The Mysterious Island” inspired by the Jules Vernes's novel.
- Many quests, easter eggs, secret paths and twists.
- Overpowered spells are not easily accessible.
- No Fly and DD.
- Best challenge in maximum difficulty (King).
Author: Lys (Toulouse, France), 29-04-2025 19:06 Awesome - The Mysterious Island How to say... Probably the best map I ever played : well constructed, tons of quests, and huge amount of Easter eggs ;-)
A must to be played, and again
Thanks for your rating and feedback - The Mysterious Island
Thank you so much, Lys!
I'm glad you enjoyed this adventure and its secrets :)
Author: Papyjama (Toulouse, France), 27-04-2025 21:42 hotfix v1.1.d - The Mysterious Island v1.1.d
Hotfix for an oversight that allowed Fafner to have a secondary skill that shouldn't have been available.
Thanks to "32167" user :)
Author: 32167, 27-04-2025 15:45 Like :) - The Mysterious Island I started playing the new version of the map. So far I like everything very much. The only moment - I found Fafner in the tavern.
Thanks so much for catching that mistake! - The Mysterious Island
Hi!
Hi!
I'm so glad you're enjoying my map! Thank you so much for letting me know about that mistake - I've sent a corrected version (v1.1.d) to fix it.
Enjoy your adventure on my map! :)
Author: Papyjama (Toulouse, France), 27-04-2025 11:41 MAJOR UPDATE v1.1.c - The Mysterious Island 27 April 2025
New MAJOR Update (v1.1.c) is here!
Thanks to all your feedback and suggestions, the adventure just got even bigger, better, and smoother!
Here’s what’s waiting for you in the latest version:
Major Changes:
--------------
Revamped teleporter system:
Now fully two-way between the 3 cities of each zone! But it's not free, you will see...
Bloodbath access reworked:
One-way portal chain from Mansions -> Bloodbath -> Starting zones, for a smoother late-game flow.
Final boss access redesigned:
Less tedious walking and a new, improved riddle!
Higher difficulty = better challenge:
On "Queen" and "King" difficulties, spells like Slow, Blind, Force Field, Berserk, and Clone are harder to find.
Lower difficulties remain more accessible to casual players.
New rescue missions:
3 hero rescues sprinkled throughout the adventure: early, mid, and late game!
New boat shortcuts:
Find fast routes during the Grail quest - no more tedious backtracking!
Secret passages:
Tons of new hidden paths unlocked after getting the Black Key... Explorers will be rewarded!
Story-driven events:
More lore, more clues — you’ll always know where you should head next!
Minor Improvements:
------------------
Updated map description:
Clearer info: no time limit, standard victory conditions.
New decorations and sea details:
More immersive worldbuilding! To be continued...
Simplified underground tunnels:
Shorter routes, fewer fake paths that waste your time.
Movement boost at the start:
All heroes now start on equal footing regarding distance to their first town.
Favorable Winds:
Aircrafts and ships can find special spots on the sea to fully restore movement points!
Hidden Easter Eggs and references:
A lot more secrets for the curious players out there.
Thank You Section:
At the end of your journey, a tribute to all players, streamers, feedback-givers, and mapmakers who made this possible!
Thank you again for your incredible support - and get ready for an even greater adventure!
Good luck, and may your heroes become legends!
Author: Irene and Vasily (Moscow), 11-04-2025 09:41 Like The Mysterious Island - The Mysterious Island Шикарная, сложная карта. Спасибо!
Извините за орфографию, я использовал Google Translate.
Author: Andrey, 08-04-2025 07:45 Town Portal - The Mysterious Island How to get to "town portal"-shrine? I cannot find a way to it even with map viewer. I need to reach pink portal but I do not see a way to do it.
Access to the two way pink portal in v1.0.L - The Mysterious Island
In the version of the map you're playing (v1.0.L), The red portal just above the town of "Rognaras" gives a clue about the location of the access to the pink portal.
Is that okay with you?
If not i can tell your where it is.
Note for other players who might read this comment later: in the upcoming update (1.0.M or more), this part will be greatly simplified.
Andrey writes:
08-04-2025 18:00
Access to the two way pink portal in v1.0.L - The Mysterious Island
Thanks, if I understand correctly, your hint points to the purple 2-way portal, doesn't it?
