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We’re proud to announce that Spellbound: Malachite Coven, the latest in our “Heart’s Choice” line of multiple-choice interactive romance novels, 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 40% off until May 15th!

Your magic awakes in your new college town—and so does your heart! Can you discover who is trying to steal your power before it’s too late?

Spellbound: Malachite Coven is an interactive romance novel by Erin Rowlands. It’s entirely text-based, 147,000 words and hundreds of choices, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

As you arrive at Jasper Falls College, you feel a strange magical power stirring within you. Soon, you’re invited to join the Malachite Coven, a secret group of mages who share your abilities. Your mother was part of the coven years ago—and now, so are you.

Choose your magical specialty: earth, air, fire, lightning, or water. Perform midnight rituals and pore over ancient grimoires full of powerful spells. Delve even deeper to uncover the past that your mother has concealed from you all your life.

But when someone steals the magic of a member of your coven, and it becomes clear that darker forces are at work in Jasper Falls. Can you help restore your friend’s power and find the culprit before your magic gets taken away too?

(And don’t forget to keep up with your classes—you might not be a mage for long!)

The pull of magic is strong, but the pull of your heart is stronger—especially when you’re growing closer to the other members of the coven every day. Which one of them will capture your heart?

There’s Jamie Arnoult, flirtatious and wealthy, child of Jasper Falls’s mayor. With devastatingly sharp fashion sense, perfectly-styled brown hair, high cheekbones, and sparkling emerald eyes, Jamie has a reputation as a heartbreaker—but there’s more to Jamie than meets the eye.

Or there’s Blake Evander, competitive and driven in the classroom and sports field alike—nobody else could possibly be the leader of the Malachite Coven. Blonde and athletic with a lean toned frame, startlingly deep blue eyes, and a baseball cap for every occasion—but cleans up very nicely when it’s time for the college gala.

Or there’s gentle artist Kit Reynolds, who has broad shoulders, a warm brown complexion, and an even warmer smile; generous and friendly, with a quirky fashion sense and the kind of tender heart that hates to even step on a snail on a woodland hike.

Lennon Kobayashi is tall and brooding, always dressed in black with heavy metal playing on headphones—and yet deeply thoughtful about social issues, and infinitely gentle as a partner.

But what if you choose River Ortiz, the sweet and studious librarian with lovely wavy black hair who loves soft comfortable flannels? River doesn’t even know that magic exists—but has a shelf full of books about crystals and ley lines. Could you possibly share your secret?

• Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, or bi.
• Romance the athletic coven leader, the flirtatious heartbreaker, the friendly artist, the brooding rebel, or the sweet librarian.
• Grow closer to your mother and seek help from the older generation of mages, or strike out on your own.
• Dress to the nines to attend a lavish gala!
• Balance your coven and your classes—and don’t fall behind in either!

Sparks fly when you mix magic and romance!

We hope you enjoy playing Spellbound: Malachite Coven. We encourage you to tell your friends about it, and recommend the game on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other sites. Don’t forget: our initial download rate determines our ranking on the App Store. The more times you download in the first week, the better our games will rank.

Coming Thursday is our latest Heart’s Choice game, Spellbound: Malachite Coven! You can try the first three chapters for free today, check out the author interview, and don’t forget to wishlist it on Steam!

Hosted Games is happy to announce that Scarlet Sails, by Felicity Banks, is now available on Steam for the first time ever!

To celebrate, you can buy Scarlet Sails for 25% off on all platforms until May 8th.

Hoist the Jolly Roger and set sail to find the legendary Titan’s Treasure! Do you fight with a cutlass or with magic? Are you biding your time until you can shoot your captain in the back, or are you the reason the rum is gone?

Scarlet Sails is an 80,000-word interactive novel by Felicity Banks, author of Attack of the Clockwork Army and Bali B & B. 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.

• Enjoy an adventure on the high seas.
• Choose your personality, fighting style, and magical skill.
• Play as male or female or nonbinary; gay, straight, or asexual.
• Choose who to love, including options for singlehood or polyamory.
• Face the horrors of your past—and of the deep.
• Find treasure, treachery, and maybe even true love.

Felicity developed this game using ChoiceScript, a simple programming language for writing multiple-choice interactive novels like these. Writing games with ChoiceScript is easy and fun, even for authors with no programming experience. Write your own game and Hosted Games will publish it for you, giving you a share of the revenue your game produces.

