Summon a Sweetheart is a short horror game in the style of a visual novel. The game stars Penelope, a lonely protagonist who summons an eldritch creature to be her girlfriend, but discovers the process has some very unusual effects. It is a weird relationship narrative that mixes dark humour, romance, horror, and disturbing body-horror elements.
The protagonist, Penelope, is a lonely mess who tries to address emotional difficulties with magical shortcuts. That alone gives the story a lot of character. She is not a heroic heroine. She is socially awkward, sad, desperate and not really making good decisions. That gives her a far more detailed and human figure than the ordinary blank-slate visual novel protagonist.
Summon a Sweetheart is about her environment and her state of mind. Her chamber is part of the story even before you decide. Sifting through the mess and muck and bad choices feels like it’s part of who she is, and how stuck she has become. That gives even simple object interactions a bit more narrative heft.
You can have a speedy ending in under five minutes if you make a terrible choice early on. It can take roughly twenty minutes to view everything. The reason this framework works is that the game is about experimentation. You're expected to try different things, see what occurs, and follow every ending.
There are 10 endings total, 1 positive, 1 neutral and 8 negative. That balance tells you all you need to know about Summon a Sweetheart. The chances are against you. Success is there, but calamity comes far more easily. This makes the experience a lot more fun for gamers who like to replay short story games to see every conclusion.
