![HEROTOME [Super Demo]](https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzEzOTQzMjM0LmdpZg==/original/OxdUgg.gif)
HEROTOME [Super Demo]
A downloadable superhero dating sim for Windows, macOS, and Linux
SUPER DEMO
Glory or Ruin?
[ G x ALL ]
✦ Where Villains Lurk, Heroes Must Rise ✦
(Whenever you see a triangular arrow and red underlined text like the example below, you can CLICK to expand the text.)
Welcome to the city of Rhineway:
a merciless metropolis where gentrification spreads like cold sores. Its wear and tear has been pushed to its outskirts, and the crime rate is higher than ever. Meanwhile, the government-enforced superhero program draws mixed reactions among the populace.
Are superheroes the new boys in blue—or just the newest entertainment in a world where everything is designed to serve a market?
Not that it matters much to you.
As an unregistered citizen dwelling on the fringes of Rhineway's slums, these societal shifts have hardly touched your daily existence—until now.
Amidst the flames of a job fair gone horribly wrong, armed only with your overdue rent, a hungry cat, and healing powers best suited for tending to minor scrapes and brises, you’ve been recruited to join a prestigious superhero agency.
The salary is good. Beyond good. Too good to turn down.
If only your powers weren't waning by the day.
✦ Five Engaging, Optional Romances ✦
Note: ✦ Dart and Jade are intended to be late game routes that aren't immediately available.
The city of Rhineway will show you no mercy, but amidst the world's chaos, your new team stands firm. They are ready to offer you their support at a moment's notice... but only if you're willing to take it.
✦ What Else Awaits You, Hero? ✦
- A cat who loves you!
- 50,000 words of content that includes 180+ dialogue choice trees - give or take.
- A glimpse of burgeoning, optional romances. (Herotome is aroace-friendly; flirting with a character does not lock you into a romantic or sexual relationship.)
- And more, including...
✦ Gorgeous and Dynamic Art ✦
for every action, an appropriate reaction
Embolden and encourage your teammates or cut them down as you please, stirring the pot to manifest misunderstandings and chaos until everything falls apart.
Witness the immediate effects of your choices as the characters visibly react with dynamic sprites and CGs.
(Note: CG expressions are all set for this demo! Sprite expressions are in active development. )
✦ Create Your Own Protagonist ✦
five unique portraits and more to come
Psst: want to upload your own protagonist image to use in-game?
- Download the free PDF instructions provided below, or check it out in-browser on my tumblr.
Experience an urban fantasy visual novel where action and romance intertwine.
With a nameable protagonist and five unique portraits to choose from (and more to come), step into the role of Rhineway's newest superhero recruit: the sensible and expressive Heroine.
She will follow your every command... well, almost every command. If you insist on making her do stupid things, you might just find yourself in an argument over the reins.
✦ Impactful Roleplaying Choices ✦
carve a path towards glory? or is it ruin that calls your name?
Along your journey, you will encounter a rich world, dynamic characters, and face pivotal choices that will shape your destiny.
From life-saving decisions to delightfully absurd ones, there are many choices with which to express yourself and ensure a one-of-a-kind experience every playthrough:
- Kiss a dangerous, clammy stranger (or punch her in the face!)
- Beg your landlord to repair your water heater (or tell him he’ll never amount to anything!)
- Accuse your superhero mentor of stalking you (or ask him what the 'D' stands for!)
- Squeeze your sweet Katie-kins' tumtums (or scold her for jumping on the couch!)
✦ Two Difficulty Modes ✦
for the shameless flirts among us
Choose between a clearly-labelled CASUAL experience or a more challenging HEROIC mode to help you further personalize your playstyle.
The world is your oyster, and the story is yours to shape!
✦ What to Expect from Future Updates ✦
- ... More romantic tension, more scenes. More sprite expressions, more art. All packaged into higher wordcount.
- A reputation point system, which rises and falls based on your choices.
- Idk man, I'll let you know later. I'm exhausted!
