Heart of the Woods is a supernatural romance visual novel by Studio Élan. Maddie Raines manages and edits a paranormal video series hosted by her friend Tara. Their trip to the remote German village of Eysenfeld is meant to be one final investigation before Maddie leaves the project. Instead, she encounters Abigail, a woman bound to the surrounding forest by an old curse. The story combines the investigation of that curse with the relationships among Maddie, Abigail, Tara, and a local shopkeeper, Morgan.
Gameplay
The player reads illustrated scenes, listens to the English voice cast, and makes choices that lead to different endings. Text navigation, accessibility settings, a music room, and an illustration gallery support reading and revisiting the story. English is the only fully voiced language listed; the other supported languages have translated text.
Setting and premise
Eysenfeld is a fictional village in Germany. The investigation moves between the village and its forest, where local legends and a centuries-old injustice become part of the present-day mystery.
Development and release
The computer edition was released on Steam on February 15, 2019. Studio Élan also documents PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch releases. Their dates and language configurations have separate histories; the table below documents the computer edition.
Screenshots
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Editions & languages
Open an edition to check its languages. Text support and voice acting are listed separately.
Standard Steam editionWindows · macOS · LinuxFebruary 15, 2019
| Language | Interface | Text / subtitles | Full audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| Simplified Chinese | Supported | Supported | Not listed |
| German | Supported | Supported | Not listed |
| Traditional Chinese | Supported | Supported | Not listed |
| Spanish (Spain) | Supported | Supported | Not listed |
System requirements
Compare the publisher’s minimum and recommended specifications across platforms and editions.
| Component | WindowsStandard Steam edition | macOSStandard Steam edition | LinuxStandard Steam edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating system | MinimumWindows 7 or higherRecommendedNot specified | MinimummacOS / OS X 10.10 Yosemite or higherRecommendedNot specified | MinimumAny reasonably modern Linux distribution (※ Roughly equivalent to Ubuntu 16.04 or above.)RecommendedNot specified |
| Processor | MinimumAny 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPU (※ x86_64 translation is required on ARM / Apple Silicon.)RecommendedNot specified | MinimumAny 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPURecommendedNot specified | MinimumAny 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPU (※ Earning Steam achievements / trophies on ARM Linux requires x86_64 translation.)RecommendedNot specified |
| Memory | Minimum1 GB RAMRecommendedNot specified | Minimum1 GB RAMRecommendedNot specified | Minimum1 GB RAMRecommendedNot specified |
| Graphics | MinimumAny GPU that supports at least OpenGL 2.0, OpenGL ES 2.0, or DirectX 9.0RecommendedNot specified | MinimumAny GPU that supports at least Metal, OpenGL 2.0, or OpenGL ES 2.0RecommendedNot specified | MinimumAny GPU that supports at least OpenGL 2.0 or OpenGL ES 2.0RecommendedNot specified |
| DirectX | MinimumVersion 9.0RecommendedNot specified | Not listed | Not listed |
| Storage | Minimum2 GB available spaceRecommendedNot specified | Minimum2 GB available spaceRecommendedNot specified | Minimum2 GB available spaceRecommendedNot specified |
| Architecture | MinimumRequires a 64-bit processor and operating systemRecommendedRequires a 64-bit processor and operating system | Not listed | Not listed |
| Additional notes | Not listed | Not listed | Minimum※ Tested on Ubuntu 22.10 (x86_64) and Asahi Linux (arm64e, Apple Silicon).RecommendedNot specified |
Detailed specifications by platform
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 7 or higher | Not specified |
| Processor | Any 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPU (※ x86_64 translation is required on ARM / Apple Silicon.) | Not specified |
| Memory | 1 GB RAM | Not specified |
| Graphics | Any GPU that supports at least OpenGL 2.0, OpenGL ES 2.0, or DirectX 9.0 | Not specified |
| DirectX | Version 9.0 | Not specified |
| Storage | 2 GB available space | Not specified |
| Architecture | Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system | Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system |
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | macOS / OS X 10.10 Yosemite or higher | Not specified |
| Processor | Any 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPU | Not specified |
| Memory | 1 GB RAM | Not specified |
| Graphics | Any GPU that supports at least Metal, OpenGL 2.0, or OpenGL ES 2.0 | Not specified |
| Storage | 2 GB available space | Not specified |
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Any reasonably modern Linux distribution (※ Roughly equivalent to Ubuntu 16.04 or above.) | Not specified |
| Processor | Any 64-bit Intel, AMD, or ARM / Apple Silicon CPU (※ Earning Steam achievements / trophies on ARM Linux requires x86_64 translation.) | Not specified |
| Memory | 1 GB RAM | Not specified |
| Graphics | Any GPU that supports at least OpenGL 2.0 or OpenGL ES 2.0 | Not specified |
| Storage | 2 GB available space | Not specified |
| Additional notes | ※ Tested on Ubuntu 22.10 (x86_64) and Asahi Linux (arm64e, Apple Silicon). | Not specified |
