Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers
Game
Game2019
Arcade Spirits
Developer Fiction Factory Games
Arcade Spirits is a dating sim visual novel video game released in 2019 for Microsoft Windows and in 2020 for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. It was developed by Fiction Factory Games and published by PQube. Set in an alternate history where the video game crash of 1983 never happened, arcades remain popular. Players control a customizable character who can be female, male, or non-binary, and can… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
296 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Oct 30, 2026 · last updated Oct 30, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
80
LovedLoved
154 positive · 38 negative
95% range 74–85%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 154 | 38 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 24 | 1 | 66 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
521 of 569 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
80% recommend · 156 yes, 39 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 195 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (580 of 638 positive).
Some reviewers criticize the writing as forced, cheesy, or boring. [1][2][3][4] Several players note limited character customization and shallow characters. [5][6][7][1]
Liked
Representative posts
- [1]
This game made me so mad that I went and bought a bunch of other dating sims to wash the taste from my mouth. I hate that I didn't like it!! I'm a queer person who loves dating sims and rpgs and will play absolute garbage but this one filled me with such immeasurable disappointment that I couldn't even brush it off as "whatever". All the characters are super shallow and many of them fall into really gross …
- [19]
If you like romantic Visual Novels, well you'll definitely find what's right for you here. 8/10 my rating
- [9]
Arcade Spirits is what happens if you take every gloriously corny dating sim cliche, blast it with rainbow lasers, and sprinkle it with enough synthwave to give John Hughes a nostalgia high-five. This game is pure unadulterated 80s/90s arcade-era delight, and I'm OBSESSED with every darn pixel of it. Think hair taller than Ms. Pac-Man's bow, outfits a Jem & the Holograms concert would envy, and dialogue so cheese …
- [5]
Wow, I love this! Still on my first play-through but I'm enjoying the story. The art is very cute, and I love all the pop-culture references. So far, I'm playing as "myself", may give it a few more goes with drastically different decisions- we'll see. I'm enjoying my time with this VN and no complaints, and yes the "character creation" could probably use more work. Very much worthwhile! Can't wait to play the sequel
- [6]
Really fun, I loved all the characters and the story was good and cheesy (Like pizza bagels). I will admit the character customization isn't good and even if you play as a woman, looks like a man. The voice acting wasn't the best either, but not a big deal.
Summarised from 34 of the 282 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
80% of the 195 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Arcade Spirits. The complaint that keeps coming up: weak character customization. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Arcade Spirits has received generally positive reception, with aggregate website OpenCritic identifying it as receiving "strong" reviews. Washington Post writer Christopher Byrd compared Arcade Spirits to a "beach read," calling it "charming and relatable" and noting that it understands its audience. They were critical of its art style, noting that the repetition of environments became worse due to its art style not being strong enough. However, they felt the story was strong enough to keep them interested, discussing how it specifically examines gaming in a critical light. GamesRadar+'s Heather Wald listed Arcade Spirits in their list of the best visual novels, praising it for its cast of…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 296 · most liked firstI realized I didn't do an intro! I'm Aenne (they/them). I make indie games! Most notably - Arcade Spirits & First Bite. I'm a content creator! At Stumptgamers we do multiplayer games, but I do pokemon content on my solo channel. I'm a licensed animal nurse with a focus on anesthesia & analgesia.
neutral · AI labelView post →[CLOSED] [STEAM] Christmas Steam Key Giveaway -- Part 1. I have amassed lots of extra Steam keys (some games I already have, some I'm just not interested in). I will keep adding to this list over the holidays, trying to get them to people who might use them. Note: I realize that I have many, many games available, and sometimes multiple keys for a game title, so you can request up to 5 games (in 1 message, please!) and at the end of the day I will allocate keys (randomly selecting if there…
neutral · AI labelView post →This game made me so mad that I went and bought a bunch of other dating sims to wash the taste from my mouth. I hate that I didn't like it!! I'm a queer person who loves dating sims and rpgs and will play absolute garbage but this one filled me with such immeasurable disappointment that I couldn't even brush it off as "whatever". All the characters are super shallow and many of them fall into really gross stereotypes. The autistic girl is super childish, the indian girl is super aggressive,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Coming March 25th, something different from Fiction Factory Games... "The City Unseen," a tabletop roleplaying game book aimed at solo narrative play. Explore a modern urban landscape and live out any story you want, including scenarios based on Arcade Spirits, Penny Larceny, and Laugh Track!