Please note: While the promotional video features a voiced character, plans for in-game voice acting will be implemented at a much later stage. ❤
Herotome is in active development! Please consider supporting the game, or follow along with our development progress in the following locations:
I post weekly devlog updates to tumblr, and Ko-Fi is the best way to support Herotome directly <3
Shoutout to These Talented Individuals
without whom Herotome would not exist in this form
| Remnantation | Character Art |
| Brightbone | Original music tracks |
| Jeff Penny | Original SFX |
| Re.Alice | Preliminary UI Design |
...and me, Wudgeous, who funds the project out of project and does most everything else: direction, writing, code, design, additional art, social media management, GIF-making, furniture assembly, plumbing...
Additional credits are listed in-game.
(old prologue demo Credits)
No animals were harmed during the making of this game, and our fictitious animals can always be saved. Likewise, any misgendering is always and immediately corrected.
Additionally, there are brief effects such as screen shaking and flashes of light that may potentially trigger motion sickness or seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.
For more detailed context warnings, please see below.
General Narration
- Depictions of anxiety and impulsive thoughts
- Food
- Visual and written depictions of pizza, sushi, tacos, salad, and toast
- Misgendering (unintentional and, again, immediately corrected)
- Violence
- Visual and written depictions of burn injuries
- Visual depictions of a head wound
Choice-Dependent
- Abduction
- Animal death (but not your cat Katie - she’s fine!)
By making certain choices, these can be avoided in your playthrough.
Content warnings will be updated with each new release.
Itch Page Chibis by: 1shimaru
Itch Page Design by: Notafish (and you should play Notafish's gorgeous cozy games here on itch at Studio Ghost Legs!)
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Fav Character Poll! & STREAM TODAY 10pm PacificDec 07, 2023
- AWARENESS for Ambulatory Wheelchair Users (I FORGOT!!!)Dec 03, 2023
- HI-HO, SUPER DEMO HERE 💥Dec 01, 2023
- Super Demo: Out Tomorrow!Dec 01, 2023
- A GIFT! And a ✨ date ✨Nov 13, 2023
- Hi Y'all!~Oct 05, 2023
- A BIG UPDATE (theres lots of pictures wow)Apr 04, 2023
- Let's MEOW TOGETHERSep 05, 2022
Comments
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Is this on hiatus/abandoned? I really want to see it through, I loved the demo.
I think its still being worked on since they r still posting on their Ko-Fi!
Oh, okay, thank you so much! ^^
This is sooooo good , literally as a cis demisexual, i love love love diversity. after reading the author notes ... i just had to drop a comment and rating guh this is literally on my leader board.
I love every single character. Hand in marriage right now. Hand them over
Really though, I love the premise and the writing. I adore Katieeee my beloved, and the characters are all so engaging!!! Especially Griffin! Gonna smooch 'em.
<3
QUICK QUESTION BEFORE PLAYING!!
Do we get to customize the pronouns/choosing to be a boy or girl?
Technically you get to choose, but after you select it, the game tells you that sometimes you will still be referred as a female due to the story being written from a female pov
Okay, thank you so much!!
I'm very impressed by the quality of this game! The dialogue flows so naturally and I love the concepts the story's playing with. Looking forward to it's eventual completion!
It's absolutely amazing in every sense!!At first I thought I liked Wardon, but in the end, I realized that Griffin is my favorite (actually i like everyone haha). I completely agree with what u mentioned, 'get to know him until he wants to kiss you.' When I first tried to flirt with Wardon, he told me, ' U don't know me' which really surprised me, because in the games I've played before, flirting with the male lead usually didn't result in rejection. Now, I have a deeper understanding of this sentense... Each character is so well-rounded and vividly alive, and the expressions are drawn so well that everything feels real to me... (It's truly done so well; during the scene where Jade takes me flying, it suddenly felt like I was watching a Hollywood movie, haha). Griffin is just too adorable; when he banters with Jade, it's just like the teasing between me and my friends—so relatable and so much fun! I can't wait for the full version of the game (really, I beg you to complete it if your energy and time allow). The demo content is already quite rich, and I feel like I could play it a hundred more times! (But I still hope to see the full version as soon as possiblee plzzzz)."Anyway,love ya and waiting for u>>3 (ps. I can call Katie on my home page is also a cute detail hehe)And i already suscribed u , u can lemme know even u have a little progress TvT (I don't speak English,if make any mistakes i sorryyy)
wait,you cant flirt with the masked man????
