Welcome to my complete guide for Heartfall – A Tale in Three Lives. In this guide, I cover all 12 routes, including the key choices, story events, and achievements needed to unlock each ending. I explain how to start each route, which dialogue options to choose, and which decisions to avoid if I want to reach a specific outcome.
All Routes, Walkthroughs, and Achievement Endings
From helping Scar burn the Mystic Tree to uncovering the secrets of the Watchers, each route offers different choices and consequences. I also cover alternate endings, important branching points, and achievements that require specific characters to survive or die.
Route 0 – Have We Been Here Before?
I start this route by helping Scar burn the Mystic Tree, leading a creeper to him to kill him, pledging loyalty to him, and staying with him through the night.
Achievements:
- So That’s How It Went
- That’s Not How It Went
Route 1 – The Dark Forest
I start this route by building my own base, burning the Mystic Tree with Scar, leading a creeper to kill him, and pledging loyalty to him. I then return to my base and insist on staying there despite my oath.
Achievements:
- Alone, Beloved — I played through this route but am not sure how to get Grian to die in this situation yet.
- Die, Together
Route 2 – Dog-Eat-Dog World
Note: I’m not completely sure whether the achievements listed here belong to Route 2 or Route 5. The code refers to this route by a different name in this section, using “Ren WhoDunnit” and “Dogwarts Deception.”
I start this route by following Route 0 through the first day. I then find Martyn in the village and complain to him when he asks how I’m doing.
Achievements:
- All For Naught
- Almost Home
- Back Where It Started
- I’ll Be Waiting
Route 3 – Live, Laugh, Divorce
I start this route by choosing to build my own base. When Jimmy and Scott find me and offer an alliance, I agree to go with them.
Achievements:
- Happily Egger After
- Hate Loses
- Hate Wins
- Love Loses
- Love Wins
Route 4 – Ashes and Alliances
I start this route by helping Joel tame his wolves and agreeing to build a cabin with him.
Achievements:
- A Lonely Death
- A New Family
- A Violent End — I assume this achievement requires me to stay with Cleo and BDubs, but I haven’t figured out how to prevent Joel from dying.
Route 5 – Should’ve Aimed for the Hand
Note: I’m not completely sure whether the achievements listed here belong to Route 2 or Route 5. The code refers to this route by a different name in this section, using “Ren WhoDunnit” and “Dogwarts Deception.”
I start this route by following Route 0 through the first day. I find Martyn in the village and complain to him when he asks how I’m doing. I then take it back and tell him I was joking. When Martyn returns after the magic trick, I agree to commit a crime with him.
Achievement:
- Can we go to the desert? — There is only one option, so this should be straightforward.
Route 6 – The Cow Heist
I start this route by following Route 0. Before gathering the materials for my base, I talk to Scott and Jimmy and agree to help them with the cow heist.
Achievements:
- Perennial Garden
- Scorched Earth
Route 7 – Welcome Home, Ally
I start this route by talking to Jimmy after leaving the village. I agree to help him, but then follow Route 0 instead. When I sleep, I select “Remember.”
I’m not completely sure whether this is correct.
Achievements:
- It’s Us Until The End
- To Have Your Alliances, and Keep Them Too
- Together in the Desert
- What Else Did You Expect
Route 8 – Music is Magic
I start this route by talking to Impulse after leaving the library. I help him gather the materials he needs to make a music box.
Achievements:
- Dal Segno al Coda
- Dal Segno al Fin
- Fallen Companions
- Self-Inflicted Solitude
- Solitude
Route 9 – The Court of Last Chances
I start this route by following Route 0 until Day 3. I then go to the flower forest and interact with the goose.
Achievements:
- A Home Where You Are — I was aiming for the bad endings, but Scar survived somehow.
- Dusk Til Dawn
- Minutes Past Midnight
Route 10 – Any-fin is Possible
I start this route by interacting with the sign by the dock on Day 1 and fishing until I receive a book.
Achievements:
- Bass Friends Forever: True Pacifish
- Fish or Be Fished: Fishmaster
- Goodbye Krill World: Fishing Anonymous
Route 11 – Wolf in Sheep’s Wool
I start this route by interacting with the statue on the beach near where Grian wakes up. I keep staring at it until it blinks.
Achievements:
- A Promise Fulfilled
- Never Alone Again
unobtainable achievements
These achievements appear in the code, but I assume they’re only for testing purposes. They don’t seem to be attached to a specific route, and they don’t have proper names.
- catch_all
- impy_ending
- scar_ending
Route 0, So That’s How It Went
I start the Have We Been Here Before? route by talking to Scar after exploring the library. I agree to help him burn down the Mystic Tree.
