The Hero of Hearthvale, by the numbers
A cozy fairy-tale RPG where you play a whole family line. Here is what is actually in it. Every number below was counted from the game itself.
Play free in your browserThe story
One tale runs from your first day to the crown. A traveller in a silver mask is behind all of it, and every boss you meet knows a piece of the truth.
- The Reaver of the Hollow. Captain Mordrake’s bandits hold the east road. Spare him, take his gold, or end him.
- The Nettle Witch. A witch raises the dead in Witchwood Marsh. Put her down, or put her right.
- Rimefang of Frostpeak. A frost dragon wakes on the mountain, with a flying phase and a hermit who knows her weakness.
- The Grey Sea. Sail with Captain Wynn to Gull Isle, where Old Brine the sea serpent only wanted the fish.
- The Snowmere Thief. Follow the tracks across the snowfields to Hrimgar, an ice troll who is simply hungry.
- The Lonely Giant. An ice slide, a riddle of fires, and a giant whose crying makes the mountains cold. No fight: a conversation.
- The Mist Isle. Three lost sailors in the fog, and Morwenna the Sea Witch, who only wanted a choir.
- The Masked One. The Waystone cracks from the inside. Lord Vesper steps through. Break the mask, end him, or wear it.
Every chapter ends with a kind choice and a cruel one. Kind heroes glow; cruel ones grow horns, and villagers run.
A whole life, then the next one
- A family line. Your hero ages a year every two days and can live to about a hundred. When they pass, your child carries on with your house, your heirlooms and your name.
- A royal house. Rise from Knight or Dame to King or Queen. Coronations, decrees, a treasury, a crest, a motto and a yearly family portrait.
- A rival house. House Frostmere competes with you for the valley, generation after generation, and plots against you once you rule.
- Love and friends. Court the villagers, marry, raise children who are each born with a gift. A dog, a cat and an owl can join you.
- Your home. Buy a house, add a garden, a kitchen, a feather bed, a trophy wall, a farm with hens and a cow.
- Four seasons. Three days each, ending in a festival with a game in the square: a Harvest Contest, a Winter Market and more.
- Needs and chores. Hunger, Energy, Fun and Social. Three small chores a day. Happy heroes learn faster.
- Work. Bake at the Hearth Loaf, fish eight kinds of fish in rain or shine, brew potions from three herbs, cook three recipes, craft charms, dig for treasure with riddle maps.
- Danger. Raid Nights each season, an arena with five waves and boss echoes, an ancestors’ crypt with trials from your own bloodline, and three puzzle dungeons.
- Looks. Six skin tones, hair colours and styles, tunic dyes, capes, hats and a wedding outfit. Looks only: nothing you can buy makes you stronger.
The Arcade
Through the archway in the Cider House stand ten cabinets, one gold a go: Madame Levain’s fortunes, a full pinball table, Crumb Catcher, Mole Patrol, Pantry Pairs, Lantern Lights, Apple Stack, Goose Parade, Scrambled Scones and Pond Fishing. Each keeps your best score on your device and plays offline.
See it
How it’s made
The Hero of Hearthvale is designed, written and run by one person, Gina Lyn Cox, in Altoona, Iowa. It is a hand-drawn world in code: no asset packs, no engine, no download. The whole game is one page of about 13,000 lines, with a release log of 218 numbered versions you can read in full. Gina uses AI coding tools the way a small studio uses a team: to build what she designs, then play, test and change it until it feels right. Every quest, character, joke and choice is hers.
The game does not track you: no analytics, no player chat, no loot boxes, and the sponsor ads are labelled. Purchases are looks only, plus removing ads. Nothing you can buy makes your hero stronger.
Read the full release log · Press kit · hello@ginamakesbread.dev
A game by Gina Lyn Cox · Gina Makes · © 2026 Gina Makes LLC. Counts are from version 218.