VCMI — Heroes III

Explore the world of Heroes of Might and Magic III, build towns and lead armies. Import your own Complete or Shadow of Death files, or try the free demo.

Click or tap to select heroes, move and use menus. Arrows scroll the map; Enter confirms and Escape opens menus. Experimental singleplayer browser prototype. Desktop Chrome or Edge recommended. Pause stops display and audio; an AI turn may finish in the background.

16.7 MiB engine download · import your own Heroes III files

Import your game files as a folder or ZIP. Files stay in your browser. See the instructions below for a demo or full copy.

Import a game folder or ZIP once. Files and written saves stay in this browser, never uploaded. Use the game's Save menu before stopping. Browser storage must be available for persistence; clearing site data removes resources and saves. Save export is unavailable.

How to play Heroes III with VCMI

Already own Heroes III on GOG? Prepare your game files once, import them here and play in desktop Chrome or Edge. You play Heroes III using the open-source VCMI engine, with graphics, sounds and maps from your own game. The Complete logo comes from those original resources. This browser edition is experimental. Your game files and saves stay in this browser and are never uploaded.

Heroes III Complete from GOG: step by step

You need Heroes of Might and Magic III: Complete, which includes both expansions. An existing Shadow of Death installation also supplies compatible resources. Steam HD Edition alone is not sufficient. If you do not own the game, get Heroes III Complete on GOG, or use the free demo below.

1. Download your game from GOG

Sign in to your GOG game library using the account that owns the game. Click Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete.
In the game panel, use Windows and choose English for the version tested here. Scroll below the blue GOG Galaxy download button.
Expand Download offline backup game installers. These instructions use English GOG labels; the website may display them in your own language, depending on your language settings.
Download both parts of the same installer version: part 1 of 2 is a small .exe; part 2 of 2 is the large -1.bin file, about 0.9 GB in the tested release. Keep both in one folder with their original names and wait until both downloads finish.

The Galaxy download, patch and bonus soundtrack are not the two offline installer parts. Galaxy is optional: if the game is already installed through Galaxy, skip the download and use its installation folder.

2. Prepare the files on your computer

Windows — use the installed game folder

Open the downloaded .exe to install the game. Keep the matching .bin beside it; the installer reads it automatically. Note the installation location.
Find that folder in File Explorer. A common location is C:\GOG Games\Heroes of Might and Magic 3 Complete, but yours may differ. If you used Galaxy, open the game's settings and use Manage installation → Show folder.
Check that this folder contains Data and Maps. Data should contain files such as H3bitmap.lod, H3sprite.lod and Heroes3.snd; Maps should contain .h3m maps. Keep Mp3 too if you want music.

macOS — extract the GOG installer without running Windows

You do not need Windows or Wine. Use innoextract to unpack the installer. If you do not have Homebrew, follow the installation instructions on the official Homebrew website first.

Put the downloaded .exe and matching .bin in your Downloads folder. Leave their names unchanged.
Open Terminal and run brew install innoextract.
Run cd ~/Downloads. Then type innoextract --extract --output-dir Heroes3 with a space at the end, drag the downloaded .exe from Finder into Terminal to insert its exact path, and press Enter. Select the offline installer, not the Galaxy installer or patch.
Wait for Done. Open Downloads → Heroes3 in Finder. Find the folder containing Data and Maps; some installer versions put them inside an app subfolder. This is the folder to import.

Verified on macOS with the English GOG offline installer 4.0 (3.2) GOG 0.1. A missing .bin error usually means the second part is absent, unfinished, renamed or from a different installer version.

Linux — extract with innoextract

Install innoextract through your distribution's package manager. Keep both installer parts together. In that folder, run innoextract --extract --output-dir Heroes3 "YOUR_DOWNLOADED_INSTALLER.exe", replacing the quoted filename with the exact name of the offline installer. Import the extracted folder containing Data and Maps. This Linux preparation route has not been tested here.

3. Import and start playing

Return to this page and press Play VCMI — Heroes III. Wait until the import controls become available.
Choose Choose game folder and select the installed or extracted folder that contains Data and Maps. Confirm the browser's folder selection prompt if it appears. File access is local; no upload takes place.
Alternatively, select Data, Maps and optionally Mp3 together and create a ZIP using Compress to ZIP file on Windows or Compress in Finder. Press Choose ZIP and select that ZIP. Keep the folders inside it; do not flatten their contents.
Wait for Game files saved in this browser. Ready to start., then press Start Heroes III.
In the game, choose New Game → Single Scenario, select a map and press Begin. We verified Arrogance with the full English GOG Complete resources. Select a hero, click a destination to plan a route, then click it again to move.

Import the extracted game data, not the .exe or .bin. Maximum import: 1 GiB total, 256 MiB per file. Videos and executables are ignored. The tested Complete import contained about 339 MiB of resources including music.

4. Save and return later

Use the game's Save Game menu and wait for its success message and the browser save indicator before pressing Stop game. Next time, open this same page in the same Chrome or Edge profile, press Play → Start Heroes III → Load Game → Single Scenario and select your save. Importing again is unnecessary while browser storage is available. Clearing site data removes resources and saves; private browsing may discard them. Saves do not sync between browsers or computers, and save export is unavailable.

Import troubleshooting

The installer cannot find its data: download both parts completely, put them in the same folder and keep the matching filenames unchanged.
Missing LOD, SND or map files: select the installed or extracted folder containing Data and Maps. A folder containing only the installer parts is insufficient. Steam HD Edition resources are incompatible.
The import is too large: make a ZIP with only Data, Maps and optional Mp3. Leave videos, installers and bonus downloads out.
Storage is unavailable: the game can run for this session, but cannot retain your files or saves. Use a regular browser profile with site storage available.
The engine will not start: try desktop Chrome or Edge, close memory-heavy tabs and use the player's retry or Restart control. This remains an experimental browser port.

Try the free demo

The prepared VCMI demo includes Dead and Buried. Castle, Dungeon and Necropolis are available; other content is limited.

Download the prepared Heroes III demo ZIP (about 122 MiB) from the community project linked by VCMI's demo guide.
Press Play VCMI — Heroes III, select Choose ZIP and import demo-package.zip. Keep it zipped.
Press Start Heroes III, then choose New Game → Single Scenario and Dead and Buried.

The open-source demo compatibility mod is included and activates automatically for demo resources. The original demo is downloaded from an external project; Leaf Arcade does not host its game assets.

Why do I need game files?

VCMI is an open-source engine. Heroes III graphics, sounds and maps have separate copyright and are supplied by your own installation or the demo. Official VCMI downloads also offer native versions for Windows, macOS, Linux and mobile devices.

What are the current limitations?

This is an unofficial browser port for local singleplayer play. Online multiplayer, the standalone Battle Mode, campaign videos and installing extra mods are unavailable. Battles within a scenario use the normal game rules. Pause stops the display and sound; an AI turn already in progress may finish in the background. The engine needs substantial memory, so a desktop is recommended. Full GOG Complete resources have been verified for scenario play, AI turns and save/load; a complete campaign playthrough has not been tested.