I find the Flint and Steel in the cave on the mountain, near where Tango is standing. At night in the village, I lead the creeper to Scar, which kills him. As an apology, I promise to stay with Scar until I lose my first life. I then follow him into the desert and stay with him through the night.
I recommend saving each session separately, as many routes require branching off from Route 0.
This route follows the original 3rd Life fairly closely. If I’ve watched the original series, I can follow what Grian did. However, there are a few things I need to avoid.
After the first night, I may encounter Jimmy and Scott in the forest while leaving to gather materials for my base. They offer to go on a cow heist with me. I decline their offer and continue gathering materials.
While gathering materials for my base, I may meet Martyn in the village. I avoid complaining too much about Scar, and if Martyn offers to take me somewhere, I decline.
After the tree magic trick, Martyn may appear on the trail to the forest and ask me to commit a crime with him. I decline and let him go.
During the fight at Dogwarts, Martyn attacks Scar and me with his axe. I do not choose to take the blow. Taking the blow kills me and locks me out of this achievement. If I choose the other option, Scar survives.
The rest of the story follows the original 3rd Life events fairly closely.
After winning the battle against Dogwarts, BigB, BDubs, Impulse, Scar, and I are left standing. Scar wins BDubs’ loyalty by giving him a clock and orders him to kill BigB after BigB uses his friendship pass.
BDubs then kills Impulse.
When only the three of us remain, Scar makes BDubs and me fight over a No Kill Pass. There is no way to stop BDubs from getting it.
Scar then kills me, leaving me on red. When I catch up with Scar and BDubs, BDubs dies regardless of whom I attack. This makes me stop trying to kill Scar, but I hear the voices of the dead telling me to fight.
Scar gives me a chance to look around before meeting him in the desert. I win the fight that follows and then jump off the cliff.
After I die, I get the So That’s How It Went achievement.
Route 0, That’s Not How It Went
I start the Have We Been Here Before? route by talking to Scar after exploring the library. I agree to help him burn down the Mystic Tree.
I find the Flint and Steel in the cave on the mountain, near where Tango is standing. At night in the village, I lead the creeper to Scar, which kills him. As an apology, I promise to stay with Scar until I lose my first life. I then follow him into the desert and stay with him through the night.
I recommend saving each session separately, as many routes require branching off from Route 0.
This route follows the original 3rd Life fairly closely. If I’ve watched the original series, I can follow what Grian did. As with the So That’s How It Went achievement, there are a few things I need to avoid.
After the first night, I may encounter Jimmy and Scott in the forest while leaving to gather materials for my base. They offer to go on a cow heist with me. I decline their offer and continue gathering materials.
While gathering materials for my base, I may meet Martyn in the village. I avoid complaining too much about Scar, and if Martyn offers to take me somewhere, I decline.
After the tree magic trick, Martyn may appear on the trail to the forest and ask me to commit a crime with him. I decline and let him go.
Unlike the So That’s How It Went achievement, I choose to take the blow from Martyn when given the option during the fight. His blow hits me, leaving me on red. This locks me into the alternate ending, as the original events can no longer play out with me turning red so early.
Scar survives the fight and meets up with me again when I respawn. While we’re both still alive, we fight in this version of the Dogwarts battle, and both Scar and I die.
I get the That’s Not How It Went achievement afterwards.
Route 4, A Lonely Death
I start the Ashes and Alliances route by talking to Joel after exploring the library. I find him in the forest, west of where Jimmy and the cows are.
Joel is having trouble taming wolves, and following the dialogue options lets me help him tame several of them. Joel thanks me at first, but when I talk to him again, he offers to build a cabin with me. I accept, which starts the Ashes and Alliances route.
Route trigger warning: Extreme blood
There isn’t much variation in this route until Session 6, so I follow the story.
Joel and I initially start alone. Joel loses his first life in Tango’s Dare to Flare, and I lose my first life when a wolf kills me after I try to tame it.
I don’t think either death is avoidable. If I try to stop Joel from playing Dare to Flare, Tango calls him a chicken and goads him into playing. Joel also warns me not to mess with the wolf, but the game doesn’t let me follow his warning.
Joel eventually turns red when the cabin catches fire while we sleep. We both initially make it out alive, but Joel goes back inside to save the wolves. One wolf escapes, but Joel and the remaining wolves die when the burning wolf collapses.
After asking around, I discover that Cleo set the cabin on fire as revenge for Joel hoarding Mystic Wood. However, the fire gets out of control, and Cleo feels bad about what happened.