Purple portal first (in v1.0.L only) - The Mysterious Island
Yes, that's right. You must take the purple portal first.
The pink portal can only be used after capturing the red necropolis.
Purple portal, to necropolis, to pink portal.
Author: arton10 (Poland), 07-04-2025 21:10 Like Very nice detailed map - The Mysterious Island This map is very challenging, one of the best map I ever played. Finished on 285 days, score 366. Thank man for this map. :)
Great score in this difficulty!
I hope the challenge was balanced for you. I'm very glad you liked it so much!
Author: Papyjama (Toulouse, France), 07-04-2025 11:55 Maybe it's not totaly finished after black key - The Mysterious Island There might still be a few surprises before it's over... Maybe it would be wise to go to sleep before the end
Author: Felix, 07-04-2025 11:47 Like End! - The Mysterious Island that was stupid of me, the portal is very clear and not even hidden, north to the town
thanks, finally i can end it and sleep with peace lol
Author: Papyjama (Toulouse, France), 07-04-2025 10:24 Black tent - The Mysterious Island No problem :)
For the black tent, you just need to take the black teleporter located just above the city of "Nautilus."
In my upcoming update, this portal will be placed right next to the city to make sure no one misses it ;)
Author: Felix, 07-04-2025 10:17 Like thankyou - The Mysterious Island looks like i need to mention, I havent got to find the black tent as well lol
Author: Felix, 07-04-2025 10:14 Like thankyou - The Mysterious Island will try to find it, thankyou! i played few times already with king and rooks difficulties.
looks like when i refreshed the page, the comment is posted again, sorry.
please help to delete it
Author: Felix, 07-04-2025 10:11 Like Hi - The Mysterious Island Hi, this map is really complicated, yet very challenging, one of the best map!
I actually kind of stuck to find the way to reach the red and the actual pink on underground, is there any clue?
I already get the airship, but that wont help much i guess, thanks!
once again, excellent maps!
Author: Papyjama (Toulouse, France), 07-04-2025 09:43 Find the red before the pink - The Mysterious Island Thank you very much for the feedback, it means a lot to me :)
The airship is a secondary bonus that allows you to collect the Shackles of War and some gold mines, but it doesn't let you reach the red or pink players.
Hints (which will be clarified in-game in the next update):
To completely eradicate the pink player, you must first get rid of the red one.
To reach the red player, you need to find a red aquatic teleportation portal surrounded by volcanoes. You should look underground, not far from the Nautilus.
Feel free to let me know if you need more help!
In which difficulty are you ?
Enjoy the game!
Author: Felix, 07-04-2025 09:34 Like Hi - The Mysterious Island Hi, this map is really complicated, yet very challenging, one of the best map!
I actually kind of stuck to find the way to reach the red and the actual pink on underground, is there any clue?
I already get the airship, but that wont help much i guess, thanks!
once again, excellent maps!
Felix writes:
07-04-2025 17:57
thanks - The Mysterious Island
finished it already, i read some other comments and agreed:
- whenever we reach red, we might not needed the extra help from HotA, or others artifact already
- the long underground river and mountain, seems like... useless? but it keeps us stress finding the way there hahhaha
looks like pink is losing its best heroes kinda early, it annoys player only because it keep spawing with no way to trace to its main town. when we killed night king, pretty much its over, bcs pink has no power.
nonetheless, very appreciate the effort to create such detailed maps, more hints are appreciate to keep us following the main story (if it counts as story)
main town is fortress, I will try again to finish with other town and raise the difficulty.
hopefully there will other maps you create in future, thankyou!
Wait for update before restart please :) - The Mysterious Island
Thank you very much for the feedback!
The Night King is the final boss in my view, the game ends at that point, and cleaning up the pink player is just the epilogue ;)
As for the difficulty, it gets a boost in "Queen" mode and is significantly increased in "King" mode.
Before you start a new game on this map, would you mind waiting for the update I’m currently working on?
That way, you’ll be able to try out the improvements.
See you soon!
Felix (Indonesia) writes:
08-04-2025 15:00
Waiting - The Mysterious Island
Sure, I’m waiting for the updates!
Author: Jens, 05-04-2025 20:49 Like Unique map - The Mysterious Island I really like the ideas used in this map, it felt unique and clearly a lot of effort has been put into it. I do wish the progression order was communicated more clearly or alternatively that all the key elements were put on the critical path. For example, the path to the airship is easy to miss since there are so many other paths to take.
