Heart's Choice Games

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Heart's Choice has added a whole bouquet of new options to our iPhone/iPad app and to our Android app, to help you find stories with exactly the features you’re looking for. 

An expanded chili-pepper scale gives more detail about every game’s spice level, starting with a mild and sweet 1-pepper and going all the way up to extra-hot 5-pepper erotica.

New search features let you filter by spice level, player-character gender, and romance-option gender.

“Similar to” suggestions help you find more games just like the ones you already love! Find your way to a new Happily Ever After today!

New game! "Vampire's Kiss" by Dash Casey is now available on Steam, iOS and Android. It's 33% off until Oct 26 Please reshare this with friends!

Unleash your lust and your thirst in a battle for the soul of London! Will passion lead you back to humanity, or will you embrace the night as a vampire?

Vampire’s Kiss is a 170,000-word interactive erotic vampire novel by Dash Casey. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fuelled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

In life, you were the guardian of a priceless artifact, the Cross of Aguirre. Now you have been murdered and made a vampire; the artifact has been stolen, and you are at the center of a web of bloody conspiracies. 

Navigate a perilous web of secrets as you discover the hidden world of London after dark, staging daring heists and bloody battles across the city’s iconic landscape. As a plot centuries in the making unfolds, choose sides in the battle for control of London’s vampires, and embrace the night that has been thrust upon you…or, chase rumors of a way to restore true life to the undead, and hold out hope that you might see the sun once more. 

Your heart no longer beats, but your passion still burns. Will you share a slow dance with Marky, the rogueish vampire with dozens of piercings and a poorly hidden heart of gold? Hold each other tenderly, or fall into bed and discover all of the tricks that Marky has learned in more than a century of unlife.

Will you stalk the night alongside Kurt, a stoic vampire hunter, all muscles and chiseled face, who holds the secrets to ancient lore? He's as dominant in the bedroom as he is on the battlefield: choose your own safeword and submit to his powerful strength; or explore his gentler side.

Does the lure of London's mortal aristocracy draw you towards Alex? This fabulously-dressed and surprisingly courageous socialite is thirsty to learn what sex with a vampire is like - bring all of your powers of telepathy and shapeshifting to heighten your pleasure.

Or will you be dominated by the vampire queen Saffron, with her glorious red hair and brilliantly devious schemes? She's ready for anything, from the kinkiest night of whips and fangs to the vulnerability of using no vampiric powers at all in bed.

• Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, or bi; or asexual.

• Seduce a passionate socialite; the scheming vampire queen; a cheeky vampire rogue; or a stoic hunter.

• Opt in or out of scenes involving graphic violence and blood.

• Embrace your vampiric destiny, or dream of the sunrise in a quest to transform yourself back to humanity - and bring your lover along with you.

• Solve your own murder, and take vengeance on your killer.

• Delve into your vampiric powers: transform yourself into a vicious monster, cast shapeshifting illusions as a creature of shadow, or unlock the hypnotic mysteries of the mind.

• Keep your secrets and preserve the illusion that you have died, or shock the world by revealing the existence of vampires.

New game! "Forbidden Magic" by Frances Pauli is now available on Steam, iOS and Android. It's 40% off until August 31. 

As a paranormal agent, your job is to keep magic under wraps. Can you catch a magical arsonist before you lose your heart?

Forbidden Magic is a 145,000-word interactive paranormal romance game by Frances Pauli, author of Brimstone Manor. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

You’re a mage on parole for a crime you didn’t commit. Or, maybe you did, but you certainly didn’t intend to get caught. For penance, you’ve been assigned to the Organization for the Protection of Sorcerous Secrets, a task force dedicated to keeping the paranormal out of the public eye.

The vampire who works in the basement is out to get you. Your boss is literally a devil. And they’ve assigned you a hellhound for a partner, a shapeshifter who just happens to be your high-school crush. (Or, choose your own background! Maybe you were the hellhound’s crush? Or perhaps you were rivals, instead?)

Whether you use your superior sleuthing skills, rely on some magic of your own, or resort to dirty tactics, it’s not the worst gig. Hunting down rogues and mopping up public displays of magic could even be fun. But when a magical arsonist goes on a rampage, you'll need all the help you can get to keep the city safe and to keep your secrets, even if it means working with a human from a rival agency.

The closer you get to finding the arsonist, the closer you get to losing your heart. You used to be very close with the hellhound-shifter who’s now your OPSS partner. Could there be the sparks of something more? Your job is to keep magic out of mortal hands, but wouldn't it be nice to put yourself in the hands of that tall, broad-shouldered rival agent? Or perhaps you'll take this opportunity to seduce your boss, the dazzlingly competent and even more dazzlingly dressed devil? And then there’s the suspect whose vulnerability just might melt your heart…

• Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, or bi.

• Romance a shifter, devil, mage, or even an ordinary human.

• Choose your relationship trope: friends-to-lovers, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, and more.

• Choose your magical specialty and build your power!

• Investigate crime in a hidden magical part of the city: fey-owned nightclubs, elf-run diners, secret government agencies, and more. 

• Work to keep magic a secret, or unleash forbidden knowledge into the wider world.

New game! Their Majesties' Pleasure by Leia Talon! is now available on Steam, and in the Heart's Choice app on iOS and Android. It's 33% off until June 22!

https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/their-majesties-pleasure/

In this enchanted sexual escapade, will you revel with mysterious rogues, wily Fae, the Prince, or the Princess? Where will your heart and loyalty lead you as the kingdom trembles on the edge of war?

