Found another minor crash.

Fixed

• Crash when checking the Clant Estate background in the gallery

  [/*]

Just a quick hotfix for a crash reported by users!

Fixed

• Crash when you got a face card

  [/*]

Welcome to the third feature update of Pivot of Hearts! It includes something we have been looking forward to for a while now: accessibility improvements!

Reminder that Pivot of Hearts is 20% off right now! What better moment to give Wen\'s story a chance now that it has become even more accessible?

Screen reader / text-to-speech support

While Ren\'Py does come with screen reader support out of the box, its default settings added to our heavily customized interface and features made it very lacking. With the help of specialized consultants, including vision-impaired people, we made several changes to help share Wen\'s story without relying only on reading and visually navigating the game\'s UI.

The first change is that the controls for the screen reader are rather obscure in the Ren\'Py, so we added dedicated menus and a starting prompt so that vision-impaired people do not have to find that menu before being able to properly interact with the game:

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/41615395/9ee2498df14201e6cd53e4e949a16e5bf44df389.png\"][/img]

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/41615395/24838fad963fd0f32bb78dce805adc3f781d498b.png\"][/img]

As you can see, the starting prompt can be easily disable for those who do not need it. Besides the menu, there were many parts of the UI that simply did not work well with the default behavior of Ren\'Py\'s screen reader. It was very inconsistent, with some elements never being described while other were described every time you pressed any button, causing a very tiring experience. We had to check screen by screen, button by button, fixing all the alt texts and interaction descriptions over the entire game. Scrolls bars, in particular, were very hard to handle because their keyboard and gamepad controls were already somewhat clunky, so we worked on those with extra care!

As for the story and gameplay, the key missing aspect in Ren\'Py\'s out-of-the-box setup is that images, transitions and other UI call-outs were not being described, among several other minor things, such as the suits and footnotes not being described inside the dialogue either. Again, we combed through the whole the over-100k-word script of Pivot of Hearts to adjust and adapt the integration with the screen reader to make sure everyone would have the same experience, or as close as we could possibly make it. At the same time, to avoid being repetitive like fully describing a character every time they showed up we made it so a full description kicks in only the first time we see something, but you can always hear again the description of elements in the scene using the new \"Describe\" menu:

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/41615395/32d2595b2a8a44d6ccfe314b1cc970dbb73cdbfc.png\"][/img]

Other changes

Part of improving the UI for screen reader support involved making it work better with keyboards and gamepads, though we still have some work to do on that front (like full support for Steam Input). We also optimized some parts of the game, especially the gallery where our beautiful high-quality art was taking sometimes taking a while to load.

Full changelog

Added

• On-demand audiodescription of in-game scenes

  [/*]

• Prompt for enabling screen reader at game start-up (can be disabled)

  [/*]

• Automatic inplace screen reader support for footnotes

  [/*]

• Audiodescription for characters, BGs, and CGs

  [/*]

• Audiodescription of phone chat dialogue and stickers

  [/*]

• Audiodescription of card animations and love points

  [/*]

• Audiodescription of chapter openings and endings

  [/*]

• Audiodescription of date changes

  [/*]

• Accessibility menu with screen reader voice controls

  [/*]

Changed

• Quick menu buttons to highlight activation differentlty from hovering

  [/*]

• Sliders to provide audiovisual feedback when interacted with

  [/*]

• Scrollbars to be no longer selectable via keyboard or gamepad

  [/*]

• All scrollbars to scroll automatically in screen reader mode

  [/*]

• Screen reading of narrator lines to state \"Narrator\" explicitly

  [/*]

• Screen reader UI navigation overhauled for improved accessibility

  [/*]

• Pause menu button position to first in drop-down menu

  [/*]

• BG thumbnails in gallery optimized for reduced build size

  [/*]

Removed

• Gamepad calibration since it caused more trouble than it is worth

  [/*]

Fixed

• A crash due to no screen reader support on Linux (including SteamDeck)

  [/*]

• A missing translation note

  [/*]

• A crash in older saves with a corner case involving new menu content

  [/*]

• Many typos, gramatical errors, etc.

  [/*]

Pivot of Hearts is taking part in the Fall In Love Visual Novel Festival!!!

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/fallinlovefestival2025

To celebrate the occasion, both the game and its soundtrack will be 20% off for a limited time!

Make sure to check out other games in the festival too ;)

We at Dragonroll Studio are very proud to announce we are taking part in the Debut Festival, happening now on the Steam storefront. Our debut game, Pivot of Hearts, means a lot to us and we hope it is the first of many stories we will share with all of you. Here\'s to a great start!

You can check out the free demo of Pivot of Hearts right now. The full game and its soundtrack are available as a discounted bundle. We still have upcoming quality-of-life and accessibility updates scheduled for the game, so follow us and stay tuned!

The official soundtrack of Pivot of Hearts is now available!

