Comparison

Highlands, Deep Waters vs Hosted Games

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Highlands, Deep Waters

Unravel a dark mystery in a Scottish town, uncovering cultists and abyssal horrors. Your choices shape the narrative of this text-based interactive novel, where you play as a detective, criminal, or scholar.

Highlights
  • Interactive text-based story
  • Choice-driven narrative
  • Deduction system for clues
  • Sanity system
  • Character role selection
  • Hand-drawn maps and lore
Features
Read full description

While investigating a murder in a small Scottish town, you’ll find yourself embroiled in a world of secrets, cultists, and abyssal horror. What are you willing to do to solve the case? And what will you do when you don’t like the answer? "Highlands, Deep Waters" is a 340,000 word interactive horror novel by Fernando B Neves and Lucas Zaper, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. • Play as an insightful Detective, a resourceful Criminal or a mysterious Scholar. • Gather and interpret clues with the Deduction system. Will you solve the case? • Face the hidden truths that derange your mind with the Sanity system. • A carefully crafted town including hand-drawn maps, unique history and peculiar inhabitants. • Play as a male, female, gay or straight. The Abyssal Ones treat everyone just the same.

About

Hosted Games

Explore a vast library of text-based interactive novels where your choices shape the narrative. Engage in diverse genres from horror and fantasy to romance and sci-fi, all powered by your imagination. Create your own stories using a simple scripting language.

Highlights
  • Vast library of interactive novels
  • Text-based storytelling
  • Choice-driven narratives
  • Multiple genres available
  • Create your own games
  • ChoiceScript programming language
Features
Read full description

The choice is yours! Joust for love and glory, solve an eldritch murder, find romance, or battle aliens with Magitek? "Hosted Games" is a magnificent library of interactive novels, written by authors like you. Hosted Games are entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. Try a few of these fan favorites: • Zombie Exodus — Fight your way out of a zombie-filled city in this interactive horror story! • Fallen Hero — Step into the shoes of a telepath turned villain and explore the dark side. • Wayhaven Chronicles — Something stalks the shadows, and it's up to you to find out what! • Sabres of Infinity — Step into the boots of a Royal Dragoon in this tale of war in a fantasy world. • Golden Rose — Explore a medieval Europe where history took a different turn! • Soul Stone War — Fight for the future—your own, and the world's! Your fate is yours. • I, the Forgotten One — Can you defeat the rebellion in your kingdom before your past consumes you? • An Unexpectedly Green Journey — From birth to death, craft your orc's legacy. Are you destined for glory? • Fields of Asphodel — Join the ranks of the Underworld's misfit gods and make it your home! • Tin Star — Ride out into the Old West as a U.S. marshal and craft a legend. Authors just like you have developed these games using ChoiceScript, a simple programming language for writing multiple-choice interactive novels. Writing games with ChoiceScript is easy and fun, even for authors with no programming experience. Learn more at https://hostedgames.org

Screenshots

Highlands, Deep Waters4 screens
Hosted Games4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Hosted Games at Free against Highlands, Deep Waters's $6.99. Hosted Games also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 13 months) and ratings volume (1K vs 28). Highlands, Deep Waters's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 35) and review sentiment (95% vs 77%). On rating, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Hosted Games is free to download; Highlands, Deep Waters costs $6.99 up front. Hosted Games sells 33 one-off in-app purchases. Highlands, Deep Waters asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Highlands, Deep Waters against 4.7 for Hosted Games. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hosted Games has 1K ratings behind it against 28, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Highlands, Deep Waters's written reviews are positive against 77% of Hosted Games's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Highlands, Deep Waters ships an update every 13 months, Hosted Games every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Highlands, Deep Waters versus Hosted Games: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHighlands, Deep WatersHosted Games
Price$6.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (28 ratings)4.7 (1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews95.5% of reviews — better77.5% of reviews
Number of ratings281K — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB94 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperHosted Games LLCHosted Games LLC

Customer experience

Highlands, Deep Waters

All ratings28 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews22 reviews
Positive95.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.5%

Hosted Games

All ratings956 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral1.7%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews213 reviews
Positive77.5%
Neutral6.6%
Negative16.0%

In-app purchases

None

Highlands, Deep Waters

No in-app purchases

33 purchases

Hosted Games

One-time33
  • Dragon of Steelthorne$2.99
  • Side Stories 21-30$2.99
  • First Bull Run$2.99
Show 30 more
  • Tokyo Wizard$2.99
  • It Takes Three to Tango$3.99
  • Divine Ascension$4.99
  • Samurai of Hyuga$4.99
  • Keeper's Vigil$5.99
  • World War II Armored Recon$5.99
  • Life as a Lich$5.99
  • Velocity: The Race Begins$6.99
  • Keeper of the Sun and Moon$6.99
  • Samurai of Hyuga Book 6$6.99
  • Fallen Hero: Rebirth$6.99
  • Hero or Villain: Genesis$6.99
  • A Kiss from Death$6.99
  • Kitsune$6.99
  • Whiskey-Four$6.99
  • Wayhaven Chronicles: Book One$7.99
  • The Soul Stone War$7.99
  • Leas: City of the Sun$7.99
  • The People's House$7.99
  • Scales of Justice$7.99
  • Tale of Two Cranes$8.99
  • Breach: The Archangel Job$8.99
  • Wayhaven Chronicles: Book Two$8.99
  • Saturnine$8.99
  • The Golden Rose: Book One$11.99
  • Diaspora$11.99
  • Wayhaven Chronicles Three$11.99
  • Fallen Hero: Retribution$11.99
  • An Unexpectedly Green Journey$11.99
  • Fields of Asphodel$11.99

Questions

Is Highlands, Deep Waters free?
Highlands, Deep Waters costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hosted Games free?
Hosted Games is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Highlands, Deep Waters or Hosted Games?
Hosted Games is rated higher. Highlands, Deep Waters averages 4.6 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while Hosted Games averages 4.7 from 1K ratings.
Do Highlands, Deep Waters or Hosted Games have ads?
Both Highlands, Deep Waters and Hosted Games show ads.
Which is updated more often, Highlands, Deep Waters or Hosted Games?
Highlands, Deep Waters ships an update every 13 months, and Hosted Games every 10 days. Most recently, Highlands, Deep Waters was updated on October 23, 2026 and Hosted Games on October 21, 2026.

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