The hectic life of a Chief Regulator
Snowbound Blood is a free role-playing video game wherein you can experience being an investigator in the world of Homestuck. Developed and published by Deconreconstruction, this is an adventure visual novel with interactive fiction elements mixed in. It offers a heavily text-based narrative and detailed investigative gameplay found in other similar mystery games. It is the canon spin-off story to a fanwork but it doesn’t require you to read that first.
The detective with the rapier
Homestuck is an action-adventure webcomic written, illustrated, and animated by Andrew Hussie and first released in 2009. It gradually became a highly-popular series with over a thousand pages thanks to its unique evolving style of media and storytelling. It spawned hundreds of creative fanworks—and one of these is Vast Error, a fan comic adventure first created in 2011. Similar to the original material, it became popular and expanded to a longer storyline, too.
Eventually, it spawned a spin-off titled Snowbound Blood. You don’t need to know Vast Error and can simply jump right in, as long as you’re familiar with Homestuck and its wide jargon. The story follows the adventures of Secily Iopara, Chief Regulator of the Repiton Corporation. She has been tasked with investigating the disappearance of a precious item for her employer. As such, she will have to follow clues and interrogate suspicious characters about their involvement.
The gameplay is easy enough as it’s mostly just choosing dialogue or action options, which is typical of a VN. As an investigator, you also have access to a handy character data tool called the Trollodex, which stores important character information. The visuals are amazing but the game focuses more on text descriptions. You’ll have to do a lot of reading for this—which is why it’s important to at least have knowledge of Homestuck’s lore and terminology.
A great spin-off
Overall, Snowbound Blood is a great fangame for anyone in the Homestuck fandom. While it will require you to know the terms used, it greatly expands the Vast Error story, which is another beloved fan comic. It offers over 10 volumes or episodes you can play and more will gradually be released for free. Plus, you don’t need to know Vast Error first to enjoy this game.