Cleo offers to let Joel and me stay in the Crastle. Things are tense at first, but we eventually become allies when the threat of Dogwarts rises.
I turn red after sacrificing myself for Joel during the fight against Dogwarts. This gives me plenty of opportunities to tell Joel that I’d die for him. Joel is upset because he doesn’t want to see me die, but he eventually tells me he’d die for me too.
As the final battle against Dogwarts approaches, Cleo and BDubs send Joel and me out to find allies. We ask Etho, Scar, Jimmy, and Scott to join us, but only Jimmy seems excited about it.
That night, Joel and I sit around the fire with Cleo and BDubs. We talk about our fears for the following day and call ourselves family.
I recommend saving the game when prompted on the night of Session 5 if I want to get the other achievement for this route, A Violent End. Both endings branch off from this choice.
On the morning of Session 6, I go outside and find Joel sitting outside the Crastle. I talk to him, and he shares his worries about the upcoming battle against Dogwarts.
After the conversation, I get a choice between staying with Cleo and BDubs or running away with Joel. For this achievement, I choose to run away with Joel.
This locks in the ending, and I immediately lose reputation with Cleo and BDubs, even though they haven’t noticed that we’ve left.
Joel and I initially go to Scott and Jimmy to ask them to harbour us, but I discover that Jimmy has died. Scott correctly guesses that we’re running away, calls us cowards, and refuses to help. Joel and I then go to the beach.
Martyn eventually finds us and tells us that Scott, Etho, and Scar went to fight, but all of them died, along with Cleo and BDubs.
Martyn then fights us, and Joel takes the blow meant for me, dying in the process. With no reason to keep going without Joel, I don’t fight back when Martyn turns on me too.
I get the A Lonely Death achievement.
Route 8, Dal Segno al Coda
I start the Music is Magic route by talking to Impulse after leaving the library. I agree to help him gather the materials he needs.
I get the wood by chopping down a tree in the forest, and I find the diamonds in a crate on the beach. I deliver both items to Impulse, and he tells me he’s using them to make a music box.
Impulse then hints that he knows I found something in the house I entered when I first came to the village. When he asks me to share what I found, I agree to show him. This starts the route.
Route trigger warning: Body horror
I follow Impulse’s instructions for the rest of the day. At the end of the day, Pearl reveals herself to me. If she asks me for food, I agree to help her. This makes her friendly towards me when I return to Impulse.
Over the following days, I help Impulse collect books from other people and figure out what’s happening on the island and what his music box does.
Impulse initially tries to play both sides, but he eventually sides with the Crastle alongside Pearl and me.
As we study the books in the library, Impulse figures out how to use the Red Jasper on the music box to rewind time. It doesn’t seem to work on injuries, as I see when Cleo gets injured, but Impulse manages to reverse damage to armour. He lets me try it, but I can’t get it to work.
Impulse eventually tries to trap Dogwarts. While he’s gone, a fight breaks out against Dogwarts in the desert. Cleo, BDubs, Pearl, and I show up.
Cleo and BDubs run off to help Scar, and I get a choice between helping the Crastle or pretending I’m still aligned with Dogwarts. It doesn’t matter which option I choose, as Cleo and BDubs never find out my answer, and Martyn attacks me regardless.
I make sure to tell Pearl to run when Martyn fights me. Otherwise, she may die, which prevents me from getting this achievement. Pearl doesn’t have three lives, so if she dies, she’s gone for good.
Impulse gives me his music box after he turns red, and I keep it.
Pearl successfully distracts Martyn long enough for us to escape. We reunite with Impulse in the village.
At the final Dogwarts battle, everyone dies except me, BDubs, Impulse, Pearl, Scar, and Martyn.
Pearl and I are sent to find and kill Martyn while Impulse stays behind to comfort BDubs, who is mourning Cleo. We find Martyn in the village, and since he’s weakened and outnumbered, Pearl and I kill him easily.
When we return to the Crastle, I discover that Scar is dead, and BDubs blames Impulse. Before Pearl and I can stop him, BDubs kills Impulse.
I choose to kill BDubs in retaliation.
With everyone else gone, Pearl and I mourn Impulse. Pearl suggests using the music box to rewind the island in the hope of bringing him back. I agree with her plan and choose to rewind the music box.
The game ends immediately afterwards, and I get the Dal Segno al Coda achievement.
Route 8, Fallen Companions
I start the Music is Magic route by talking to Impulse after leaving the library. I agree to help him gather the materials he needs.
I get the wood by chopping down a tree in the forest, and I find the diamonds in a crate on the beach. I deliver both items to Impulse, and he tells me he’s using them to make a music box.
