Unity - Completed - Mystwood Manor [v1.1.2] [Faerin]

Listen, I like grindy sandbox games. I want to click on things for a while before the lewds show up. But even after a significant time in development the balance in this game is way off.

I tried to give it a fair shake for a long time by ignoring the cheat menu but I wish I hadn't. To anyone reading this, please feel free to use the cheat menu.

The puzzle elements of trying to match the girls to the right job and whatnot are a little bit interesting but there's almost always a "right" solution and it's pretty boring to click everyone into place the 50th time.

I think the game elements would be much better if all the gold costs were cut in half (or all the income was doubled). As it is, there are times when you jump up a Hotel level and there's a ton to do, buffered by long stretches where you're just waiting for the gold to unlock the next thing.

I've played three or four hours and gotten maybe one thing that I would call a sex scene. Lots of little visits and some occasional nudity but a real slow burn. I wouldn't mind this most of the time but the excessive padding in the gameplay makes it a lot worse.

I do really like how the girls outfits get skimpier over time and this shows up both in their portraits and in the mid-day renders.

Held off on reviewing until we were significantly into the game/development. This game is superb. For a game on this site, it is excellently built with a simple and easy UI. The design of scenes and story is great and is only getting better. All 8 women involved are different and attractive and all now have H-scenes. Feel the next few updates will be great. Hoping for some longer scenes as well as some 3,4,5 person scenes.

OK,

I’ve completed about 90% of the current content I believe, and I just have a few events with Catalina to unlock so I want to update my review now.

Over-all, I think the game is 4 ½ stars out of 5 (I rounded up for ya)

To be honest, I think this game stands well above a lot of other 4 and 5 star games here. Specifically because it has a decent “lewd” side tale but, more importantly, because it’s a real full fledged game - not just some VN pretending to be one. If Faerin is doing this game solo, then hats off to him.

Pros:

• Gameplay – It’s a fun game. Reminds me a lot of those silly mobile games you can sit in bed and play for hours. There’s enough little details to please any micro-manager’s heart, lol. The UI is also very slick
• Renders – Top notch. You forget that sometimes when playing. There is some really nice lewd content. So when it happens, it’s a nice change of pace.
• Characters - I like them all, but I thought Amber was a little vanilla. Reminded me of too many other sister characters on here, I think. The mother is gorgeous and so is the little Finnish darling
• Animations – Very well done
• Story – Again, very well done. I enjoyed the history updates by the old guest and look forward to seeing more of this story
• Replayability – You can easily start over and try different goals, like fastest levelling or cheapest operating costs, etc. The card and item drops are also random so you do get some variation.

Cons:

• Game Balance - My biggest gripe. If I didn’t have access to the cheats, I might have stopped playing this game just because I think the balance is a little off with what the girls satisfaction results are when compared to her Tier and Boosts. It’s particularly noticeable when you level up the hotel and Julia raises her level of guests she’s taking. For example, when I hit Tier 5 and I started accepting T5 guests, I put Amber in the restaurant. She was maxed out T5 and she had 20% of boosts (one 10% one and two cards worth 5% each) and she still only hit 57-58% on a successful interaction. And yes, the restaurant had the extra upgrades. I think that is excessive. You shouldn’t have to load every card and item on a girl just to break 70% when you are at that Tier. This is basically where the half star got taken off.

Suggestions:

• Rebalance the game so that when you are lower Tier then the guest, you need all the extra boosts, but when you are same Tier, you should only need boosts for the really difficult guests, like Sophia.
• Interactions with the guests! I really, really hope you go there. I want to corrupt Sister Nora so bad! Haha
• A Little thing – It would be nice to have a sort of “safe mouse zone” to advance the game. A place to click the mouse to advance dialogue and events. I know you can use the standard space bar and also mouse-click anywhere already, but I find that because you have choices that pop up all over (in the text box/in the middle of the screen/right-side of the screen) I sometimes pick a wrong option just ‘cause I am clicking a little ahead of the screen loading. That’s because I tend to use my mouse for almost everything and rarely do I use the keyboard. So having a box that is clearly marked to click on would be nice, so you don’t click into a choice.

I am definitely going to start from scratch when your next update comes. I want to do a few things differently.

It has many good updates since first versions. I really enjoy the build up of the relationships and the amount of sex at the moment. This game requires game time, but you will enjoy it.
Keep up updating with more graphical helps

Quite a lot of the reviewers have been complaining about the so-called "grind." Well, they call it grind, I call it game-play. Seriously, I would've enjoyed this game even if there was no porn included.

Even at its current stage of development it is a really good well-balanced management game. There is just enough different mechanics to make it absorbing, but not too many, so it's not overly complex.
When a game has the "just one more turn" factor, that is basically the greatest compliment for me; I simply couldn't stop playing it! And it wasn't necessarily because of all the beautifully rendered sexy girls, even though I enjoyed watching them all. The sole management part was satisfying enough for me.

