We've reached 2800 wishlists for Hearth & Holmes on steam, which is a number of things:
1. Exciting!
2. Over a third of the way to my goal of 7000 wishlists.
3. Considerably ahead of schedule.
I haven't been actively advertising the game because I want it to be in a more finished state before I start that process in earnest. Video games take such a long time to make and looking forward to something that will happen in two years can be difficult. But given how many people are now paying attention (hello and thank you) I think I should start setting expectations.
Hearth & Holmes is going to cover the first year of Holmes and Watson's life together. It will happen over the course of twelve in-game months, with about three scenes and an elaborate, puzzling case each month. What scenes you get and how they go will be variable based on choices. Playtime will vary based on reading speed, but based on how quickly people got through the first-month demo I think we're looking at about twelve hours of gameplay in one play-through? Please don't quote me on that. The point is it's going to be a lot of content.
I currently have a complete vertical slice, meaning all the mechanics you need to actually play the game are in place, and about a third of the the content is written and (mostly) implemented. I have a lot more work I want to do on the UI, I need to implement external systems like achievements, and so much more content to write.
I am not allowed to push myself to burnout while working on a game that is specifically about how people should not push themselves to burnout. Given that, I am hoping to release this game in April 2027.
July Progress
Smoothed case UI functions
Implemented punching sounds
Researched victorian boxing
Wrote and implemented 'The Amateur of Alison's'
Fixed death. Holmes wasn't dying. Now he dies when he should be dying.
Fixed error where magnifying glass wasn't appearing.
Tested boxing case thoroughly.
Fixed Boxing errors from testing.