
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - An Affair of the Heart
Play as your version of Sherlock Holmes in this romance detective game!
THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES AN AFFAIR OF THE HEART
Chapter 6.1 is out now!
Make an enemy of a friend and a lover out of an enemy. Solve the case of boredom. Have a pet bird—and best of all, play as a romantically and emotionally stunted genius detective!
- Explore London in the late 1800s
- Solve murders, hunt criminals, and possibly catch a thief
- Adventures and tender moments with characters you know and love
- Form deep relationships: friendly, antagonistic, sexual, and romantic
- Choose your Sherlock's name, appearance, personality, and vice
- Play as a man, woman, or non-binary
- Romance men, women, or both
The possible relationships:
John/Jane Watson - Dependable, kind, and loyal—a partner and a friend. The human embodiment of a golden retriever.
Gregory/Grace Lestrade - Sexy workaholic grump with a poorly hidden heart of gold. Will make sure you get home safe.
Irene/Irwin Adler - Charming scoundrel, clever schemer, and colossal schmuck. The flirty and fun rival of the century.
Hamish/Helena - This terribly haughty person of illustrious personage needs your help with a case. The gentleman/woman of your unachievable dreams.
Mini-romance-guide (Chapters 1 and 2 ) (not updated)
• Game updated publicly: chapter 6.1
Feedback is very welcome!
- Follow me on Tumblr to keep up-to-date! -
Warnings | CoG forum link | Discord link | RO & NPC page | Patreon
Thank you for being here 🌹
Updated | 24 days ago |
Status | In development |
Platforms | HTML5 |
Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (206 total ratings) |
Author | Doriana Gray |
Genre | Interactive Fiction, Role Playing |
Tags | Character Customization, Detective, Historical, Period Piece, Romance, Singleplayer, Story Rich, Text based, Victorian |
Development log
- New minigame ->24 days ago
- W Pov update to ch6.1 AND MORE!Mar 07, 2025
- How to best format game & coming updates --Feb 03, 2025
- First time posting it on Itch!Jan 31, 2025
Comments
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I know it sound deludelu but if possible to have poly relationships? Tysm for dev this game, very love it <3
RAHHHHH I LOVE THIS GAME
Really loves the game and i can't wait for the next update
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oh Lestrade she's smitten and I love her 🥰💅
She is 🫣😳 She really, really is.
I cant wait to continue the torture with my incredible sexy *french* outfit tbh. Ty for this game, it's lovely <3
I just found this game the other day and I'm obsessed. Can't wait for the next chapter! <3
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<3 Love this thank you can't wait for the next one :D
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Love it
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Please more!! 😭💜💜
😌✨❤️ Your wish is my command
Such beauty, such tre chic, wonderful, funny, sad and hilarious 😆 I cannot wait to see Lestrades face when he sees my MC at the ball 😍❤️ amazingly made, m'lady Gray ❤️
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Oh my, I very rarely get m'ladied these days. Thank you very much 😌🌹❤️
You're very welcome, m'lady 😀❤️
My thoughts exactly <3
im just imagining sherlock bringing the pigeon along 😭 my dear Mary deserves to be invited as well <3
😌 ur so right. We need a pigeon pocket / and or top hat.
IM IN LOOOOVE!!!!!!!!!!! im so happy i found this game omfg its so good thank you madame gray its gorjus.............. i love lestrade with all of my heart (or my oc's. whatever....) either way i am so excited for another chapter and eagerly await for such an update!
😆✨ Madam Gray sounds so fancy ✨ 💖
i havent played many IFs but of the ones i have, this one is really memorable!
After my first playthrough i found myself thinking of this IF even as like vague memories and so i played it again on a new save and it was as fun as the first time!
I like that it doesnt take itself too seriously at times and that it has humorous moments alongside darker and more real and suffocating moments, it has a nice balance of the 2 and even including silly funny moments already makes this a winner for me, since im not too big on super dark gritty angsty pieces, but thats just my preferences ya know? so a nice angsty moment paired with tension and stakes and topped with lighthearted banter just makes this story a 10/10 for me
am really excited for the ball and all the many other ways i can raise Watson's blood pressure! /silly oughhh watson the way you write him is just too precious i adore his existence !! I adore both Watson and Lestrade. they are golden retriever puppy and soping wet cat for me respectively and i just wanna hold em close to me forevarrrr but if ur making me choose between them (i read ur comments author and ur robbing us of a poly route💔 (/dram)) then watson just takes the cake im sorry hes just so ...ough... i rotate him in my head
so sorry for the humongous comment but i really am excited to see where this goes!! wonderful work, Author !!