The pacing was appropriate as well in my opinion. If I had wanted to see a sex scene within the first three minutes, I would go to a site dedicated to that topic. I enjoyed the teasing and tension building, I don't need a sex-scene during every single event. Having said that I also wouldn't mind if in the future there were some minor sexual interactions between the workers and the guests.

I've come to understand that there's a dozen things you need to be pretty good at to make a decent VN. But, when you decide to gamify it... I think that's a whole other level.

I'm talking about good gamification. Anyone can throw in a stats system and set a few thresholds. Triple-A studios make crappy games all the time, so it shouldn't be surprising that there are lots of crappy games here, too. The most frustrating is when you know it would be so much better as a VN. Please, for the love of God, get rid of the grind, the time-of-day tracking, the inventory, the points. Just make it a story, please. Breaks my heart.

So, with all that, it is my pleasure (and amazement) to say that this actually works pretty well as a game. The dev has a reputation for quality and hard work. The gamification in his previous effort was a little disjointed, and I soon gave up and played with cheats. Here, I have to say, it's quite engaging. You actually want to play to win.

What makes it work? Well, first, the game elements are completely integrated to the story. I mean, you're a hotel manager, and the game is managing a hotel. Nothing seems laid on top, or there just for the sake of gamification. it's all central to the plot. Second, the game elements are pretty straightforward and easy to learn. Third, there is progression, that "just one more turn" thing that game studios (and casino owners) are always hoping to achieve. It's strategic, you have to think and plan, but never opaque.

There is a bit of grind, but it's pretty light. I know another game where a character in-game argues that grind is good because it builds the effort-reward payoff. I think that's an oversimplification. Grind can be well-designed, (like, say, DragonQuest) or it can be gawddawful boring (like, oh so many games on this site). To say grind is good, period, misses the point.

It helps that the artwork is top-notch - it makes any frustrations with game mechanics a little more bearable. And it doesn't lag too much. There are quite a few games on this site (you know who they are) which are almost unplayable because there's no optimization for speed.

I think there are a lot of quality-of-life things to improve the game. For example, it would be great to know if there is still any value in searching the attic. But the dev is very responsive to feedback, and is always making improvements.

My only gripe, a small one, but is what keeps me from awarding 5 stars, is actually with the VN elements, the rendered scenes. The rendering is of very high quality, but sequencing, the dynamic arrangement of moving from image to image, is really quite dull. In fact, it's a let-down. When you are able to achieve some big step forward that leads to a spicy achievement, I just wish there was a little more to it than just a half-dozen renders and a pretty average animation.

But yeah, this is worth checking out. You got the eldest son, dead father, hot mother and sister trope, but because its a game, and a good one, it actually seems fresh. Nice.

Interesting games with great graphics also great story, really looking forward future development and story. also hoping future update can have more MILF and booty women variant from guest side and can have story sex interaction too with them... thanks for FAERIN & F95ZONE

Most reviews focus on renders, animation, and overall rather general comments about the game mechanics. I would like here to focus on what seems to be "little" things, but are at the same time indicators of the developer's dedication to "customers"

In that regards, Faerin is a phenomenal developer. Not only for the excellent work, but also for respecting the players and listening to their comments. Earlier in the game, I had suggested that the MC be given experience in a few of the jobs so that he may help the ladies during their tough time. I am not sure if it was my advice that led to the "office" concept or whether the concept was already planned, being able to raise experience/customer satisfaction is an excellent addition to the game, Needless to say, current versions of the game have also made it much easier to switch cards and items, which shows a great respect for players and demonstrates a thoughtful designer/developer. These may be simple things for players, but implementing them is not easy, and designing them into the game speaks good about the developer.

A little grindy, but honestly one of the best games on here. It's a perfectly functional hotel management sim with some light supernatural elements and a few sex scenes. I actually didn't mind that the lewd content took so long to get to because I was just enjoying playing the game for it's own sake. Look forward to the next update!

The story is well written and funny. The scenes with the girls are hot as fuck. Only complaint that this game is a little bit grindy, progression can be a bit slow but the game has a cheats menu that lets you get past some of the dragging (besides levelling up characters). Hope to see more of it

Renders: Renders are pretty good. But sometime I feel like some renders need more polishing. Or, maybe it was developer's intention to use some grainy textures. I would give render quality 4 stars.

Story: The game is still in it's early to mid stage, so I cannot say about the future. But, so far the story is pretty average. I would give 3 stars for story.

Gameplay: Gameplay is pretty good. You actually have to play this game believe it or not. You don't just wonder around like in some VNs. You have to manage your staff and hotel. So far I haven't seen any major bugs that affect your experience. With the developer having enough experience in developing games that's what you should expect. I would give gameplay 5 stars.

