The Woods Hungers is a fantasy interactive fiction WIP about knights, witch-hunts, and meeting (and maybe even romancing) cryptids in the woods.

Warnings: The Woods Hungers is currently 16+ and will have depictions of violence, gore, and strong language. Note that the game will have skippable suggestive content, but nothing explicit.  

Current Build: Chapter 2 (42k words with code)


STORY

The Woods Hungers.. and yet you have no choice but to venture in.

You're a bastard child of a noble house who has clawed your way up the ranks in the Knight's Order. You've earned your place with your strength and merits, yet things have gone sideways when the prince you were supposed to protect is cursed. The Order has blamed you.

Now, The Kingdom of Resvenia has outlawed magic, the witch-hunt has started, and the knights are after you. The only way for you to clear your name and save the prince you’ve sworn yourself to would be by using magic itself.

The woods and its inhabitants within holds the answer to your problems. You can clear your name and save your prince if you made a contract with one of them, and have them lift the curse for you. 

Thing is, if you venture in and ask for their help, will they help you, or will you just become their next midnight snack?


FEATURES

Features in the game include:

  • Customizable MC including appearances, pronouns, and also:
  • Play as an illegitimate child of one of the Four Noble Houses, each with their own bonuses and special skills
  • Character background and motivations
  • Personality traits
  • Preferences, views, and outlook of the world
  • Interact (or romance, optionally) with unique characters that will remember the choices you have made along your journey
  • Upgrade speech and combat skills along with skill checks that influences the story


CHARACTERS

6 main casts to romance and interact with.

1. The Knight - Viel Cartier [He/him]

The other knight who took the blame along with you. For all he knows, you're the one who caused all this mess. Will the two of you be able to put aside your differences and trust each other?

2. The ??? - Nora [She/they]

Something has taken the place of the witch you’re supposed to ask for help from, and she’s only interested in toying with you. What exactly is she, and how long does it take for her to run out of patience and stuff you in her cellar?

3. The Banshee - Ylfa [She/her]

A banshee wails and hails the death of humans, but she’s tired of it. She just wants to sing about nature, gamble in the taverns, and rob people of their clothes. She’s tagging along, and who are you to say no to her?

4. The Fae -  Aen’frie [They/them]

Some faes are too dumb to trick humans for their names. Aen’frie is one of them, and they’ve been exiled indefinitely. Even if they wanted to help.. can this gullible fae even help you with your problem? Or is this all just an act?

5. The Witch Hunter - ‘The Cook’ [He/They]

Your estranged childhood friend you dreamt of running away with is now hunting you down. If they have to choose between their entire life and career, or their estranged childhood friend... Which one will be their choice?

6. The Cursed Prince -  Caine Augustin [He/him]

He had his rug pulled out of under him, yet he’s the only one who believes in your innocence. You can only trust each other, but is the prince really blameless from all the witch-hunts throughout the kingdom?

DevBlog | Ko-fi


Please note that the current build is a beta demo version, and future builds will be upgraded and optimized. 

StatusIn development
PlatformsHTML5
Rating
Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars
(177 total ratings)
AuthorCassDev
GenreInteractive Fiction
Made withTwine
TagsTwine
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish
InputsMouse, Smartphone
LinksDevBlog

Comments

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(1 edit) (+2)(-3)

This is on so many levels more pedantic than I need to be but pet peeve about the title. Hungers is singular (he hungers, they hunger), but woods is plural. The title should be The Woods Hunger. Every time I see the title it just sounds very slightly off and its gotten under my skin lol.

Edit: In fact this seems to be a persistent issue in the story. Small instances of the wrong plurality. Not enough to break the experience but it could do with an editing pass.

(+6)

The title is on purpose as in The Woods is a singular, monstrous being. The same way you say 'It Hungers'. Where 'It' = The Woods. It's a name that invokes a being that.. you don't want to call directly 👀

But thank you for the input! Will be combing through the chapters again when I'm updating for chapter 3.