I also wrote down a couple of notes if you're interested in more feedback:
1. The 'invasions' from the volcano were too easy to deal with, but Night King and Xeron were formidable challenges.
2. Is it intended that you can simply run past Xeron and never fight him? He will not follow you and even if you take all Red's bases he will stand still until he is eliminated for abandoning their lands.
3. IMO town poral should be available earlier (maybe right after finding the black tent) but if you don't like that then alternatively I would suggest removing the quest guards near Nautilus so the pink portals allow access to all areas of the main continent
Either way, still a fun map overall. I played on King's difficulty, and it took me 398 days to win.
Thanks for your feedback and suggestions - The Mysterious Island
Hi!
I'm really glad you enjoyed my map :)
Thank you so much for this very detailed feedback, it’s incredibly helpful!
I'm currently working on an update based on several pieces of feedback, and some of the changes align with your suggestions:
1. Captain Nemo will now mention that he built the balloon factory, where it's located, and that only he can unlock access to it.
2. Regarding the invasions : do you think they’re too easy because the enemy troops are too weak? Or is it more because they can be easily countered with spells?
3. In the upcoming update, the spells Slow, Berserk, Blind, Clone, and Force Field will be more difficult to obtain.
4. Thanks to your feedback, I just fixed Xeron! He had a patrol radius set, a leftover from an older version. He’ll now be free to move around, thank you so much!
5. I’ve completely reworked the map’s travel system:
5.a. There will now be three two-way teleporters between the three towns in each territory (instead of two one-way teleporters to the main city as it is now). Of course, they’ll need to be unlocked, they won’t be accessible from the start.
5.b. Similar to your suggestion, it will be possible to access all territories from a single location: in the next version, all “Mansion” teleporters will be one-way and lead to the “Bloodbath” zone. From there, one-way teleporters will take you to the six main continent territories + Nautilus (you’ll still need the appropriate color keys, of course).
6. I’m going to “simplify” some of the underground routes that were too long without adding much value.
If you have time, I’d love to hear what you think about all this.
In any case, thank you again for taking the time to write your feedback!
I’m really happy you enjoyed the adventure :)
Jens writes:
06-04-2025 01:28
RE - The Mysterious Island
All the changes sound great!
Does Red get access to the Black tent? Otherwise Xeron might still be stuck.
Regarding the invasions, I think their spell use was a bit weak (I don't abuse Berserk and Force Field, but they were quite susceptible to Blind and Slow), and overall, their number of troops could use a buff. When Ignatius was unleashed, he came with 66 Devils, whereas Xeron had 666 Archdevils. And maybe the first invasion with the 3 heroes could come a month or so sooner to space things out better?
Modification invasions timing and power - The Mysterious Island
Thanks for the feedback, glad to see that the ongoing changes are heading in the right direction ☺️
Red does not have access to the Black Tent — Xeron must keep access to it and shouldn't leave that area.
I had an idea based on your comment about the possibility of avoiding him: right after Xeron, I could add a quest guard that requires either:
killing Xeron
or bringing the "Orb" artifact, which is only obtained by defeating him (and isn't available anywhere else on the island).
That's a good idea for the first invasion (with the 3 heroes); I'll look into making it happen about a month earlier and maybe slightly increasing their troop numbers (I'll need to think about the numbers depending on whether the Slow spell is accessible at that point in the game).
As for the Blind spell, I’m planning to leave it only for Xeron and the final boss of the red player. I find it annoying when the AI uses it — the human player is then forced to waste a spell turn on Cure or Dispel. And when the player uses it (especially with Resurrection), it tends to be abused.
With Blind almost completely disabled (except for the two red "bosses"), it won’t be possible to learn it, even with a hero who has Eagle Eye. (However, other spells will still be obtainable through that secondary skill — which is rightly considered mostly useless and unloved.)
I'll also make a note to buff Ignatius on the highest difficulty — you're right, by that stage of the game the player will definitely have more than just the equivalent of 66 Devils.
Author: Odion (Germany), 05-04-2025 01:41 Like the map - The Mysterious Island i can imagine that a lot of time was spend to create this map. me and my Brother we had fum playing it. Good job!