Their Majesties’ Pleasure is a 225,000-word interactive erotic fantasy novel by Leia Talon, where your choices control the story. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

As a member of the royal guard, it is your duty to protect the heirs to the throne: the rebellious, fun-loving brother and sister who lead you on a merry chase outside the palace. They open you up to a world that you never knew before: a secret network of assassins, corrupt city officials, and a cabaret brimming with songs, spirits, and sex. And when you are done carousing in the city, you can move into the dark of the magic-filled forest, where demigods and Fae throw jubilant, bacchanal revels, which include orgies for those so inclined.

But the forest is not a peaceful neighbor, and as the enmities of generations past rise up, the realm begins to tip towards war. You are at the center of a tangle of intrigue, and your loyalty is tested at every turn. Your actions could spell the difference between a tentative peace or fierce battle on two fronts. 

Where will you find pleasure? Will you seduce the dark-haired Princess Lissa at a revel in the Darkwood, as she indulges her insatiable thirst for magical secrets? Or do you prefer her lithe, muscular brother, Prince Julian, entrenched with enemies of the Crown? Perhaps you'll have Javier, The Rogue King, the broad-shouldered crime boss who runs the the city's cabaret? Or Queen Edenia, the curvy Darkwood demigoddess who will let you taste her elixir of stardust? Or Galen, a golden-haired Fae prince whose warrior instincts are as honed as his skills in bed?

And what happens if your allegiance to the realm comes into conflict with the devotion of your heart? Which will you choose: loyalty or love? Can you find a way to have both?

• Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, bi; asexual; monogamous or polyamorous.

• Romance a provocative prince, a feisty princess, a rogue king, a demigoddess, or an immortal warrior.

• Choose high-heat or sweet options, or avoid sex scenes entirely with lively conversation.

• Pledge your loyalty to the King, turn away from the Crown to side with its enemies - or become a spy to play both sides against the middle.

• Plunge into a steamy urban underworld full of assassins, criminals, and riotous taverns.

• Indulge in mysterious Fae revels, with magical food and drink to heighten your senses and otherworldly music to accompany your dances.

• Uncover the secrets of ages past to help prevent - or to incite - a future war.

New game! "Changeling Charade" by Ruth Vincent is now available on Steam, and in the Heart's Choice app on iOS and Android. A new love story just in time for Valentine's Day! It's 40% off until February 16.

Masquerade as a noble with fairy magic! What will you risk for your family? For fairy revolution? For true love?

https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/changeling-charade/ 

Changeling Charade is a 450,000-word interactive supernatural romance novel by Ruth Vincent, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Magic is illegal in the city of New Victoria. That means that Supernaturals--werewolves, djinn, fairies, and more--have started an underground trade in potions and spells. As an impoverished fairy, you’ve joined that trade in hopes of earning a better life for yourself and your family: you’ve become a changeling, transforming yourself to resemble the human noblewoman Lady Constance Weatherby.

Living in Lady Constance’s lavish townhouse, you can wear the finest fashions, attend masked balls, make friends among the nobility, learn the arts from a skilled tutor, even gain an audience with the Queen herself! 

But there is more to New Victoria’s high society than meets the eye, and you are not the only one hiding a magical secret. Which noble house conceals a werewolf? Which one has suspicious ties to the shady Potion Market? Not only that, but there are fairy revolutionaries fighting to reverse the laws that forbid magic, and spies among the nobility working for the same cause. Will you join them? Or will you stay in the comfortable human life that you have made for yourself? 

And where will you find love? With the distinguished earl that Lady Constance’s overbearing mother hopes to match with her daughter? The fashionable noble with a pet fox and a mischievous smile to match? The penniless tutor, artistic and sincere? Or even the idealistic fairy revolutionary who leads the charge to restore magic? 

Play as a woman; gay, straight, bi; poly or monogamous.

Romance a melancholy earl, a mischievous noble, an artistic tutor, or a bold fairy revolutionary.

Uncover the supernatural secrets of New Victoria’s human nobility

Dance at masked balls, attend pastoral picnics, refine your artistic accomplishments - or laugh and drink at a fairy pub.

Find acceptance for your true fairy self - or discover new comfort living as a human

NEW FREE GAME! Scandal Notes, by Evelyn Pryce, is now available in the Heart's Choice app on iOS and Android, and on Steam. 25% off to turn off ads until Dec 8!

Find glamor, glitz, gossip, and love! You and your friends are the talk of the town - but will a malicious journalist turn the tables?

https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/scandal-notes/ 

“Scandal Notes” is a 108,000-word interactive romance novel by Evelyn Pryce, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

In the heart of London, flappers flap and the 20s roar! For an ambitious novelist like you, there's inspiration everywhere. The nights are filled with fabulous parties where champagne flows freely and jazz plays in dance halls and smoky clubs. You and your friends - a group of Bright Young Things known as the King’s Road Crew - are at the center of it all, the talk of the town and the top of every society page.

Of course, love is on the horizon. Will you fall for Sybil Warwick, the fashionable and fun-loving star of the silent screen? Or Errol Sharp, the literary critic whose wit matches his name? Or Baron Sidney Norcross, the aristocratic host of the most fabulous parties in town?

But now, the author of the infamous gossip column “Scandal Notes” is starting to comment on secrets that your friends would rather not see the light of day - and secrets that only someone close to you would know. Can you unmask the traitor? Are all of your friends really what they seem?

• Play as a woman novelist in 1920s London

• Keep your friends together through thick and thin.

• Play matchmaker for a lovelorn jazz singer.

