Heartfall – A Tale in Three Lives has multiple story routes that you can play, and your choices decide which one you enter. Some routes share the main story until you choose a specific dialogue, while others require you to complete a side quest or interact with a hidden object.
Follow the steps below to start and unlock all 12 routes in Heartfall — A Tale in Three Lives. I’ve covered the required choices, quests, and locations for each route.
Spoiler warning: These steps reveal some events from the beginning of each route. Check the content warnings before starting a route, especially those involving horror, body horror, extreme blood, or other disturbing themes.
Route 0: Have We Been Here Before?
Content warnings: None
Route 0 follows the main story. Choose the following options to start it.
Go to the village and interact with the house with the green sign.
Select – Take a look.
Accept Scar’s quest to cause mischief with him.
Enter the caves to collect the flint and steel. You will also meet BigB and Martyn there.
Give the flint and steel to Scar.
Choose to seek monopoly with Scar.
Lead the creeper toward the group. Both choices lead to the same outcome, but repeatedly choosing the second option gives you more dialogue.
When Martyn asks, “How is it working with Scar?“, select It’s enjoyable.
You have now started Route 0: Have We Been Here Before?
Continue playing the story.
Route 1: The Dark Forest
Content warnings: Immolation, horror, body horror.
This route requires you to keep your own base instead of moving to Flower Valley with Jimmy and Scott.
Visit the village for the first time.
Interact with the i sign on the land and accept to Build a little base?
When Jimmy and Scott invite you to move to Flower Valley, choose Decline.
Continue following the main story route.
When you and Scar pass your house, insist that you live there.
When prompted, select Take a close look, one last time.
When the game asks about keeping your base, select Accept.
These choices start Route 1: The Dark Forest.
Route 2: Dog-Eat-Dog World
Content warnings: Extreme blood.
- Follow the main story until Martyn asks about your experience working with Scar.
- When Martyn asks how Scar is treating you, select Do you mean working under Scar?
- For the next dialogue choice, select It’s not how I thought things would be.
You have now started Route 2: Dog-Eat-Dog World.
Route 3: Live, Laugh, Divorce
Content warnings: None
This route depends on whether you accept Jimmy and Scott’s invitation to move to Flower Valley.
- Visit the village for the first time.
- Build your base.
- When Jimmy and Scott invite you to move to Flower Valley, select Accept.
Accepting their invitation starts Route 3: Live, Laugh, Divorce.
Route 4: Ashes and Alliances
Content warnings: Extreme blood.
For this route, you need to help Joel with his wolves and agree to ally with him.
- Visit the village for the first time.
- Find Joel and help him tame the wolves.
- When Joel asks about the wolves, choose Maybe they just don’t trust you.
- When he offers to ally, select Sure would! I also need somewhere to stay.
This starts Route 4: Ashes and Alliances.
Route 5: Should’ve Aimed for the Hand
Content warnings: Grief, drowning.
You need to follow the main story, make specific dialogue choices with Martyn, and accept his request to cause chaos.
Follow the main story route.
When Martyn asks how Scar is treating you, select Do you mean working under Scar?
Choose I’m joking mostly! when the next dialogue option appears.
Then select No, I’m fine, dude.
When you collect driftwood for your base, talk to Ren and BigB on the beach.
Continue until the travelling magic act.
After the act, accept Martyn’s request to commit a crime and cause chaos with him.
Now you have started Route 5: Should’ve Aimed for the Hand.
Route 6: The Cow Heist
Content warnings: Starvation.
- Follow the main story route.
- Continue until Scott and Jimmy start planning a cow heist.
- When they discuss the plan, select Okay.
- Accept the Cow Heist quest.
You have now started Route 6: The Cow Heist.
Route 7: Welcome Home, Ally
Content warnings: None listed in the source.
- Leave the village for the first time.
- Find Jimmy and talk to him.
- Accept the quest Do you want to catch a cow and be my ally?
- Continue following the main story route.
- When you go to sleep, watch for the prompt: For some reason, it feels like you are forgetting something.
- Select Remember.
This starts Route 7: Welcome Home, Ally.
Route 8: Music is Magic
Content warnings: Body horror.
For this route, you must accept Impulse’s request and take him to the village’s secret room.
Visit the village.
Find Impulse and accept his quest, What Can I Do for You?
Accept the request until Impulse asks you to show him the secret room in the village.
Agree to show him the room.
During the conversation, choose the following responses in order:
- How did you know about that?
- Hmm, I don’t know
- All right, all right. You win. I’ll take you there
Congratulations!! Now you have started Route 8: Music is Magic.
Route 9: The Court of Last Chances
Content warnings: None
You can start this route on Day 3 by finding a goose in Flower Valley and following it.
Follow the main story route until Day 3.
Leave the desert and find the cow.
Travel to Flower Valley.
Look in the bottom-left area of Flower Valley for a goose.
Approach the goose. It will start running away.
Follow it.
Accept the Sabotage the Mystic Tree grove quest when it appears.
This starts Route 9: The Court of Last Chances.
Route 10: Any-fin is Possible!
Content warnings: Unreality/depersonalization, scopophobia, trypophobia.
This route starts with fishing. You need to catch a Catalog book and accept the related quest.
Visit the village for the first time.
Find the fishing rod near the lake and take it.
Go fishing – select Yes.
Keep fishing until you obtain a Catalog book.
When asked if you want to read the book, select Yes.
Accept the Gone Fishing quest.
You have now started Route 10: Any-fin is Possible!
Route 11: Wolf in Sheep’s Wool
Content warnings: Horror, body horror, starvation, unreality/depersonalization, derealization, scopophobia.
Step 1: Interact with the statue
At the start of the game, find the statue beside the lake.
Interact with it continuosly until a staring contest prompt appears, or until you can no longer interact with it.
When the staring contest begins, select Stare back.
Step 2: Find the first altar
Go to the beach.
Find and interact with the altar.
Accept the Something about it feels… familiar quest.
Step 3: Collect the remaining orb pieces
Continue exploring and interact with the other altars to collect the remaining pieces of the orb. Here are the locations of the orbs:
Middle of the map
Inside the cave:
Secret room in the village: Find the hidden room in the village and interact with its altar.
Once you have followed the altar quest and collected the orb pieces, you will have started Route 11: Wolf in Sheep’s Wool.