Pivot's soundtrack was created during the game's 5 years of development. Each song was written with a lot of care and research into the musical genres that inspired it. And there are many of them! There's city pop, forr, funk carioca, bossa nova, power metal, marcha-rancho, pisadinha...

We hope you enjoy this OST, which is so dear to us and features very special collaborations.

The much awaited OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK of Pivot of Hearts has a release date: July 3, next week! Make sure to wishlist it and get ready to vibe to the unforgettable tunes from Wen's journey!

Also, Pivot of Hearts is taking part in the Summer Sale! Now's your chance to grab or gift it!

https://store.steampowered.com//app/3840880

The second feature update for Pivot of Hearts is here! The highlight this time is something players have been asking since the early days after release:the art gallery!

About the gallery

In the gallery which we placed under the "Extra" option along with the "Achievements" menu you can revisit your favorite moments across Wen's journey. Leaf through all the game's original background and CG art, vibe to the unforgettable tunes that give life to the story, fool around with the character voice overs, and re-watch the opening animation to your heart's content! We even added the amazing promotional art showcased during the launch campaign, made by our incredible guest artists!

Some of the sections in the gallery will unlock content as you play the game, while others unlock all at once after reaching one of the good endings for the first time. This means you have a great excuse to play Pivot of Hearts many times more!

Full changelog

Added

• Gallery with arts, sounds, and movies

  [/*]

Changed

• Number of save slots to 80 (from 50)

  [/*]

Fixed

• Missing CG unlock during Blast Bros Bonanza

  [/*]

• Minor mistakes in a few BGs and CGs

  [/*]

• Many typos, grammatical errors, etc.

  [/*]

From now on we'll try to deploy patches or updates once a week around Wednesday or Thursday, unless something urgent comes up and we need to patch it in ASAP. For this week there is only some minor fixes!

Fixed

• Pressing F1 no longer opens unsupported Ren'Py help screen

  [/*]

• Many typos, gramatical errors, etc.

  [/*]

This patch tries to fix a performance problem many players reported on low-end machines. If that was your case, please give it a go and let us know if the problem persists.

Added

• Some missing license credits
  

Changed

• Ren'Py version downgraded to 7.8.6 to fix a possible memory leak
  

This is the first feature update of Pivot of Hearts! We still have lots of planned features for the game, especially regarding accessibility. We hope to keep these updates coming in small steps but often, so stay tuned!

For this particular update, here is what is new in Pivot of Hearts:

Added

• Autosave support
• Message after the ending informing when a new route is unlocked
• A few more translation/cultural notes
• SFX for Sigur's vicious mockery cantrip
  

Fixed

• Many typos, grammatical errors, etc.
  

We worked on some bug reports players sent over the last days!

Removed

• Shopkeeper of board game BG since it was still causing issues
  

Fixed

• Crash when pressing S to take a screenshot
• Many typos, gramatical errors, etc.
  

Just a couple of things we wanted to patch in as soon as possible.

Changed

• Adjustment in routes unlocked after beating the game once
  

Fixed

• A few typos
  

Here are some fixes players already found while playing Pivot of Hearts in the first day!

Changed

• Minor changes in board game BG requested by real world shop owner
  

Fixed

• Save slots not showing hours of played time, only minutes and seconds
• Gamepad having access to rollback action
  

Meet Wn Xin, a grumpy but reliable young game dev; Etsuko, a steadfast girl with ambitious goals; and Cau, an outgoing and chill artist. Youll join their group of close friends for the next weeks, as they play an exciting TTRPG adventure with their best friends, attend heavy metal concerts, wander magical-boy dreams, and, you know, live through the usual young adult dilemmas. Reexamine your old notions of love, play your cards right, and help them to achieve true happiness!

Theres no reason we cant have the best of both worlds, right?


Key features:

Over 100k words of sweet nerdy romance and realistic non-monogamy!

Authentic Brazilian setting: journey through So Paulos vibrant culture and exciting locales, featuring in-game translation and contextual notes.

A celebration of the Asian diaspora in Brazil: characters with different Asian backgrounds, typical dishes, festivals, mannerisms, and slang.

Beautiful handcrafted original art and music, made out of real passion from its creators.

Interactive Tarot system that shapes conversations and choices, reflecting each characters emotions, needs, and desires.

Connect with the characters through both fond memories and familiar struggles of millennial nostalgia.

Added charm: dialogue is brought to life with voiced interjections recorded by the dev team and friends.

Steam achievements reward the most curious players.

Our team is really proud of the results after this long journey that we poured our hearts into. We hope you enjoy the experience (and the polenta)!

