Nova Hearts: The Spark

About

Nova Hearts: The Spark is a single player turn-based strategy game. It was developed by Lightbulb Crew and was released on January 25, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Experience the first chapter of Nova Hearts for FREE! As Luce, become a superhero in your hometown of Vermillion after a mysterious force magically transforms some of its residents. Reconnect with friends, family and new people, building your relationships as you progress. TEXT, DATE and FIGHT in this turn-based combat dating adventure. EXPRESS YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH STRATEGIC TURN-BASED COMBA…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

74%

Audience ScoreBased on 42 reviews

story5 positive mentions

monetization11 negative mentions

The art style and animations are stunning, providing a vibrant and engaging visual experience.
The game features a diverse cast of characters and interesting mechanics, blending dating sim elements with turn-based combat.
The writing and character interactions are enjoyable, with a good mix of humor and emotional depth.

The combat system is slow and lacks depth, making battles feel tedious and unengaging.
The pacing of the dialogue and text interactions is frustratingly slow, often leading to long waits for simple exchanges.
The narrative feels rushed and underdeveloped, with characters lacking depth and meaningful relationships.

story
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
65%
13%
The story has garnered mixed feedback, with many praising its potential, engaging characters, and immersive dialogue, while others criticize its execution, particularly in how it introduces characters and backstory. The art style and animations enhance the narrative experience, but some players feel that repetitive combat detracts from the overall storytelling. Overall, the first chapter has left players excited for future developments, despite some concerns about pacing and player agency.
- “The story has a lot of potential, the character design, art, and animations are absolutely gorgeous.”
- “The mystery elements of the story got my mind racing, and I really look forward to playing the full game on release!”
- “A fun, well-written story with memorable, unique characters, a bit of superhero Sailor Moon, butt-kicking action, and a great soundtrack.”
- “The story just assumes I was on the Sacha train.”
- “Maybe my character is familiar with this person, but I am not, and I think bringing a major character into the story this way is a poor writing device that actually disconnects you from the character you play and puts a barrier up between you and the game setting because now it's very clear the character knows and has experienced things that you have not.”
- “If you are making a game with both a story and a gameplay element, at least one of them should be good enough to cover for the other.”
gameplay
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
47%
18%
The gameplay of the game features entertaining phone mechanics and enjoyable dating elements, complemented by a fun art style. However, the turn-based combat is criticized for being weak and slow, lacking engagement, and needing improvements such as faster animations or additional mini-games to enhance the experience. While the integration of combat into the visual novel format shows potential, the execution leaves much to be desired, particularly in terms of teaching mechanics and maintaining player interest.
- “The phone mechanics are quite entertaining, the dating seems to be enjoyable from what we can see, and the overall setting is super fun!”
- “Love the art style and the phone mechanics!”
- “The first chapter focuses on teaching you the mechanics and moves, so it's hard to judge where it'll go from there, but there's enough to have fun.”
- “First off, the combat mechanics, while turn-based, are really weak.”
- “It wasn't even until about an hour of gameplay that the game decided to explain combos to me after I had already fought so many battles with the same kitten monster.”
- “If you are making a game with both a story and a gameplay element, at least one of them should be good enough to cover for the other.”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
18%
19%
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality and ability to enhance the magical girl atmosphere, particularly during transformation sequences and cutscenes. However, some players find the combat soundtrack repetitive and the battle pacing slow, which detracts from the overall experience. While the soundtrack contributes positively to the game's vibe, its limited variety can lead to monotony during extended play.
- “The whole vibe really captured that magical girl feel with the transformation sequences and the music.”
- “I loved the transformation sequences, the art style and detail are very good, sound design and music were all good.”
- “The music was also really nice and fit the vibes of the game really well and created a comfortable game atmosphere.”
- “I do wish some of the normal attack animations were a bit more dynamic though as the battles did drag a bit and the music sometimes cut out in the final fight.”
- “Besides the main theme, the music in-game got old very fast.”
- “The battles also take forever to complete, and the repetitive soundtrack will likely send you into a coma before the encounter does.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
36%
21%
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their vibrant and appealing art style, with many reviewers highlighting the beautiful artwork and well-executed animations, particularly during transformation sequences. While some critiques mention a lack of depth in design and gameplay, the overall visual presentation is described as cute, colorful, and engaging, contributing positively to the gaming experience.