Your magic awakes in your new college town—and so does your heart! Can you discover who is trying to steal your power before it’s too late?

Spellbound: Malachite Coven is a 147,000 word interactive romance novel by Erin Rowlands. I sat down with Erin to talk about her upcoming game and the process of writing an interactive romance. Spellbound: Malachite Coven releases next Thursday, May 8th. You can wishlist it on Steam now!

This is your first time publishing interactive fiction, but certainly not your first time writing romance or longer fiction. Tell me about your background.

For many years, I wrote short stories for literary magazines and then over the pandemic, I was craving something more upbeat and I got really into romance novels. Reading and writing rom-coms has been my obsession ever since!

What inspired this extremely cozy supernatural game and its setting?

I grew up in a quaint university town and I always loved walking around the campus in the fall so it was fun and nostalgic for me to write about that kind of place. For the supernatural element, I’m a fan of shows like Charmed and The Vampire Diaries…I like when TV shows feature both magical shenanigans and smooching. I tried to bring that type of energy to this game.

What surprised you most about working with ChoiceScript?

I don’t have a coding background so it was a pretty sharp learning curve for me but once I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed it! I bought a bunch of highlighters and I have a notebook where I tracked all of the branches and I also had Post-it notes with various bits of code stuck all over the walls. For a while my office was giving a misunderstood conspiracy theorist vibe. In terms of the process, my editor Abby was so patient and awesome and the beta feedback I received was so insightful and helpful. I’m used to writing being a solitary endeavour so it was really lovely to get advice and input from more experienced folks.

Did you play any Heart’s Choice games to prepare for writing one?

I played and really enjoyed Brimstone Manor by Frances Pauli, Changeling Charade by Ruth Vincent and Their Majesties’ Pleasure by Leia Talon. The first game I ever played was Crème de la Crème by Harris Powell-Smith which is not a Heart’s Choice game but I loved the relationships in it.

Which of your NPCs would you want to go on a date with?

I love them all equally (I say diplomatically, as though they might hear me and get offended). But today it is raining in my city so I’d like to get tea and wander around a bookstore with River.

What are you working on next?

I’m writing a romantic comedy novel that incorporates two of my favourite things…the fake dating trope and board games. I also had an idea about necromancers and psychics that I always thought would be a novel but now I’m like, hmm, could this be a game?

The 2025 Hosted Games Hidden Gems Sale is here!

You’ve cast your votes and chosen five underrated Hosted Games—ChoiceScript games created by players like you and published by us—that haven’t (yet) gotten the attention they deserve! These “Hidden Gems,” selected by a highly scientific poll conducted on our forums, are on sale on all platforms this week! Pick them up for discounts up to 40% off until May 1st on the platform of your choice: Android, the Android Omnibus app, the iOS Omnibus app, the website, and on the Amazon Android Marketplace! Don’t Wake Me Up and Community College Hero: Fun and Games are also available on Steam.

• The Gray Painter
• Donor: A Vampire Victim’s Tale
• The Day After Ever After
• Don’t Wake Me Up
• Community College Hero: Fun and Games

We’re excited to announce new content for Werewolf: The Apocalypse — The Book of Hungry Names!  “Seek and Destroy” is the latest DLC addition to the sprawling epic.

“Seek and Destroy” is on sale, along with the “Book of Hungry Names” base game, the “Wardens and Furies” DLC and “Those Who Refuse to Die” DLC, until April 17th!

“Seek and Destroy” unlocks the options to play as a member of the Red Talons tribe and the nomadic Silent Striders tribe.

And, in a special mission, 175,000 words long, hunt down a vampire who feeds off the weak and the helpless. Along the way, you’ll uncover his connection to forgotten secrets of the Three Families and the bloodstained legacies they left behind.

Finally, at no additional charge, we’ve added support for poly relationships in The Book of Hungry Names. You asked for it, and you can now form a throuple with any two of Elton, Nin, Melodie, or Podge. That’s six variations in all, all with unique dating and romantic experiences.

The whole game including all DLC now comes to a whopping 2.1 million words! Enjoy!

Hosted Games has a new game for you to play!

