Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2022
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers
Developer Fiction Factory Games
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! From the Steam store page
79 reactions from 2 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Sep 17, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
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No Data
Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
79 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
171 of 192 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
A written summary appears once the title has a score.
Reactions
60 of 79 · 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.
unlabelledView post →After one full play through: Pros: - Fantastic aesthetic/mood - Fantastic art and character designs (though if one is looking for more "down to earth" character designs you may want to give Arcade Spirits a try first) - Characters feel like they have their own goals and drive alongside the MC - Very inclusive in how the MC handles relationships and identity - Engaging story that left me with choices that make sense and are accurate to their presentation, but not so predictable that the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Did you know that when you have pizza on a bagel, you can have pizza anytime?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I absolutely loved the first "Arcade Spirits". It was a fantastic game that broke a lot of stereotypes and although not every character was "my type", it was still a great experience. Sadly, I just cannot say the same thing about this one. Which is super disappointing, because on paper, everything looks even better. I love the designs of the characters, their unique personalities, their strengths and flaws. The story seems bigger and better, especially with the addition of a rival. And…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Edit: Since posting this review and talking to other players, I've found my issues with the preachy, heavy-handed rants are a common complaint others have of the game, too. So it isn't just me. This is another case of "I wish Steam had a maybe button", but as the price is £13, I'm going to be harsher and lean towards "No, I don't recommend this game". And that is largely because I preferred the first game. This game is bigger, longer and "better" than the first one, in almost every way,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's a shame but i honestly cannot recommend this game if you are a disabled person, i wasn't that far into the game when my character started panicking apon seeing a disabled person [person with leg braces] and then gets a "no good answer" bit of dialog and all the options are saying something wrong or saying nothing, trying to go with the least bad option aside from saying nothing since i know as a disabled person myself [i'm a wheelchair user] it can be pretty upsetting getting people just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Content Warning: Discussions of mental illness, attempted suicide, cyberbullying, toxic gamer culture, manipulation/gaslighting The protagonist is chosen to be an esports team manager and must make difficult decisions while trying to keep everyone on the team happy. In a society that tells people that winning and success are what give us worth, it can certainly be a struggle to accept a loss. However, if someone is surrounded by healthy friendships and perhaps even a lover, their perspective…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Everything spoiled deals with the game's handling of suicide/suicidal ideation and mental health I love the original Arcade Spirits. I was super stoked to receive this for free, but sadly it MASSIVELY disappointed. Skipping past minor gripes, let me give you the reason I stopped playing with over 24 hours in the game: This game's depiction and handling of mental health topics is awful. It preaches good mental health practices and going to therapy and taking care of yourself first one moment,…
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!
unlabelledView post →If you liked the first game, you'll like this as well. If you like heartwarming visual novels, you also can't go wrong here. I highly recommend playing Arcade Spirits just because it's excellent, but if you want to just dive in head first there's really only a few Easter eggs you'll be missing out on. Nothing that affects the plot really.
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...
unlabelledView 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).
unlabelledView post →This hurts a lot to write. I loved the first Arcade Spirits. It was fun and mostly lighthearted, but it could pull on your heartstrings when it needed to. The sequel feels like it's trying to expand on all of those points, but at some point the balance between the elements was thrown horribly out of whack. TNC really wants to make a point, and for the most part it's a point I agree with. I'm not mad at the game for having political opinions and thoughts about society as a whole. My problem is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Meeting Jynx and being FORCED to be insensitive and rude to her for no reason other than her being visibly disabled was truly so uncomfortable that I genuinely don't think I can keep playing. Just literally could not move on from that moment- everything was fine until then but. Yeah that was SUCH a bad first impression, and upon looking it up it seems like this isn't the only poorly handled sensitive situation in the game so... I'd recommend to proceed with caution, but personally I just don't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Note: As of the time of posting this review, I have not actually finished the game, only gotten through part of Level 6. This game isn't bad, exactly; it was clearly made with love, and there are several parts of it that I've enjoyed! But I wouldn’t recommend it to others, not unless I knew someone didn't mind a game trying to tackle heavy issues all the time, because for me, it was too much. In the First Arcade Spirits game (which I love, despite its flaws!) my character first joined the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are so many things I wish I could say for Arcade Spirits 2 and so much of it ends with a *sigh*, especially after my love for Arcade Spirits (2019) Theoretically should be a lot of positives with it - character customization - available pronouns - differing story routes at first glance - potential polycule romance What actually happens - political pushing, to an extreme - poorly done caricature of generalization of gamers/reddit/ect which leads to jokes and choices that just....…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView 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...
unlabelledView post →Come to the cozy game meetup in the Summit - Community Room 1 I have Arcade Spirits swag and codes. #paxwest
unlabelledView post →It definitely feels like a step down from the first one. These games live and die with their characters and how much the player feels connected to the narrative progression of the story. The characters in this game felt much less interesting than in the first one and the sense of agency was much less. Outcomes in this game are very "on rails" with the characters feeling like they largely only exist for your dating potential. The Iris character even let's you choose at will who likes you which…
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!
unlabelledView 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."
unlabelledView post →Don't love this one as much as the first.I Liked the customization of the main character, graphics are nice and there's a wide variety of potential story lines. But the characters feel like caricatures of real people- very over the top "I'm such a nerd tehe!!" "PWNED NOOB" and "Life is misery and the government hates us" kinda vibes. It felt very over the top at times. It was hard to like a lot of the characters because they simply didn't feel realistic. The first game the characters had…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Standard line of "If you liked the first game, you'll like this game" here, although with one major caveat, especially if you enjoyed the first game: this game hits some darker places than the first one did, and I would heavily advise everyone to read the content warnings. You can find them on the game's website if you need the spoilered versions(look for the "Content Warning (Spoiler and Non-Spoiler)" link), but the non-spoilered version is as follows: Mild Violence or Threats of Violence…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally finished Arcade Spirits! Such a fun game and very cute.