- “The art style is amazing and I'm a fan of games with turn-based combat as well.”
- “I loved the transformation sequences, the art style and detail are very good, sound design and music were all good.”
- “Let me say the intro is amazing, the animation is so well done and the artwork is vibrant, catchy and colorful with some very strong Sailor Moon vibes (especially when your character transforms)!”
- “Despite fine artwork, Nova Hearts' odd mix of genres, lack of design depth and complexity, and a weak narrative result in uninspired and boring gameplay, missing the confused mark it was trying to hit.”
- “The positives of this game, though: I do like the art style.”
- “It has the usual settings; volume control, language selection, and graphical choices as well as save slots, a gallery (not available currently) and where you interact with some of the text in-game between characters.”
monetization
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized for being misleading, as it primarily serves as an advertisement for a product that cannot be purchased, rather than a full game. Reviewers express frustration over the presence of such ads masquerading as games, arguing that they clutter the marketplace and detract from genuine developers. Overall, the monetization strategy is seen as exploitative and detrimental to the gaming experience.
- “What is the point of an advertisement for a product you can't even buy?”
- “While it might seem like an innocuous mistake, publishing demos and advertisements as if they are full games is misleading and in some ways harmful.”
- “It's impossible for me to recommend this incorrectly published advertising spam to gamers; you deserve better than adverts.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
Reviewers praise the character development for its stunning design and art, highlighting the potential of the story and the vibrant visuals that enhance the overall experience. The combination of great writing and stellar character design contributes to a captivating narrative atmosphere.
- “The story has a lot of potential; the character design, art, and animations are absolutely gorgeous.”
- “Great writing, stellar character design.”
- “The painted rendering of the characters and world is gorgeous, and I adore the vivid colors, character designs, and backgrounds.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its hilarious and embarrassing moments, with many players finding the writing and visuals to be cute and wholesome. While some found the dialogue to be exaggerated, it still elicited genuine laughter and engagement, making for an entertaining experience overall.
- “It was hilarious for the viewers, and I will find it funny when I get over the embarrassment.”
- “I hope that you guys put in more hilarious and embarrassing things for content creators to read out, because that was amazing.”
- “I really enjoyed the writing and visuals: it's cute, wholesome, and some lines and situations had me laughing out loud (and at one point - screaming at my screen).”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game's writing and visuals to be charming and heartwarming, often eliciting laughter and strong emotional reactions, including moments of frustration. Overall, the emotional engagement is highlighted as a significant strength of the experience.
- “I really enjoyed the writing and visuals: it's cute, wholesome, and some lines and situations had me laughing out loud (and at one point, screaming at my screen).”
- “The emotional depth of the characters truly resonated with me, making their journeys feel personal and impactful.”
- “I was moved to tears by the storyline; it beautifully captured the complexities of love and loss.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unfulfilling, as it often leads to minimal rewards, such as brief character dialogue, before returning to repetitive combat.
- “It felt so painfully tedious, and my reward was a few sentences of dialogue between characters before I was immediately thrown right back into combat again.”
- “The grinding is relentless, making the game feel more like a chore than an enjoyable experience.”
- “I spent hours repeating the same tasks, and it quickly became monotonous without any real sense of progression.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by its fitting and enjoyable music, which contributes to a comfortable and immersive experience for players.
- “The music was really nice and fit the vibes of the game perfectly, creating a comfortable atmosphere.”

Skip Game Offers

Buy Nova Hearts: The Spark

Nova Hearts: The Spark
See offer on Steam

12h Median play time

12h Average play time

12-12h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like Nova Hearts: The Spark

71%52reviews

Nova Hearts

2025

Role Playing

71%326reviews

Cris Tales

2021

Role Playing

79%2kreviews

Digimon Survive

2022

Survival Role Playing

96%1.1kreviews

Heartbound

2018

Role Playing

83%6.6kreviews

Eastward

2021

Role Playing

More games like Nova Hearts: The Spark

Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Nova Hearts: The Spark is a turn-based strategy game.

Nova Hearts: The Spark is available on PC, Steam Deck and Windows.

On average players spend around 12 hours playing Nova Hearts: The Spark.

Nova Hearts: The Spark was released on January 25, 2024.

Nova Hearts: The Spark was developed by Lightbulb Crew.

Nova Hearts: The Spark has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its monetization.

Nova Hearts: The Spark is a single player game.

Similar games include Nova Hearts, Cris Tales, Digimon Survive, Heartbound, Eastward and others.

Nova Hearts: The Spark

Platforms

About

Buy Nova Hearts: The Spark