thats what i said, they need to add him as a secret route
is this game still in development
yes
are u sure because there hasn't been a development log in like a year
yeah don't worry, I follow the dev on tumblr and they're still working on it
Oh yeah I just check rn. Thx for telling me. It's cuz I brought the walkthrough and then realised shit... what if this is a dead project
Is this a gender neutral game or just for women audience? :')
Nevermind, i'm so sad that it isn't for both genders. 😓
really beautiful art + fab writing, the characters are all rlly charming, and i loved whats out in the demo so far!! excited to see where this goes<3
Boo, a comment.
This is genuinely such a charming game, there is just enough customization with the MC that it still feels like your own character without having the character be a blank slate. The characters are amazing and all have such unique personalities, and I will love to see where each of their stories go and how each of their endings will be (Maybe even see if they have their own bad/good ending 👀).
As to not make my rambling too long, as I can totally 100% can do, I'll just say my final thoughts. I'm totally going to see where this story goes, and follow development. Plus, Katie, she's adorable, I love her and I'll never be able to leave her.
I just finished the demo (gotta redo it with the brave options) and I adore it. Mia, Warren and Jade are so precious <3 I love the little unlockeable scenes, I'm very much looking foward for this
(sorry if i misspelled something, English is not my first language jsjs)
Enjoyed the demo a lot! I just wish the scores at the end showed the highest and lowest possible percentage. The only problem I see is if you change our pronouns later and mention it to Griffin, he says he knows because Warden saw your sticker, but I never chose the sticker.
Just played the demo and I'm looking forward to the full release!!
dear god, where to start!! this demo was absolutely AMAZING and i cannot wait to play the full game (❁´◡`❁) i love all the characters but my love for griffin will be unmatched (fellow diabetes buddy lol)
all in all, amazing demo and i cant wait to play the full game!! keep up the good work!! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o
Plz mobile version, I'm willing to pay ❤️. This seems like a nice game and I'm very curious on trying it.
i cant pay for the walkthrough but i've gotten all of the achievements except for '???' (im a completionist even for demos) how do i unlock that one??
I have immense respect for u. Because the second chance and lady doth protest achievements are ~ painful~.
You need to name Warden “Spot", “Lucius", or “Abigail", because the dev did some writing for Ballad of midnight and those are the characters names
alguém sabe se esse jogo ainda vai ter continuação???( •̯́ ^ •̯̀)
I NEED MORE
Just finished the demo and can I say WOW! It was sooo good! I love all the characters and you can tell you put so much effort into it! You inspired me to actually work on my own game I'm planning lol
Loved the characters, loved the art, loved the dialogue.
Wonderful demo❤️
Herotome is an absolute masterpiece in the realm of visual novels! From the stunning art to the mesmerizing music, every aspect of this game is crafted with immense love and attention to detail. I am in awe of the creativity and talent that went into this game. The characters in here are truly amazing and captivating. Each one has a unique charm that keeps me wanting to learn more about them. Warden, in particular, has a certain charisma that is hard to resist. I need more of him!! I'm eagerly looking forward to future updates and am thankful for this incredible masterpiece. It deserves all the recognition it can get!
I really liked it, it's fun.
Help. I played the game for Mia, but ended up falling in love with everyone D:
Ok but seriously I love the way you write each characters and I really enjoy their dynamic and bantering with each other. And I admire how you write a wonderful disability representation with Griffin! She/he became one of my favorites along with Mia and Jade. Also the art and the gui? The dialogues? The humor? LOVE them all. I'm both fascinated and terrified of how you manage to do this all alone.
