We are excited to (finally) announce that In Her Own Hands Version 0.7.0 is now available to the Public.

This update is the first update within the progression of the 0.7.x content. The walk-through for this version will be finished and released to Patrons at "Delight Me" ($9) and above within a few days.

Click here to download the new version

OR 

Play online now on InHerOwnHands.com  

Introducing "Just the Tip," Our New Progress Tracker/Hint System

Based on your feedback, we have completely revamped the Progress Tracker/Hint System (now found in "Just the Tip" in the sidebar) to better assist players as they navigate the game. This effort was quite significant as we went back through all game content to create task-based "Tips" to help players progress that then display as "Achievements" once you have experienced the content.

While the nature of the hints is still the same, each action/hint is now listed separately (though hidden until unlocked by prerequisite actions), instead of progressive. Under the old system, tackling certain actions in certain orders could "break" the progressive hints. The new system prevents this, while also providing a "blueprint" for how much content is available in each romantic path. We also added hints for non-romantic activities, such as scenes available at each job, for the protagonist by herself, etc.

We prioritized this comprehensive effort in tandem with the Version 0.7.x content updates so that it comes together to provide the best playing experience. And, if you are using a saved game, all content you've unlocked will automatically populate the Progress Tracker. We may still make a few tweaks to the formatting but are very pleased with the result--and believe that many of you may discover "Tips" to uncover quite a bit of previously undiscovered content within all versions of In Her Own Hands released to date.

"Just the Tip" still only provides hints to keep you on track, nothing like the comprehensive Official Walkthrough and Scene Guide that gives you all the dirty details, but we have heard your suggestions to make this more useful and are excited for the debut of "Just the Tip" in Version 0.7.0.

At Home With Abby

The results from our Patron Poll could not have been more clear--it was all about Abby! This came as no surprise, for Abby is the most well-developed character with the most unique scenes in the game thus far. And while we had debated whether or not we wanted version 0.7.x to add to Abby's path, we took your input and *ran* with it beyond even what we had originally scoped. This was one of the main reasons for the time between releases. We wanted to do this well for all of the fans of the dynamic between Becca and Abby.

We're thrilled to announce, therefore, that Version 0.7.0 deeply develops the friendship between our protagonist and Abby by adding the ability to spend significant amounts of time together in Becca's apartment, including sleepovers. A variety of text invites will be available after you have reached a certain level of friendship with Abby (hint: we DARE you to take the pair as far as you can) and can be sent at any time of the week, though some nights may reveal different timing, characters, and content.

Choosing to allow Abby to be at home with our protagonist (and her roommates) essentially meant recreating the apartment with its rooms, daily schedule, and activities, but now navigating as a pair of besties. And, since Abby is probably the wilder of the two, that also means some "fun" adventures as their friendship grows even more comfortable. There are some hidden series of activities, all of which can be found in the new "Just the Tip" Progress Tracker, which are unlocked based on the choices made as friends during Abby's visit.

Players should keep in mind that if you invite Abby over, you may miss other content or planned activities (e.g. meet ups or dates), just as you would in real life. Abby also has work and her own schedule that you cannot override. That said, we really invested a lot of time and creativity into how the two young women would interact in the apartment and can't wait for you to enjoy being at home with Abby.

  Would You Like to Play a Game?

In her trademark wild-child style, Abby introduces something we think will be new and exciting for players, an "Icebreaker" game of sorts, that can be unlocked and initiated during sleepovers on certain nights in version 0.7.0. This large, repeatable game plays out with Abby, our protagonist, and the two "hot roomies," Bobby and Shaun, and will help to develop more of the characterization of the two guys.

We will likely share more on the "game within a game" in a future post and want players to experience the new scenes as somewhat of a surprise and delight (see what we did there), but suffice it to say that there is a lot of intention behind every aspect of the apartment party. We worked through every question and answer to not only keep them in character, but also influence the progression and the possible outcomes. Again, "Just the Tip" will give you a hint of just how many endings to the game exist, and we encourage you to play in ways that allow you to enjoy each and every one.

We certainly enjoyed creating them!

More Jasmynn Dates and Misc Other Updates

With our shift to truly build out a new apartment world for Abby and Becca, plus the party game, we limited our update to the Jasmynn path to a couple additional dates. We think it's important that "Crystal" experience variety within the escort experience and will continue to add to this storyline.

Since Steve will be branching out from the Jasmynn content, we decided to split out our special plans for his storyline to a quick, subsequent release within the version 0.7.x updates. And, while his story takes root as part of Jasmynn's path and will branch off to create the first choice-triggered narrative ending, you will also be able to elect to reject Steve and stay on Jasmynn's path proper. So, stay tuned for a little spoonful of Steve (ahem, hint!) in what we hope will be just the next month.

Beyond all of the content above, and phew... it is quite a bit, we also made some aesthetic changes/upgrades and A LOT of major and minor bugs fixes. Under the hood, we also cleaned up a lot of messy code from early in the development of IHOH, which should improve the efficiency of the game for anyone who starts from the beginning. This task will continue in future updates as well.

Looking Ahead

As we mentioned above, we plan on a special Steve-focused release next and hope to have that out quickly given the more limited scope. After that, we will continue to move through the character-driven Version 0.7.x updates that we've discussed before, adding to virtually every path within the game.

We plan to have the Walkthrough completed very soon. We will let Patrons at the Delight Me ($9) and higher tiers know as soon as it is ready.

As always, if you find any errors or bugs that managed to sneak past us, please post them in the #Bug-Reporting board on Discord, message us directly on Patreon, or email us at bugs@surprisedelightme.com. A description and/or screenshot, as well as the save game file of the game in which the error occurred, will help us locate and fix the error. Thanks!

Enjoy!

Surprise & Delight

Changelog, v0.7.0 (spoiler-free):

• Just the Tip... Progress Tracker/Hint System
• Abby sleepover invitation, with three possible, variable response types, and several variable responses within each type
• Abby sleepover event series, with numerous available activities, including five different progressive series of scenes/events
• "Abby's Ice Breaker" five-round mini-game with Abby, protagonist, Bobby, and Shaun, with at least nine different possible endings depending on the combination of chance and choices
• Minor change: Invitation to Halloween party changed from Saturday to Sunday to prevent conflicts with other events that were sometimes preventing the event from initiating
• Bug fix: Scarlett's "Romance Potential" was copying Bobby's on the Contacts page
• Bug fix: Text-message pop-up will automatically close in places where this is appropriate (formerly had to be manually closed)
• Bug fix: Links to continue did not appear in Diner during second visit from Devilish Dad
• Bug fix: Dick-athlon videos were displaying at wrong width/too small
• Bug fix: Player would be "kicked out" of bathroom if showering/naked when it was Bobby or Shaun's turn to shower.
• Numerous other minor text and formatting changes, bug fixes as reported