Reanimated Heart
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Reanimated Heart is a character-driven horror romance visual novel about finding love in a mysterious small town.
In a unique setting inspired by pulp horror, the player has to figure out how to build a life from scratch in a strange dimension where the sun never rises and supernatural creatures live freely. There are three mysterious love interests with their own distinct storylines and secrets to uncover, each of their routes contributing their own perspective to the wider story.
This game is currently in development. It will receive free updates up until the end of Chapter 1. The full game will then be released here and Steam.
PLEASE DO NOT SKIP READING THE WARNINGS BEFORE PLAYING THE GAME. LIKE ANY HORROR MOVIE, THESE TOPICS WILL BE TACKLED BY THE GAME DIRECTLY. PLAYER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
!!! Click here for Content Warnings !!!
Content Warnings (Subject to Change as the Story Progresses): Drug Use/Abuse, Alcoholism, General Abuse, Graphic Violence, Death/Dying, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Cannibalism, Sexual Assault, Necrophilia, Eye Trauma, Occult Magic, Animal Death, Mentions of Body Possession, Mild Jumpscares, Insects (Spiders, centipedes, moths etc.), Mentioned Bigotry, Police Brutality, Suicide, Mutilation of Corpses, Tattoo/Piercing Needles(As of Chapter 1, which is this demo, there is no Explicit Sexual Content yet, but it will be implemented in future chapters.)
At the moment, this version currently has:
- The prologue introduction and in-progress Chapter 1
- Customizable player name, appearance, pronouns and biological sex
- Dynamic dialogue trees -- hold interesting conversations and define your own personality
- Original artwork and soundtrack
- Unique main menu and game UI
- A character journal and inventory system
- Player choice affects plot
- Three bisexual love interests that will feature explicit scenes that adjust depending on player customization
- Partial voice acting
- Three jobs with unique NPCs -- deliver pot to quirky townsfolk, serve drinks at a punk bar, or become a forest witch's apprentice
- 67,000+ word count (in-progress)
We are aiming for the following features in the future:
- Three chapters with their own plots
- A gallery for music and art
- Multiple endings for each route, good and bad
- Ideally, at least 4-5 hours playtime with high replay value
SPECIAL CREDITS:
Thank you to the following for helping me with the game!
Main Programmer: Exodus
Music Composers: Claira, Sleepy
Editor: My husband Clovis
Artists: Taymaddi, Gummy
Journal Writer: Mell
Voice Actors
Studio: Very Berry Studios
Crux Hertz: Alex Ross
Black Lumaban: Christian Cruz
Vincenzo Maria Fontana: Devin J. McLaughlin (male)
Grete Braun: Maganda Marie
Missy: Zoe D. Lee
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- v1.3.0 - Content UpdateJun 30, 2024
- v1.2.5 - Content UpdateJan 04, 2024
- v1.2.0 - Content UpdateJul 31, 2023
- v3 - Content UpdateApr 08, 2023
- v2 - Minor bugfixes and typos updateDec 15, 2022
Comments
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when is the update im begging π
Can't wait for the update! It's already a masterpiece. I love this world, so well-written! All the LIs are 10/10. The art style is divine, the CGs have made me absolutely feral.
++ I desperately need to kiss Black on the mouth
plz i cant wait for the update il
December? Yay! SO Double Dead Clause is coming down our chimneys to leave a lovely gift after all! *proceeds to leave out Double Dead Clause's favorite cookies and hot chocolate*
Still being made?
Yes, I'm working on an update for December.
(Side note, why does everyone think this is dropped omg. The last update is not that long ago!)
I AM I LOVE!!!!!!!!!! im dying for the full game. FREE ME FROM MY SKIN IM GOING CRAZY OVER THIS GAME.
this might be the realistic comment ive ever seen
cant wait for the full release π
RAAAAAAAAAAA I cannot express how much I need the full release, I'll spend my lifes savings on this game istg, me and my fiance are HOOKED. I can't wait to see more!!