 Hope the next update will be up to your standards, english is not my first language, so I'll have to work twice as hard here. 

Ahhh ok, that just sounds clumsy in my head due to my expectations then. Just at a glance with no prior knowledge of the game, its hard to intuit that context.

I totally understand the second language struggles and wish you the best! Its mostly very small issues, enough for me to notice but not enough to turn me off the game entirely. Looking forward to more ^^

(+2)

Thank you for the input either way! A few readers also misunderstood the title a few times, so you're not alone on this. I'm just glad you continued reading! Thanks for giving my game a chance, I'll improve on it in the next chapter. 

Error if you try to change pronouns :


Noted! Thanks for letting me know, I'll fix it with chapter 3.

(+1)(-1)

Aksbsksbwjbs I LOVE thsissiisis

(1 edit) (+2)

Oh god, definitely one of favourite interactive fiction. Hoping that it'll be continued someday!

(+1)

waiiit Can I romance the Prince AND the knight (pls say yes I want both)

Stuck on indefinite hiatus but still, it was a really nice and intriguing read! I hope we get to bond more with Caine if the author decides to come back. He’s quite a prince after all 🥺

(+2)

I miss this storyyy its too good

(+2)

I love this game! 
is this game discontinued?

(+3)

Unfortunately, this if is on an indefinite hiatus. This information is posted on the author's tumblr account!

(+5)

Hello, just popping in! Your story was actually the first ever IF I  played -- and I loved it! It was like a whole new world, a completely different form of story building and MC immersion I'd never known was possible before. And it was all for free!! After reading all your updated chapters, I immediately dove into the world of Interactive Fiction,  squirreling away ever single one I could find. I've played through about 5 other IF pieces now, and I've loved every moment of it. I still keep coming back to this game, though -- it holds a special place in my heart as the first piece of IF I ever played, and I'll always hold out that it'll be completed, one day.

If you don't want to go back to this story anymore, then that's completely alright. But I just wanted to give my thanks for creating this story -- for creating it so well, that I went through every page(?) with a rising, giddy, wave of euphoria in my chest. I'm glad this was my first peek into the Interactive Fiction world. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing now, I hope that you thrive. I hope you live well. Truly. Thank you. :)

Oh...thank you so much for writing this. Glad that my IF introduced you to the world of Interactive Fiction! There's so many other great IFs that are just 👌👌

I also want to finish the game, I hope I can find the time and strength for it. 

Thank you for playing, what you wrote really motivated me to keep trying! 

(+3)

Helloooo ! I loved every part of it <3

I hope you're still having inspiration for this story. I know it is easy to feel pressured to work quickly but take your time. Your writing is really good ! And also, I really love the choices we are given ! Plus, it may help that I'm a huge fan of role-play and character sheet !

Can't wait for the next chapter ! (well, more seriously, I can and I will glady wait :p )

Take care and thank you so much for this glimpse of this very interesting universe !

(+3)

this is SOOO good ??? i loved the dynamic that my mc/viel/caine all had, and the stat raising mechanic is so fun !!! hella dnd vibes lmao. also the entire journal is vv nice but esp the mysteries section, a lot of ifs dont have a mechanic like that and im soooo bad at remembering details like that lmao. cant wait to see where this goes !!!!! :]

(+1)

Just played chapter 2. Looking great, more interesting, though i haven't tried the other two escape paths for now (I'll come back later). A bit annoyed by viel tho, but i love grumpy cat lol

looking forward for chapter 3! <3

(+2)

This story is FANTASTIC!! I love the characters so much and how much diversity you can have with your own character.  So looking forward to chapter 3! :D

I need more ;-;


when do you think will be the new update? this is a masterpiece ✨ 

(+1)

This is going to be a blast to play hehe

(+5)

This is an absolute masterpiece THE FACT THAT I CAN ROMANCE BOTH RO's IS AAAHHHHHHH

(+1)

*distant incoherent screeching*

(+4)

Whoo hoo, it updated!! Just played, and loved it. The maps were such a fun little asset, and I'm excited for what's up next. Still can't get over how Viel, love of my life, just left us like that. shakes fist 

(+6)

give the guy hell next time and wait for him to repent before your predetermined makeout 💕

thanks for playing! 