Impulse then hints that he knows I found something in the house I entered when I first came to the village. I agree to show him what I found, which starts the route.
Route trigger warning: Body horror
I follow Impulse’s instructions for the rest of the day. At the end of the day, Pearl reveals herself to me. If she asks me for food, I agree to help her. This makes her friendly towards me when I return to Impulse.
Over the following days, I help Impulse collect books from other people and figure out what’s happening on the island and with his music box.
There are two ways to get this achievement, and both involve getting Pearl killed.
Method 1: Kill Pearl during the desert fight
During the desert fight against Dogwarts, Martyn attacks me. Instead of telling Pearl to run, I tell her to kill Martyn.
Pearl obeys, but when she struggles, I stay silent. Martyn then kills her.
Method 2: Kill Pearl at the end
I follow the story until BDubs kills Impulse.
Instead of killing BDubs, I try to talk to him. Pearl then tries to kill BDubs, and I try to stop her. This distracts Pearl long enough for BDubs to kill her.
Either way, I get the Fallen Companions achievement after a short sequence once Pearl dies.
Route 8, Self-Inflicted Solitude
I start the Music is Magic route by talking to Impulse after leaving the library. I agree to help him gather the materials he needs.
I get the wood by chopping down a tree in the forest, and I find the diamonds in a crate on the beach. I deliver both items to Impulse, and he tells me he’s using them to make a music box.
Impulse then hints that he knows I found something in the house I entered when I first came to the village. I agree to show him what I found, which starts the route.
Route trigger warning: Body horror
I follow the path described in the Dal Segno al Coda guide.
After the Dogwarts fight, I kill Martyn and return to the Crastle with Pearl. There, I discover that Scar is dead, and BDubs blames Impulse. BDubs kills Impulse before Pearl and I can do anything about it.
I kill BDubs in retaliation.
After BDubs dies, Pearl and I mourn Impulse. Pearl suggests using the music box to rewind the island and bring Impulse back.
For this achievement, I voice my concerns about the plan. Pearl insists, so I repeatedly choose not to play the music box whenever the game prompts me.
Eventually, the game stops giving me the option, which locks in the achievement.
Pearl gets frustrated with my refusal to play the music box. After an argument, I break it so she can’t try to use it herself.
Pearl gets upset and tells me she never wants to see me again. She leaves me alone, and I get the Self-Inflicted Solitude achievement.
Route 8, Solitude
I start the Music is Magic route by talking to Impulse after leaving the library. I agree to help him gather the materials he needs.
I get the wood by chopping down a tree in the forest, and I find the diamonds in a crate on the beach. I deliver both items to Impulse, and he tells me he’s using them to make a music box.
Impulse then hints that he knows I found something in the house I entered when I first came to the village. I agree to show him what I found, which starts the route.
Route trigger warning: Body horror
I follow Impulse’s instructions for the rest of the day. At the end of the day, Pearl reveals herself to me.
I talk to her again, and she tells me she’s hungry and asks me to get her food. For this achievement, I repeatedly refuse to help her.
Pearl gets angry and storms off. When I return to the village, Impulse reveals that he already knows Pearl. He tells me he doesn’t think we’re a good fit and turns me away.
I get the Solitude achievement after a short dialogue.
Route 10, Bass Friends Forever: True Pacifish
This route is a fever dream.
I start the Any-fin Is Possible route by interacting with the sign by the dock and fishing until I find a book.
Route content warnings: Unreality, depersonalisation, scopophobia, trypophobia
This is probably the most unserious ending in the game.
I spend my days fishing. Whenever I catch treasure, I deliver it to the person it belongs to.
If I know the Life Series and its members well, I can usually guess who owns each item. For example, the cookie belongs to BigB, the guitar belongs to Ren, and the giraffe sculpture belongs to Skizz.
If I’m unsure who owns something, I walk around and talk to the others to see if they mention it. I can also show the item to Scar and ask for tips. Scar is usually nearby.
Grian spends most of this route fishing, delivering gifts, and sleepwalking. Every time I successfully deliver a gift, that person joins me for fishing the following day.
Most people tell me a story when I give them something, although there are a few exceptions. BigB quizzes me on the history of cookies, while Scott and Jimmy have a wedding officiated by Scar.
BigB scolds me if I get his questions wrong, but he doesn’t get too angry.
A Watcher in the form of a slug comes out of the water a couple of times and tries to convince me to stop fishing. However, the game has me repeatedly throw it back into the water.
Dogwarts, consisting only of Ren and Martyn, is openly suspicious and hostile towards me.