neutral · AI labelView post →If you like romantic Visual Novels, well you'll definitely find what's right for you here. 8/10 my rating
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arcade Spirits and The New Challengers are ON SALE on Steam right now! It's love and friendship, now in video game flavor! Like... a video game about video games. Look, it's got a lot of layers, ok store.steampowered.com/developer/fi...
neutral · AI labelView post →The Shadow Over Cyberspace getting some traction, Penny Larceny being noticed a bit more, Arcade Spirits nabbing up the Valentine's Day curious... And we've got more coming. Work's already underway on our next game, where tragedy equals comedy. Must see TV arrives in 2026 (likely).
neutral · AI labelView post →Arcade Spirits and The New Challengers are both on sale on Steam for TWO FREAKING DOLLARS each?! You could buy one large bag of Chex Mix or two amazing video games that'll give you hours of fun! Look, I like Chex Mix, but the decision here is obvious. store.steampowered.com/app/910630/A...
neutral · AI labelView post →I didn’t expect a visual novel to make me want to hear the sound of tokens dropping into an arcade machine again. Even if you’ve only ever seen that era in photographs.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →8 Chapters, 8 Endings, a lot of Choices + Trading Cards (5 would be better/ perfect) than 7 & Achievements. Very good VN
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Come to the cozy game meetup in the Summit - Community Room 1 I have Arcade Spirits swag and codes. #paxwest
neutral · AI labelView post →Wow, I love this! Still on my first play-through but I'm enjoying the story. The art is very cute, and I love all the pop-culture references. So far, I'm playing as "myself", may give it a few more goes with drastically different decisions- we'll see. I'm enjoying my time with this VN and no complaints, and yes the "character creation" could probably use more work. Very much worthwhile! Can't wait to play the sequel
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →NOTE: For something that tries to be so inclusive, this game is pretty limiting. First of all, I love the art style, the character designs are adorable, and I love the options for the player, although limited, I appreciated the options, but they still could have been better for the game's price of $25.99 CAD. I loved that there was an option where you could just choose to have friendship, that's amazing. ART: 4/5 I'm not an artist, so unfortunately I can't speak a lot…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You've got 20 days until the release of Laugh Track, our next FREE visual novel. All our future game releases will be free, using back catalog sales and Patreon combined to help offset the costs. The back catalog's on sale right now on Steam! Get Arcade Spirits or Penny Larceny for a steal!
neutral · AI labelView post →Here's a quick FAQ for our upcoming game, Laugh Track, condensed down for social posting. "Price?" "Free, optional donation." "How?!" "Patreon and Arcade Spirits sales." "Voiced?" "Somewhat." "Genre?" "Visual novel." "NOT A GAME!" "Eat a butt." "Pronouns?" "Over a dozen." "EWW" "Again, eat a butt."
neutral · AI labelView post →I wanted to like Arcade Spirits because the whole retro arcade dating sim idea sounds awesome, but it just didn’t land for me. The dialogue feels kind of forced and overly cheesy after a while. A lot of the choices don’t seem to matter much, which makes replaying routes less exciting. The characters had potential, but most of them felt one-note. It ended up feeling more like clicking through text than actually shaping a story.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arcade Spirits is a romantic visual novel game that is set in a game arcade in a future timeline. I have not enjoyed this game since it was too boring to follow the endless unnecessary conversations with the different characters. The story was quite bizarre and silly, and the dating mechanism was not fun at all. I genuinely don't know why this game has many positive reviews. Overall 4/10.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's a market for this game. It is not me. In the literal, verbatim words from the game itself: "This game was complete poopbutts -- like, poop, from a butt." I tried to like this game. I really did. There's a few little mechanics that make the game seem promising, especially for a Ren'py game. But by god, the writing... VN's are pretty much 99% writing so the writing pretty much has to hit more than miss for me to stay interested but it felt like a massive slog just to get through it.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally finished Arcade Spirits! Such a fun game and very cute.
