diff --git a/hank/HInterface.hx b/hank/HInterface.hx
index c1afa69..1fe3fe6 100644
--- a/hank/HInterface.hx
+++ b/hank/HInterface.hx
@@ -157,26 +157,16 @@ class HInterface {
 			var node:StoryNode = cast(v, StoryNode);
 			return viewCounts[node] > 0;
 		}
-		switch (Type.typeof(v)) {
-			case TBool:
-				return v;
-			case TInt | TFloat:
-				return v > 0;
-			// TODO I would love to do away with this hack, but C++ type coercion turns random things into strings. This workaround fixes a specific bug
-			default:
-				if (Std.is(v, String)) {
-					var val = cast(v, String);
-					switch (val) {
-						case "true":
-							return true;
-						case "false":
-							return false;
-						default:
-							throw '$v: ${Type.typeof(v)} cannot be coerced to a boolean';
-					}
-				} else
-					throw '$v: ${Type.typeof(v)} cannot be coerced to a boolean';
+		if (Std.isOfType(v, Bool)) {
+			return v;
+		} else if (Std.isOfType(v, Int) || Std.isOfType(v, Float)) {
+			return v > 0;
+		} else if (Std.isOfType(v, String)) {
+			if (v == "false") return false;
+			else return v.length > 0;
 		}
+		throw '$v cannot be coerced to a boolean';
+		return false;
 	}
 
 	public function addVariable(identifier:String, value:Dynamic) {