Sweet Home Now Supports English and Japanese, With 12 Endings Across Its Chinese High-School Story

Sweet Home, originally titled 纸房子, is a Chinese visual novel developed by 开心茶房 that follows Zhao Ying, a high-school student living in a small town in 2018. Her school life gradually branches through friendships, romance, family tension and the choices made by the player.

The game originally launched on Steam on August 18, 2025. Since its September 2026 multilingual update, the story can also be played in English, Japanese, Korean and Traditional Chinese alongside the original Simplified Chinese version.

Quick Summary

• Global title: Sweet Home
• Original title: 纸房子
• Steam title: 纸房子 Sweet Home
• Developer: 开心茶房
• Publisher: Tailtone Games
• Publisher: 开心茶房
• Platform: Steam
• Operating system: Windows
• Operating system: macOS
• Original release: August 18, 2025
• Format: visual novel
• Mode: single-player
• Setting: Chinese high school
• Story year: 2018
• Protagonist: Zhao Ying
• Name used in the English description: Ying
• Story focus: Zhao Ying's high-school life
• Story focus: friendship
• Story focus: romance
• Story focus: family
• Story focus: personal choices
• Opening situation: Ying skips class again
• Home life: marked by tension
• Town: familiar to Ying but increasingly suffocating
• Early turning point: a puppy
• Early turning point: an unexpected encounter
• Early turning point: new relationships
• Main story routes: 3
• Secret route: 1
• Endings: 12
• Text: more than 200,000 words
• Backgrounds: 40 hand-drawn backgrounds
• CGs: 50 illustrations
• Character sprites: nearly 1,000 variations
• Demo: available on Steam
• Steam Achievements: 17
• Steam Family Sharing: supported
• Steam Deck: Playable
• Original language: Simplified Chinese
• Multilingual update: September 2026
• Added language: English
• Added language: Japanese
• Added language: Korean
• Added language: Traditional Chinese
• Total Steam languages: 5
• Indonesian: not supported
• Full audio: not listed
• Multilingual update addition: new ending sequences for selected endings
• Content advisory: LGBTQ+ themes
• Content advisory: school bullying
• Content advisory: domestic violence
• Mature content: mild self-harm
• Mature content: violent content
• Official Steam genre: Casual
• Official Steam genre: Indie
• Official Steam genre: RPG
• Official Steam genre: Simulation
• Current status: available now

Trailer, Steam, and Sweet Home Visuals

Zhao Ying's High-School Life in a Small Chinese Town

The story begins during the winter of 2018. Ying skips class again while trying to distance herself from tension at home, moving through a small town she knows well but increasingly finds difficult to breathe in.

Things begin to shift after a puppy, an unexpected encounter and several new relationships enter her life. From there, the player's decisions shape how Ying deals with friends, classmates, people in her neighborhood, school and family.

Three Main Routes, a Secret Route, and 12 Endings

Sweet Home uses a choice-driven visual novel structure. Relationships with three key characters can be strengthened or damaged depending on the player's decisions.

The game contains three main story routes and one secret route, leading to 12 branching endings. Its production includes more than 200,000 words, 40 hand-drawn backgrounds, 50 CG illustrations and nearly 1,000 character sprite variations.

The Multilingual Update Added Four Languages

The September 2026 update significantly expanded accessibility outside the original Chinese audience. English, Japanese, Korean and Traditional Chinese were added alongside Simplified Chinese.

The developers also added special ending sequences to selected endings. A later v1.1.3 patch fixed an issue involving character sprites after loading certain saves and addressed several text problems.

The Story Comes With Heavy Content Warnings

Steam carries a direct content advisory for Sweet Home, including LGBTQ+ themes alongside depictions of school bullying and domestic violence.

The developer's mature-content description additionally mentions mild self-harm and violence. Its school-life and relationship structure therefore sits alongside subject matter that can become considerably heavier.

Why This Matters

1) Choices lead into a substantial ending structure

Three main routes, one secret route and 12 endings give players multiple ways to follow Ying's life.

2) The international release is far more accessible now

English, Japanese, Korean and Traditional Chinese are all directly supported through Steam.

3) It is a sizeable production for an indie visual novel

More than 200,000 words, 50 CGs, 40 backgrounds and nearly 1,000 sprite variations make up the game.

Sweet Home Game Information

For now, the additional important information currently known includes:

• the official Steam title is 纸房子 Sweet Home
• Sweet Home is developed by 开心茶房
• Tailtone Games and 开心茶房 are listed as publishers
• the game originally launched on August 18, 2025
• it is available through Steam
• a Windows version is available
• macOS requirements are also listed
• the game is designed for single-player
• the developer officially describes it as a visual novel
• the story takes place around a Chinese high school
• its primary setting is 2018
• Zhao Ying is the protagonist
• the story begins with Ying skipping class again
• she is trying to escape tension at home
• her small town is described as familiar but suffocating
• a puppy becomes one of the early catalysts for change
• an unexpected encounter is another early event
• several new relationships then develop
• players determine Ying's choices
• choices can build relationships
• choices can also break relationships
• three key characters are tied to the relationship structure
• there are three main story routes
• there is one secret route
• there are 12 branching endings
• the game contains more than 200,000 words
• it includes 40 hand-drawn backgrounds
• it includes 50 CG illustrations
• it contains nearly 1,000 character sprite variations
• a free demo is available through Steam
• Steam lists 17 achievements
• Family Sharing is supported
• Steam Deck compatibility is listed as Playable
• official store genres include Casual
• official store genres include Indie
• official store genres include RPG
• official store genres include Simulation
• Simplified Chinese was the original supported language
• a multilingual update arrived in September 2026
• the update added Traditional Chinese
• the update added English
• the update added Japanese
• the update added Korean
• the update went live on September 7, 2026 PDT
• the Chinese schedule placed it on September 8, 2026 at 10:00 CST
• Steam now lists five supported languages
• Indonesian is not currently supported
• Steam does not list full audio
• the multilingual update also introduced new ending sequences
• those sequences appear after selected endings
• the developer permits gameplay streaming and recording
• prior permission is not required for streaming
• endings may also be shown
• monetized and non-monetized videos are permitted
• standalone distribution of the game's music/BGM without gameplay is not permitted
• v1.1.3 was released on September 10, 2026
• the patch fixed character-sprite display issues after loading saves under certain conditions
• it also fixed several text issues
• Steam's content advisory explicitly includes LGBTQ+ themes
• school bullying is also included in the advisory
• domestic violence is included
• the mature-content description mentions mild self-harm
• violent content is also mentioned
• the listed minimum Windows version is Windows 7
• the minimum Windows processor is an Intel Core i3
• listed minimum memory is 8 GB RAM
• the minimum GPU is Intel HD Graphics 4400
• listed Windows storage is 5 GB
• minimum macOS is macOS 11.0+
• minimum macOS processor is Apple M1 or Intel Core i5
• game information and the demo are available through Steam
• official updates are available through Steam Community
• the promotional video is available through the Official Promotional PV

Closing

Sweet Home combines a branching visual-novel structure with the life of a high-school student dealing with relationships at school and home that are not always easy to navigate. Its 12 endings allow Zhao Ying's story to move in significantly different directions.

With English, Japanese, Korean and Traditional Chinese localization now available, the game is considerably easier to access outside its original Chinese audience. Indonesian localization has not been announced.

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