positive · AI labelView post →The lesbian experience. Game is Arcade Spirits
neutral · AI labelView post →Arcade Spirits, a tale of love and pixels from the year 20XX, is on sale for five bucks right now! store.steampowered.com/app/910630/A... But wait, there's more -- its sequel, The New Challengers, is one dollar! One freakin' dollar! Like, what? store.steampowered.com/app/1484620/...
neutral · AI labelView post →"Arcade Spirits" is a charismatic and easy-going, yet overwritten and tedious experience. Unfortunately, the latter overpowers the former.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game #25 Arcade Spirits A fun little visual novel dating sim where the arcade scene never faded away. The storyline is pretty cute and the romances are endearing and fun.
positive · AI labelView post →I'm only reviewing this game because the "Very Positive" status is beyond misleading. This is an incredibly niche game for a tiny niche audience. I've shared this game with several people as a vibe check and it does not appeal to anyone but that tiny niche and is in fact openly hostile towards people who aren't. That niche is not a hardcore arcade gamer, BTW. If you don't believe me try it, it will insert it's politics down your throat every 2 seconds. So, if this is your thing, please love…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While we're in the lead up to our next game, did you know that we've actually released two completely free games already? And that there's one story thread connecting all of them including our premium games, Penny Larceny and Arcade Spirits? It's true! Find out more: www.fictionfactorygames.com
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm a big fan of 80's/90's arcade culture and thought that modernizing it a bit made for a great concept! Unfortunately, the game fell flat of my expectations. I've only played Ashley's romance route at this time, but based on a few other reviews, it's safe to say that the shallow writing is consistent no matter who you spend your time with. I'm also glad someone else pointed out how odd some of the stereotypes were with romance options and npcs alike. Pacing is a huge problem when you get to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had played an insanely slow and boring 2.5 hours of this at first, then cast it aside for weeks with no intentions of ever picking it up again. As soon as I did though the story *finally* had something interesting happen and I was able to start making advances to date someone. The story moves through about the time frame of a year, broken up in 8 chapters, so each chapter is like months after the last one. This isn't like you meet someone and right away start dating- the game wants you to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Enjoyed the character customization and overall aesthetic, but the dialogue felt excessively repetitive and corny, like Wattpad fanfiction, written by a twelve year old type corny. Dating sim should not be one of the primary tags when the only romantic interactions you get are essentially getting to choose who you want to vaguely flirt with at the end of every day. Although, I'd nitpick the dating aspect less if the story itself wasn't so disengaging. I found myself bored most of the time and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Speaking as a retro video game enthusiast, the overall shape of this thing is pretty good. I'd love the screen to be 3:4 aspect but that's probably asking too much. I'm thinking of getting the screen replaced with a sticker from fist of discomfort, from my own game Arcade Spirits.
