is Abigail, a kind and playful soul forcibly bound to the forest as part of an ancient curse.

Two hundred years of wishing for a life cruelly denied to her have led to a feeling of crushing loneliness and one overwhelming desire: to finally have someone to talk to.



One of the world’s most popular paranormal vloggers (according to her), Tara is unfailingly charismatic and bursting with limitless energy. She’s brash, intrepid, and always seeking something new. That often makes her a magnet for trouble: whether it’s from relentless flirting, minor criminal activities or just plain pig-headedness, things around Tara have a tendency to end in chaos.



A loyal Taranormal viewer and the daughter of Eysenfeld’s mayor, Morgan is… different. When not running her small and mostly empty antique shop, she’s known to disappear into the woods for days at a time. That, combined with her resistance to traditional social standards, has caused her to develop a bit of a notorious reputation in the village.

However, this resistance is not just an act of rebellion: Morgan knows that there’s something sinister deep within Eysenfeld, and she’s not going to stop until she tears it out at the roots.


  • Incredible character and CG art from Rosuuri
  • Full English voice acting
  • Approximately 130,000 words with multiple endings
  • Fully original backgrounds and soundtrack
  • Ending theme from In Love With A Ghost
  • Multiple accessibility options
  • F​ully translated to Traditional Chinese (繁體中文), Simplified Chinese (简体中文), German (Deutsch), and Spanish (Español)
  • Steam trading cards
  • Extra features including a music room, CG viewer, and guest art gallery
  • At least one really, really gay ghost


Maddie Raines - Allie Goodell
Abigail - Heidi Tabing
Tara Bryck - Stephanie "Teffi" Arata
Morgan Fischer - Kira Buckland
Evelyn Fischer - Tara Langella
Fairy Queen - Emaline Tuck
Fairies - Anairis Quinones, Lisa Reimold, Tina Kim

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

All characters depicted are over the age of 18. Contains some strong language and suggestive content.

System Requirements

Windows
macOS
SteamOS + Linux
    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS *: Windows 7 or higher
    • Processor: Any 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPU (※ x86_64 translation is required on ARM / Apple Silicon.)
    • Memory: 1 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Any GPU that supports at least OpenGL 2.0, OpenGL ES 2.0, or DirectX 9.0
    • DirectX: Version 9.0
    • Storage: 2 GB available space
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
* Starting January 1st, 2024, the Steam Client will only support Windows 10 and later versions.
    Minimum:
    • OS: macOS / OS X 10.10 Yosemite or higher
    • Processor: Any 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPU
    • Memory: 1 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Any GPU that supports at least Metal, OpenGL 2.0, or OpenGL ES 2.0
    • Storage: 2 GB available space
    Recommended:
      Minimum:
      • OS: Any reasonably modern Linux distribution (※ Roughly equivalent to Ubuntu 16.04 or above.)
      • Processor: Any 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPU (※ Earning Steam achievements / trophies on ARM Linux requires x86_64 translation.)
      • Memory: 1 GB RAM
      • Graphics: Any GPU that supports at least OpenGL 2.0 or OpenGL ES 2.0
      • Storage: 2 GB available space
      • Additional Notes: ※ Tested on Ubuntu 22.10 (x86_64) and Asahi Linux (arm64e, Apple Silicon).
      Recommended:

      Customer reviews for Heart of the Woods

      Review Type


      Purchase Type


      Language


      Date Range
      To view reviews within a date range, please click and drag a selection on a graph above or click on a specific bar.

      Show graph



      Playtime
      Filter reviews by the user's playtime when the review was written:



      No minimum to No maximum

      Display
      Show reviews in selected display order





      Learn More
      Show graph
       
      Hide graph
       
      Filters
      Excluding Off-topic Review Activity
      Playtime:
      Played Mostly on Steam Deck
      There are no more reviews that match the filters set above
      Adjust the filters above to see other reviews
      Loading reviews...