(+1)

Ok, so my Mc is a Oakburry and I still couldn't pass the status check to get the coins or the timepiece withouth being noticed and I can't chose to have a better sneak skill, so what do I do?

(+1)

Get lucky with the rolls (d10)! On another note, sometimes failing in TWH only leads to more discovery. Failing sneak checks doesn't equal bad outcomes, so have fun experimenting! 

Thank you so much for playing btw!

I really love the breakdowns at the end of each chapter showing how the choices and outcomes boost our stats.

Thanks for noticing and thank you for playing!

Deleted 2 years ago

They're NB! Those two just have a preference for both gender-neutral and feminine/masculine pronouns. 

Just started playing this, chose the ashworth house but during the interrogation scene there seems to be an error with the script and it doesn't allow me to continue?

Deleted 2 years ago

Fixed them! So sorry about that, thank you for playing!

(+4)

is it possible to continue travelling with viel? or is he left behind in all endings of chapter 2

(+6)

Hello, thank you for playing! Sadly, the guy wasn't quite there yet when it comes to breaking away from the order, so yes, he's always left behind in chapter 2. 

Is the grammatical error in title intentional?

It should be "The Woods Hunger" or "The Woods' Hunger" or "The Wood's Hunger" or "The Wood's Hungers" depending on what you meant.

(2 edits)

It's The Woods. It's alive. And it's hungry. It stews in its hunger. 
Thus The Woods Hungers  🍴 

Idk?? I'll go back to the drawing board. Thanks for playing!

(+1)

Oh, in that case it's "The woods hunger". Noun and the verb describing the noun can't be both plural or both singular.

ex. "The woods hunger" = correct
"The wood hungers" = correct
"The woods hungers" = wrong
"The wood hunger" = wrong

Thanks for the input SabSab! I consulted my beta readers as well and since The Woods is an entity, we could still refer to it the way we refer to 'It Hungers', so it will be correct either way. But either way, thank you so much for the input! 

I actually cant wait for the next chapter! i like it alot! whether you continue this or not it is pretty good and i hope you stay hydrated because yes

Thank you for playing! And stay hydrated y'all lol

I like the idea of this game (love playing as a fallen knight), and the game has merit but, as someone already mentioned, you really need to get someone to proof your writing if you want it to get there; there are so many grammatical mistakes that break immersion and flow that I ended up giving up after a few pages.
Good luck going forward, though!

(+2)

Thank you for the feedback! Can you point out some of the errors that stick out to you, if you remember any? I'm so sorry that the errors breaks your reading experience, I'm not an native english speaker so this is a bit hard for me. I'm getting beta readers for the second chapter though!

(+2)

Ah! I didn't know you weren't a native English speaker - I'm sorry if my feedback is a bit harsh. Honestly, for a non-native speaker your writing is quite advanced, especially your penchant for imagery and complex sentence structure. Please don't feel too discouraged for what I said, and just keep writing. You can only get better! :)

Since you asked, I'll give you an example of the sorts of errors in your story, and I'll quote phrases from the start of your story to do it.

Most of the errors in this story came in the form of either:

  * the wrong word. For example: "The Kingdom of Resvenia has always despised magic despite never outright banning them." - 'them' should be 'it', as magic is a thing (it) and not a person (them). Or,

  * odd or confusing phrasing in a sentence. For example: "His room you were guarding just before are now stifling, the air thin yet humming with rising pressure." Would read better as, "His room, before which you'd been standing guard, is stifling; the thin air around you humming with rising pressure." ... or something like that. Or,