• Become a critical literary sensation or an underground pulp hit.

• Find love with a witty book critic, a glamorous actress, or a suave aristocrat.

• Obey the rules of society or throw caution to the wind

• Search out the villain whose nasty gossip columns threaten your friends

Return to the Belle-de-Nuit in this sequel to the 2021 swashbuckling hit! https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/belle-de-nuit/

"Belle-de-Nuit: Point-du-Jour" is a 125,000-word interactive romance novel by Rebecca Zahabi, author of "Never Date Werewolves," and "Belle de Nuit." It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

In "Point du Jour," new challenges and new loves are at hand, and both new and old friends need your help. Amaryllis's kindly old friend Armand has died and left her his estate, but his nephew Mauplaisant, is challenging the will. A duelist himself, he is ready to see you dead or worse, defeated. He may prove a stout foe to both you and Amaryllis. Keeping things even more complicated, your brother comes to town and promptly falls for your frenemy Sebastian’s sister! And what will your brother think of the glittering Parisian nightlife? What will happen to Armand's estate? And can you best Mauplaisant before he ruins your next date? 

And what of the lovely Yasmina? A new employee at the Belle, well…you may have caught her eye as well. Will you help her adjust to her new life in Paris, or will the bustle and hustle prove too much for her? 

Three more brand-new All World Pro Wrestling Bonus Stories by David Monster are now available for iOS and Android in our “Heart’s Choice” app, as well as on Steam! “Bonus Stories 2” is a special non-interactive set of short pieces in the world of the game, and it’s on sale for $2.99 until Sep 15!

https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/all-world-pro-wrestling/

Get into those tight trunks and charge into the ring with three more smoking-hot stories of gay wrestling erotica! See the All World Pro Wrestling League at its best: gorgeous men, tight clinches, flexing muscles, and sexual tension in every move.

- Watch the sparks fly with Big Clint and the Pro Wrestling Trainees, where every training bout teaches a new lesson about how to use your body - especially the one between twink Adam and muscle bear Clint.

- Return for another round in Sex Fed 2: all-new matchups in Las Vegas’s hottest and most exclusive wrestling club. Who will be lucky enough to advance to the All World Pro Wrestling league, and who will just get lucky?

New game! "Heart of Battle" by Fay Ikin is now available on Steam, iOS and Android. It's free, and 33% discount to turn off ads until August 25. Please reshare this with friends! 

https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/heart-of-battle/ 

Battle for love as a gladiator in this epic romance of swords and sandals!

“Heart of Battle” is a 255,000-word interactive gladiator romance by Fay Ikin, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

As a prisoner of Coritan City, you had two options: rot in a dungeon or battle in the gladiatorial arena. You chose to fight—and as a star gladiator, you have the power to sway public opinion as nobody else does.

The city is divided, ruled by the glittering Illustrious who use their wealth and status to maintain their power over the struggling masses. A lucky few have access to magic as well: it can be used to heal, but it can also be used as a weapon, or to reinforce the bars of prisons.

Below them, rumors of revolution simmer - and nowhere more strongly than among the gladiators. Former soldiers, political prisoners, and prisoners of war now bide their time, plotting to rise up. Some just hope to escape to their own freedom; others want to bring down the entire oppressive system. Yet others seek to work within the hierarchy, currying favor among the Illustrious in the hopes of having their freedom bought by a wealthy patron. 

In this treacherous web of alliances that you must navigate, the one certainty is your own heart. Will you find love with a gentle healer, haunted by a tragic past? A wealthy patron who could promise you a life of luxury? Or even one of your fellow gladiators, whose muscles and martial skill you admire through every battle: a fervent ex-revolutionary now condemned to the same servitude as you, or a bold daring warrior who seeks fame and glory. What skills will you bring to the battlefield: domineering strength, agile cunning, or force of personality? Will you accept your fate and build a reputation as a respectable, honorable fighter, relying on the aristocrats to free you? Or will you throw in with the rebels? Victory can mean a better life for you and your beloved - but what will you do if you find yourself on the opposite side of a gladiatorial match from the one you love? Or on the opposite side of a revolution? 

Play as male, female, or non-binary; trans or cis; gay, straight, bi, demisexual, asexual, or aromantic.

Romance a gentle healer; a glory-hound gladiator; a wealthy patron; or an ex-revolutionary.

Choose your weapon: fight with sword, mace, bow, daggers, or bladed gauntlet.

Negotiate your way through relationships with your superiors, walk the balance of power between gladiators and guards, and clash with a bitter rival.

Win battles with honor, or scheme and cheat to take down your enemies.

Incite a riot - or even a revolution!

New game: Freshman Magic: Spellbooks and Tangled Sheets by Raven de Hart. https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/freshman-magic/ A magical mystery brimming with gay sex! You'll work up a sweat in dueling club! 33% off until June 2!

New game! "Freshman Magic: Spellbooks and Tangled Sheets" by Raven de Hart is now available for iOS and Android in the "Heart's Choice" app. You can also download it on Steam, or enjoy it on our website. It's 33% off until June 2!

https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/freshman-magic/

A magical murder mystery brimming with gay sex! At this college, you'll work up a sweat in dueling club, in the library, in the shower, and in your dorm.

Freshman Magic: Spellbooks and Tangled Sheets is a 263,000-word interactive gay romance novel by Raven de Hart. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

A magical dueling scholarship won you a spot at the prestigious Briarthorn University, one of the top magic colleges in North America. You expected a hard workload and even harder dueling practice sessions…you weren't expecting your classmates to be so distracting!