❤️❤️❤️ I love this so much! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you 🥹
Just finished playing and have to say that I loved it! Exploring different scenarios and coming back to the choices was very entertaing and I loved the romance scenes, especially with Watson. Good work keep it up!
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I LOVE THIS!!!
hoping to be able to have MC freak thuh fuh out and have psychosis or smthing!!
lol 👁️👄👁️ well, hmm… A freak out will, arguably, happen.
just finished the current build and UGH?????? ITS SO GOOD??? im enraptured and i am in LOVE, with Lestrade! i cannot wait for whatever comes next! i hope the writing and inspiration comes easy and freely to you and i hope your days are filled with rest and relaxation!! honestly? gotta be my fav out of most if not all IF's on here! i do love a good story
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Okay, rereading my comments and I realized I made the understatement of the century when I originally expressed my opinions on the game, I do not know why I said that this was just "Such a lovely little game" because it's more than that and I already knew I liked the game more that I let on I don't know why I said just that. What I meant to say is that this is my favourite IF of all the 40 something IF I have read since I discovered IFs a few months back. This is by far the best one, I absolutely adore it. I love everything about it.
🥹❤️❤️ Can I just say how sweet it is for you to return and say that? Thank you! 🥰 Hope you have a lovely day!
You too ❤❤
I would like to play this but, every time the page reloads on my phoneI lose all my save files :( Is there a way to fix this?
The solution mentioned here might be slightly more stable/long-lasting saves! ❤️
https://itch.io/post/12777675
Please let me know if it works :)
I switched to Chrome at it seems to be working, thank uuu I’ll get straight into it hahaha
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body too tea i get it man
😆 Seeing it like this, it feels like so much haha!
I swear many people's favourite moments are things I'm always close to cutting when I am editing 🫣 Oh! And there's one more variation of this scene if you have the strong legs, about Sherlock's thighs lol...
Cannot wait for more. My poor Valentine Holmes. I made him a devious little thing aiming for an enemies to lovers with Lestrade and it broke my heart so badly.
Anyways this is their anthem now: https://open.spotify.com/track/1x3ShYgyrzHWDL37mVsaA6?si=3f757c1287fb4612
❤️❤️🥹 Cute
Crying, sobbing so hard for this game. I love it so much. Literally just found it while scrolling on itch.io for text based rpgs. I absolutely love the customization. It literally went over everything I could think of and added more??? Jesus!! The only downside I could think of was it not being downloadable (I THINK?? TBH NOT SURE??) because I hate having the game open and close over and over again when I close my phone :(( Despite this, I'm already obsessed with the game!! Keep up the good work :)!!
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It should be downloadable, but I don't quite know how... I just know I have a counter on the game analytics page, and it's not 0 😆👍 Might be that one can't do it on mobile.
One simple solution to the mobile reset issue is using a different browser on the phone, different cookie and security settings on the browser, but also this one—
https://html-classic.itch.zone/html/13013338/index.html
This is a link you can get that works around some of the itch interface, which usually helps the phone reset as much. I don't know if the link works when I reupload... so the tutorial to get this link is to open up the game on a desctop computer, right-click on the opened game, and say "make new tab/window" and that link that comes from the new tab/window will be this link above <3
Good luck!
i don't really enjoy the descriptions of certain things, like the lack of inclusiveness'/expression in skin tone, which is hugely disappointing as i was excited for a text based sherlock Holmes game. (i made my own but it still sucked to have to ngl)
Hi! I am not sure I understand. You can choose your character's skin tone in the game, and many more features. Did you click on a preset character instead of making your own?
no i did make my own after seeing the preset options however, its still sad, the writing is lovely though!
for example other ones i have played, have added gold beige, WHICH IS A LOVELY DESCRIPTION i think
That is a lovely phrase, indeed. I think I simply went with more direct terms and less flowery language in the character creator as a whole. But I'm sorry you did not care for the pre-made ones. The descriptors chosen were checked with many people, these:
But because I know the need for many to define it just right for themselves, the "set your own colour" was added too ❤️ For particularly this purpose.
i seen it. i still stand by what i said but okay.
it's whatever tho. bye.
