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About the Demo

The Messy Hearts Demo contains Volume 1 of the Visual Novel. The volume is made up of 9 chapters.

About the Game

In this retro-inspired, pixel art visual novel, a workplace friendship begins to unravel.            

Follow two coworkers as their connection deepens, blurs, and ultimately breaks. Set during a painful chapter of life, Messy Hearts explores mental health, trauma, blurry boundaries, and the complicated ways people can hurt each other.

Florence and Their Messy Life

You play as Florence, a game dev, parent, and lonely person trying to stay afloat in a life already full of stress and vulnerability.

When Pete, a married coworker, starts offering unexpected friendship, Florence finds comfort in their growing connection. Their friendship slowly twists into something painful and disorienting, and a slow-motion collision unfolds that they both pretend not to see coming.

This is an all-too-common story, told through fictional characters, and inspired by painful relationships.

How to Play

Messy Hearts is a linear, single-player narrative with no branching paths or choices. Told in a comic book-style format with pixel art, the game invites players to click through Florence’s memories like pages of a journal, a text thread, or a conversation snippet.

There are no quick-time events, puzzles, or branching choices for this game. Just a quiet, interactive story, day by day, scene by scene, and message by message.