neutral · AI labelView post →Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers on Steam. Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is the follow-up to 2019's Arcade Spirits, a visual novel of love and pixels, in which you seek friendship and romance while working in an arcade. Now the tables are turned, as you seek friendship and romance while PLAYING in an arcade! [Itch.io](https://fictionfactorygames.itch.io/arcade-spirits-the-new-challengers) [Humble](https://www.humblebundle.com/store/arcade-spirits-the-new-challengers)…
neutral · AI labelView post →Oh man, I found this game via an interview by DarkTeaTime's interview with Stefan Gagne about games that offer features and options for Asexual gamers and honestly don't tend to do a ton of graphic novel like games, but decided on a whim to give this one a try and it was exactly what I needed. Despite not playing many text/choice based games like this, the ones that I have tried in the past often felt a bit isolating because I couldn't relate to the narration whatsoever, so I constantly would…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OK so I was never going to enjoy a dating sim, regardless of the theme. It was doomed from the start. The dialogue is extremely simplistic, and there's *so* many words to actually say anything. I was spamming the space bar throughout and could still easily read all of the story. The target audience is obviously much, much younger than me. The actual gameplay is what you'd expect. Read many words, make a minor A or B decision that influences your "score" in various areas. Flirty answer…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arcade Spirits is a romantic visual novel game. It says that on the store page and let me tell you that a dead corpse can be more romantic than this game. If you consider "OMG, she kissed me on the cheek" romantic, then you definitely have issues. I bought this game because I thought it was a dating sim. It is not. Yes, you can choose one of the characters to romance but other than 10-15 different dialogues and 2 images you get nothing. Only 2 images with the MC you created and your partner...…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arcade Spirits on Steam and other stores. Arcade Spirits is a romantic visual novel that follows an alternative timeline where the 1983 video game crash never occurred. It's 20XX and you've just started a new job at the Funplex game arcade. Who will you meet along the way? Will you find the romance you're seeking? Arcade Spirits is a romantic visual novel that follows an alternative timeline where the 1983 video game crash never occurred. It's 20XX and you've just started a new job at the…
neutral · AI labelView post →8. Arcade Spirits £4.24 for a charming little visual novel store.steampowered.com/app/910630/A...
positive · AI labelView post →Spell your username with video games Tony Hawk Pro Skater Human Fall Flat Echoes of Wisdom Bioshock Uncharted Lil Gator Game Bayonetta Arcade Spirits Binding of Isaac Oracle of Ages Yakuza 0
neutral · AI labelView post →Too slow and linear.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Happy Valentine's Day! Check out the new review of Arcade Spirits for PC! thegamehoard.com/2026/02/14/a... #gaming #videogames #visualnovel #indiegames
neutral · AI labelView post →We've got a Discord community! If you love Fiction Factory Games and our releases like Arcade Spirits and Laugh Track, come on in! discord.gg/gaCcH2N (If your Discord account is less than a week old and you have an AI profile pic and are offering indie game marketing, though, you get instabanned.)
neutral · AI labelView post →Stayed a bit late to finish off Arcade Spirits 💕 I enjoyed it AND I have one less game in my backlog
positive · AI labelView post →Arcade Spirits is about working in a small video arcade called The Funplex, getting to know co-workers and gamers alike, and trying to find your dreams in this world of pixels and quarters. Build your personality and relationships through your decisions! store.steampowered.com/app/910630/A...
neutral · AI labelView post →Also, please consider wishlisting or buying our other games: Arcade Spirits and Penny Larceny! Video game romance, esports competition, or doing ridiculous crimes while fighting capitalism. Fiction Factory Games has something for everyone! store.steampowered.com/developer/fi...
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm a fan of the 1st game, so I was hyped for Arcade Spirits The New Challengers. It's a great sequel, refining a lot of the mechanics and ideas from the first game, while continuing the story from a fresh perspective and this time you run an e sports team instead of an arcade. Hot folks to date!
positive · AI labelView post →Critics are raving about Penny Larceny: Gig Economy Supervillain -- and we've got video proof it, bursting at the seams with praise! www.youtube.com/watch?v=di-z... Pet a cat and/or destroy capitalism in the latest game from the creators of Arcade Spirits!
neutral · AI labelView post →Really fun, I loved all the characters and the story was good and cheesy (Like pizza bagels). I will admit the character customization isn't good and even if you play as a woman, looks like a man. The voice acting wasn't the best either, but not a big deal.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕨𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕘𝕠 𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖! Let me first start by stating that I really hate Visual Novels with a passion! However, a friend of mine suggested I give this game a try and boy am I glad that I did. Arcade Spirits is a Visual Novel type of game where you control a customizable hero that lands his first "true" job in months, after working in different places he hated. Your friend and roommate, Juniper, helps out until you find a job in an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is honestly borderline, but on balance I think I'll have to give it a thumbs-up. It's a competently-made visual novel and if that's what you're looking for you'll enjoy it. But there so much missed opportunity here that it hurt my own experience. The theme and setting is begging for genre blending - minigames or at least some basic management mechanics. You're trying to save a dying arcade, after all... But this is just a straight visual novel, nothing extra. It would have been nice to be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Share the last four games you played! For me, it's: Cyberpunk 2077 (it's great now! It was insanely buggy on release) Dead by Daylight (Blood Moon event is fun, but the Ghoul's way too strong) Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers (a really charming sequel) Mysterium (the cool ghostly board game)
positive · AI labelView post →Thank you all for tuning in as I've beaten Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers! What a great game this was, and it all led to a very satisfying ending! Thanks to @farimere.bsky.social for the raid!