OH MY GODD I REALLY LOVE THIS DEMO!! the characters are so well written!!! does anyone know if it will be released on steam sooner or later?? ^^
Ughh this game is wonderful.. this needs more attention!!
can not wait for the full game! This is such a well structured story and the art style is beautiful. Great work so far!
Can I date a woman in this game?
oh buddy. yes but i cannot spoil which one it is.
Oh wow, I can't believe this is just the demo!
I downloaded this while scrolling through queer games on here, and expected it to be short, maybe an hour at the most. I ended up spending most of my day on it, and it's so much more deep and involved than I expected. The worldbuilding is really interesting, and I'm so excited to see more of it! So far I've only done Black's route but wow... Wow Love Him A Lot. Great supporting cast, too, every single character feels real and believable and I also love them.
Edit: Played the other routes. I enjoyed Crux's a lot, too.
However, I was not prepared for Vincenzo's and was unable to complete it. Obviously I was prepared for it to be dark, but not prepared for how dark it actually was, and I don't feel like the content warnings were at all adequate. It was such an extreme departure in tone from the other routes. Being sexually and violently violated by your love interest, and also having the option to rape and murder an npc was just... not something I expected, and I was not mentally or emotionally prepared for. I appreciate that this content is locked behind a specific route, and I feel like that should make it much easier to warn the player when selecting Vincenzo.
Wait, sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this, but I am VERY behind on a lot of term relevancy and I am confused. I the word "queer" still a slur or actually used with meaning now? I just moved to the West so I am super confused on whether the word is used differently here than it was in my home country.
Also, completely agree with you in terms of the game, I found the worldbuilding to be unlike any other games I have seen on this platform and it reeled me in quickly. It has been two days (as of now) since you posted this comment so you have probably already looked at the other routes, but if not, definitely take a glimpse at them and you will only be more hooked! It looks like the creators know exactly how to catch an audience and I love it!
Queer is a reclaimed slur! Some people are still uncomfortable with the word even in the West, but many of us have adopted it as an umbrella term that isn't as much of a mouthful as LGBTIA+ (endless new letters to include every identity gets tiring to type out). Queer is a nice catch-all category that doesn't leave anyone out.
It's also helpful if you're part of more than one subcategoryβ as in, instead of saying "I'm pansexual and transgender", I can just quickly say "I'm queer". (Some people also use "gay" the same way, but "gay" has more specific implications that might feel limiting. Queer as a term is basically limitless.)
Oh, thank you! That makes much more sense than my previous thoughts, take care and have a splendid day/night! <3
Its amazing! like Black is precious and crux is a susssy boi but grete is nice!
When will we get an option to have titties in da game πππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππππ
Hopefully next update after the revised character creator drops, but they'll be vague for the CGs (outside of sex scenes) because I don't want to draw different torsos when it's not the focus of the scene. I'm trying my best to not to bloat the amount of work on the customization because this game has no budget, and if I find illustrating the MC to be more work than necessary, then I might just cut the creator and customized CGs entirely.
oh that makes sense better to not make a million different things to select :3
we're flat for now LMFAO
actually crying rn black is transmasc?!?!?! i love him so much please
t4t my character and black
Yes!!
Reanimated Heart is Paranormal Romance at its finest, elevated to high art, witty and decadent and tragic with a strong touch of coming-of-age but for the aimless post-college crowd instead of the freshly-morose teenager.
It's relatable, it's snappy, it's beautiful and it's unnerving. It is both comfort food and something that drags you kicking and screaming out of your comfort zone, if you're curious enough to brave that. Visceral and real. It is dark without being truly hopeless. It is cathartically strange. It takes characters seriously enough to treat them like people instead of archetypes. These are not cardboard cutouts, you will believe that they exist beyond the scope of this story, that they live their own life between your scenes with them. Not only the main love interests, but the supporting cast. This is not a dating sim, this is a Gothic Romance novel playfully masquerading as a regular game, drawing you in with visuals and keeping you with the writing.