unlabelledView post →The lesbian experience. Game is Arcade Spirits
unlabelledView post →the first game was good. but this one, was just exhausting... cant recommend.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i have very mixed feelings about this game. on one hand, there were certainly some things improved by this one as compared to the prior AS game, but some things really felt lackluster. i'd give it a 7/10. pros: - pretty engaging storyline. i really liked following this where it went, and i appreciated more so in this game that it follows a recognizable path. there was a genuine "climax" that no matter whose route you take, if anyone's, you still arrive at the same major points. - forgiving…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView 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/...
unlabelledView post →Excellent game. I cried, I laughed, I cringed, I got flustered several times, every bit of the story was engrossing. Good game.
positive · 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.
unlabelledView post →I had heard a lot of good things about arcade spirits so I was excited to see what would happen but I felt kinda disappointed. For a game that was pitched to me as very inclusive and socially conscious I got so many red flags in my short time and since I lowered my guard it hit a little harder. Pros: - Multiple Pronoun options - The character designs were neat - The aesthetic was good Cons: - The character art and backgrounds don't quite mesh - A few problematic undertones that were frequent…
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
unlabelledView post →i was a big fan of the original, so when this came out i was exicted! i did enjoy it, i just wish there were more moments of romance in the novel. i feel like i got to the point where i picked my partner, the plot moved forward and...there wasn't much more romance after that.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great sequel, great game, is it just me though or the games sometime flicker
positive · 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.
unlabelledView post →8. Arcade Spirits £4.24 for a charming little visual novel store.steampowered.com/app/910630/A...
unlabelledView 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
unlabelledView post →Finished my first play-through and I loved it! A fan of the previous game and was looking forward to more of this universe. There's more customization on pronouns and body type of the player character than in the previous game which is great. Love to see the diverse representation of the other characters as well. The also added more transitions to the game, sound effects, visual effects that pull the narrative together which I liked. Not to mention the soundtrack being great as well. Some…
positive · 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
unlabelledView 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.)
unlabelledView post →Stayed a bit late to finish off Arcade Spirits 💕 I enjoyed it AND I have one less game in my backlog
unlabelledView 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...
unlabelledView 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...
unlabelledView 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!
unlabelledView 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!
unlabelledView 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)
unlabelledView post →Once again, utterly charming. Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers sets you in a near-future where arcade games are the centre of e-sports and you are an up-and-comer in the scene. You find your way to a local gaming group, and from there, begin an adventure into friendship, romance, and a career path to the top of the scene. It's a guided novel, with choose your own adventure mechanics, optional and togglable romance, and the adventure is as much about making and keeping friends as it is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView 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!
unlabelledView 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 😆
unlabelledView post →I love the arcade spirits franchise. It's cozy and queer and is ultimately a love letter to the gaming community that plays it. That being said, there are some things that I loved about new challengers, and some things that I didn't really love. Some of the things that I didn't love was how heavy handed and 'on-the-nose' some of dialogue is. The game can be kind of preachy sometimes, and can make the mistake of telling us instead of showing us some of it's ideals. The dialogue can be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Loved the character customization choices, but I wish there were actual team uniforms implicated for our team. The characters in "The New Challengers" are outlandish compared to the characters of the first game. In my case, it was hard to relate to the MC and the crew in this one (MC's main goal TO WIN, wacky backstories). BUT I liked how all the backgrounds corresponded with each other and the story. Also, if you import your save from the first game it connects even more, which is super nice…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yes! YES!! YEEEESSSSSS!!!!! <3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know; this game does have some nice attributes, but in the end, the negative things just outweigh them, unfortunately. The good: the characters have fun sprites, the worldbuilding is fun, the NPCs are fascinating, and there is plenty of stuff to unlock. The voice acting was usually very nice, and the music could be nice too. I also appreciate the option to skip the mini-game, as I find it just boring. Theoretically, the game is also highly replayable—if you wish to see the various…
negative · 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?
unlabelledView post →Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers is a queer visual novel/dating sim where you play as a hardcore gamer climbing the ranks of esports and finding friendship and love along the way. It's hard to not compare this game to its sequel, which explored its darker themes in a much more nuanced way and had far more growth among its cast. This game was cute, and it did explore heavy topics like depression, ableism, sexism, and more, but at times it felt preachy, even when I agree with a lot of its…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just play the first game instead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As much as I LOVE Domino, I just can't. After Domino route, the rest of the game are painful since I'm not interest in the story or any characters beside Domino (he make this game worthwhile to me, at least in the first playthrough). And more so since the only ending that I and keep all my teammate together is Hunter's good end. Why can't I have that when I romance my teammate? Coda is not a pleasant one but I can't forgive Hunter and his Iris for what they do to Coda. It feel like the very…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, it is a very good sequel to the first game! I absolutely love that despite the "personality system" being the same, the characters in both games are their own unique people. I did not come across any "personal" issues whatsoever, reactions to specific situations were rather realistic (yes, even first meeting with Jynx (it did say there are no good options btw)) I devoured the extended polybius lore like crazy, it was so good and left me wanting to know even more. Characters from…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am co-owner if two indie visual novel game studios and a writer/narrative designer on Arcade Spirits and First Bite Games.
unlabelledView post →This is a worthy, if imperfect, sequel to the first Arcade Spirits game. On the positive side: some of the interesting world-building elements of the first game are significantly explored and expanded here, and the story is a bit longer than the first game (my first play-through here lasted longer than all of the combined plays it took me to reach 100% achievement completion in the first game). The (optional) mechanism to import data from the first game is well-used, and all of the original…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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