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As a troubled high-schooler in a Chinese county town, Zhao Ying makes choices that shape her relationships and branching future.
Released 18 Aug 2025
Shape Ying’s Choices
Build or Break Bonds
Unlock a Secret Route
Sweet Home is a visual novel set in a Chinese high school. Parted friendships, ambiguous romances, tangled relationships, and flawed families... Are these just the pangs of adolescence—or something heavier? Step into the shoes of Zhao Ying, shape her choices, and uncover every possible path.
Developed by 开心茶房 · Published by Tailtone Games, 开心茶房
Themes from a helpfulness-selected sample of Steam reviews, not the aggregate Steam score.
Set in 2018, Sweet Home follows Zhao Ying, a high-school student in a small Chinese town whose strained family life and school relationships shape her days. A chance encounter involving a puppy brings new connections into her life.
Read the story from Ying’s perspective and choose how she responds to friends, classmates, teachers, and family. Your decisions affect her relationships with three central characters and can open different story paths.
This text-focused visual novel has three main routes, a secret route, and 12 endings. Its story explores adolescence, family conflict, bullying, and LGBTQ+ themes through branching scenes and character interactions.
Players who enjoy the game often describe its small-town school and family setting as familiar and emotionally affecting, and praise the character relationships and writing for giving the story lasting impact. The monochrome illustrations and music also receive recurring praise for reinforcing its subdued atmosphere. Reactions to the heavy subject matter and the story’s handling of its routes are mixed.
"Another winter break, same as always... Ugh, I hate New Year."
It’s a cold, ordinary day in 2018. Ying skips class again, trying to escape the tension at home. In this small town—familiar, yet suffocating—her life drifts by like an old calendar, each page silently torn away. But this year, things start to change. It all began with a puppy, a chance encounter at the wrong time, and a series of unexpected connections—quietly setting everything into motion.
Who will leave their mark on her life? The bright, straightforward best friend? The mysterious, brooding classmate? Or that peculiar lurking in her neighborhood?
Even the most predictable life can ripple. A nosy teacher, boy struck by love at first sight, a tough, queen-bee type in the dormitory, and... her family.
Sweet Home is a visual novel where your choices shape Ying’s high school life. Build—or break—relationships with three key characters, unlock hidden paths, and experience multiple endings.
3 main story routes + 1 secret route
Over 200,000 words of text
12 branching endings
40 hand-drawn backgrounds
50 CG illustrations
Nearly 1,000 character sprite variations
......
1. Includes LGBTQ+ themes
2. Contains depictions of school bullying and domestic violence that may trigger PTSD
3. This story is entirely fictional
| Platforms | Windows, macOS |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 17 |
| Age ratings |
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| Controller required | No |
| Demo | View demo on Steam |
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