Once everyone except Ren and Martyn has joined me in fishing, Martyn shows up and complains that this is a death game. However, I fish up a manga book that makes him immediately forget about wanting to kill people.
Martyn then asks me to try to get through to Ren. I fish for a while until I catch a guitar.
Ren is suspicious of me, but when I offer him the guitar, he also forgets about wanting to kill people and follows me to the dock.
Ren declares that the Red Winter is coming, which in this case just means he plays a guitar riff. The others think it’s cool, and Ren somehow produces a stage out of nowhere.
After getting Scar to join us, the Watcher returns in a much more intimidating form and demands that I stop.
I put flowers on its head, which I got from Scar, and hand over my fishing rod. The Watcher then asks me to teach it how to fish.
Once I do that, I get the Bass Friends Forever: True Pacifish achievement.
I just need to remember to deliver gifts before going to sleep, and everything else works itself out.
Route 11, A Promise Fulfilled
I start the Wolf in Sheep’s Wool route by interacting with the statue behind the pool where I wake up.
The statue doesn’t sparkle, but I walk up to it and press Space or my preferred interaction key. At first, it only tells me that it’s a statue.
I interact with it a couple more times until I get the option to stare at it. I keep staring despite the game trying to discourage me, and eventually, the statue blinks.
I can then leave the area where I woke up. On the shore to the west, I find an altar. I interact with it and accept the quest to find the missing pieces.
I find the missing pieces in three places:
- The forest
- The house with the who’s who board
- The cave in the mountain
Once I have all three pieces, I return them to the statue.
Route trigger warnings: Horror, body horror, starvation, depersonalisation, derealisation, trypophobia, scopophobia
Once I’ve started the route, I follow the story, as there isn’t much I can do to change what happens until the end.
I recommend talking to the former Evolutionists who are present: Jimmy, Martyn, and BigB. They can also sense that something is wrong.
I gradually regain my Watcher powers and begin noticing strange things about the world. Many people think I’m crazy, although the former Evolutionists react more strongly.
Eventually, I remember the Watchers and the truth about the games. I decide to get my friends out, but they keep fighting each other.
When I steal the Enchanter and take it to the volcano before throwing it into the lava, everyone teams up to stop me.
I try to explain what’s happening and how we can escape, but Martyn realises I’m a Watcher and warns everyone not to trust me. Everyone runs away.
The next morning, Scar and Joel show up at my tent on the beach, hoping to get a chaotic ally out of the situation. I’m able to convince them to help destroy the altars, and they happily leave to find them.
I also find the former Evolutionists at the beach. They’re still wary of me, but I convince them to help. The others on the island agree to help as well.
Everyone heads to the volcano, where we plan to escape.
As I go to join them, the Watchers stop me several times. I act tough and eventually reach the others, but the Watchers follow and try to stop us from escaping.
I can choose either to act strong or exploit their weaknesses. It doesn’t matter which option I pick.
Eventually, I must choose between staying with my friends and doing something drastic. For this achievement, I choose to do something drastic.
I open the portal beneath the others without escaping myself. They try to protest, but they’re powerless to stop me.
I’m left alone with the Watchers, who kill me. However, I die without regrets.
I get the A Promise Fulfilled achievement afterwards.
Route 11, Never Alone Again
I start the Wolf in Sheep’s Wool route by interacting with the statue behind the pool where I wake up.
The statue doesn’t sparkle, but I walk up to it and press Space or my preferred interaction key. At first, it only tells me that it’s a statue.
I interact with it a couple more times until I get the option to stare at it. I keep staring despite the game trying to discourage me, and eventually, the statue blinks.
I can then leave the area where I woke up. On the shore to the west, I find an altar. I interact with it and accept the quest to find the missing pieces.
I find the missing pieces in three places:
- The forest
- The house with the who’s who board
- The cave in the mountain
Once I have all three pieces, I return them to the statue.
Route trigger warnings: Horror, body horror, starvation, depersonalisation, derealisation, trypophobia, scopophobia
I follow the A Promise Fulfilled guide for more details about the events leading up to this ending.
After the events of the first several days, everyone heads to the volcano, where we plan to escape.
As I go to join them, the Watchers stop me several times. I act tough and eventually reach the others, but the Watchers follow and try to stop us from escaping.
I can choose either to act strong or exploit their weaknesses. It doesn’t matter which option I pick.
Eventually, I must choose between staying with my friends and doing something drastic. For this achievement, I choose to stay with my friends.
Apparently, this means I eat them, which is certainly a choice.
I get the Never Alone Again achievement shortly afterwards.