You'll have your pick when it comes to romance. Caleb's a redheaded jock in the dueling club with you. Halim is a sexy rich boy with flowing black hair, an enchantment major who works in the college library. Raimundo is a nerdy tutor, quick to blush behind his large, round glasses. Or will you prefer Alistair, the bad-boy demon summoner in tight jeans? With all the sexual energy floating around campus, you're even seeing your best friend, Noel, in a slightly different light.

But everything is not as it seems at Briarthorn. When students start disappearing from campus, it will be up to you to figure out what happened to them, who will be next, and how to save the school, and your own tail!

• Choose a magical subject to major in: alchemy, enchantment, magical theory, summoning demons, or combat magic • Stay on the straight and narrow on the dueling pitch, or catch opponents off-guard with dirty tactics • Decide exactly how far to go with a cast of lovers • It's college! Party hard with your magical peers, or keep a low profile • Study diligently in the library, or slip into the back room with the sexy librarian • Find the best hookup spots on campus • Relax with a friend to wind down after a tough practice — or heat things up in the shower instead • Lose your heart to your chosen lover, but don't lose your life as your classmates vanish around you!

New free game: Never Date Werewolves by Rebecca Zahabi! https://www.choiceofgames.com/hearts-choice/never-date-werewolves/ Raise your litter of six baby werewolves while hunting for your one true love! Find it in the Heart’s Choice app on iOS and Android - it’s free to play! 25% discount to turn off ads and delay breaks until April 24. Also available on Steam and on our website!

Dating a werewolf means you’ve been left with a litter of kids. Six kids. Kids who turn into cubs when they get upset. You’ve gotten the silver out of the house, and stocked meat in the fridge – but unlike their father, you can’t turn into a wolf to lay down the law!

There’s hair all over the couch, endless howling (literally) in the night, and no dates. But maybe, despite the mayhem, you’ll manage to invite the cute neighbor next door out for coffee…

Never Date Werewolves is a 104,000-word interactive supernatural romance novel by Rebecca Zahabi. It's entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

You’re busy rushing around Lyon, the French city of lights, zooming between your job at a store downtown and the summer school where your children attend. But you’ll be damned if you can’t do this single parent thing. You’ll show your ex – and the world! – that you can be a caring mum and still land a date.

If you’re looking for a human and a bit of normality, there is the new neighbor next door. But if they believe all werewolves are monsters, then it might be difficult to introduce them to the pups. Or there’s the teacher who manages the summer school, always smiling, full of energy and ideas for the kids to try out. Although there might be more to them than meets the eye…After all, everyone has their secrets, and they’ve managed never to be overwhelmed by your brood of werewolves.

One thing is certain: the full moon is coming up, and even if you’re not a wolf, you’ll have the kids ready, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, for the most important hunt of their young lives.