This is actually one of the thing I love about the game! As a poc its always felt strange? to pick from more flowery descriptions since it always feels unclear to me what range of shades they are, and a bit of a hassle to have to look them up, especially since google gives its own range. Having them more direct like this I feel is more easily understood and I was really delighted to see it, so thank you!
Aww I’m really glad 🥹❤️❤️ Thank you!
I'm sorry Doris, I need to be a crème brûlée with caramel swirl hair peeking seductively from underneath my hat. That's crucial to my immersion.
😆😆😆👍
I’m unsure if it’s a mishap of my own, but I found myself having no choice regarding the colour of the ball outfit. Perhaps I was reading wrong, or made the wrong choices, but they all were either white or the colour not described. Lovely game as always, I cannot WAIT to see how it all unfolds!
Hmmmm... Strange. You should always have five colour choices unless you pick one of the presets. Do you remember what clothes you picked?
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I do. I was confused myself, as I wanted to pick red clothing (for Hamish, of course), and it just ended with a short description of the clothing and then my MC leaving, with no additional choices for colours. It confused me, so I went back and chose all of the options (preset and non, dress and suit). Got the same results. I’m going to try and do a rerun and see if it occurs again, and then provide my choices during that scene if it does happen.
One of the old builds had that happen for suits but… I don’t see how that would happen now 🤔 Please do send me your choices and I’ll look into it! 🥰❤️
OKAY! I found the issue! There is no option to choose any colour UNLESS I choose to ask the tailor what he thinks. Otherwise, it will skip over colour choice entirely. I have also found an issue with saving on chapter 5, it does not let me delete any old save or create any new one. I had checked and saving was completely fine until chapter 5 arrived, in which it completely broke. Thank you for being patient as I scoured my choices 😊
Ohhhh, hmmm ye this seems possible 😆 the code around there is a bit spaghetti-ish because of all the variations. I’ll look into it! Thank you ❤️
If you’re curious to know what colours are available right now, and under what choice, there’s a “see code” link hidden in the stat menu 🥰 or you could tell me which outfit you picked and I can post them here!
This is absolutely AMAZING!!! So enjoyable to play omg i desperately need more! First of all, i love how i can customize my MC with such details (tyvm for that) and the characters are so well-written! All the ROs are so wonderful and have their own charms, i like how different yet absolutely attractive they all are. Cant wait for the ball, I'm looking forward to read what happens next 🙏
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that was an amazing game. I loved the writing, the choices that actually matter, everyone's relationships, all Sherlock's customization (physical, psychological, practical, identity-wise...), the plot... I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Sherlock was so well-written, there were times where i would stop and just look at the screen, thinking 'damn. that's what I've always been looking for.' mental struggles ? despise its own-self ? unhelathy coping mechanisms ? subtle signs of breakdown ? pursuit of a way to feel the void ? worried friends ? man, they all jumped at my throat and lovingly squeezed it. wonderful game you're writing, I'm so glad to have randomly stumbled upon it.
I have to admit, I really want to frame this on my wall 🥹❤️ It's so sweet and... yeah, sometimes things just really hit, and this comment did so for me. Thank you so much! ❤️❤️❤️ (I may or may not have shared this with my family, being like "Look at this wonderful comment" 🥹)
WATSON MY LOVE ❤️❤️❤️ the endless yearning. the tender devotion. INCREDIBLE. i was almost turned away by the UI at first since i feel it's not as user friendly as IFs made using twine, BUT I'M SO GLAD I STUCK AROUND !!!!!! the writing is amazing, and the characters are all so distinct and complex. i wanted to hate lestrade so badly after that scene where they blow up at sherlock, but i caved as soon as they offered to walk them out of the bar 💔 if you hand me a character who struggles with self loathing, i will love them TWICE AS MUCH as they hate themselves !!!!! there is no escaping me...
