The canon route in Heartfall — A Tale in Three Lives recreates the events of the original 3rd Life SMP series from the perspective of Grian. Developed by Kazehita and a team of seventy community contributors, this visual-novel RPG features branching narrative paths across more than 400,000 words of dialogue. Choosing the canon route binds Grian to GoodTimesWithScar in the Desert Duo alliance, progressing through the burning of the mystic tree, the accidental creeper death, the creation of Monopoly Mountain, and the rescue of Pizza the llama.
Following this path requires making specific dialogue and exploration choices across early sessions to avoid accidentally branching into non-canon storylines, such as the Flower Husbands route with Scott and Jimmy or solo pathways.
Key Decisions to Stay on the Canon Route
Heartfall features 12 total story routes that branch based on whom Grian agrees to help during the early sessions. To lock in the canon Desert Duo timeline, select the canonical options during critical narrative checkpoints.
| Encounter | Non-Canon Divergence | Canon Route Choice | Outcome / Consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scar at the Village Tree | Refuse to assist Scar with fire | Agree to fetch flint and steel | Scar and Grian burn Etho's mystic tree, starting their partnership |
| Jimmy in the Forest | Accept Jimmy's cow monopoly | Decline the cow monopoly offer | Prevents locking into the Flower Valley / Jimmy alliance path |
| Martin in the Cave | Refuse diamond sword pact | Accept Martin's diamond sword | Temporarily forms the Blue Sword Boys with Martin and BigB |
| Martin at Monopoly Mountain | Agree to cause mischief / arson | Decline Martin's request | Avoids side-tracking the desert base construction |
| Scott & Jimmy (Cow Heist) | Agree to assist the marsh cow heist | Decline and focus on base building | Keeps player focused on gathering Monopoly Mountain materials |
Session 1 Walkthrough: Arson, Alliances, and the Desert Pact
1. Waking Up and Village Exploration
After awakening in the pool within the opening grove, interact with the sparkling ground prompt to collect your starting iron sword, wood axe, and pickaxe. Head down the sand trail toward the beach:
- Interact with the stacked wooden crates on the beach to loot a hidden diamond.
- Follow the trail through the Lowlands forest toward the village eastward.
- Speak with the villagers to register introductions: BDubs, Cleo, Impulse, and Etho.
- Meet Skizz and Joel; during dialogue, Joel will hand Grian a photograph of himself to study.
- Inspect the "Who's Who" board on the central house to sign your name and doodle.
- Enter the house, pull the legible book from the back shelf (written in Galactic script), and unlock the hidden staircase leading to the underground library and enchanting table.
2. The Mystic Tree Arson
Exiting the library triggers Scar's arrival. Scar pitches burning down the village's sole mystic dark oak tree to deprive others of dark oak wood:
- Speak with Scar and agree to help with his plan.
- Accept the quest to locate a flint and steel.
- Speak with Impulse in the village; he will offer a side request for two wood and one diamond to build a music box.
- Head toward the mountain trail to find Tango, who warns Grian about spooky cave sounds and dead miners.
- Enter the cave and search the old toolbox among the mining detritus to obtain the flint and steel.
- Venture deeper into the cave to encounter Martin and BigB. Agree to form the Blue Sword Boys; Martin will imbue Grian's sword with diamonds.
- Return to the village and approach Etho to distract him. Scar ignites the mystic tree, incinerating it and driving down village reputation while increasing Scar's favor.
3. The Creeper Incident and Scar's Yellow Life
Following the tree's destruction, Scar suggests seizing the island's only desert to establish a monopoly on sand and mystic saplings:
- Visit the grove of mystic trees and chop them down alongside Scar to collect the sapling stock.
- Return to the village where the residents confront Scar and Grian about the burned tree.
- Martin appears and uses sound cues to fake a creeper hiss, startling the group.
- Spot an actual creeper monster in the distance, lure it toward the gathering, and leap clear.
- The creeper detonates, killing Scar instantly. Scar's corpse disintegrates into smoke.
- Scar respawns at the village entrance with two hearts, yellow eyes, and no shirt.
- Speak with Scar by Tango's humorous grave marker. Overcome with guilt for causing the death, Grian swears a life pact: to remain in Scar's service until losing his own first green life.
- Accompany Scar to Etho and trade a promise of "free sand forever" to secure Etho's llama, Pizza, as the mascot for the sand business.
- Travel together across the wobbly ravine bridge to Monopoly Mountain in the desert and sleep in Scar's makeshift cloth tent.