Find love, fame, and intrigue on the stage of the city's all-woman Opera! Put on a show, survive drama on and off-stage...and win your lover's heart. A Player's Heart is a 222,000-word interactive lesbian romance novel by Melissa Scott. I sat down with Melissa to talk about her upcoming game, and the vicissitudes of romance writing. A Player's Heart releases this Thursday, February 13th for Heart's Choice. This is your first piece of interactive fiction, but not, I think, your first romance novel. Tell me a little about your other work. This is indeed my first piece of interactive fiction, but in my other life I'm mostly known as a writer of science fiction and fantasy. I have written two fantasy mystery series with strong romantic elements—the Points series (Point of Hopes, Point of Knives, Point of Dreams, Fairs' Point, and Point of Sighs), which I began with my late partner Lisa A. Barnett and continued after her death; and the Mathey and Lynes novels (Death By Silver and A Death at the Dionysus Club), which I wrote with another Choice of Games author, Amy Griswold.   The Points novels are set in the city of Astreiant, where astrology is a complex and important science, and center on the professional and personal relationship of pointsman (a kind of police officer) Nicolas Rathe and ex-mercenary turned guardsman Philip Eslingen. Each novel is a stand-alone mystery, but the development of the relationship is a major part of the ongoing story. The Mathey and Lynes novels are set in an Edwardian London in which metaphysics — magic — is a respectable profession akin to law or medicine. Metaphysician Edward Mathey has just purchased his first practice and rekindled his connection with a former schoolmate, Julian Lynes, a would-be consulting detective, when they are thrust into dealing with a series of mysterious deaths that risk outing their forbidden relationship. My most recent novel, Finders, is far-future space opera about a trio of salvage operators who stumble into a discovery that may destroy their civilization. Beyond those, I've written more than 30 science fiction and fantasy novels, most of them featuring queer themes and characters. I've won the Lambda Literary Award in SF/F four times (and been nominated four more times), and have won the Spectrum Award three times. I've written everything from near-future cyberpunk to far-future adventure to space opera in which the "science" is based on neo-Platonic magic, and the starships harness the music of the spheres to travel between solar systems. I've also written tie-in materials for Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Wars Rebels - and one more that I'm not allowed to talk about yet! What did you find most challenging about the process? Writing a branching narrative, editing it, or handling the code? Technically? Handling the code, hands down.  That's not something I'd ever done before, and, while mercifully ChoiceScript is more language-like than mathematical, I still feel as though I'm "speaking" it at a kindergarten level. On a conceptual level, though, the most difficult — and most rewarding —part of the process was learning to leave enough space at the center of the story for players to create their own character and experiences. The whole point of novel-length fiction is to put readers into characters' heads, to show the world through that characters' experiences, but that's the exact opposite of what interactive fiction does. The writer doesn't dictate the interpretation; you can only suggest and steer, and let the players make their own story happen. It was a hard leap to make at first, but once I'd gotten there, it was really fun to tell a story that way. In some ways, it suits my natural style — I prefer to create character indirectly, and allow readers to draw their own inferences — but it's conceptually a very different kind of story-telling. This is the first lesbian romance we're releasing for Heart's Choice and we would have loved to have it ready for the initial launch, because having a romance game for everyone is really the whole idea. Are you primarily writing for a lesbian audience in your other work? I was sorry it wasn't ready for the initial launch, too. I wouldn't say that my work is written for a lesbian audience—I want as wide an audience as I can get—but it is all definitely written from a lesbian perspective. I mean, it really can't not be! It's a huge part of who I am. But I've been an out lesbian writer since the 1980s, and that perspective has meant different things and received very different reactions over those decades. It's a lot less fraught than it was when I started, that's for sure! And of course some of my stories are addressing issues that are most directly relevant to and subject to debate by a queer audience—the Mathey and Lynes novels, for example, are partly about creating and maintaining queer community—but I also hope they'll be accessible to a non-queer audience as well.  Tell me a little about the fictional world of A Player's Heart. A Player's Heart takes place in Tristendesande, the rich, sophisticated mercantile city at the mouth of the great river that runs the length of the country. Everyone and everything of importance eventually comes downriver to Tristendesande, or so its inhabitants will tell you; they have nothing but disdain for the people of the rival industrial city of Castago, at the river's headwaters. But Castago's power is in the ascendant, and Tristendesande is ruled by a foreign-born regent in the name of her toddler son. Even if its power is waning, however, Tristendesande is a beautiful city — imagine fin-de-siecle Paris or Vienna, carved stone facades and gilding and gaslight. It's a center of the arts, and at the center of that artistic world are the Theater, where all the roles are played by men, and the Opera, where all the roles are played by women. Devas play female roles, dragons play male roles, and the artifices are responsible for special effects, costumes, and all the other technical pieces. The Opera's shows are generally bright and frothy, full of song and dance and sparklingly witty dialogue, but often there's serious point hidden among the frolics. Of course there are also cabarets and other venues, led by the upstart Electricity Theater, where — scandalously! — men and women perform together, on the same stage and in the same skits.  Did you have a character you most enjoyed writing and spending time with? I think the most fun was creating four love interests. They're very different women — the best friend, the sparkling rival, the powerful society hostess, the scandalous lead of the rival Electricity Theater — and there had to be good reasons for someone to fall in love with each of them. However, it did create a certain amount of mental whiplash. Just when I'd gotten really comfortable with one of them, and knew exactly why she was wonderful, I'd have to switch to one of the others — and convince myself the she was the perfect lover! The other "character" that I loved was the Opera itself. I really enjoyed creating that social world. from the semi-retired Elders who manage the company and decide on the performances to the students who take walk-ons as they work toward joining the Opera proper.

Heart's Choice: It's here!

We're proud to announce the release of the first four Heart's Choice games in a new omnibus app on Google Play, Apple's App Store, and the Amazon Android Marketplace; and as individual games on Steam. Right now you can:

Download the Heart's Choice app for iOS or Android and play Jazz Age, Dawnfall, A Pirate's Pleasure, and All World Pro Wrestling.

Buy the games individually on Steam or on the Heart's Choice website.

Sign up for our Heart's Choice mailing list to be notified every time we release a new game.

Tell your friends about our new games, find us on Facebook and Twitter!  

Since 2009, the team behind Choice of Games has created high-quality interactive novels in all genres. Now, our new

Heart's Choice label puts romance at the center of the story, and you at the center of the romance. Heart's Choice games contain no graphics or sound effects, so we can focus on the story. Every game is filled with vivid, fully-developed characters and complex narratives that respond to your choices.

You’re a trainee in the male Erotic Professional Wrestling Federation... and you’re reader to take on all comers. Training includes sparring, matches in the ring against the other trainees, tag team competitions, a battle royal, antics in the showers and locker room, and even ringside seats at the Championship Match.

All World Pro Wrestling is a 310,000-word interactive erotic gay novel by David Monster and Jim Dattilo, one of the first set of games releasing with the launch of Heart’s Choice. I sat down with the authors to talk about writing interactive romance. Heart’s Choice games release December 2nd.

All World Pro Wrestling is part of the first launch of Heart's Choice games and it's the first gender and sexuality locked game we're releasing for gay men. Jim you've written non-genderlocked games as well. Can you talk a little about the difference?

JIM: Writing a gender and sexuality locked game certainly has some advantages. The most obvious first advantage is that we don’t have to code gender pronouns, which saves time in coding and editing.

The next major advantage is in creating the characters. As a writer of choice games you want to give players lots of options. As a writer of fiction you want to give the reader highly specific characters. So in a game like Zombie Exodus, I need to have a huge variety of characters which are all open to various sexualities. Hopefully every player can find someone they are interested in or identify with. It is a phenomenal amount of work. However in All World Pro Wrestling, we can focus on a smaller set of characters, making them highly detailed.

Wrestling is also having a little cultural moment right now, it seems. What informed your decision to write wrestling fetish interactive fiction?

DAVID: There’s currently a great climate in independent pro wrestling. They seem to be embracing diversity, especially LGBT, in a way that major federations are not. The independents are a lot more entertaining because they have a great sense of humor, especially guys like Joey Ryan, RJ Skinner, Brian Cage, The Golden Lovers, and Jervis Cottonbelly. It’s a lot more appealing to me, because through the humor, they are acknowledging the homoerotic aspect of the sport in a way that’s exciting, amusing, and not derogatory.