Indeed, it took a huge amount of time to reach this result, and it’s not over yet : I’m working on a big update that takes into account some valuable feedback, especially regarding movement flow and certain endgame elements. But don’t worry, the current version is perfectly playable (just probably a bit longer).
It’s really awesome to be able to play with family!
My brother just finished the map on his end. I hope we’ll also get the chance to play it together one day, like you did with yours ;)
Greetings from France
Author: ceceron (Krakow, Poland), 04-04-2025 19:39 Like Well (over?)done - The Mysterious Island The map is quite impressive in terms of the scale and design. It's not difficult and IMHO that's fine — I really play mostly for fun, not for challenge.
However, the map is cumbersome by design and that's not fun:
1. The final opponents (2000 ghost dragons on the cursed land, both main red heroes) are overpowered compared to the rest of the map. You can reach them being really unprepared for the challenge. Obviously, you can beat them quite easily, but you have to spend too much time preparing for the battle. It's boring. The difficulty curve should be more organic, such a jump spoils the fun.
2. Some paths are just long for the sake of being long. Even the in-game message acknowledge their annoying nature. Long empty, time-consuming paths really do not bring anything good to the table.
3. I agree with other commenters that ocean could be much more interesting.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback!
I’m really glad you enjoyed the design!
I completely understand the three points you mentioned.
I'm currently working on a major update that will take this kind of feedback into account.
I'll be adjusting the red player's power progression to make it more gradual.
For the surface, I plan to change the teleportation system by introducing three two-way teleporters in the starting area between the three towns (unlockable through quests). Same goes for the teleporters in the “Bloodbath” area.
As for the underground and certain ocean zones, I’ll implement a system to reset movement points and simplify some of the paths.
Lastly, I’ll improve the sea visuals.
Could you please let me know which difficulty you played on, how long it took you to finish (week/month), and which faction you started with?
Thanks again!
Author: Garri, 03-04-2025 21:30 Excellent map - The Mysterious Island Excellent map, at first it seemed boring, but then a real masterpiece opened up, thanks to the author for such a complex and exciting game.
Thanks for your feedback and like - The Mysterious Island
Thank you very much, Garri, for your feedback!
I hope to improve it even further, especially for experienced players looking for more of a challenge.
Enjoy your journey on my map!
Author: 32167, 02-04-2025 21:39 Like :( - The Mysterious Island I want to chuck in my two cents about the map difficalty. The map is incredibly beautiful, but... I was a little upset when I got Berserk magic too early. Until now, I have had several very weak AI heroes. Now they will be completely defenseless. But I have opened no more than 10% of the map... This magic ruins the fun of further map playthrough.
Author: Papyjama (Toulouse, France), 02-04-2025 11:17 Thanks for details - The Mysterious Island Thank you for these details. Could you specify which difficulty level you are playing on?
And which month/week?
I am currently working on the next update and have already taken into account several pieces of feedback, particularly to make movements feel more "fluid" (I won't say more to avoid spoilers).
I also plan to add quests in the starting areas (there are already 36 quest givers on the island, not counting the garrison quests).
Author: Gulo, 02-04-2025 05:34 Yes - The Mysterious Island The map looks very nice and beautiful, but the enemies and creatures are too weak, also not have enough quests.
Author: Papyjama (Toulouse, France), 01-04-2025 14:19 Thanks for your April fool's Feedback - The Mysterious Island Thank you for this very constructive feedback :)
Have a great April Fool's Day! ;)
Author: idiot, 01-04-2025 14:17 4/10 - The Mysterious Island I respect the hard work that went into creating this, but honestly, this map is really boring
For your current game session, please note that some of the Red Player's "boss" heroes will be immune.
However, you're right—I need to make certain spells harder to access in the maximum difficulty mode.
In the next update (work in progress), I will make the following spells much harder to obtain:
- Slow
- Berserk
- Clone
- Force Field
Do you see any other spells that should be more difficult to acquire in maximum difficulty mode?
32167 writes:
02-04-2025 22:12
-- - The Mysterious Island
Great! I'll wait for the update and start again. In my opinion, it would be better to make Berserk completely unavailable to the human player. And it would be interesting to limit Resurrection with Blind too.
Spell restriction for human player - The Mysterious Island
Thank you for your quick response!
With the new "Eagle Eye," it would still be possible to "steal" spells from AI players, but the player would have to invest in this skill.
