Summon a Sweetheart
Summon a Sweetheart: A Free Horror Visual Novel You Can Play Online
Summon a Sweetheart is a short horror visual novel about a lonely girl who summons an eldritch monster to be her girlfriend, then scrambles to find her a gift before things turn ugly. It’s a free indie game with ten endings and a dark vein of comedy running through nearly all of them.
The setup
Penelope is not doing well. She’s depressed and alone, and her fix is summoning something from beyond to keep her company. The problem? She skipped the fine print. The ritual wants a gift, and it wants one now.
Her room isn’t stocked with anything romantic, so players go digging through the trash and grime of the depression cave she calls a bedroom. Whatever you hand over to the monster — her name’s Galatea — decides what happens to you next.
How it plays
Most of your time goes into rummaging and offering. Find Galatea something decent and you might earn a genuinely sweet moment. Find her something bad, which is most of what’s lying around, and you’re in for cruel, weird consequences. Usually funny ones.
There’s a small crafting system on top of that. You can combine junk into two special items, which unlocks a couple of paths you’d otherwise miss. It’s basic — the developer says as much — but it turns the scavenging into a light puzzle.
Ten endings, and most of them go badly
This is where the replay value sits. Ten endings total: one good, one neutral, and eight bad. The bad ones aren’t really a punishment. They’re the point, and they’re where the grim humor and mild body horror live.
Chasing down every ending takes around twenty minutes. But you can trip into a quick one in under five. A few players have reported landing the good ending on their first try in about thirty seconds, so how long it runs is really up to you.
What to know before you start
The comedy is the draw, but the subject matter gets heavy. The game deals openly with severe depression and includes mentions and depictions of suicidality. Expect some mild body horror and very mild gore around the worse endings, too.
If those topics hit close right now, go in knowing that. There’s a flashing-lights toggle as well, which is a thoughtful thing to find in a small indie release.
Who made it
Summon a Sweetheart made by InkyBlinkyArts, You can find all my other stuff here!
Plugin Credits
Yanfly.moe – CoreEngine, Message Core, Keyboard Config.
Galv – Custom Title, Message Sound Effects, Message Busts, Image Cache
Moghunter – Credits, Menu Particles, Menu Cursor
Mr.Trivel – MRTs Empty Menu
Maybee Rezbit (SomeRanDev) – Shaking Text
Galenmereth – Pixel Perfect
Music & SFX Credits
Where to play it
You can play Summon a Sweetheart free in your browser, or download it for Windows or macOS. One heads-up: the browser version can run slow or glitch a bit. The download is the smoother way to go if the in-browser build gives you grief.
Game Controls
- Arrow keys — move around the room
- Enter, Space, or Z — interact, pick up items, and advance dialogue
- Esc or X — open the menu or cancel
- Controls are configurable, so you can remap them if you’d rather
As always, remember to have fun!