Your life is unremarkable: you have a boring job, only one person you might call a friend, an ailing mother in an expensive hospital, and a single bedroom apartment which no-one else ever sees. The only interesting thing about your daily routine is the mysterious stranger who appears every night in your dreams. That is until you come home to find the dream-stranger in your apartment, injured and seeking your help.

Kitsune is 30% off until April 10th!

Kitsune is a 300,000-word story about love, lies and foxes, written by Thom Baylay, author of the Evertree Saga and The Grim and I. It’s entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Many a fox grows grey but few grow good, and this one has taken a shine to you. How will you react when an agent of chaos enters your mundane life? Will you embrace the opportunity to mix things up or try to maintain some semblance of control? Will you let a supernatural spirit aid you in a divine quest for meaning or will you suspect everyone’s motives and seek the truth behind the extraordinary? 

• Step into a mundane life and watch it transform into something magical.
• Play as male, female or nonbinary.
• Play as gay, straight, bisexual or asexual.
• Uncover the mystery of the one who’s been haunting your dreams.
• Learn the shocking truths amidst the lies.
• Romance your best friend, a company royal or your mother’s nurse—or focus on your mysterious dream-stranger.
• Discover who you really are or lose yourself along the way.

Only you know how to live your life, but who even are you? Get ready to go on a journey of self-discovery, and try not to lose yourself to the whims of a mischievous fox.

Thom developed this game using ChoiceScript, a simple programming language for writing multiple-choice interactive novels like these. Writing games with ChoiceScript is easy and fun, even for authors with no programming experience. Write your own game and Hosted Games will publish it for you, giving you a share of the revenue your game produces.

Shhhhh! It’s our super secret special sale!

Thanks to a very scientific poll conducted on our forums, we’re proud to announce that our “most underrated” games, aka the Hidden Gems, are on sale on our website!

Pick them up for discounts up to 40% off until April 3rd on choiceofgames.com!

Nikola Tesla: War of the Currents, Cliffhanger: Challenger of Tomorrow, Broadsides: HMS Foraker, The Play’s the Thing, and A Squire’s Tale are all on sale now on the web.

The Steam Spring Sale is here, and you can find all of our games discounted until March 20th, including the Nebula finalist games!

We are thrilled to announce that The Ghost and the Golem, by Benjamin Rosenbaum, and Restore, Reflect, Retry by Natalia Theodoridou are finalists for Best Game Writing in the 60th Annual Nebula Awards, and both games are on sale for 40% off until March 20th!

The Ghost and the Golem is a 450,000 word historical fantasy novel by Benjamin Rosenbaum. Can your magic amulet save your Jewish village from destruction? Uncover the truth and forge alliances with soldiers, bandits, anarchists, and demons!

Restore, Reflect, Retry is a 90,000 word interactive horror novel by Natalia Theodoridou. You’ve played this game before. It’s a haunted game about a haunted game. You may not remember, but the game remembers you. I remember you.

To celebrate, we are also putting every previous Nebula Finalist game on sale:

The Bread Must Rise
Vampire: The Masquerade—Sins of the Sires
The Luminous Underground
The Road to Canterbury
The Magician’s Workshop
Rent-A-Vice
The Martian Job

Check out our Nebula Finalists bundle on Steam for an even bigger discount!

This is the seventh year that there has been a Nebula award for game writing—and the sixth year that Choice of Games authors have been finalists. Past Choice of Games Nebula finalists are: James Beamon and Stewart C. Baker for The Bread Must Rise, Natalia Theodoridou for Vampire: The Masquerade—Sins of the Sires and Rent-A-Vice, Phoebe Barton for The Luminous Underground, Kate Heartfield for The Road to Canterbury and The Magician’s Workshop, and M. Darusha Wehm for The Martian Job.

We also want to congratulate Choice of Games authors Stewart C. Baker, Phoebe Barton, James Beamon, Kate Heartfield, Naca Rat, Natalia Theodoridou, and M. Darusha Wehm for being finalists this year for their writing on the game A Death in Hyperspace.

Since 1965, the Nebula Awards have been given annually to the best works of science fiction and fantasy published that year, as voted on by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). The 60th Annual Nebula Awards ceremony will be streamed live during the 2025 Nebula Conference, June 7, 2025. Stay tuned for more!