Hello everyone! I am happy to announce the demo for my first ever IF, “War of Havan”.
War of Havan is set in a fictional world in the year 1927. The setting is heavily inspired by real-world events, politics, and geography, and although it is a fictional low fantasy setting, it will touch on many real-world issues such as Discrimination, Class Struggle, Sexism, Racism, and Warfare.
In this game, you will play as a 17-year-old who has been conscripted to defend their homeland, the Federated Kingdom of Havan, from the bloodthirsty Kessnan Empire, which hundreds of years ago ruled over the many colonies that later became Havan.
As mentioned, this is my first IF work, and I come from a background in writing novels, so I would sincerely appreciate any and all feedback I can receive.
Currently, the demo will give you 4 chapters (prologue, ch1, ch2, and ch3), as well as just over 200k words (including code). I have a fairly busy schedule, as I work in the healthcare industry, but I plan to update this as much as physically possible. Minor updates/bugfixes are my biggest priority, and you can expect those to be patched within a few days at the most, but larger updates (like new chapters, more path branching, or other more demanding additions) may take upwards of a month. Each chapter is planned to be between 40-60k words (with code), so things may take a bit. I truly appreciate your patience and look forward to your feedback.
I’ll admit, I’m not the best at large descriptions like these, so please, if you have any questions about the setting or game whatsoever, do not hesitate to ask. I have been playing CoG/Hosted games for well over a decade, and am a very frequent user of the forums, so I will likely be able to respond to any questions/concerns fairly quick.
To play the demo, go here: https://cogdemos.ink/play/z.j.-diam/war-of-havan/mygame
CURRENT FEATURES:
- Full character creation, including first/last name, gender, eye/hair color, height, body type and skin tone.
- Character flavor options such as previous occupation, social life, and hobby,
- Plenty of skills that update as you go, providing you with new choices, and story text that would be otherwise hidden
- Choose between one of four unique combat roles: Foot Soldier, Sniper, Sapper, and Machine Gunner, each of which provides their own unique moments throughout the story text, as well as role-locked choices.
- Cigarettes and Gambling
- Experience your first watch over no-man’s-land, go over the top, and fight like hell.
- Venture off on a tense, danger filled mission to retrieve intel on an abandoned listening post.
- NPC Info Panels for important character’s in the story!
PLANNED UPDATES/FEATURES TIMELINE:
- QoL/Bugfixes: As soon as I’m made aware of any needed changes, I’ll get them done.
- Chapter 3 release: April 2026
- Role paths, role paths, and more role paths. Gonna have a lot more unique flavor text and choices soon: With the release of Ch3
- Many more meaningful/impactful choices: With the release of Ch3
- Character portraits/more artwork: N/A. I plan to do this someday but it is not on my list of priorities at the moment.
UPDATE LOG:
Demo Update 1 (3/27/26)
Focus: QoL/Bugfixes
Changes Added:
- Added over 10k words (code included)
- New stat variables added for new features
- Added choice options for Previous Occupation, Social Life, and Main Hobby during interview with Major Lundell in Chapter 1
- Added choice options for Height, and Bodytype during Chapter 1 Character Creation
- Added Heterochromia to Eye Color options in Chapter 1 Character Creation
- Added 12 new choice selections (excluding the ones just mentioned), these new selections include more interactions with Victor (even deciding how serious of friends you have become), more casual dialogue with others, and some more branching actions you can take.
Thank you for all the feedback provided, these changes would not have been possible without you.
Demo Update 1.1 (3/28/26)
Focus: QoL/Bugfixes
Changes Added:
-
Minor bugfixes/code changes
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Added new stat variables for Chapter 3 content.
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Added some minor flavor choices in Chapter 1
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Updated stat changes for Social Life variable
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Updated the Hobby variable to actually display your chosen hobby
Thank you for all the feedback provided, these changes would not have been possible without you.
Demo Update 2.0 (4/9/26)
Focus: Major Content Update
Changes Added:
- Full Chapter 3 Content including over 70k words, expanded role/skill checks, more character interaction, and a bunch of worldbuilding/expositionary content
- Various bugfixes and QoL updates
Thank you for all the feedback provided, these changes would not have been possible without you.
Tags
gender-choice, war, combat, adult-fiction, low-fantasy, ww1
AI Disclosure:
AI LLMs have not been used to create, nor aid in the creation of War of Havan. While I, the author, understand and appreciate the aid such a tool can bring, I cannot in good concience support nor utilize it in my works. Outside of this IF, I am a published scifi author, and cannot imagine ever wanting to diminish the work that we, as creatives, do when creating things like this to share with the world.
No — This project does not contain the output of Generative AI
Yes — This project contains the output of Generative AI
Important Lore Summary
The Federated Kingdom of Havan, more commonly referred to as just Havan, or the Kingdom of Havan, is a large island nation made up of 9 Duchies, and one independent County.
Over 1000 years ago, the Kingdom was a largely untouched land populated by many native tribes until the ancient First Kessnan Empire decided to expand northward.
The Kessnans founded the first colonies along Havan’s southern coast in the year 891. For nearly 300 years the colonies thrived and expanded greatly, positioning the territory as a strong economic trade hub in the region at the cost of many indigenous lives.
This all came crashing down in 1162, after 271 years of colonial rule, when the First Kessnan Empire collapsed. The old Empire was vastly overstretched, holding land in over 60 percent of the entire mainland Herenan Continent. In only two years, the Empire was set ablaze, and the old government was toppled.
While Kessna fell, eventually transforming into the Kessnan Republic, Havan also went through a lengthy stage of change as well. The island was broken up into 8 smaller kingdoms and warlord states. While some powers, like the Kingdom of Davenport and the clans of Wattson, maintained friendly relations and trade, others like the Kingdom of Ayle refused to play nice.
This period in history, which ranged from 1164-1622, was very tense. Nearly every nation within Havan was in a constant state of near total-war. Border skirmishes, assassinations, and bandit raids were all but uncommon during this time.
Thankfully, for the people of Havan, things took a significant turn for the better, but first things became much worse.
In 1623, the event known as the Unification Wars began.
The Unification Wars began when King Harold the Second of Ferren finally brought his plot to fruition, alongside his brother, and closest ally, King Victor of Davenport. In under a week, rebellions had erupted throughout every nation in Havan, backed by the coin and steel of King Harold.
Through immense military and economic pressure, Harold was able to sway the Clans of Wattson, as well as the Kingdom of Atos to his cause.
The Unification Wars were extremely bloody, with nearly 17 percent of the total population of the island falling to the chaos.
In 1625, after two years of brutal combat, the wars finally ended, and a period of rebuilding began.
Harold, officially the first King of Havan, named after the fabled land of the gods, divided the island into the Duchies we see today, rewarding his allies with generous land and status.
His brother, who had fallen during the wars, was replaced by Harold’s son, Prince Thomas. He was granted the Principality of Davenport, and for over 300 years since, the tradition of the King’s firstborn son ruling over Davenport has remained.
Other Duchies like Malonshire, Salen, and Rosen were created after the war, broken off from their previous kingdoms due to their allegiences and strategic positioning. One unique exception to the dispersion of land was the County of Olta, which was granted independent status (though still considered a part of the Kingdom), due to the people of the city revolting against the unloyal Kingdom of Westenbrooke.
The Kingdom of Havan has now ruled unified for 304 years, but the darkest of times for this nation are still ahead…
The forums do not allow me to edit the post if the images I’d had previously are embedded, so if you’d like to view them, here are the imgur links:
was there no way to save him?
I seriously appreciate it.
defintly looking forward to what you give us next its very well done what you have here so far.