I’ve played a lot of match-three puzzle games in my lifetime. At this point, it’s very rare to find one that does anything new. They’re all some variation on the same theme, tasking players with matching similar shapes to break down a well of sorts. The nuances change, but the structure is hard to really shake up. I respect any game that tries to.
It was with that in mind that I found myself drawn to Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To. On its surface, the new indie looks fairly similar to any old puzzle game. It’s a spin on Panel de Pon that has players swapping pieces in a slowly building well to create matches and build combos. What’s so special about that? One word: dating.
In addition to being a traditional puzzler, Spirit Swap is a light visual novel too. It stars a witch named Sama whose job is to fight back stray spirits that have wandered into their magical city. It’s a simple narrative premise, but one that’s rooted in genre history. Plenty of puzzle games, like Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop, have light narrative backbones built to introduce the game’s cast of characters. Spirit Swap joins that great lineage by weaving a tale of magical beings and queer love.
That last part is what makes Spirit Swap stand out. It’s not just a puzzle game, but a dating sim too. In each mission, I’m meeting a hot new character that I can eventually romance if I chat with them enough. My options range from chill hunks to mystical polycules. Each character has their own story built through bonding conversations and battles, taking the idea of a standard puzzle story one step further and adding smooching to the mix.
Whether or not that clicks with you will depend on your tolerance for Tumblrcore writing. If that’s not your bag, Spirit Swap can be a bit grating at times between its long-winded flirtations and loading screams that tell you to drink water. Everything here feels designed to appeal to a specific kind of internet-brained audience, which does leave it feeling artistically interchangeable with cozy games that all pluck from the same aesthetic rulebook.
You can ignore that if you want and just focus on the core puzzle game in Endless or Versus mode, which is as good a way to play as any. The basics are easy to grasp. There’s a well of shapes that slowly rises and players need to make matches by swapping two pieces that are next to one another. That’s simple enough, but the twist comes from spells which trigger effects when certain shapes patterns are created. For instance, if I manage to match four of the same pieces into a box, I’ll wipe the entire top half of the screen out. Another spell will knock out a full column and row if I make a cross shape. My goal is to work quickly, preserving my magic and pulling a spell off when the pieces are piling up too high.
It’s just enough to give a well-trodden formula an extra boost. Versus battles become especially tense, with spells in play, as a player who preserves their energy can turn things around fast, creating more back and forth momentum volleys. Even the short story mode gets incredibly tough quickly, a fact that had me cranking the difficulty down by the end.
Spirit Swap isn’t the next great puzzle game, but it isn’t trying to be. It’s a small labor of love that pays its respects to Panel de Pon while peppering in some chill beats and light cozy game hooks like house decorating. If all of this sounds up your alley, it likely will be. If it doesn’t, I don’t suppose you’ll be won over. It doesn’t quite reach the same heights as other narrative-puzzle hybrids like Murder By Numbers. Still, you have to admit that this is likely the only puzzle game that lets you join a polycule. That counts for something, right?
Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To is out now on PC.
