Shepherds of Haven

You are a Mage living in a world where magic is outlawed and your people—those possessing supernatural powers—are oppressed and reviled. The world is ruled by humans who believe in science, technology, and industry: at best, you and your kind are nothing more than a fairytale, and at worst, you are the state’s greatest threat. 

Thus, using magic has been illegal for centuries…

But then the demons return.

After years of persecution, you are suddenly offered an opportunity to use your powers for good: demons are once again troubling the realm after centuries of absence, and the world needs fighters like you to protect the population from their invasion. Guns and bullets do no good against monsters pulled from primeval nightmares; only your people and your mystical gifts have the ability to fight fire with fire. 

So you join the Shepherds: a new order of elite heroes and fighters that, until very recently, the world feared more than the demons themselves. As a Shepherd, you’ll solve magical crimes, slay demons to protect the citizens of Haven, and build your reputation throughout the capital. Explore the world of Blest, recruit allies and factions to join the Shepherds’ cause, find romance and companionship, investigate mysteries, lead rebellions and exorcisms, and uncover answers to the crises plaguing the world. Where are the demons coming from? Where have the gods or God gone, if they ever existed? Who are you, really? 

And will you be the world’s true savior... or will you be its ultimate downfall?

✦  Over 1 million words of choice-based, story-rich interactive fiction!

✦  Fully customizable protagonist! Choose names and nicknames, gender, sexuality, appearance, weapon, magic specialization, educational background, racial heritage, and much more.

Includes options to play as male, female, nonbinary; straight, gay, bisexual, or pansexual; and aromantic, asexual, aroace, or allo.

✦  Thousands of choices and role-playing variations! Build your character’s personality and worldview from the ground up, test your loyalties and morals in every chapter, and make meaningful decisions that will change the story and world of the game in large and small ways.

✦ 15 companions to recruit and befriend, each with their own unique story.

10 romance options (5 male, 5 female) and 2 one-night stands/flings

Fulfilling friendship and romance routes, culminating in dozens of different possible endings for each major character, as well as diverse endings for the protagonist, their relationships, and the state of the world

✦   A hubworld-style exploration system between chapters! Interact with the city and explore the world on your days off; take quests or side jobs; train; shop; gamble; pray; read; and spend time with or date companions between story missions.

✦   Dynamic gameplay features! Explore an ever-changing codex, character guide, journal, inventory, and stats page that grows and adjusts as you play.

✦   Dozens of mechanical secrets to reward your playthrough, including achievements, a new game+ system, a save system, unlockable art, collectible trading cards, room decorations and souvenirs, a planned “stupid mode,” and planned DLC.

✦  Much more!

✨ Play Here ✨

Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, first half of Chapter 4

Approx. 460,000 words

Last Updated: July 2025

FAQ

⭐️ Play here ⭐️

Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 8.5, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11 [In Progress]

Approx. 1,471,000 words without code

Last Updated: May 2026

Currently only available to testers and Patrons until the beta build

Thank you!

Thanks for your question! While I agree that the relationships and dynamics of ShoH are cozy and comforting, I tend to think of "cozy fantasy" as stories that explicitly focus on a low-stakes, slice-of-life setting or plot, like a witch living in a cottage who's focused on starting a potion business, or a story focusing on the Hobbits of the Shire and features many descriptions of their feasts and baking, or a Ghibi-esque Kiki's Delivery-style romp! This is of course very subjective, but I would hate for any readers who are actively seeking the comfort of a cozy fantasy to open up ShoH with that expectation and instead find:

serial killers

demonic nightmare realms

cultists kidnapping children to perform mutilating experiments on them and causing them to be possessed by demons

horrifying swamp creatures, parasites, insects

depictions of slavery

fairly heavy oppression and persecution on a political, social, economic, and cultural scale

a 12-year-old and a bride potentially being slaughtered by demons in front of you within the first hour of gameplay

Not much ado is made about the conditions in Ashtown or Smoketown vs. the Sun Court because the characters are just used to it and don't really notice it, but when Tallys and Lavinet are fighting about race-based war crimes and who's responsible for them, I just wouldn't want anyone to be taken off-guard if they're expecting "cozy" and they get all that. 😅 I do concede that I don't get as grimdark with it as I could: I could really dial up how horrifying the world is and make things really gruesome and gory and depressing, but that isn't my aim for writing the story, either! I don't want to torture the characters (or the readers) needlessly because I'm not interested in writing things like that, so this story is never going to be as truly dark as some dark fantasy stories that require a litany of content warnings. I think of the "dark" in ShoH's "dark fantasy" as more of an aesthetic, like a gothic baroque kind of dark, a certain mood to the atmosphere and setting, kind of like detective noir, than really really dark content in and of itself. But while the characters and environment also elicit a coziness and safe haven escape for most people, I don't want to deceive anyone who's expecting The Tea Dragon Society but gets one of your companions cleaving Thurl's head off of his shoulders instead, LOL!