After I published my first book, Service, people contacted me to tell me they loved it but wanted more sex and erotica. So, I wrote a gay erotic pro wrestling novel. It’s such a natural, because beyond being a sport, pro wrestling is really a fetish, and along with the homoeroticism, there’s a brotherhood that naturally lends itself to man-on-man romance.

JIM: I have a lot of gay male fans through my other writing and they provide some of the best feedback on romance. There are so few choice games or forms of interactive fiction focused on LGBT characters that players are more willing to voice their support and criticism. As game designers we need both forms of feedback.

When David and I decided to collaborate, we thought to convert his gay male erotica novel into a choice driven story. His novel already had a rich setting, plot, and set of characters. This is why we wanted to pitch it.

Are you fans of regular wrestling?

DAVID: Yes, I watch all different kinds of wrestling, mainly on YouTube. I like vintage pro wrestling, like AWA and GWF from the 50s to the 80s. When it comes to current wrestling, I’m a big fan of the independents. They’ve evolved as much more entertaining than WWE, currently the largest federation. I can’t watch WWE anymore. I’ll tune in every ten years or so, and it’s always the same storylines, same choreography. The guys are great-looking, but I need more than that.

I’m also a fan of Collegiate Wrestling. I wish I would have trained in amateur wrestling and grappling. All the great MMA fighters say it’s a necessary foundation for their sport.

JIM: As a kid I was a big fan of wrestling, back in the early days of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. I stopped watching at the time the WWF became the WWE, because as David said, the storylines became recycled. I don’t fault anyone for enjoying it now. Sometimes I’ll see a commercial for a large event and it will pique my interest.

This game is full of different romanceable characters. Tell me about some of them and which ones you enjoyed writing most.

DAVID: To tell you the truth, I love them all. They all have different attributes that make them special. Rory is an extremely cute blond boy. He’s sweet and kind, but he has the heart of a fighter. He always wants to win but wants all his friends to win, too. Bravon’s a real man, the best athlete in the facility, and a good friend to have. He’s a handsome muscle stud with the most extreme abs. Mandrew’s a cute jock boy and the class clown. He’s funny and always a good time, although he’s straight (or at least he says he is). Marcos is a big, hairy bear, and a total pushover. If you’re a power top, he’s your guy. He’s truly up for almost anything.

Finally there’s Stan. He’s a short little mountain of muscles, and, by far, the toughest guy in the training facility. He’s built is solidly as a wall of concrete which also represents the walls he built around himself to hide his vulnerabilities. He’s a loyal warrior, who is devoted to training but always searching for love.

Beyond these characters, you can have flings with lots of other characters.

Could you talk a little about your collaborative writing process?

DAVID: It was a learning process for me. I’ve never written a multiple choice game before, and Jim had already done three. He was my teacher and mentor, and taught me things about making a game you can’t learn from a tutorial. Jim’s guidance made me a much better writer.

JIM: David was the primary writer while I was the developer and coder. After writing a very extensive outline based on his book, we went through several rounds of drafts and edits until we came up with the shell of the game. David would write a chapter in a form of pseudocode, and I would take that document and convert it to ChoiceScript. Along the way we would talk about adding new content and deleting certain parts that weren’t working. David was always willing to do rewrites or punch up some text if needed. Since this was really his subject matter, I had to lean on him for the majority of the content. And he never made me feel like I was working for him. We were always collaborative and equal.

And what's next for you guys?

DAVID: I released the book this game is based on, called Rowdy Armstrong 2 – Pro Wrestling Rookie. It’s available on Amazon, and you can check out the website for pics of all the characters in the book: RowdyArmstrong.com    

I hope Jim and I can work on the sequel to this game, very soon. He’s so busy with Zombie Exodus. His fans are constantly demanding more of that story, because he has created a really cool world there.

I have another game, with accompanying book, I hope Choice of Games or Heart’s Choice will host. It’s a non-genderlocked fantasy story that will not involve wrestling.

I have a podcast, called Unimaginary Friendcast, and will continue to talk about this game on it. We have interviewed Jim twice, so search for that. It’s worth a listen, for sure.

Here’s my webpage, if you want to know more: DavidMonster.com

Find true love and family with a pirate crew at the ends of the universe, where aliens, ghosts, and portals open the space between worlds...and your heart. You are a Navigator, one who creates and guards portals from one dimension to another, wary of the liminal sea between them.

Your universe is made of two worlds: one contains the magic-infused world of Zephyria, and the other, the dystopian space station Eclipse. The worlds are balanced, until one day, an explosive disaster, a deadly energy storm, and an infamous pirate—the Ghost Queen—upend your life and plunge you into a race to save both worlds.

Dawnfall is a 232,000 word interactive romance novel by RoAnna Sylver,  one of the first set of games releasing with the launch of Heart’s Choice. I sat down with the author, RoAnna Sylver, to talk about writing interactive romance. Heart’s Choice games release December 2nd.

Dawnfall has frankly an insanely wonderful setting for a romance game. Tell me about the aliens, the pirates, the ghosts, and the alien-pirate-ghosts.