  * slipping between past and present tense. For example, "He pushed you aside, rushing into the room" (which is past-tense. pushed = past, pushes = present) is followed soon after by, "You follow him inside, rushing close behind." (which is present-tense. you follow = present, you followed = past). When writing a scene, it's important to stick to one tense only, which is usually the present-tense because the reader is usually reading of something as it's happening. The only exception to this is if, for example, one character is telling another about something that happened in the past, such as, "He walked right past me without even stopping to say 'hello'!". Past-tense can also be used when a character is recalling a memory with some distance, whereas if the memory feels as real as if it were happening now, present-tense is used. Or,

  * punctuation. For example, "How can a curse, let alone magic even enter the palace?" - there should be a comma after magic, like: "How can a curse, let alone magic, even enter the palace?" Because in this phrase the "let alone magic" part is an additional thought added on to the main one which is, "how can a curse even enter the palace?", therefore it needs to be separated by a comma.

But in general your punctuation is pretty good, so that last one is not as prevalent as the other three.

I hope that helped in some way. Don't worry about it too much though, because as long as you get yourself a really good proofreader they'll be able to clear all of that up for you. Hopefully they'll explain the changes they make along the way too, so you can continue to learn and improve on your skills.

Good luck! :)

(+2)

Hey, thank you for the corrections!! I got beta readers for chapter  2 and it's out now, hopefully, the mistakes won't break the reading experience from now on!

(+3)

I really liked this; writing is good although there are numerous grammatical errors. I recommend getting a proofreader/editor, or just double/triple checking your writing. But seriously it's pretty good.

Thank you for the feedback! Is there any of the grammar errors that stuck out to you?

(+2)(-1)

I love it! 😍 can't wait to read more! 🤩

(+2)

This is so gooooood ! I love it, the writing is great and smooth, and I love the fact that you gave us so much options for literaly everything. I'll be there for the next update :)

Thank you!! Second chapter is 40% done, but all the coding needed for the overall strucure is finished! Thank you for playing!!

(+3)

What?! Noooo! No 'To be continued', can I have one more chapter please??? Q.Q

*sighs* alright fine, i'll be patient. I just really like this. To sum it up, aside from a few grammar mistakes, You did an amazing job. ^_^ I hope to see more soon!

(1 edit)

Thank you for playing!! I'm making the second chapter right now, and there will be more branching paths! Also, thank you for pointing out the grammar mistakes! I've been fixing them as well!

(+2)

This was really great! I love how you describe things and your prose is great! I only found a few typos and some mistakes with the grammar, but other than that, it was great!

Thank you!! Do you remember the typos / mistakes I did? Thanks for telling me btw! I should be more careful for the next chapters

Oh, it's nothing major! I doubt many people would mind (it's just that my grammar buff brain caught it, lol). I didn't get screenshots for everything, but I do have two! 


"Yet things has gone sideways when the prince you were to supposed to protect are cursed" should be "yet things go sideways when the prince you were supposed to protect is cursed"

I also have this: 

"If you were to die, you'd like it if your funeral are filled with" should instead be "If you were to die, you'd like it if your funeral is filled with". Also, you switched the tenses in the sentence " You stood in the doorway." From what you previously wrote, I got the impression that it should have been present tense instead of past, so it would be "You stand in the doorway."

The grammatical errors I found tend to come up when you use "are" for sentences and transitions that should have "is" instead. There were also times when the tense would ping pong between the present tense and the past tense. 

But don't let what I've said drag you down. Your writing is vivid and very immersive! This wip has great potential and I'm excited to see where it goes next! A few grammatical mistakes isn't the end of the world and, seeing as this is a beta demo, are to be expected! Have a great day/evening/night!

(+1)

Omg thank you so much! I learnt a lot from this and I have to admit grammar and past/present tense was never my strong forte, but I think I get what I should look out for in future chapters! Thank you!! Will be sure to fix them up for the launch!

No problemo! :D

(+1)

It was so good!! I love how you describe the pain, I almost can feel it myself. I'm looking forward for the updates!!

Thank you!! The next updates will have more branches so I'm pretty excited to make them!