positive · AI labelView post →Thank you all for coming out tonight and enjoying more of Arcade Spirits and we're so close to finishing the game! Huge thanks and love to @overlorddzaran.bsky.social for the raid! Hehe we sent the love forward to @coconutghost.bsky.social although that just ended up making her stream longer 😆
neutral · AI labelView post →My old lady plays this on steam deck she said its boring and she likes Hallmark movies. She said the writing is bad and she likes Debbie Macomber books has read like 100 of them. she has never said a game is this bad so it must be bad. "i tried to stay into the story at the beginning but its super boring, some people might like it but *shrugs......."-Old Lady. 2.5/10 20 hours of game-play bc she falls asleep playing it so plus 2 rating.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →worlds ugliest artstyle
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quirkiness the game. Couldn't even make it past the character introductions (my playtime is high due to being idle in the game). The writing is so... odd. It reminds me of the way a teenager would write. Excess of descriptions, excess of cringey humor, excess of quirkiness. No offense, but it comes on very strong. And the protagonist has a super strong personality that turned me off. It seems like you can develop their personality as you go along with dialogue options similar to Mass Effect,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arcade Spirits is not a game, it's an e-book that's been dumped on Steam masquerading as a game. As a visual/interactive novel, this doesn't feature any notable gameplay, it's just a lot of clicking through badly written dialogue that would never have been accepted or published in print, which poses the question, "How did something this badly written end up on Steam?". When someone hoping to become an author is unable to get published in print, they spend $100 and dump their high school…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game worth every single cent imo here are the reasons why: Freedom on choosing or not choosing any possible LI There is no boundary of love in this game, the only limit is from you. There are half a dozen LI and if you are interested, you need to put in effort so the relationship could advance. My only critic I can't have more than one LI (all of them are interesting character trust me!) Story itself can easily related to many I believe most ppl struggle like our protagonist in life,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just got done beating this game for the second time. Like with most visual novel type games, It's not really the type of game that I'd wanna have my friends catch me playing, but with the impressive amount of choices/story-paths to go down, and the cheesy "gamer humor" that fits right at home with me, I can't help but recommend this to anyone wanting to dip their toes into the visual novel / dating sim genre.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Playing Arcade Spirits. I appreciate it as an alternative future that hangs on one simple question: What if Atari hadn’t rushed ET and made a good game out of it?
positive · AI labelView post →Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers on Steam and other stores. Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is the follow-up to 2019's Arcade Spirits, a visual novel of love and pixels, in which you seek friendship and romance while working in an arcade. Now the tables are turned, as you seek friendship and romance while PLAYING in an arcade! [Itch.io](https://fictionfactorygames.itch.io/arcade-spirits-the-new-challengers)…
neutral · AI labelView post →Arcade Spirits on Steam and other stores. Arcade Spirits is a romantic visual novel that follows an alternative timeline where the 1983 video game crash never occurred. It's 20XX and you've just started a new job at the Funplex game arcade. Who will you meet along the way? Will you find the romance you're seeking? [Itch.io](https://fictionfactorygames.itch.io/arcade-spirits) [xbox](https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/Arcade-Spirits/9N5FBD97PC72)…
neutral · AI labelView post →I am co-owner if two indie visual novel game studios and a writer/narrative designer on Arcade Spirits and First Bite Games.
neutral · AI labelView post →
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