Checkpoint’s Queer Game of the Month: February 2025 – Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To

I’m a simple girl. I like Match-3 games and thoroughly enjoy romancing and smoochin’ some cuties in a visual novel dating sim. Naturally, Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To, a game that joins the two ideas in harmony has been a title on my radar for the several years it has been in development. Remaining effortlessly joyous, vibrant and incredibly queer, it’s our Queer Game of the Month for February 2025.

Players control Samar, a gorgeous witch who lives in a quaint but ethereal town of Demashq with her closest friends. In charge of keeping the city safe and the good vibes going, she, along with her colourful frog, must keep spirits at bay by, you guessed it, engaging in a series of Match-3 games. She won’t do it alone though: her friendly, energetic and frankly unbelievably hot peers are there with her every step of the way… maybe even resulting in a romance or two.

The populace of Demashq features a diverse cast of characters, coming in all shapes and sizes, race and gender. A majority have they/them, she/they or a variation of such that highlights the gender fluidity of the cast. The town faces no oppressors and real challenges, just a village of hot people who also happen to be witchy ethereal figures—characters with dyed hair, spirit horns that stick out from underneath bangs, etc. In short, it’s a paradise.

It’s in this diverse cast that other 2025 games now have a run for their money. It doesn’t over-explain characters’ identities or come up with convoluted fantasy lore reasons that elaborate why they identify the way they do; it’s just a town of people that all happen to be queer. It doesn’t need all that other stuff. All this makes Spirit Swap feel like a natural world.  In the real world, queer and diverse people flock to one another, often becoming close to those of the same ilk of them. Of course, the same happened here.

The queer fantasy world that Spirit Swap plops the character in isn’t a naive or fake positive one either. Yes, there’s glitz and glam and plenty of colour and joy, but the cast still faces real problems. Your best friend Mo is still hurting after their breakup with their ex Iskandar, wanting them in their lives still but not even sure if that’s something that Iskandar would want given how things previously ended. The authenticity also translates to the romances. Spirit Swap doesn’t have each character be player sexual and have everyone immediately want to bone Samar either. Not everyone is interested in Samar that way. It’s a refreshing change of pace when so many other visual novel dating games have the cast look at the player character like they are their entire world and they’re all they want.

I can’t overstate enough how unbelievably striking the cast is. The aforementioned Mo is a genderfluid goddess with dreads that look as pink as cotton candy, dressed in leather that looks damn near like BDSM gear. Aptly, her description labels her as Demashq’s “most fashionable witch by far.” Their ex Iskandar is just as hot, a muscular powerlifting non-binary ‘thembo,’ with a ripped crop hoodie, spikes that come out of their shoulders and shorts that have thighs bursting out of them that look like they could crush watermelons. There are plus-sized kings and queens and non-binary fiends. There’s a polycule that you can find yourself in the middle of. The sky is your limit in terms of hotties to get close to in Spirit Swap.

The one that is incredibly my type is the adorable and very cute Lulu, a sweet tooth baker who runs a pastry shop. Her colour scheme is largely pink and purple, with accessories such as hair clips, pins and bracelets that feature fruit and other flourishes. She’s chubby, giggly, bubbly and incredibly endearing. It might go without mentioning but she had my heart immediately and was my first romantic pursuit.

It does all this while remaining a cool-as-hell and delightfully challenging Match-3 game if you so want it, too! Though I’m no stranger to the genre, having cut my teeth on Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, Spirit Swap is a game that had me fighting for my life on just the normal difficulty. Your opponents move unbelievably fast clearing spirits (the very object you’re matching) and quickly throwing garbage tiles and chunks your way.

Thankfully, obtaining gifts from your romance levels with Samar’s peers grants the possibility to grant different powerful ‘spell’ ability attacks. This means that you can clear sections that aren’t just 3 spirits or more spirits in a straight line, but also in a grid of four or other shapes. As you can only swap spirits horizontally, such a spell is crucial for those moments when you can’t line up 3 or more spirits in the traditional fashion.

I’ll be brave and admit that after a little while I folded and decided to continue playing Spirit Swap on the easy difficulty. It just became too tough for someone who’s only an average Match-3 player. Credit where credits are due though for letting players play how they want with different difficulties.

Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To has been a long time coming and it’s worth the wait. Featuring gorgeously designed diverse characters, a charming world and fast-paced Match-3 gameplay that’ll make you sweat, it’s well worth checking out.

If you’re after past Queer Game of the Month articles from us here at Checkpoint, why not check out last month’s where we talk about five upcoming queer games to look out for in 2025 and beyond?