Update: Updates are not very frequent but some what punctual.

A porn game where the game is actually worth playing? Yes please!

The girls are absolutely gorgeous and there’s quite a bit of variety between them.

Still very wip, though, but the updates are like clockwork.

I love this game much like I loved the game before. Is it a grind yes, does it tease the hell out of you, yes and yes. This is not an instant gratification game and if you know anything about the creator that is exactly what he does. The game will build on game play, developing relationships slowly, and getting multiple stories coming together over time. I love the hotel management and the mystical feeling of the area. I also love that women are not falling all over you within the first five minutes. The story is great and building up just like man of the house and it keeps getting better and better.

I think the amount of effort Faerin puts in the game design is awesome. The Characters show the effort and so does the gameplay. The interface may be too intricate for some, but good nonetheless. If you have have played Man of the house, then you know what kinda of grind you are up for

Oh boy where do I begin. I feel like I got catfished by a porn game. "I'm a management sim with hot girls, high production values and a gameplay focus, let's get kinky this weekend!" - it shouted. Well, why the heck not? And then I ended up wasting a day on an unsatisfying date with Blueballs Bungalow.

First thing first, THE PRESENTATION. It's good. Better than good. The UI is miles above the usual stock Unity or Renpy. Pretty decorative frames surround the dialogue boxes, icons stick to an inoffensive color scheme and a mechanical clock does its satisfying clackity-clack gear sound while turning a disk painted with the colors of the sky. It looks good. "Give me a chance, look how high effort I am!".

Similarly, THE RENDERS also give off a positive first impression. They're well lit and the characters are all attractive, save maybe for the supposed MILF who reminds me of a long lost Bogdanoff sister. Maybe it's the cheekbones. Nevertheless, the visuals are very appealing.

Then come THE PLOT AND THE CHARACTERS. Well, we've been mercifully saved from stock UI, but I can't say the same about the game's heroines. There's your steplandlady and your steproommate and a flirty redhead and a whole bunch of other walking tits with a mouth attached who all blend into one giant porn primordial soup. None of these girls should expect you to remember their name in the morning.
There's also Dad. A real one, not a landlord or anything. He establishes himself as someone very important to you and then promptly proceeds to kick the bucket, leaving you the titular hotel and his dearest wife. It is likely that dad had more functional brain cells than the whole surviving cast altogether, as they all remain mostly oblivious to all sorts of paranormal phenomena happening around them, making zero attempt at communicating their puzzling observations to each other.

One could think they're just too busy bumping uglies. But no, there's not enough CONTENT in the game to make that claim. Only a couple characters eventually manage to get to the point of sticking a penis inside a vagina, and that's only for a single scene. Most of your time will be spent peeping through door cracks and receiving handjobs. There's an interesting clothing system where progressing the relationship makes the girl wear lewder and lewder outfits, but the differences between stages are often so minuscule you have to compare them side by side and up till the penultimate tier would only be found inappropriate in the deep Middle East.

So, solid renders, slick UI, mediocre plot, not that much content. There's plenty of games with less than that getting good scores, why the hate? THE GRIND. I'll write it again in big, red capital letters just to drive the point across. THE UTTERLY PAINFUL, UNHOLY GRIND. It's really, really bad, even by incest sandbox standards. I do less monotonous things at the glorified sweatshop I work at and I have to get paid to willingly do that. The gameplay basically boils down to dragging employee icons around as their energy bars deplete and need recharging. It's all very basic and formulaic and there's barely any strategy involved. The only break from it is the trivia quiz the guests give you. You see, when you're running a 1 star flea-ridden dive, they'll be content just pointing at the hamburger entry in the menu and waiting patiently for you to repeat after them. Ham-bur-gah. What a bright girl. They're more picky when you're a 5 star Ritz. They come barging in and demand something "red, mushy and Brazilian", sending you digging through the cookbooks to identify which bizzare item on the menu fits their criteria. This is also true for massages, gym exercises, swimming strokes, cocktails and whatever else you have on offer. It's all very easy to remember too and quickly turns into pointless busywork even if you didn't have the knowledge beforehand. Mercifully, the guests will eventually stop interacting with you that much once they deem you've suffered through their quizes enough.
And boy does the grind here put Korean MMOs to shame. The simplistic gameplay wouldn't really be all that bad if it didn't overstay its welcome HARD. The bucket you need to fill gets ever larger and the smutty rewards quickly stop being satisfying enough for all the effort you have to go through. This game would still be painfully grindy even if you cut all the goal numbers to a quarter of their current value. As it is, playing it is pure suffering.

tl;dr: There's little reason to play Mystwood Manor as of version 0.6.0 , but if you're still curious enough to try it, do not even think about approaching it without cheats. Unless your kink is grind-induced masochism - then go wild, cowboy, you've found your dream game.

