Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To Review

Polyamory, puzzles, and poltergeists make this a match-3 to die for.

I really am such a sucker for a great visual style. There's just something about a game with a unique or interesting artistic flair to it that initially draws me into it in ways that a great story or combat may not and Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To has so much style. But don't let those gorgeous visuals trick you — this game is coming for your soul.

Spirit Swap is an action-puzzle match-3 game with role-playing, romance, and room decorating elements. While those disparate ideas or genres may seem like a questionable fit, Soft Not Weak has managed to combine them beautifully, creating an engaging (or addictive - depending on who you ask) yet relaxing ride. I was lucky enough to receive an early version of the game, of which this review is based on.

Publisher: Soft Not Weak

Developer: Soft Not Weak

Platform: Played on PC

Availability: Released on February 3, 2025 for PC, Mac, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S

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Spirit Swap has your standard shape-matching for the genre, but keeps itself fresh by introducing a few unique mechanics (spells), and combines them with more common ones (combos, called cascades). The aforementioned "spells" are abilities you can use by arranging shapes into specific patterns on the board, such as an 'X' or a diamond shape, but these moves require meter to initiate. It is noteworthy that there's no penalty for moving the shapes without matching, somewhat atypical for games like this, so you can easily plan things out as you go. The spells are earned throughout the story mode, and can be switched out for other abilities from Samar's room. Meter is gained by doing your normal matching process, but you earn more for larger arrangements of shapes, or 'cascading' into combinations — that is, when you match pieces and the space left by their erasure causes more pieces to match. These combos will also create "garbage," unusable blocks that must be removed by creating matches adjacent to them, for your opponent to deal with. Once your opponent's pieces (or yours) reach the top of the board, the round ends. In the main story, three round wins accounts for a match win. There's a lot of room here for layered and thoughtful strategy.

Game modes are pretty limited, overall, with Story, Endless, and Versus being the only options available at the time of its release. Story is a short-but-sweet mode where you follow Samar as they try to figure out what is causing the surge in spirit appearances. Samar will spend some time with friends, and do some 'swapping' with them to eliminate the spirits from an area. The main scenario is quite short — only took me about an hour to get through — but the bulk of the game actually plays out after that. In the post-game, you can meet up with your friends, go on dates, do a little more swapping, and earn more décor for your bedroom. You can skip story and puzzle match sections if you are feeling overwhelmed or just want to move on.

In contrast to the more open format of the story mode, Endless and Versus are exactly what they sound like — Endless being a simple board without an opponent and no time limit, and Versus is a mode where you can face off against a friend using local multiplayer. Currently, there are no puzzle modes or challenges or anything of that nature. I wouldn't say it takes away from what is here, but it's not a super robust game, if that's a major concern for you. There are difficulty modes and speed sliders, however, so you can somewhat fine-tune just how relaxing this is for you. I started on Chill (lowest difficulty), bumped it up to Sheesh (highest difficulty), but eventually landed on Spicy (middle difficulty) in the end. That was my sweet spot, but your mileage may vary here.

A room with selection fields for bedside, carpet, cozy items, alcove, and wall.

The story mode as a wide array of things to engage with.

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Spirit Swap takes obvious inspiration from the popular lofi youtube channels and videos in its naming structure, but you'll notice some other similarities, as well. For starters, the game is heavily centered around its use of lofi music, or music characterized by its relaxed feel and intentional 'imperfections.' While lofi music has most prominently been used as relaxing background noise in service of completing other tasks, you don't really have that luxury when playing a game. Instead, Spirit Swap leverages the phenomenal soundscape provided by Meltycanon to create a sort of dream-like quality to the gameplay itself. There were a few sessions where I lost track of the time just vibing to the music in endless mode while I shifted the little pieces around.

The inspirations don't stop there, either. If you pay attention throughout, you'll notice other nods or references to popular games within its own genre — or even games outside of it. For example, after starting a romance with a character, we started a swapping battle and a voice called out "Get ready for the next date" in a similar cadence to a Tekken announcer, with character portraits and a VS screen to solidify its intent. The developers have stated that Panel de Pon was an inspiration for the structure of the story mode, but other similarities present themselves, too. It's a nice nod to the games that shaped the creators of Spirit Swap.

I do want to take a moment to just gush about some things in this game that I love, but don't fall neatly into its gameplay systems. To start, I really cannot express the depth of my appreciation for the artwork and visual style of the game. The character portraits are obviously gorgeous, but even things like the background images and cool effects that pop up on screen during events floored me. I love a game with style, and Spirit Swap kept impressing me more and more as time went on. During major events, you get these beautiful, intricate images to accentuate the happenings on screen. I mean, look at this thing:

Truly phenomenal stuff on display here.

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Beneath the breathtaking visuals also lies earnest, natural, and heartfelt writing. Everything is so smooth — the dialogue flows from one moment to the next so seamlessly, so nothing ever feels forced. This is exemplified in the way the LGBTQ+ cast is both represented and referred to. I am so glad to see the care that has been taken in presenting these stories and perspectives. It probably shouldn't shock anyone that most of the people on the team behind this game are trans themselves, and they deliberately chose to hire trans and/or non-binary performers for the excellent voicework in-game. I find this commendable. Especially during a time when trans people are constantly under attack. Planting your flag down and saying, "We're here and we're not going anywhere" is a necessary form of protest against the hate and vitriol seen daily.

I do have some minor quibbles with the game, but as this is an early build, I'm not sure how much will remain on launch, or what might be coming at a later date. There are some minor performance hiccups here and there — nothing major or frequent — and the occasional bug. I think these things will be sorted out in short order, but the game is more than playable right now. Spirit Swap's limited game modes are probably my biggest issue, as I'm accustomed to seeing challenge modes or puzzles in this type of game. I also disliked being unable to update (or even view) settings while in the game proper, except under specific circumstances.

Developer Soft Not Weak has indicated there are plans to update the game with more content as time passes (there's even a pop-up in game that says as much), so I'm optimistic we'll get the opportunity to spend more time with these wonderful characters, and hopefully have some more puzzle-solving madness to go along with it.

Verdict

Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To is a vibrant and unique action-puzzle match-3 game that has left me craving more. Boasting an eclectic cast of characters and varied gameplay systems, it stuck its claws in me immediately. Strong representation, excellent music, and the awe-inspiring artwork are commendable, and if you're a fan of match-3 style games, you can't go wrong here. While it is not without some faults, I hope you'll give it a try.

Image Credits: Soft Not Weak and Taylor Rioux

Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To was reviewed using a promotional code on PC provided by the publisher.