It's a love letter to freaks that don't know if they deserve or can feel love, and a love letter to itself. Reanimated Heart is uniquely infatuated with its own premise, approaching itself with wide open eyes, without ironic detachment, without the need to take itself down a notch or fill every silence with jokes or make you feel silly for getting emotionally involved in it. It refuses to talk down to the audience, instead inviting you to take full part in exploring and influencing its narrative. It carries itself with both the intricacy of a slowburn and the urgency of something being gobbled up, page after page, in the rush to see it continue blooming. Reanimated Heart is endlessly gentle when it needs to be, and then it twists the knife deep into your guts in ways you will be thinking of long after leaving it.
Play Reanimated Heart, which is already longer and denser as a demo than many finished games end up being. If you pour your love into it, it will pour its love into you.
For those of you looking not for a snack, but a meal.
Oh my god. I honestly didn't even realize this was a demo until it ended, I am so invested. It's honestly hard to choose between all the characters too!!! Very excited for more future content!!
I saw the demo was over and genuinely started tweaking omg after you got me INVESTED with the villain :sob:
did they give up on the game im a little confused due to the new game coming out
No, Reanimated Heart is still being made. I'm just also working on other projects now, but it won't affect the speed I work on RH (I generally aim for 3 chunky updates a year). I mean, I gave you guys a huge update last month! LMAO
So around Christmas/New Years? Best present ever.
AHHH OKKKK sorryyy i didnt notice the update o.o
The mayor is sooo fine wish he was a candidate too
Tbh I think so too. Maybe some day in a spinoff... Don't count anything out LOLL
UWAHH I LVOE THIS
So good. You have me hungry for more.
am i a big dummy and miss it or did we not get a Black kissy yet :((((
OH the update has been AWESOME btw <3
There will be no Black kisses in Chapter 1!
roger! glad i didn't miss anything! <3
i swear we havent had a vin one either πͺ
There is one, but it isn't drawn π
OMG WHAT NO WAY π how have i not seen it yet i think im gonna have to replay the game πππ
omg btw one thing im confused abt is when u go meet vincenzo and theres a "i want to give u something" choice. nothing happens if i click it so is tht supposed to happen orrr ??????
It should pull up a pop-up where you can gift Vincenzo an item in your inventory that isn't your "essentials", but in this scenario, it looks like you don't have anything in your inventory. I'll see about removing the option if you have nothing.
I just wanted to say I seriously love this game. I already replayed the current demo four times. Keep up the amazing work!!!
Me : *violently rips out my couch and shakes it for every penny stuck inside*
*throws it at the screen*
TAKE MY MONEY
(im actually broke), MORE LORE AND POWERS AND PRETTY PEOPLE PLSSeriously though, not one aspect was expected nor boring. Everything around the world was so interesting to explore and learn about, I got so invested I genuinely forgot that it was a demo and I played until I hit a "wip" option and the 'end of demo' screen hit me. I do hope this gets developed further.
I have so many questions not just in regards to the characters, but as well as The Tree. I gasped so hard when I saw Vincenzo in that form (i went feral lol). I hope the concept of the whole inter-dimension thing gets explored further in the future! This is honestly great from the get go, everything from the atmosphere, OST, and art is so pretty. I find myself staring at even the simple BGs for a few minutes more than the usual.
HDCGCEIWUGVIUGRIEV DELICIOUS SOUP AS PER USUAL BUT LIKE HELLO?????? CRUX IS SO CUTE AND SO IS BLACK OMGGGGGGGGGG, vin could so step on me regardless of gender, BUT THIS UPDATE WAS AMAZINGGGGGGGG KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK PLEASEEEEE
Does anyone else pick the female option and still get called a guy in the demo? I've done 3 playthroughs, pick female and she/her pronouns, and get called a guy lmao.
Lol, "guy" is gender neutral to me but I'm learning people don't like that. I'll go change it with the next creator update.
XD I wouldn't mind if it was like dude or something, but yeah being called a guy when I selected female had me like, did I read the character creator wrong??
Omg I'm like the opposite, I think "dude" is more gendered while "guy" is gender neutral... Anyway I'll probably go back to the script at some point and fix all this lol. I do want to do this and do more gendered adjectives to describe MC too. And have the MC have more specific gendered conversations with people. Coming Soon (tm) I guess.
