
"I" make a deal with the witch to give up my heart, in exchange for love— from everyone. ——————————————————————————Is it worth it if losing my heart means gaining *his*? In this short visual novel, make choices and answer the question: is love a zero-sum game?
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
Media

About
Romantic, fantastical, and eerie, Zero-Sum Heart is a coming-of-age story about love.

Enter a magical boarding school on our protagonist's eighteenth birthday as she makes a monumental decision and derails her life.
A ritual sacrifice got her everything she ever wanted: an adoring crowd (faceless), a newfound power (dangerous), and a whirlwind romance (one-sided). But without a heart in her chest, how could she love anyone back? Does she even need to?

A short 2-hour story with multiple endings, blending genres of romance, teen drama, thriller/horror, and magical realism.
Vibrant and psychedelic hand-drawn illustrations that blur the lines between reality and fantasy.
A witchy, sinister, and groovy original soundtrack.

Zero-Sum Heart contains visual depictions of self-mutilation, violence, and gore, although not particularly graphic due to the non-realistic art style.
The story also contains limited depictions of stalking, harrassment, abuse, toxic familial and romantic relationships, murder, and suicide. Please note that due to the premise of the story, any romantic interaction the protagonist initiates with characters under the influence of magic might involve dubious consent.
If any of the above might be triggering for you, caution is advised while playing the game.
Genres
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish - Latin America
Engagement
Hours played at review time, across 40 reviews with recorded playtime.
Reviews
Themes across 40 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
Reviews
女巫姐姐实在是非常之好看! 我可能是反应比较迟钝,看了后记才把这个故事和海的女儿联系在一起,于是意识到男主设计成长发还绑个缎带原来是cos中世纪王子啊,设计成文艺长发男还挺合适。可能是因为内在和原作王子没半毛钱关系所以外表需要像一些? 因为男主形象过于理想化所以BE的条件稍微有点苛刻了。 首饰那一段设计得很好我特别喜欢! 小美人鱼也许并不是为王子化为泡影的,她是为自己对未知世界的幻想与憧憬和爱化为泡影的,也许她反而是懂得什么是爱的那一个。
我真的犹豫了好久才决定买,很高兴这趟旅程不虚此行。
-`♡´-"I love you." "Why?" "Because it's you. Because the universe seemed to have somehow planned it. Because the moment I saw you, everything felt different. Because you asked me to run away with you. No introductions, no plan, no destination, just the two of us. Because you saw something in my work when I thought no one cared. Because you understood. Because there's a tiny wrinkle in your nose when you smile. Because I saw a raindrop on your eyelash and it looked so magical. Because you are the only person I know who will put semicolons and full periods in your text messages. And because you are looking at me with those sad eyes right now and I should be upset, but I'm not." -`♡´- -`♡´- "I'll get you another gift, plenty of them, if you want them. I'll get you flowers. A bouquet I put together myself. I'll grow them. I'll get you cupcakes, chocolate ones with fudge-filled centers and sprinkles on top, which are my favorite from the baker on the street I grew up on. And I'll ask her to teach me how to make a birthday cake, too. I'll get you