Hi there! I’m so glad you think this sounds fun! Yeah, Dawnfall is weird as heck, and that’s one of the things I love about this story. It’s weird in a way I don’t think we’ve seen much of before. I really just tried to put in everything I find fun or interesting, and that I’ve always wanted to write. Dawnfall started out as a total brain-candy project, and runs on pure Rule of Cool. Pirates? Yes. Magic? Yes. A slice of cyberpunk? Hell yes. Eerie ghosts and faerie-tale influences and memory-sharing potions? Giant bird people? The power of rock n’roll? Yes, yes, yes.

And also everybody’s dateable, and in a couple cases, dating each other. We weave a tangled web, but I think it’s a pretty badass and spectacular web.

You seem to really neatly straddle the genre fence here with a romance and sci-fi/fantasy. What was challenging about cramming all of that into one game?

Thank you so much for saying that. I’ve always adored SFF, and there’s so much in this genre-collection, so many extremes and concepts and contrasting colors, that I couldn’t limit myself to picking just one to play with. This weird game-book is kind of a love letter to fantasy and science fiction and haunted house stories and cyberpunk adventures—I thought a lot about the Disney movie Treasure Planet for its genre-blending beauty, and the Bioware game Mass Effect for its array of fascinating, multidimensional alien cuties to interact with and date… and then turned it up to eleven.

I guess you’d expect the challenge to be in making it all fit together/be “believable,” but I kind of threw that out the window. I don’t expect anyone to find it ‘realistic’ (setting-wise anyway; I tried to make every character ring true of course), and I don’t really care if someone thinks it’s silly, or doesn’t take it seriously. It is silly in a lot of ways. DAWNFALL is a giant ridiculous queer space magic pirate adventure, and the only goal is fun. If you have fun, I’ve done my job, and there should be something fun in here for everyone.

Did you have a favorite NPC you enjoyed writing most?

Honestly I love them all so much in different ways, and I know them so well by now it’s really second nature. Their voices come so easily and they’re all so much fun. The Queen’s swagger is awesome though, and her mental voice/mannerisms probably come through especially clearly. I love Zenith’s vulnerable moments when xie lets xir guard down and lets go of the need to entertain or please. I love Averis’s journey and growth from cute wibbly nerd to a confident swashbuckler (who is also still a cute wibbly nerd). I love how deeply Oz feels, how strongly he loves and remembers and honors memory, and how unafraid he is to show softness and warmth. And I love a certain spoilery ghost-babe and how they’re so full of joy at the beauty of life.

I do want to give special mention to Aeon, though. This is a story about connection, and I wanted to show that sibling bonds are every bit as important and strong as romantic or any other. I also wanted to show a complex, multidimensional antagonist figure who holds heartbreaking secrets along with authority, and is genuinely trying to do what she thinks is the best thing, and wants what’s best for you, the PC, even if you might not always agree. Her balance between being so emotionally guarded and determined and unyielding, while hopefully being extremely easy to read and tell what she wants and fears and loves—spoiler: you; she loves you!—was a challenge I hope I pull off.

…Also I enjoy any time Vyranix gets his pompous feathered ass handed to him. I think we all know a Vyranix, or at least of one, and it’s always fun to take them down, even in fantasy.

Who would you be romancing as a player?

I’m gonna say “everyone,” and here it won’t actually be cheating, because you can romance everyone! At once! In varying degrees/relationship dynamics and attractions. You don’t see a lot of polyamory-friendly games or books or anything really, and this is an incredibly important thing for me. The second I got the idea for Dawnfall I knew it had to let players romance anyone they wanted and show polyamory in a realistic, healthy light. I’m also a-spec (asexual and aromantic), and having not just good representation but being actively included and welcomed and celebrated in fiction is so huge too.

Dawnfall is a romance of course, being part of Heart’s Choice, but one of the single most vital elements for me is making it inclusive for aromantic and asexual players and player-characters. Essentially, I wanted to write a romance that didn’t penalize players for not experiencing the attractions the way we’re otherwise expected or required—and I’m so grateful that my amazing editors and community not only accepted but supported everything I was trying to do here. (It’s so refreshing not to have to fight for inclusion and freedom. It shouldn’t be, but it is.)

And that’s where the concept of “Heart-Stars” and “Same-Feathers” came from. I’ve never seen anything honor queerplatonic relationships like I’m trying to do here, and I want everyone, of every sexuality and attraction, to feel like they have a place here and can experience this adventure without limits. And I wanted to show that it’s a very normal thing, hence this being the same for the human characters as well as alien. (One of the nonbinary characters being human is also no mistake. I love me some wild alien genders, but there are tons of awesome nonbinary humans too!)

…That being said, I think I gave Averis most of my anxiety-issues, and would really just like to curl up with Oz and watch The Great British Bake-Off. That sounds like a perfect night in my books.

What were some of the things you found surprising about the game-writing process?

Coding was definitely the biggest learning curve. I’d never coded anything before in my life, and it’s such a new skillset to learn, entirely different from any kind of writing I’ve ever done. Sometimes it felt rewriting my brain, which did not at all do this intuitively—and also sometimes like I bit off much more than I could chew (first game ever being not only a huge piece of interactive fiction, but a polyamorous romance with aro and ace possibilities, and so many more variables than expected!), but it’s been worth it. Entirely. If my writing makes anyone feel seen and accepted and invited to have fun as they are, it’s worth every bit of struggle.

Also, oddly, interactive fiction is in some ways easier for me than writing a plain old book! Probably because I love AUs so much, and every choice in a game is like writing a tiny AU of the story, so I get to do the same scenes several different ways. My ADHD-brain finds something about this extremely satisfying, most likely because it somehow feels more like multitasking! Several stories in one, and if I like two ideas, I don’t have to pick just one to write!