Haha yeah, the main game is written in choicescript, and the UI for choicescript is a little bare bones 😆 But I think one gets used to it after a while!
I've done some stuff in twine, and there's definitely more choice in design there 😌
🥹❤️🥰 I'm glad you liked it!!!
i'm actually hooked now can't wait for the next chapterss omgg
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hello this is one of the best IFs I've played I've played I love the writing so much omgg
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THis is amazing
amazingly written, beautiful in it's aesthethics and storytelling
Absolutely love it
Thank you! 🥹❤️❤️
I think this is up there as one of my most replayed IFs, of which there are few...
I am unsure if you are aware of this or if it is an intentional thing, but I seem to be having trouble with the saves. After I entered 3 saves, it wouldn't let me fill any additional save slots. I don't mind that so much, but it wouldn't let me replace saves either! So I was only allowed to save 3 times and none after that! I couldn't load saves, either.
Did not distract from the quality of the game, though :) Just thought it might be useful to report should it prove an issue.
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That would be an issue with the save system, which I sadly didn’t make. But I’ll see if there’s an update to it or a common issue! Usually things like browser settings make most errors. There’s also a few specific tricks one can do if having saves that don’t stick around!
I really liked the story, amazing job on writing this! I think I may be sort of addicted now (I've already played it five times, but we don't talk about that)... but I had one question. Is the full game going to be free or paid? (if it's going to be paid, how much is it going to be?) thanks, and sorry if this has already been answered and I missed it ^^
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The game will be paid, yes. And as for the price, when one hosts through Hosted Games (who own the coding language the game is currently made in) I don’t think the creator gets to set the price 🤔 so I really can’t say. It would most likely be up to them.
But from what I have seen the prices are similar to books and small indie games rather than full priced games. Additionally some of their games get steam releases and if so I think there’s steam location pricing which lowers with certain currencies 🥰
okay, thanks for getting back to me so quickly!
No problem! ❤️🥰
This is such a lovely little story, truly beautiful, I love it. Good work keep it up, I look forward to the next chapters.
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YES! I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. Just taking something off my chest real quick but I hate when a adaption of Sherlock Holmes makes Holmes and Watson hate each other, or feel like Sherlock is dragging him around while he rolls his eyes. THEY ARE HUSBANDS 😭😭😭(in this case also wife), but even without the shipping THEY LOVE EACHOTHER pls. This right here is perfection
Aww ☺️ I’m glad you like the dynamic! I could have gone for the snarkier variant, but I prefer love and devotion for these two 🥹❤️ I just think there’s a love there that’s so strong in the books (and most adaptations), whether romantic or platonic, that I wanted to expand on more than the BFFs but bickering trope.
(+ Lestrade already filled the snarky romance trope 😂)
The number of time I've replayed this ~ love it!!
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I LOVE THISSS ESPECIALLY MY DOOMED TROPE WITH G.L (つ≧▽≦)つ
😆❤️❤️ I’m glad you find joy in that
This is AMAZING I love this so much <3
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does the new update break all saves? no matter which save i load, it just puts me into the start of chapter 6. it also seems to have reset my choices, because it plays as if hamish's offer was refused?
while I’m surprised if it did break the variables connected to the saves as i didn’t change much there, choicescript does generally require a restart at each new update, sadly.
I recommend restarting from scratch at the ch4 quick start if you’re able.
Really like it!!!Though non-native English speaker, i can still feel that your story is filled with poetic beauty and gripping plots!All characters are like their original ones! Thanks so much for this amazing storyദ്ദി˶˃ ᵕ ˂ )✧
I'm so glad you like it and find it playable, despite a possible language barrier! 🥰❤️❤️
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What a great game!! And I discover it just when I'm hyperfixed with Sherlock Holmes books and IF games. It makes me so happy 😭✨
I'm glad to hear it! ❤️🥰❤️ A partial, public, ch6.1 update is coming soon!
What is this?? Why is it so great?? Why is my newest hyperfixation Sherlock Holmes???
😌✨ the best hyperfixation. Also very thematically correct. Sherlock would approve I’m sure.