Heart of the Woods

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

Latest news

• Community & Events·1 Sept 2026Official

  Fall in Love Visual Novel Steam Festival is live!

  Fall in love with visual novels from September 1-9 in the Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival!Heart of the Woods is currently taking part in the Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival, a Steam festival dedicated to romance visual novels from around the world, hosted by yours truly! From September 1-9 you can find over 200 visual novels in the festival, ranging from discounted games, new demos, and more~Several of our visual novels are on sale for the event!And you can try out the demos for our upcoming games as well~
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Crystal Game Works)

• Announcements·6 Feb 2026Official

  Valentine's Sale!

  Heart of the Woods is currently on sale on Steam alongside its DLC! The base game and all of its DLC, such as the soundtracks and the artbook, are 40% off.You can also pick up our comfy slice of life yuri visual novel Please Be Happy on sale right now~
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Crystal Game Works)

• Announcements·30 Sept 2025Official

  Our magical girl yuri visual novel is now released!

  Fight crime, be gay—do things the magical girl way!Lock & Key: A Magical Girl Mystery is out now! After several years of development, you can finally follow the married pair of magical girls Sherri and Kealey on one last adventure before their powers fade away for good.Sherri and Kealey Cohen, now a married couple in their late 20s, left the title of magical girls behind them over a decade ago. Now on the verge of losing their powers and entering a life of true normalcy, a string of unexplainable murders forces them to come out of retirement for one last adventure. Together with Nina, their old friend, and Ruby, a new protégé, Sherri and Kealey will have to face a mystery connected both to their past and future. How will you guide your new protégé? Will you be able to save the city from a killer, or will you lose it all?Lock & Key: A Magical Girl Mystery features multiple ways the story can play out depending on player choices as well as a data viewer with expanded lore and character biographies. It has an original score composed by Sarah Mancuso (Please Be Happy; Upwards, Rain!) and character artwork by milkgrrl.There's a demo available you can try before getting the full game!follow us on...Discord - Tumblr - Newsletter - Bluesky
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Crystal Game Works)

• Community & Events·24 Sept 2025Official

  Fall in Love Visual Novel Festival has started!

  The first Fall in Love Visual Novel festival has started! Enjoy 200+ romance-themed visual novels from over 100 visual novel developers, hosted by us!Heart of the Woods and its DLC are on sale for the festival~Our other yuri games are also in the festival, with some being on sale! Lock & Key: A Magical Girl Mystery, our very next yuri visual novel, releases on September 30th and has a demo you can try now!
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Crystal Game Works)

• Announcements·10 Aug 2025Official

  Heart of the Woods 2.1.7 and 2.1.6

  Hello, everyone!Heart of the Woods 2.1.7 and 2.1.6 have just been released, which fix a few minor issues that were either reported by the community, or were found in testing.We’ve also optimised and reduced the game’s install size by 102 MB (8%) with no quality loss!As always, thank you all for continuing to support Studio Élan…!〜 Karen/あけみ (akemin_dayo)Changelog for 2.1.7:On PC, it targets Ren’Py SDK versions 8.1.3.23091805 〜 7.3.5.606.In an effort to further bring all our titles in line with each other, the keyboard key "A" can now be used to toggle Auto Mode on and off. ※ The legacy Ren'Py accessibility (AX) menu can still be accessed by pressing "Shift-A" instead.Deleting save files from the savescreen is now possible again using the "Delete" key on your keyboard, or Square / X (Left Button) on your controller.Made improvements to localisation system.When available, audio cues are now translated.Save files created on old versions of the game while set to non-English languages will now have their names display correctly in the savescreen, regardless of your current language setting.Changelog for 2.1.6:On PC, it targets Ren’Py SDK versions 8.1.3.23091805 〜 7.3.5.606.Optimised and reduced game install size by 102 MB (8%) with no quality loss!Fixed an issue with consistency between the game text and voice line in Act 1, Scene 1-4.Fixed an issue with consistency between the game text and voice line in Act 5, Scene 5-1 Part 2.Fixed a typo in Act 3, Scene 3-5.Fixed an issue where a visual effect in a certain scene would not always display correctly.Removed UI font that is no longer used.Fixed a minor UI layout issue that could occur under rare circumstances.Merged changes and improvements made in common code shared with other Studio Élan games.The game will now automatically switch to the game language that best matches with the current operating system language upon first boot, if available.Save data location is now written to the log.Improved graphical sharpness and ...
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Karen/あけみ)