Hello, dragonrollers! Expect some more news in the near future but, for now, here's a quick patch based on our latest advances in the full game:

Added

• Preference options to disable quick flash visual effects
• Support for translating phone chat title and clock display
• Compatibility between focus and sepia effects
• Character chibis in phone chats after meeting them once
• English dialogue and Japanese lyrics proofreader to credits
  

Changed

• English proofreading
• Dialogue beep SFX so it no longer ducks
• Sigurd's birth name is no longer undesired, only a lesser preference
  

Fixed

• Focus effect resetting sprite expression
• Crash when using focus effect on sprites not shown
• Title menu options being clickable while showing sub-menus
• Suit icons being misaligned in some resolutions
• Undesired dissolve effect when showing or hiding card panel
• A few sprites with minor issues
• All text formatting
• Assorted typos
  

Back already! This is just a very minor hotfix for the latest demo update. Here are the changes:

Fixed

• Typo in the pt-BR translation of Luna's preview
• Award suit animation not playing when gossiping about newcomer at work
• Title menu BGM not keeping up to Luna's intro
  

It has been a while but... This is probably the last major update before the full release of the Pivot of Hearts this year!

IMPORTANT: Pivot of Hearts is still under heavy development and this updates includes several dialogue changes. As such, expect your saves from the previous demo version (0.11.4) to not be compatible anymore. Saves will become reliably stable only once the full game is released.

The highlights for this update are:

• A new special scene at the end with a preview of content from the full game
• Scene animations 100% complete
• Music and sound 100% complete
• Card choices fully balanced
• Several UX improvements
  

Detailed CHANGELOG

Added

• Shadow to all cards in the UI
• Smooth entering animation to phone messages
• Call out to play full game in credits
• Government support in credits
• New contributions in credits
• Luna preview of full game in final scene
• Side image support for Luna
• Three new speech SFX variations, which some characters now use
• Lipflapping in all scenes
• Missing suit hints
• Several SFXs and ambiences to scenes throughout the game
• Quadrilha BGM
• "Cul Convidativo" BGM
• Real chapter title shown in save slots
  

Changed

• Choice rephrased in Cau's tour to showcase Wen's irony
• First flashback tweaked to better differentiate suit choices
• First flashback tweaked to clarify player's choices cannot be changed
• Luna's intro BGM set to pick up from title menu GBM
• Credits scenes remade with a typical "rolling" animation
• Copyright notice updated in title screen to include 2025
• Luna's intro updated to reflect current state of the game
• Subway logos replaced
• Support logos in splash screen adjusted to conform to new LPG grant
• Shiryuu phone strap replaced by a full remake
• Present card in 1st dream replaced by king of clubs
• Work colleague names with short version inside speeches
• Suit scores and love points balance for an appropriate level of challenge
• Suit award animation extended to allow gaining multiple points
• Different text emphasis formats in the game more consistently applied
• Audio dynamics implemented throughout several scenes
• Sprite animations adjusted to be more stable
  

Fixed

• Save slots not being translated
• Build sometimes including scenes from the full game
• Copyright notice so it starts based on the first commit
• Minor inconsistencies in character sprites
• Formatting in all scenes
• Card panel being in wrong state in some scenes
• Missing lipflapping animation for some character expressions
• "Indcios" BGM looping in karaoke scene
• Several typos
  

Progress on Pivot of Hearts is slow but steady, we are on our way to finish three out of four chapters.

However, we also did several improvements to the game as a whole and we think the demo deserves some love as well. As such, this patch backports these improvements for all of you to enjoy while playing our free demo ;)

Here are the main changes:

• Added[list]
• Experimental lip-flapping support (only in one place for now - can you find it?)
• More Wn sprite expressions
• Brbara's sillouette when she send voice messages in first scene (see gif above!)
• Expression variations to Artist Ana's sprites
• Cool SFX now play when characters speak
  

Pivot of Hearts will be participating in Next Fest!
Join us in a livestream of our demo on June 15th, at 4pm Pacific Time!

We are testing the livestream feature!

This is the much awaited Brazilian-Portuguese patch for the Pivot of Hearts demo! You can now play the entire demo in the same language the characters of the story speak ;)

There are also some internal improvements that shouldn't change the usual gameplay experience, but that make our lives much easier! XD

Here's the first patch for the demo of Pivot of Hearts, version 0.7.0!!

The highlights among the changes are:

• New cursor
• New animations when characters win or lose love points!
• Fixes to keyboard and gamepad UI navigation
• Fix crash when seeing a phone chat during auto mode
• And a few other minor corrections here and there =)
  

PIVOT OF HEARTS DEMO IS LIVE TODAY!!!

Dragonroll Studio's Valentine's Day gift to you is a demo of our first game! Check out this non-monogamous Visual Novel that's overflowing with love

Also, tomorrow (2/15) we'll be streaming (in Portuguese) with our wonderful mentor Flvia Gasi, at 9:30 PM BRT (GMT-3)! Follow us on social media to stay tuned. We'll play Pivot of Hearts, draw some chibis, have some cake (?!); Join us, it's gonna be awesome!