Heart of Battle
Heart's Choice · 2022 · RPG, Choose Your Own Adventure, Interactive Fiction, Text-Based, First-Person
PC
Positive90% · 21
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About Heart of Battle
Battle for love as a gladiator in this epic romance of swords and sandals!
Heart of Battle is a 220,000-word interactive gladiator romance by Fay Ikin, where 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.
As a prisoner of Coritan City, you had two options: rot in a dungeon or battle in the gladiatorial arena. You chose to fight - and as a star gladiator, you have the power to sway public opinion as nobody else does.
The city is divided, ruled by the glittering Illustrious who use their wealth and status to maintain their power over the struggling masses. A lucky few have access to magic as well: it can be used to heal, but it can also be used as a weapon, or to reinforce the bars of prisons.
Below them, rumors of revolution simmer - and nowhere more strongly than among the gladiators. Former soldiers, political prisoners, and prisoners of war now bide their time, plotting to rise up. Some just hope to escape to their own freedom; others want to bring down the entire oppressive system. Yet others seek to work within the hierarchy, currying favor among the Illustrious in the hopes of having their freedom bought by a wealthy patron.
In this treacherous web of alliances that you must navigate, the one certainty is your own heart. Will you find love with a gentle healer, haunted by a tragic past? A wealthy patron who could promise you a life of luxury? Or even one of your fellow gladiators, whose muscles and martial skill you admire through every battle: a fervent ex-revolutionary now condemned to the same servitude as you, or a bold daring warrior who seeks fame and glory.
Victory can mean a better life for you and your beloved - but what will you do if you find yourself on the opposite side of a gladiatorial match from the one you love? Or on the opposite side of a revolution?
Can love conquer all foes?
Heart of Battle is a 220,000-word interactive gladiator romance by Fay Ikin, where 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.
As a prisoner of Coritan City, you had two options: rot in a dungeon or battle in the gladiatorial arena. You chose to fight - and as a star gladiator, you have the power to sway public opinion as nobody else does.
The city is divided, ruled by the glittering Illustrious who use their wealth and status to maintain their power over the struggling masses. A lucky few have access to magic as well: it can be used to heal, but it can also be used as a weapon, or to reinforce the bars of prisons.
Below them, rumors of revolution simmer - and nowhere more strongly than among the gladiators. Former soldiers, political prisoners, and prisoners of war now bide their time, plotting to rise up. Some just hope to escape to their own freedom; others want to bring down the entire oppressive system. Yet others seek to work within the hierarchy, currying favor among the Illustrious in the hopes of having their freedom bought by a wealthy patron.
In this treacherous web of alliances that you must navigate, the one certainty is your own heart. Will you find love with a gentle healer, haunted by a tragic past? A wealthy patron who could promise you a life of luxury? Or even one of your fellow gladiators, whose muscles and martial skill you admire through every battle: a fervent ex-revolutionary now condemned to the same servitude as you, or a bold daring warrior who seeks fame and glory.
Victory can mean a better life for you and your beloved - but what will you do if you find yourself on the opposite side of a gladiatorial match from the one you love? Or on the opposite side of a revolution?
- Play as male, female, or non-binary; trans or cis; gay, straight, bi, demisexual, asexual, or aromantic.
- Romance a gentle healer; a glory-hound gladiator; a wealthy patron; or an ex-revolutionary.
- Choose your weapon: fight with sword, mace, bow, daggers, or bladed gauntlet.
- Negotiate your way through relationships with your superiors, and clash with a bitter rival.
- Win battles with honor, or scheme and cheat to take down your enemies.
- Incite a riot - or even a revolution!
Can love conquer all foes?
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
The writing was interesting and well done, as were the characters. The plot itself left a bit to be desired, but I found myself excited to see where things were going. My only complaint is the railroading. This is where spoilers start, so beware. At every opportunity, I went against [spoiler] the Rebels [/spoiler] , and yet the game expected me to sympathize with them! I was made to support them even as I picked options to go against them. [spoiler] The Patron [/spoiler] turned out to be sympathetic to [spoiler] their cause [/spoiler], which made romancing them a bit difficult to be invested in when I was actively sabotaging them at every opportunity. Yet even still, the game didn't give me the option to do any lasting damage! I couldn't stop [spoiler] the riot, I could only evacuate citizens or whatever. [/spoiler] The game wouldn't even allow me to kill [spoiler] the Duelist [/spoiler] like I was supposed to, and I was trying to be as obedient to the Arena as possible! Oh, but they let me kill [spoiler] the Rival! [/spoiler] Which sucks because they were such an interesting character, and I've never been more upset at someone being non-romanceable. [spoiler] Aztore [/spoiler]…3 found this helpful
An absolute masterpiece. I want to write something here to convey how much I enjoyed it, but if I mention that my favorite part was being able to play out trans-friendly sex scenes, I might alienate the audience who is excited to find a spicy romance game where they can fully enjoy the entire game playing an asexual character. If I talk about the amazing queer romance, will I put off people who might enjoy one of the other options available with the multiple gender-selectable characters? All I can say is it was amazing and I can't wait until the sequel, Heart of the Mountain, is finished.1 found this helpful
This is hands down my favorite Heart's Choice IF! It perfectly combines the 'romance should be the priority' vibe with a story that is actually engaging enough to keep you invested. The writing is so immersive, I really felt like I was a gladiator standing in that arena. The only struggle? The various ROs were all so good, it was almost impossible to choose who to romance!1 found this helpful
Ok so this has the best written polyamory options I have seen in a Choice of Game. The characters are interesting and so are the options at how to handle your situation.1 found this helpful
A little fast paced, especially at the beginning, but I still had a blast playing!1 found this helpful
It was ok. Not best text game I played but still decent. I kinda enjoyed fights we could have and I really enjoyed possibility to kill [spoiler] leader of Last Company. Unfortunetly I wasn't able to kill the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mage as well but I quess its live.[/spoiler] I would like to have more time to develop proper relationship with RO but as gladiator I kinda get it that it will be rushed. Also I would like to have more time to spend with RO (at my playthrough it was healer) but it still wasn't the worse.1 found this helpful
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