Also it's SO rare to see VNs/IFs/dating sims with superhero theme (the only other one I found is Fallen Hero: Rebirth and its sequels, which I also recommend btw), I'm excited to see what you'll do with the superhero trope and how the characters/MC deal with being one. Really really looking forward to the full release! (in your own pace of course)
Me too!! TvT i like dating sims with superhero theme!!! I wanna recommend Binary Star Hero written by concreteparasite to u if u like ;) (also can be found in itch) And if u don't mind...where can i find Fallen Hero : Rebirth?(i fali to search it on itch TvT)
The Fallen Hero games aren't on itch, they're from Choice of Games. You can get them on Steam or in Choice of Games' "Hosted Games" mobile app. However, I honestly wouldn't recommend them. They are intentionally very obfuscatory. There's a lot of information that you aren't given, even though your character would know it and it's crucial information for the decisions you'll be making throughout the game. You basically need to play all of them before you can even properly RP the first one.
awww thank u so much !!! >333 hahaha i get it now though i may play it too cuz i really love this theme lol I may have a try. Anyway thanks again! >33
I absolutely adored this demo, so far Griffin really has my heart. I hope for nothing more than to see more of him (Or her if it's a she day) And the story is honestly super fun to get into. Imagining my own version of MC is a good time too.
i LOVE mia she's so CUTE, crying rn
I love this demo - I can't wair for more/the eventual full version, I'm excited for every route (and that definitely isn't always the case!) x
Jade is so godamn cute, i'm smitten oml 😳
such a wonderful, sweet and funny demo :'D I love it, the characters are wholesome, cute and adorable and KATIE, I love love love my kitty :3
Sweet, I love the premise that isn't touched on often in visual novels. I look forward to seeing more and getting to flirt more with Warden lol
Stellar presentation, great looking characters with dynamic personalities, and a story full of intrigue built on top of a very cool urban fantasy world. There is incredible value here. Over 4 hours for a single playthrough, after which several choices were unlocked for me to go back and try. Herotome is brimming with choices, and half the fun is selecting a choice that might seem off-the-wall to see what will happen next.
I found myself quickly invested in the plight of the MC and her beloved cat. And I was impressed by the number of sensitive and culturally relevant topics the narrative tackles with a deft hand.
There is so much to explore here! Download this demo!
Incredible. Both the art and characters are stunningly beautiful and sooo loveable! Looking forward to the finished product.
lovely lovely lovely lovely
i played the last demo like 4 times, and i'm so glad i waited for the superdemo!!!
warden my love!!hilarious and interesting and beautiful at the same time???? oh my gosh. i can't wait for the full game!! i can actually i would wait an entire lifetime
for griffin my loveanyway.
small question: is there anyway to distinguish mc's thoughts from her dialogue? sometimes she's talking with warden and i'll be so surprised to hear him respond because i thought she was thinking 😭 i seriously thought he was reading our mind for a minute 😭
edit: i was wondering if i forgot to rate it and i saw that i rated it 2 years ago 😭😭😭😭 cannot believe it's been so long
but! i really want to thank you for sharing your petri dish personalities with us ✨ best way to spend my evening :)
griffin has me down bad i'm afraid.
weakforthewink 😔👊
I'm loving it so far! But I had a question. How can I be more "brave"? I've tried all kinds of choices but I STILL AINT BRAVE ENOUGH TO KISS THE LANDLORD'S BOOBOO BETTER 🤣
you unlock the locked options by completing the superdemo!! kiss that booboo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i did the same thing lol. restarted the game just to be as violent and as mean as possible but nothing worked :P
loved the first demo, love love love the super demo! it has been so special to see this project grow and grow, i cant wait to stick with it and see what happens next <3
I've been following this project on Tumblr for...at least a year and a bit? And I'm just- UGH
I love it. you and the rest of the people who've contributed have done an astounding job. After hyping myself up since like, 2021, I'm very pleased. Thank you for putting so much work into this. I hope whatever you decide on next is equally amazing <3
Since 2021?! Even I haven't been around that long-- jkjkjk I've been here.
Thank you for sticking with us for so longgg ❤️❤️❤️ I too hope whatever I decide on next is, not just equally, but MORE amazing!