Heartspell: Horizon Academy

A fun fusion between a visual novel and Match 3 puzzle game (Match 3 puzzles optional, if you select story mode.) The characters and lore are super charming and the art is wonderful. I've got 16 hours on this account but have played a total of 70+ hours. The story is replayable and there's always something new to come across depending on the choices you make. It's a high-quality game that I've thoroughly enjoyed. 10/10 would recommend for just about anyone who likes character relationships (romantic or platonic), world lore, and match-3 puzzles.

This is a wonderful game and if you enjoy romance or sci-fi stories then you would enjoy this game.

At first glance, this may seem like a normal "match-3-game-with-attractive-graphics-to-cheer-you-on" game, but it's not. It's so, so much more than that. In fact, you could even turn the match 3 elements off if you so choose (although I feel like they do serve as a nifty design element to represent more and difficult/varied spellcasting). Heck, the game has all kinds of accessibility features, which is amazing (A+!) But the sweet spot here is the characters. There are so many of them, all interesting, and they all have such varied and complex relationships with each other (which you can affect and/or join!). One small dialogue shift in one encounter may open up a whole new set of branching options in other encounters. Once you get to the repeatable encounters, even some of the options there may change from time to time, giving a delightful variance to what could otherwise be seen as repetitive in other games. The story is nifty - I admit I figured out the plot twist somewhere in the middle, but I didn't figure out [i]all[/i] of the plot twists, and each new one was a delight. If anything the only complaint I have is that there's no more - I'd love an entire series based off MC's school career, from start to finish. I'd also love the chance to design and name/pronoun my MC, but I understand why that's not the case here - and at the same time, it really isn't a con in this game. In fact, I completely forgot that I [i]hadn't[/i] given my char a name or pronoun early on in the game - it's really hard to get neutral writing like this to feel natural and yet the game does it just fine. It never feels forced. Do yourself a favour and give the game a try. Enjoy it for the match 3 elements, or just ignore the match 3 elements and let yourself enjoy the story - there's a mode for everyone as long as you like magic, cuties, and an engaging story.

Love this game so much! Would love to see more visual novels like this from the company!

Fun. Good voice acting and interesting story.

Well made match-3 gameplay combined with a light-hearted and entertaining visual novel.

Just a really good time: matching gems to make magic with fun cast of characters, and dating whichever people I want!

I really like this game! Great voice acting, amazing art, and super chill gameplay (except Amara's lol I was sweating a few times). I love how unapologetically queer it is. A truly comfy game with cute romanceable characters. You can date whoever you like or date them all! Even some NPCs! Can't recommend it enough, more games like these pls~!

Absolutely wonderful game, I’m completely obsessed! I like the story: every moment pulls me deeper in, and somehow it manages to be both exciting and comforting at the same time. It’s the kind of experience that stays on your mind long after you stop playing, making you want to come back again and again!

I am not a skilled enough gamer to play this game, even selecting the most basic menu options for whatever the hell reason requires me to REALLY REALLY mash left click, I couldn't even get to the normal gameplay before my finger was already tired. This sounds like a joke review but that is legitimately how the game played, perfect FPS, everything else seemed to work, selecting or pressing anything required HERCULEAN MASHING and was really inconsistent, I've never seen anything like it in a video game where "clicking on things" worked this poorly.