Alternatively, completely banning Eagle Eye is an option, though that would be a shame. What do you think?
Armageddon can already be obtained this way—by attacking a Red Player hero, fleeing, and then trading it using the Scholar skill.
I’ll think about it. In any case, I really appreciate your feedback!
I will post on the Facebook groups and here once I have released the update.
32167 writes:
03-04-2025 00:16
-- - The Mysterious Island
That's a good question. For example, you can block the Eagle Eye skill, but leave a couple of heroes who already have this skill. But I would block the Scholar skill and block the heroes who have it (or hide one in prison, very well guarded).
Scholar access restricted idea - The Mysterious Island
Great idea for scholar restriction, thanks a lot!
I already know where it will be possible to find a hero with this skill, hidden on the map.
I think it's also possible to edit heros who have this skill into the map editor instead of banish them.
Thanks again!
Author: Ilya Mishchenko (United Kingdom), 31-03-2025 09:30 mr - The Mysterious Island (I only played 5 months so far and yet to discover another half of this beautiful world) I try not to look at the map before I play it to make it more "mysterious" for me so I had to block the image of the map while writing this review lol. The attention to detail is staggering, bearing in mind that this is a GIANT map. This map maker has the perfect vision of how maps should look. Every road you take looks beautiful. The objects on the map are carefully thought through and the border gates idea adds even more depth to this extraordinary piece of art. The balance of the Sea and land is perfect. Nice balance of resources in the sea, you can travel fairly far without finding much, just like in the real world. You can use the sea to be more strategic with your attacks on certain parts of the island . The amount of resources is low which is great and makes it more interesting, it pushes you to explore more to find that extra edge, unlike many mapmakers that scatter resources around.
I had several critical battles against strongest heroes. Evacious was the toughest so far) I don't know if I will finish the map or the map will finish me lol but let me tell you, this is the most beautiful, exciting and detailed Giant map I have ever played. I had to put my Steam games on hold because i am excited to play this every day. Maps like this is what makes Heroes so addictive.
Thank you so much for this feedback! It truly means a lot to me. I'm thrilled that the beginning of this adventure has captivated you so much that you’ve put your other games on hold.
I can only hope that you’ll conquer this map before it conquers you, lol.
If you ever reach the end of the adventure (or not), feel free to come back here and share your thoughts. Feedback is very important to me as I prepare the update for the release of the next faction, "Bulwark," in Horn of the Abyss.
Once again, thank you for your review, and best of luck on the rest of your adventure!
Author: Papyjama (Toulouse, France), 28-03-2025 19:55 Minor update - The Mysterious Island If you've already started a game in the previous version, don't worry! These are only minor changes that won't affect the overall gameplay—except perhaps for very experienced players looking to rush through the map as quickly as possible (which isn't necessarily the intended way to play).
Changelog :
---- Update v1.0.L - 2025/03/28 ----
+ Queen & King difficulty : First boss of red player (access to red territory) increase gradually his power (primary skill & creature) month 7 to 11 (instead of being directly at the top of his power).
+ Castle Gate added to each starting area (requires black key to use it).
+ More secrets passages to make traveling on the island easier (requires Black Key).
+ Adding a Border Gate Blue (player 2) at the south of "Falls River" Town.
+ New repetable quest for trading 50 Energy Elemental to 90 Wairth (Player 7 area).
+ Adding some creatures in the wooden Garrison bewteen North & South of the island.
+ 2 new Cpt. Nemo advices.
+ Switch "Garrison" for protecting colors keymasters (players 2 to 7) by a "Anti-Magic Garrison" with 2x more guardians.
+ Adding several events or creatures messages.
+ 2 more "Junkman" places.
---- Update v1.0.k - 2025/03/26 ----
= First version online.
Author: Aleksander (Berlin, Germany), 27-03-2025 12:14 Like Beautiful map - The Mysterious Island Very underrated map, the sea needs some improvement though.
What would be your suggestions to improve the sea? Keep in mind that in the book, the island is completely isolated.
In my vision, the "sea" part is secondary (or mainly for circumnavigation, and later exploring a few specific areas).
I plan to release an update when HotA 1.7.3 comes out with the new "Bulwark" faction; it will be an opportunity to consider any feedback or comments I may have received by then. :-)
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