Pivot of Hearts, the debut commercial visual novel from Brazil-based indie team Dragonroll Studio, officially releases on May 21, 2025. With a cast of queer, polyamorous, and culturally diverse characters, Pivot of Hearts blends anime-style storytelling with a tarot-inspired card system that turns conversations into meaningful choices. It will be available for Windows and macOS via Steam and itch.io, with full English and Portuguese support.
In Pivot of Hearts, players step into the shoes of Wén Xiàn, a Taiwanese–Brazilian indie game developer reconnecting with old friends and new bonds in São Paulo. With over 100,000 words of branching story, five unique endings, and a strategic card-based dialogue system, the game encourages replaying to explore all relationship paths—romantic, platonic, and non-monogamous.
Final Release Features Coming May 21
While early previews gave fans a strong taste of the narrative and mechanics, Dragonroll Studio has confirmed that several core features will be exclusive to the 1.0.0 launch version, including:
- A fully animated opening sequence
- Voice-over interjections for expressive moments
- Local and Steam achievements
- Extra visual effects and polish
- Final Portuguese proofreading
- Translation notes to explain cultural references
- Full Steamworks integration (cloud saves, Steam Input, etc.)
- Itch app integration for smoother updates
- Enhanced credits with bonus visuals
Players with preview builds (e.g., Steam key access) will receive automatic updates as these features are finalized ahead of launch.
What’s Coming After Release?
In line with their inclusive mission, Dragonroll Studio has also outlined a roadmap for post-release accessibility updates, including:
- Per-scene summaries for better story tracking
- Closed captions for all audio content
- Auto-save options
- UX and accessibility improvements
These updates aim to make Pivot of Hearts more welcoming to players with varying needs, reinforcing the studio’s values around comfort, realism, and representation in storytelling.
A Game About Love, Identity, and Community
Behind the bright anime visuals and romantic choices lies a personal, grounded story. Players navigate friendship, creative burnout, and modern relationship dynamics—all rooted in São Paulo’s local culture. With original art, music influenced by Brazilian genres, and a fully local team, Pivot of Hearts is both globally relatable and uniquely Latin American.
Dragonroll’s small but passionate team—led by Wilson Kazuo Mizutani (writer/dev), Lívia Santos (art), and Livia Yoshikawa (music)—has crafted a heartfelt experience that’s already earned awards for narrative and diversity at SBGames and BIG Festival/Gamescom LatAm.
Available Now
Pivot of Hearts launches May 21, 2025 on Steam and itch.io. The demo is still available for free. For more information, visit the official Dragonroll Studio homepage, join the community on Discord, or follow the studio on Instagram, Tiktok, YouTube, X, and Bluesky.
Steam page: Pivot of Hearts on Steam
Itch.io page: Pivot of Hearts on itch.io
