Press Kit

The Hero of Hearthvale

A cozy fairy-tale RPG where you’re not just the hero: you’re the whole family line, from first sword swing to the crown.

Play free in your browser

What’s inside: the game by the numbers

About the game

The Hero of Hearthvale is a free-to-play fairy-tale adventure you play right in your browser, on phone or computer. You start as a young hero in a small village: fight wolves and dragons, bake bread, fish, fall in love and raise a family. Every choice pushes you toward good or evil, and the valley remembers.

When your hero grows old, your child takes over, trained in your sword or your baking, carrying your heirlooms and your house’s name. Over the generations you build a royal house, crown new rulers, outwit a rival family and grow a town that lives and works around you. A whole family saga, one cozy day at a time.

Fact sheet

DeveloperGina Makes

ReleaseVersion 1.0, October 2026

PlatformsAny modern web browser on phone, tablet or computer. Installs like an app and plays offline.

PriceFree to play. Optional purchases: remove ads ($4.99), looks-only packs ($1.99 each), gems ($4.99 for 500), Herald notices ($3) and a tip jar. Nothing you can buy makes your hero stronger.

GenreCozy fairy-tale action RPG with cottagecore life and a family saga

Tagscozy, cottagecore, fairy tale, life sim, family saga, action RPG, baking, farming, generations, browser game

AudienceTeens and adults (13 and up): fantasy combat and good-or-evil choices

ContentNot formally rated. Fantasy violence (no blood), dark choices, romance and marriage (nothing sexual shown), optional purchases and labelled ads. No gambling or loot boxes, no alcohol, no player chat. Full content note

LanguageEnglish

SponsorsAnyone 18 or older can support the game with a support package from $5 to $50; in thanks, their name (and, from $10, their picture and website) hangs in a labelled, hand-reviewed frame in the game's Chamber of Commerce for two weeks. Sponsor terms, including the sponsor indemnity and the $10 limit of liability.

Playheroofhearthvale.com/hearthvale

Press contacthello@ginamakesbread.dev

What makes it different

You play a whole family line, not one hero. Your hero grows old and passes on, and you carry on as your child, with your house, your heirlooms and your name. Each generation rises in rank, up to King or Queen. Most cozy games stop at marriage and children; Hearthvale keeps going.
Your choices show on your hero. Kind heroes get a halo; cruel ones grow horns, and villagers run. Every quest has a kind choice and a cruel one, and the valley remembers.
Three kinds of game in one. Cozy life (baking, fishing, farming, decorating), adventure (bosses, a frost dragon, a sea serpent) and puzzle dungeons (sliding ice and block puzzles).
Instant and free. It runs in the browser on a phone or computer, with no download or account. It also installs like an app and plays offline.
Fair to players. Purchases are looks only, so nothing is pay-to-win. A Cozy difficulty, an “I’m stuck” hint button and plain-language writing make it welcoming.
Short days, a long story. A game day is 12 minutes, a year of age is two days, and one hero’s life (age 18 to 100) is about 33 hours of play, so you see the family saga unfold. A daily gift rewards coming back.

Features

A family saga. Your hero ages a year every two days. When they pass on, or step down, your heir carries on with your house, your heirlooms and your training.
A royal house. Rise from Knight or Dame to King or Queen. Crown each new ruler, choose a motto, fly your crest on banners, and hang a family portrait by the hearth every year.
A town that lives. Villagers farm, fish, bake and forge. Build a well, a library, a harbour and a castle keep, and steer the town through floods, droughts and blizzards.
Good or evil. Every choice moves your heart. Kind heroes glow; cruel ones grow horns, and villagers run.
Adventure. Wolves, bandits, a marsh witch, a frost dragon, a sea serpent, a lonely frost giant and a sea witch on the misty Mist Isle, plus an ancestors’ crypt with trials from your own bloodline.
Puzzles. Below the Ancestors’ Crypt, the Sunken Halls hold block-pushing, fire and key puzzles; under Snowmere, the Frozen Cellars hold sliding-ice puzzles, and both end in a treasure vault; past the snowfields, the Hoarfell Caves hold an ice slide and a hall of echoing fires. Every room keeps your best time, and a secret path hides in the Greatwood.
Everyday life. Baking, fishing, a garden patch, seasonal festivals, a Harvest Contest, a winter market, pets and friends.
A rival house. House Frostmere competes for the valley, generation after generation. Win them over, or beat them.
A storybook world. Soft storybook art seen from above: ponds with gently wavy shores, a pebbly sea beach, paths worn into the grass, woods of mixed oaks and pines, and cosy rooms warmed by firelight and window light, torch-lit puzzle halls and a lived-in bandit camp.
Calm on the eyes. No strobing or fast flicker: fires, signs and lights move slowly, and they hold still when your device asks for reduced motion. Thunderstorms do have an occasional lightning flash.
Plays anywhere. Touch or keyboard, installs like an app, and saves your whole family line.

