Nova Hearts: The Spark

About this game

Latest news

• Patch Notes·7 Mar 2025Official

  Spark Update

  Onboarding rework, Many bugfix, Quality of Life improvements
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• Announcements·5 Apr 2024Official

  Nova Hearts in Lovecraftian Days

  Wait, why is Nova Hearts participating in the Lovecraftian Days Steam event? Because the game has some Lovecraft inspirations! As surprising as it may be for Nova Hearts, Lovecraft can take different forms and directions. What is Lovecraft? "H.P. Lovecraft (born August 20, 1890, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.—died March 15, 1937, Providence) was an American author of fantastic and macabre short novels and stories, one of the 20th-century masters of the Gothic tale of terror. Lovecraft was interested in science from childhood, but lifelong poor health prevented him from attending college. He made his living as a ghostwriter and rewrite man and spent most of his life in seclusion and poverty. His fame as a writer increased after his death." H.P Lovecraft, The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, www.britannica.com. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44788670/a6b43251ecc83321e113ff7f7c62955757a9cf06.jpgThe Curious Case of H. P. Lovecraft, Paul Roland The Lovecraftian themes in the game are: a cosmic mystery, the unknown/unknowable, an otherworldy influence on humanity, everything happening in a small town, and Fate. In Nova Hearts, Sailor Moon is a clear visual influence on the game, but more subtly Lovecraft's artworks too! We wanted to pay homage to the author by adding our own sense of Lovecraft to the game. The entry point to that is exploring the horror of non-existence and the influence of otherworldly beings when they are deprived of human intention. The game has taken a softer point-of-view to match the joyful pop feel of a queer narrative based on magical girls but retained these notions of what lies hidden and the consequences of powers wielded without conscience. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44788670/e08cbb89a617d09511c357709916f858d1758e37.gif Lovecraft's artworks are an important part of the game's story. Who are these enemies and "monsters", where are they coming from, and why are they here? This mystery is part of the fantasy we wanted to create. There was never supposed to be a ...
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• Announcements·4 Apr 2024Official

  Why turn based combat and how does it work?

  We're participating in the Turn Based Thursday Festival! What better than to talk a little bit about the combat of Nova Hearts? You were many to give your feedback on it and we took notes, so thank you! Let's dive into it and reply to some questions we've seen online. Why mixing combat and visual novel/dating sim? Our idea with Nova Hearts was to revisit the genres of visual novels and dating simulations. These games don't often have a combat system implemented. They are mostly based on narration, we wanted to spice it up and add some action into the mix! One great example is Boyfriend Dungeon. We were inspired by the well-balanced relationship between its story, dating, and combat. There are not a ton of games to mix genres like this, so we wanted to do our own and make a game we really want to play: FIGHT and FLIRT! The theme of our game also helps a lot. In Magical Girls the "magical" is regularly associated with defending someone or something. The heroes have superpowers to fight the great evil! Here our trio Luce, Will, and CJ are defending the city from an emerging threat. Combat was definitely necessary in our scenario, and that's also the best place for Sailor Moon-esk transformations! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44788670/afb09810fca6df238ee445b71d69c5c3240fa1a4.gif How does the combat work? At the start of the combat, you will see a timeline at the bottom of the screen. This timeline is separated into equal parts that represent a turn. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44788670/ba07b737daf5dcd8e4c1bed1e1d3902875d1c1bf.png When it is your time to play, there is a white bar you can move, representing the casting time of an attack. The more you move the bar to the right, the later your attack will be cast according to the order represented by the faces of the characters. If the white bar doesn't appear, it means this action is instantaneous and doesn't need casting time like Luce's second attack to heal all the allies. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44788670/3f40d142d75b5d4451b3069b3a3562a223d85...
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• Patch Notes·11 Mar 2024Official

  The Spark update!

  Our new update is live! After reviewing your feedback and suggestions, we've made some changes! Many of you mentioned that the phone conversations were too long, the combat phases too. So we changed that and fixed a few bugs! Added New transition screen system + animations Message discussions now with the Restaurant background "Parenthesis" in dialogue choices to understand the emotion and tone of a decision English Localization for the dialogue choices "Parenthesis" New input control for phone dialogue Updated Delay before lasting effects New versions of the lasting effects icons Relationship episodes (Will & Mom) condition changed UI text now displays the total amount of damage dealt/healed Switch "Quit" and "New game" button in settings > saves screen Fixed Issue with "Confuse" VFX not displaying properly Lasting effects icon sizes Power durations for all heroes Combat boss 01 miscellaneous fixes Navigation issue on Setting app Relationship episodes consent event fix and parse + loca + addressable + some staging corrections Wish one-liners hotfix: fixed the lines not playing only one time "First Date" achievement unlockable Add the lasting effect icons in the power description Phone apps wait until fully loaded We're always reading carefully your feedback and reports, so feel free to share them on the Steam discussions! And leave us a review, it helps us a lot ♥ {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44835526/e08cbb89a617d09511c357709916f858d1758e37.gif
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Lumixvaz)

• Patch Notes·23 Feb 2024Official

  What's in the next update?

  An update is on the way for the first chapter The Spark! We've been carefully reading your feedback and thanks to your reports and suggestions, a few things will be updated! This update will come in the first week of March. Here is our plan for this update: Fasten the conversation in the Message App Modify the combat pacing to have fewer combats and fasten them Specify the intentions behind dialogue choices Many other quality-of-life improvements and bug fixes! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44835526/ee86b59158ef5f035b6f376213c05b2623112fd5.png Thanks to YOU, we can improve this game, so don't hesitate to share your feedback and suggestions in the Steam discussions. What would you like to see improved in the game? {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44835526/56262a94a678b34caa2847e767430ae62378782b.png
  Read full article on Community Announcements (Lumixvaz)