coloring pencils. Cardigans, fluffy seat cushions, a bunch of those tiny handblown glass frogs. All for no reason, other than because I thought of you when I saw them." -`♡´- Beautiful art and so is the outro song of the game. My favorite endings were Dissolution and Then There Were None because it just shows the reality of the main character and it seemed like the more realistic endings to me, since she was desperate enough to ask for the ritual to be made. The Bleeding Heart ending also had a lot of potential, if it was expanded a little further. Overall, very fun visual novel and I was able to get all the achivements/endings in 4hrs!
流程很短的青春伤痛文学小品()但是和解结局比较美味,美术与感情线也萌。选项美术做得别出心裁,但是请注意steamdeck上游玩得触屏辅助喔(总体而言sd食用OK)
非常合我胃口的一个游戏,我最喜欢的就是它迷幻又美丽的美术,充满艺术感。而有些惊悚诡异的故事又使这部游戏充满反差感。里面还有一些血腥恶心的画面(按道理来说是血腥的),不过已经艺术化过了,看起来没那么吓人,但还是挺诡异的。我最喜欢的结局也是我第一个打出来的结局,男女主he,第二喜欢的结局是化为泡影,比较符合我的爱情观。总而言之就是好有好报恶有恶报吧,做出决定的时候一定要慎重,根据自己的心走,一切就都没问题。
agreed with one comment which says that the amount of attention on the male lead is a little devastating. although, overall game is well-written, art is unique and pleasing, music isn't bad too. i think that it's an amazing project for a small indie studio, so wish all the luck for the next project
Fairly short but masterfully done first person romance visual novel with horror aesthetics. 4 Main Endings and a couple of bad endings strewn in-between. The soundtrack is a collection of very serene and beautiful instrumentals, it fits each scene very well. I am a big fan of the tracks "The Future" and "The Confession".
[h2] 完全在照镜子以至于不停流泪的游戏 [/h2] 的确是需要对电波的游戏。因为自己和女主很像,心路历程甚至真实经历也很像,所以极其代入,对我来说是一个很棒的作品,让我重新回顾和反思了自己的人生。 只盲打了一个结局,相濡以沫,还好是它。不敢重开,不敢收集结局,感觉那样就像是要重新选择自己的人生岔路,要走上那些我无法接受的痛苦结局。 缺少爱,渴求爱,忽视已经得到的爱,不择手段获取爱,迷茫于被爱却不爱对方,恐惧于爱是否真实且长久,直到被安全地、稳稳地用爱接住,直到爱持续的时间长到我无法骗自己不相信爱。 爱不是零和博弈,是化学反应。我们既付出,又得到,在爱与被爱中,我们共同成为了化学反应后生成的新物质。
第一次就HE了我简直是天才
愛とは何処から生まれるのだろう? 愛とは評価であり対価であり見返りである、 そんな愛されない自分に傷ついてきた女の子が、 愛を求めるために自分を捨てるところから始る 愛と代償、愛とエゴ、愛と痛みの物語。 認識論や存在論のようなテーマを挟みつつ哲学的で時にホラーな雰囲気を 柔らかくて温かみのあるアートが優しく包み込んでくれる。 ポップな塗りで表情変化も立ち絵も可愛らしく、この絵柄が良いと思っただけでも触れてみるのはありな作品。 ギャラリーに収集率表示がないのでわかりにくいが、フレームが埋まった絵でも実は細かい差分があったりする。 選択肢によってテキストも細かく変わるので「あ、この組み合わせでそうなるんですね」と気付くのが楽しい。 日本語は…「がんばりましたね」って感じではあるし、一人称や言葉使いがブレブレではあるけど、比喩表現や台詞の意味内容は日本語として通じるくらいにちゃんと訳されているので、多少の揺れを気にせず、暖かい気持ちで読める人なら大丈夫。 全エンドを見るだけならそんなに大変じゃ無いけど、 彼君が聖人すぎて、彼君に愛想つかされるルートが一番難しかったまである。
Related
Related
Trends
Modeled estimate over time, reconstructed from Steam's monthly review histogram.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
Related
| AV Sex Manager | $35.7K | 109 | 66% | $7.99 |
| Omega Pilot | $35.7K | 115 | 75% | $14.99 |
| Plague: London 1665 | $35.7K | 69 | 91% | $14.99 |
| Grand Guilds | $35.7K | 84 | 57% | $14.99 |
| Mineirinho Director's Cut | $35.7K | 2.3K | 65% | $0.99 |
| Acceleration of SUGURI X-Edition HD | $35.7K | 236 | 82% | $5.99 |
Related
| DAVE THE DIVER | $67.1M | 158.8K | 97% | $19.99 |
| The Scroll of Taiwu : Beyond The Dome | $62.3M | 69.6K | 66% | $29.99 |
| My Time at Sandrock | $29.4M | 28.8K | 88% | $39.99 |
| Creativerse | $24.3M | 30.7K | 78% | $24.99 |
| Forager | $23.8M | 43.8K | 90% | $19.99 |
| Coral Island | $20.8M | 27.3K | 89% | $29.99 |