Short clips

Vertical, silent clips for Shorts, Reels and TikTok. Add your own music.

New: first steps, from the title screen to the Town Hall and out into the village · Download MP4

A tour of the valley in 21 seconds · Download MP4

Teaser: the whole saga in 23 seconds · Download MP4

Every heir is crowned · Download MP4

Harvest Festival day · Download MP4

A new generation · Download MP4

From seed to blue ribbon · Download MP4

A feast at the Keep · Download MP4

The Winter Market · Download MP4

Screenshots

1600 × 900 (the world map is 1536 × 1216). Select any picture for the full size. Taken in October 2026, after the game's art refresh.

The title screen: The Hero of Hearthvale, A tale of good and evil, with Begin your tale and the Cozy, Normal and Heroic choices — The title screen

Inside the Town Hall, Town Clerk Rowena welcomes a new hero and gives two loaves for the road — A welcome at the Town Hall

The Mist Isle in fog, with three lost sailors and Morwenna the Sea Witch — The Mist Isle

The Giant’s Hall in the Hoarfell Caves: icicles, frosted flagstones and Hoarfell the Frost Giant on his ice throne — The Giant’s Hall

The storybook credits roll: A Gina Makes Game, created by Gina Lyn Cox — The credits roll

The hero by the village pond, with the Town Hall, the bounty board and the Main Street shops — The village green and Town Hall

The Hollow Oak in the Greatwood, with its glowing doorway and the sponsor sign out front — The Hollow Oak in the Greatwood

The hero walking through the misty Witchwood Marsh, past dark pools and the witch’s hut, with a soft glow underfoot — Witchwood Marsh

Snowmere, a snowy village with frozen lakes, pines and a trading post — Snowmere, over the mountains

Old Brine the sea serpent rises on Gull Isle, with the Prepare for Battle menu — Old Brine the sea serpent on Gull Isle

The Hearth Loaf bakery at night, lit by the glow of the brick oven — The bakery by oven light

The hero’s cottage, with the fire lit and daylight falling from the windows — Your first home

Inside the Chamber of Commerce: gold frames for sponsors, candelabras and the old clerk’s desk — Inside the Chamber of Commerce

Bandit Hollow: red tents, campfires with log seats, crates along the fence and a lookout tower — Bandit Hollow

The Hall of Fires, a torch-lit puzzle room of worn flagstones with three braziers — A torch-lit puzzle hall

The whole world map: the village, Main Street, the Greatwood, Bandit Hollow, Witchwood Marsh, Snowmere, Gull Isle and the Grey Sea — The whole valley

More moments

From the first release, showing the family saga and the town.

The village square on festival day, with lanterns and the house banners — Festival day in the square

Villagers cheering a new ruler at a coronation — A coronation

The family at home by the hearth, with portraits on the wall — Home by the hearth

The journal’s Family page with the family tree and the house chronicle — The family tree and chronicle

The village in snow with the Winter Market stall — The Winter Market

The graveyard and the ancestors’ crypt at dusk — The Ancestors’ Crypt at dusk

The hero before the Hearthvale Keep, flying the house crest — The Hearthvale Keep

Logo and art

App icon (512 × 512) and title art (1200 × 630).

Playtester card

A how-to-play card for sharing with playtesters (1080 × 1350, sized for Facebook and Instagram). Download the card. Version 2 adds how to enter a tester code; the first version still works too.

How to play The Hero of Hearthvale in six steps, for playtesters, including how to enter a tester code

How playtesters send feedback

Playtesters tap pause, then Send feedback. A short form opens inside the game: what was fun, where they got stuck, what broke, how long they played and how the days felt. They can add a picture of the game screen. Sending it gives a thank-you of 50 gold (once a day) and the title Playtester. Phone screenshots, 780 × 1688.

The Send feedback form on a phone, with answers filled in — The feedback form

The feedback form with a picture of the game screen attached — Adding a screenshot

Back in the game, a thank-you message: feedback sent, 50 gold and the Playtester title — The thank-you

About the developer

Gina Makes: games, tools, and curious creations. By Gina Lyn Cox.

I’m Gina Lyn Cox, the creator behind Gina Makes. I build digital and tabletop games, useful software, and other creative projects. The Hero of Hearthvale is my first game.

You may use these screenshots, clips and logos in articles, videos, streams and reviews about The Hero of Hearthvale. For anything else, write to hello@ginamakesbread.dev. © 2026 Gina Makes LLC. All rights reserved.