Version: v0.5.1 Full

Review:
It will be difficult to try to give a review for this game, because there are positives and negatives about it, things that are good and things that are bad. For example, I like to see the way girls are corrupted, at each level reached, there will be a different outfit, but it's also horrible the way this game of you have to grind it, seriously, that makes it pretty exhausting.

PROS:
It's a management game, where each task will increase the level of the girls and will have an outfit reward, in which the higher the level they have, the more the clothes will be sexier.
The girls are beautiful and attractive and the game interface is really good.

CONS:
At the beginning of the game there is a selection for which difficulty you want to play, at the moment the difficulty is normal but this is quite worrying. The game has a lot, a lot to grind and this ends up being too exhausting. You have to have a lot of patience and time to play this, luckily I was able to play with status cheats because I couldn't handle playing for a long time. Without it you will have to grind for a long time to earn money and the girls have stamina that every time they work it decreases and it is also necessary to keep the hotel stable, as it is necessary to put the girls to do maintenance functions. Anyway, that's not the bad point, the bad point is that management is a bit... exhausting because you can get cards and these cards give status bonuses but to get those cards you need to grind, so the problem is even in somewhat poorly organized management.

History:
The game has a very simple story and plot, nothing to make you like or hate. About the dialogues, I didn't find it so attractive, so I didn't care too much.
Gameplay:
Without using cheats it is almost impossible to have fun, the management is good but what made me a little frustrated is that you have to do the tasks at the right time for each character. Not that this is one of the worst things, but you need to increase each girl's work stat until you reach a certain level and then do mission tasks to unlock a reward outfit. Every task includes scene, don't worry. At the moment, there's not much to do, you can't interact with the girls freely, you don't have an interaction with the customers, there are no store options... however over time it is likely that this will be added little by little.
Graphics & Sexual Content:
The graphics are really good, as well as the renderings of the female models. About the sexual content, it's good, there are good scenes but the animations are kind of outdated. Not that I'm saying it's bad, it's kind of similar to the previous game, not so bad but not so good either.

Why I did gave 2 star?
The game is not bad, because I didn't find it. But on the other hand, you don't feel that freedom, it's just managing the hotel. Of course it's still under development and a lot of things could come up, but something tells me it's going to be monotonous and I hope that doesn't happen. I wish that in the future there are plans to have a harem or something more perverse.
Anyway, unfortunately I had to give two stars at the time, because I believe in this game and I know it has potential, but due to the grind and a annoying RNG that I couldn't unlock the fucking Yoga.
I'll be watching and following. I recommend playing with cheats or wait for more updates.

Death Grind = No Fun

There is no fluff to make the grind even the slightest enjoyable and the tier clothing changes are laughable but not enticing and sexy enough to warrant that amount of clicks.

This is a huge let down and a step down from the last game even if that one was pretty heavy on the grind too there was at least some progression into it that made it kinda worth it in the end.
This one is not and i dont think this will change much.
I'm done with this, as this is just a big waste of time. There is no real strategy gameplay, no story and no sex for hours.

Auto is always switched off again.

v0.5.1, maxed/unlocked everything possible
Still tons of content missing, placeholders everywhere, no interactions with guests except for 1 old dude. Plot is your standard incest mom/sister shtick with harem hire. Dialogue is pretty forgettable, e.g. MC stated to every woman he meets "Wow she's hot", etc. Characters fell completely flat for me, super generic.
Big props for trying to make actual gameplay though, you can somewhat "manage" the hotel (which is basically draggin+dropping character or their related room 3 times a day). However balance/pacing is pretty terrible. The way that Experience and room cost is implemented results in EXTREME grind. Game is about 10x too grindy; not exaggerating, I literally think that dragging out 1 hour of content/gameplay to 10 hours of mindless, repetitive grind is NOT a positive. Overall 3 because it has minor management, otherwise it would be 2. If dialogue or characters were any interesting I'd recommend it, but they just aren't.

Way too grindy, the game itself is not enjoyable.
To please your guests you have to grind level your staff to a certain number and answer dumb questions that are repeated 100s of times in one playthrough.
The UI is fairly intuitive but feels designed to slow you down as most useful info is hidden behind a few clicks.
The characters are decent, not great.
The animations are usually pretty bad with a couple of frozen frames between the 1-2 second animations causing it to look strange.

The scenes feel as typically a fairly poor reward for the amount of grind they require. I recommend you skip this game, especially since it appears as if the grindy part is the main focus of the development since the story and especially the character development is very basic.

This is really good in almost all departments with one exception and probably the only thing I don’t like about the game, that is the grind. Hopefully, the dev plans to release a story mode as well for the people who are just interested in story and sex and don’t want the grind and hotel managing stuff.