Honestly though, I think the most surprising part is just being done, and…that I could do this at all. It was so huge, and took so long, and I learned so much, and every day I’m just kind of going “who the hell am I?” about doing all of this. I’m proud of it. I did a cool thing. And trying to get better at saying that.

And, what are you working on now?

I always have about 8 active projects going at once (which shouldn’t come as a surprise after last question!), but my next interactive fiction game is with Tales/Fable Labs! It’s shaping up to be a Dawnfall-sized project, but a little faster-moving and action-y.

It’s called Every Beat Belongs To You, and it’s a romantic thriller that feels like Twin Peaks meets Mr. Robot, with a smattering of Repo: The Genetic Opera. A creepy Pacific Northwest town with a secret (and a rash of ritualized murders), a super-slick medical research company whose flagship product is a 100% perfect synthetic heart, a mysterious new-age group, and a sister who went missing just before discovering how it’s all connected. Also five simultaneously-dateable (including ace and aro ships!) cuties of varying genders! Who will you trust with your heart?

I’m very excited about Everybeat, which should be just as queer, polyam, exciting, and weird as all my stuff! Aside from that, I’m working on Stake Sauce Book 2, its companion f/f vampire series Death Masquerade, and Chameleon Moon Book 3. I’m not always working…sometimes there are videogames, and sleep. But I really hope to have a lot more fun things to share soon!

Oh, and depending on how this weird, fun thing goes, I do have some ideas for prequel Dawnfall stories; maybe games, maybe books, but the ideas are there. The world—worlds, really—is so huge, and I’m not done playing in it yet! I also have some character art drawn, and I want to do a lot more of them. It’s another way to show love.

Find love, fame, and fortune in New York, with an intriguing cast of flappers and federal agents! Temptation is everywhere in this steamy 1920s romance! It’s 1926 and there’s no place on Earth like New York City. You left the small town you grew up in to seek fame, fortune, and romance on Broadway, but success and true love have both proven more elusive than you imagined. You never dreamed you’d be torn between helping one lover save their illegal speakeasy, while another lover tries to destroy it!

Sail the sea of love as a pirate queen! Seek gold, glory, and epic romance with a rogue, a warrior, or a nobleman. The Golden Age of Piracy is winding down and life is changing in the Caribbean—and as a pirate, you must change with the times. England has renewed its interest in the Bahamas and the time has come for you to choose a side, decide your future, and maybe find true love. A Pirate's Pleasure is one of the first set of games releasing with the launch of Heart's Choice. I sat down with the author, Lisa Fox, to talk about writing interactive romance. Heart's Choice games release December 2nd. This is your first time writing interactive fiction, but it's not your first time writing romance. Tell me about your other work and how you came to be a romance writer.

I write a lot of short stories and novellas. They are mostly contemporary romances, but there is also some paranormal stuff in the mix.

I have always wanted to write professionally, it has been my goal since birth basically, but honestly, I never thought I'd write romance. I'm a huge fan of horror. HUGE. When I sat down to write my first novel, it was supposed to be scary, but as the work went on, I found that I enjoyed writing more about the relationship my two main characters were developing rather than all the spooky, scary stuff they were supposed to be facing. Somehow, that book morphed into a romance—not a very good one I might add, it never did get published—but it was the start of my romance writing career. Once the genre found me, I never looked back.

What advice would you offer romance writers interested in writing something interactive, whether it's for Heart's Choice or some other label?

I think that they really need to be prepared for the monumental undertaking a project like this is. It's not just working with the code—which is a gigantic challenge in and of itself—it's more all the different levels and layers of writing that need to be done. You as the author cannot dictate the player character's personality. You have to write in all kinds of tones and options for how the person playing might want to respond to the situation you are putting them in.

For example, you can't just write that the main character walks into a room and smiles. What if the person playing doesn't want to smile? You can't just decree that kind of stuff, not like you can in a straight narrative novel. You have to leave those feelings, those responses, all in the hands of the player. It was hard at first to make that kind of adjustment in my writing and I think it's something new authors should really be aware of when they begin writing their own interactive adventures. It's an important thing to keep in mind at all times.

A Pirate's Pleasure is a fine piratical tale. What drew you to this genre in particular?

Thanks so much! I really appreciate that!

As for choosing the genre, well, I mean, who doesn't love pirates? The freedom of the open sea, the romance, the adventure, the mystery and intrigue—the pirate life has it all!

And pirates are such charismatic characters. They are rebels, fighters, lovers, and sometimes, black-hearted villains. I'm a huge fan of Black Sails, I love the Uncharted game series, and I'm deeply infatuated with the Captain Hook from Once Upon a Time. I also spent quite a few years crushing on Errol Flynn. All these characters, and the real-life men and women straight out of history, they are all so iconic, so sexy, so daring. Who wouldn't want to be a pirate—or fall in love with one?

If you were going to romance one of your characters in A Pirate's Pleasure, who would you choose?

Oh, no, I hate this question! I love them all dearly, but in entirely different ways.

I love Alexander for his sweetness, his honor, his drive. Nathaniel is the epitome of ostentatiousness, a dashing pirate captain to his core, and I would love to take to the streets of Nassau with him by my side. And Caleb is my quiet warrior, a man whose placid manner belies a deeply passionate nature.

How could I possibly choose between men like that?

What are you working on next?

I've been playing around with an idea for a romance series set in a restaurant in New Orleans for some time, so I'll probably get to work on that soon. NaNoWriMo is coming up. I might make that my project for the month.