Indie darlings and puzzle gremlins alike have something new to be excited about. The team behind Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To is stepping into a different kind of magic circle with Spirit Swap: A Slice of Life TTRPG [now on Kickstarter], a solo tabletop experience created in collaboration with Takuma Okada, the designer of Alone Among the Stars and Stewpot.
If you’ve ever wanted to bottle the soft glow of lofi vibes and turn it into a ritual you perform at your own kitchen table, this might be your spellbook. The project is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, and at the time of writing, it’s hovering tantalizingly close to its goal. In true cozy fashion, the pitch is low pressure, community minded, and refreshingly transparent about the realities of burnout and balance.
Let’s rewind for a second. Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To gave me unapologetic Pokémon Puzzle League energy the first time I played it, but wrapped in queer joy, lush pixel art, and a soundtrack that felt like it could water your houseplants for you. It’s a match 3 puzzle game stitched together with heartfelt visual novel storytelling.
You pop in for the satisfying cascade of tiles and stay for the intimate character arcs, the chosen family vibes, and the way it treats everyday magic as something sacred. It is soft without being shallow, playful without being disposable.
So the leap from cozy puzzle game on Steam to solo TTRPG is not as wild as it sounds. If anything, it feels like a natural evolution. Spirit Swap: A Slice of Life TTRPG is described as a roughly 40 page, full color zine packed with character profiles, spell tables, and writing prompts.
Mechanically, it blends Tarot pulls with a novel match 3 system powered by d6 dice. That last part makes my little systems loving heart flutter. There is something delicious about translating the tactile joy of lining up tiles into the clatter of dice across a table.
What excites me most is the “slice of life” framing. Cozy games and cozy TTRPGs share a quiet thesis: the mundane is worthy of narrative weight. We do not always need to slay a dragon to feel transformed. Sometimes the magic is in tending a shop, nurturing a community garden, or navigating the awkward, tender moments between friends.
The original Spirit Swap thrives in those in between spaces. It trusts that character is compelling enough. This zine seems poised to do the same, but with you as both player and storyteller.
And then there’s the scale. In the announcement, Alex mentions writing from “the haze of burnout,” and intentionally keeping this project chill and small in the spirit of Zine Month. That context matters. In an industry that often glorifies crunch and constant escalation, choosing to make something contained and manageable feels radical. A 40 page zine. A pseudo sliding scale reward system. Community copies promised on itch.io for those who cannot afford to back it. These are not just bullet points. They are values.
As someone who has written at length about how cozy games can act as a soft place to land, I am fascinated by how that ethos translates to tabletop. Solo TTRPGs like Alone Among the Stars have already proven that quiet journaling experiences can hit as hard as any bombastic campaign. Add Tarot, add dice, add the aesthetic DNA of Spirit Swap, and you have the makings of something deeply personal. A game you can pull off the shelf on a Sunday afternoon when your brain is too loud and you need to funnel your feelings somewhere gentle.
There is also something fitting about a match 3 inspired system in a solo format. Match 3 mechanics are about alignment. About noticing patterns. About small adjustments that create cascading effects. That metaphor works beautifully for slice of life storytelling. One conversation leads to another. One choice ripples outward. Line up three emotional truths and watch what clears.
If you loved Spirit Swap for its queer friendly warmth, its lofi soundtrack, and its cast of characters who feel like people you might text at 2 a.m., this TTRPG feels like an invitation to build your own version of that world. Not as a consumer, but as a co creator. A little zine sized portal you can open whenever you need it.
And perhaps that is the most “Spirit Swap” thing of all. Not the puzzles. Not even the plants. But the idea that magic can be small, shared, and sustainable.
Stay cozy, gamers!