Play Howl on Windows PC

Howl on PC is a turn-based puzzle-tactics adventure set in a dark, fairy-tale version of the Middle Ages. A mysterious “howling plague” is transforming anyone who hears the beasts’ cries into feral, hungry creatures, creating a curse that spreads with every howl. You play as the Heroine, a combat Prophet born deaf and therefore protected from the plague’s defining danger. Her gift is more than a piece of the story: it gives you the perspective needed to study each encounter, anticipate the threat, and fight back against the wolves overrunning the land. Across 60 levels in the four main chapters, your objectives include surviving tactical battles, saving villagers from the wolves’ claws and howls, and finding a route through obscure, magical places rendered in Howl’s distinctive “living ink” style. The flowing artwork appears to paint the tale as you play, while each chapter brings its own visual atmosphere and soothing musical score.

The central combat system revolves around prediction. As a combat Prophet, you can foretell your enemies’ actions and plan up to six steps ahead, turning every encounter into a puzzle of positioning, timing, and attack selection. Different wolf species demand different answers: some are fast predators that can close the distance quickly, others withstand more powerful hits, and some attack from afar. Your response comes from a growing collection of skills and arrow types, including Exploding Shot, Lightning Shot, and piercing shots, alongside tactical tools such as Smoke Bombs and Shadow Step’s Invisibility. These abilities let you solve a fight in different ways, whether you are setting up a damaging shot, avoiding a dangerous attack, or using concealment to reach a better position. Between battles, the world map lets you plot your route, uncover secret paths, and find new skills, giving exploration a strategic role rather than making the journey a simple sequence of stages. You can also unlock and upgrade skills as you progress, gradually expanding the options available when planning future turns.

The additional Heart of Rot chapter expands the adventure with 18 new levels, new enemies, a new boss level, new environmental mechanics, and an NPC who fights beside you in later levels. It has its own chapter map and becomes available from the Chapter 3 map after you reach Chapter 3 of the main story. Its Lightning Shot skill can also be used in the main game once unlocked, connecting the extra content to your broader tactical toolkit. On a larger PC display, the world map is easier to read when plotting routes, checking possible paths, and looking for secret branches, while the spacious presentation helps separate enemy positions and attack information during a six-step prediction sequence. Mouse input is also well suited to carefully selecting targets, comparing the available arrows and skills, and making deliberate choices in repeated turn-based encounters; keyboard shortcuts, where supported by the PC version, can make recurring actions more comfortable between decisions. Howl is free to download and play for a limited number of levels and time, with the full version available to unlock through an in-app purchase.