Can't wait! I already love what you have done so far.
Crux give me so much ballonetaβs vibes, is so cool and i laught hard with him, this game is very great it has such a interesting world, i love it.
is there a guide for this?? :0
Nope. What are you trying to do?
For each love interest, especially Black, i'm unsure if i say the 'right' or 'wrong' things to them. Usually i guess based on their reaction but with Black is more difficult...
For example, the "Do you think your a good person" scene. Most of his responds to any option seem to be negative.
I've coded RH in a way where the player character can have dynamic conversations with the characters without punishment (unless you're being a huge asshole). You can usually tell when you're headed a certain plot direction with the prompts instead of arbitrary responses leading to certain endings, so you are free to define your relationships with them and "roleplay." For example, instead of trying to see if your response is "good" to Black, you can use it as a tool to learn more about him and his motivations, how he sees himself, what being a "good person" means to him, etc.
Ohhh that makes so much more sense! Thank you! :)
Replayed with the updated content and can we just have a moment of silence for Vincenzo's female form..
The new Crux CG has me acting FERAL as if he doesn't know I want to make him my wife????
And do N O T get me started on Black with his cute, oblivious assβ€οΈ I'm a SUCKER for tattoos and the way his eyes look at my MC during the story?????? Oh, I WANT HIM SO BAD!
i feel like choosing between these three has been one of the hardest decisions that I ever had to make in my life.
Must... have... more...
Very addictive stuff here, keep up the fantastic work.
Can you add a few male/masc haircuts and tan skintones?
I can add one more masc haircut in a future update.
But you've commented before on this skin issue, and I asked you what you meant by beige. Now I'm asking you what you mean by tan. There are three darker skin options, one is tan. Can you give actual references about what you mean?
This game is so cool! I'm looking foward for the complete version, hopefully I'll be able to buy it!
do you know how much the game will be when released? xxo (cant find it anywhere)
Hello! I'm planning on the FULL game being $15 (with optional DLC like story expansions and artbook/OST) when it's fully released, but that'll be way into the future haha.
thanks for replying! that's a very fair price. is the demo finished or are you still adding more onto it?
It will span the whole Chapter 1! So it'll still continue until next year, then move to Patreon.
crux is the eccentric type, but he's a dick. (i love him and I want him and am getting massive brain rot over him) but I also could not help laughing out loud at him changing into the ceremonial garb?? he's so funny and cuteπ
Okay so i just decide to give it a shot and GOD DAMN THIS SHIT GOOD!!!!! I LOVE BLACK SO MUCH, LIKE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. okay but in reality it beautifully drawn and secondly each character is greatly diverse. And the fact they will remember things u do and affects the future is so fucking good. Like l love this
*candy crush voice* TASTY…DELICIOUS ….DIVINE…. This is something that always plays on my mind on a loop whenever I play this game. I am hopelessly in love with black…charmed by crux and enamoured for Vincenzo…and that is all your fault /silly
All my silliness aside i genuinely am impressed by the meticulously built world of Evergreen Hollow…itβs dark, surreal and beautiful in a melancholic kind of way…and Iβm here for it π Honestly I am very very exited and eager for the future updates… and to everyone reading this… stop reading my gibberish and GO PLAY You wonβt regret itβΌοΈ
I have become obsesed with replaying this demo, I just love Black so much. NGL tho at first I thought he was native american and was so excited but then I actually processed his last name and checked the comments. Black actually really fits as a lot of NA city kids and partially white raised NA kids like myself hence the confusion, but alas, no common background with my new blorbo for me. Can't wait for the next update, once I get my raise in income in august I'm so joining the patreon, only my lack of current funds is stopping me from throwing cash at you and this amazing project.
Hope to see more very soon, very intrigued. Black is actually such a sweetie.
joguei a demo ontem e me apaixonei pelo jogo, ele é realmente muito interessante, a arte é linda e ele consegue prender a sua atençao ao decorrer da história.
nao fiz todas as rotas ((ainda)) mas pretendo! esperando futuras atualizaΓ§oes, mando apoio do brasil !! Ω©(ΛαΛ*)Ω β‘