Session 2 Walkthrough: Monopoly Mountain and Base Construction
1. Gathering Building Materials
Upon waking, Scar proposes constructing a desert fortification. To build a tower base on Monopoly Mountain, Grian must gather five specific construction supplies:
- Sandstone: Mined directly on the desert hill near the construction area.
- Pale Driftwood: Found at the beach. Speak with Ren, who assists Grian in selecting water-cured wood pieces.
- Whittling Tools: Speak with Joel in the forest. Joel discusses his dead bush monopoly and hands Grian a pair of whittling tools.
- Red Dye: Enter the village house library and search the crate near Impulse to uncover a bag of red dye.
- Wool: Talk to Etho in the village. After discussing Scar's reputation system, Etho provides wool for interior decoration and beds.
2. Confronting the Magic Act
Return to Monopoly Mountain and speak with Scar to initiate construction. A group calling themselves the "SmallishBeans Mages Littlewood Fantastico" (composed of Jimmy, Joel, Scott, Etho, and Martin) approaches:
- Watch their magic performance trick. The group makes Grian and Scar turn around and close their eyes.
- They place a fully grown mystic tree directly in the desert, shattering Scar and Grian's dark oak monopoly.
- Hack at the tree with axes and ignite it with the fire starter. The tree burns down, but the monopoly is broken.
3. Reinforcing with Stone and Meeting BigB
Scar insists that pure sand foundations are vulnerable and asks Grian to retrieve fresh stone from the cave:
- Travel to the cave and mine the rocky deposits to collect stone blocks.
- Encounter Martin working on clearing the mountain trail for his and Ren's enchanting business ("Renchanting").
- Meet BigB wandering in the desert. BigB reveals red jasper (redstone) that conducts magical energy.
- Scar intercepts BigB and explains his new reputation point system. Scar trades reputation points to BigB in exchange for the red jasper.
- Return to the build site and finish the tower base on Monopoly Mountain.
4. Defending the Base and Rescuing Pizza
After finishing the base, Scar requests perimeter defense and an official reputation tracking board:
- Construct the wooden reputation board near the tower.
- Place leftover torches around the dark perimeters of the hill.
- Observe Scar attempting to line the perimeter with wild cacti, during which Pizza the llama goes missing.
- Travel up the cleared mountain path to Dogwarts to inspect Renchanting. Use lapis powder at the enchanting table to enchant your armor while BDubs distracts Ren.
- Return to the desert to find Cleo waiting with fibers of llama wool. Cleo demands ransom for Pizza's return.
- Hand over diamonds, gear, and Scar's shoes to satisfy Cleo's trade demands.
- Head to the beach where Cleo left the llama. Untie Pizza and lead her back to Monopoly Mountain, securing her to a post right outside the front entrance.
Heartfall Route Mechanics and Interface Tips
Heartfall blends classic visual novel storytelling with light overworld exploration and inventory interaction.
- Menu Navigation: Press the Escape key to open the main menu. From here, players can access the Items inventory, character Info sheets, Settings, and manual Save/Load slots. The game does not rely on auto-saving, so manual saves before major dialogue encounters are essential.
- Reputation Tracking: Viewing the Info tab reveals dynamic character cards. As Grian completes trades, helps islanders, or pulls pranks, character descriptions and relationship tiers (Poor, Neutral, Good) update automatically.
- Content Warnings: The game includes built-in toggles within the Settings menu for camera comfort, screen shake, flashing lights, sudden noises, and swearing. Additional narrative warnings regarding character death, blood, and fantasy violence can be inspected inside the in-game Info menu.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can you prevent Scar from dying to the creeper on the canon route?
No. In the canon storyline, luring the creeper to the group and Scar's resulting death is the critical catalyst for the entire route. This event causes Scar to lose his first life, turn yellow, lose his shirt, and prompts Grian to swear his life pact of loyalty to Scar.
Does Heartfall feature auto-saving?
No. Heartfall — A Tale in Three Lives requires players to manually save their game via the pause menu (accessed using Escape on keyboard or the menu button on a controller).
Where do you find the tools to whittle wood on Monopoly Mountain?
The whittling tools are provided by Joel in the forest during Session 2 when discussing his dead bush collection.
How do you get into the village's secret library?
Enter the dilapidated house in the main village where the "Who's Who" board is hung. Interact with the bookshelf at the back of the room and select the book with legible Galactic script. Pulling it triggers a hidden switch that slides the wall open, revealing the staircase to the enchanting room.
How many routes exist in Heartfall?
Heartfall features 12 total story routes that branch into different alliances and "what-if" scenarios, supported by 36 unlockable achievements and gallery endings.
