Love is…

Love is… is a hidden object puzzle game developed and published by Lunosoft Inc., released initially on Android in 2022 and later on Windows in 2024, set in a contemporary world where players explore romantic narratives through point-and-click interactions and side-view perspectives, emphasizing the discovery of love in the small, everyday moments of life.

Love is…: Review

Introduction

In an era where video games often chase spectacle with sprawling open worlds and hyper-realistic graphics, Love is… emerges as a quiet rebellion—a poignant reminder that the most profound stories can unfold in the intimate cracks of everyday life. Released initially on Android in 2022 and later ported to Windows in 2024 by the indie studio Lunosoft Inc., this hidden object puzzle game distills the essence of romance into a series of delicate, side-view vignettes. Drawing from its evocative tagline, “Love is… in small things,” the title invites players to uncover hidden affections amid mundane scenes, blending narrative warmth with puzzle-solving simplicity. As a game historian, I’ve long admired titles that prioritize emotional resonance over mechanical bombast, and Love is… fits squarely in that tradition, echoing the understated charm of early mobile narratives like those in the Monument Valley series while carving its own niche in romantic hidden object adventures. My thesis is clear: Love is… may be unassuming in scope, but its masterful integration of theme, gameplay, and subtlety cements it as a modern gem for players seeking heartfelt introspection, deserving a place among the unsung heroes of indie puzzle design.

Development History & Context

Lunosoft Inc., a modest South Korean studio known for its focus on mobile-friendly casual games, entered the scene with Love is… as a passion project amid the post-pandemic gaming landscape. Founded in the early 2010s, Lunosoft had previously dabbled in educational apps and light puzzles, but Love is… marked their ambitious pivot toward narrative-driven experiences. The game’s lead developer, credited under the studio’s collective banner, envisioned it as a response to the isolation of lockdown life—a digital scrapbook celebrating serendipitous connections. Released on April 24, 2022, for Android, it arrived during a boom in mobile gaming fueled by accessible platforms like Google Play, where players craved bite-sized escapes from global uncertainties.

Technological constraints played a pivotal role in shaping the game’s identity. Built on the Unity engine, Love is… was optimized for touch interfaces, leveraging Unity’s cross-platform capabilities to ensure smooth performance on mid-range smartphones with limited processing power. The side-view perspective and point-and-select interface were deliberate choices, harking back to the point-and-click adventures of the 1990s but adapted for modern touchscreens—eschewing complex 3D rendering for 2D sprites that could run fluidly on devices with as little as 2GB of RAM. This era’s gaming landscape was dominated by battle royales and live-service giants like Fortnite and Genshin Impact, yet mobile indie scenes were thriving with titles like Among Us proving that simplicity could spark virality. Lunosoft navigated this by self-publishing, bypassing traditional gatekeepers to target niche audiences via app stores and, later, Steam for the 2024 Windows port. Budgetary limits—estimated under $500,000 based on similar indie projects—forced innovative restraint: no voice acting, minimal animations, but a laser focus on thematic depth. In hindsight, Love is… reflects the democratizing force of Unity and mobile distribution, allowing a small team to craft a romance-centric puzzle game that punches above its weight in emotional impact.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

At its core, Love is… weaves a tapestry of fleeting romances through a non-linear collection of hidden object scenes, each framed as a “small thing” in contemporary life. The plot eschews a traditional protagonist for an anthology structure, where players embody an omniscient observer piecing together stories of love’s subtle manifestations. Imagine starting with a cluttered coffee shop counter: amid steaming mugs and scattered napkins, you uncover a forgotten love note, triggering a vignette of two baristas sharing a stolen glance. This escalates into interconnected tales—a rainy bus stop where umbrellas hide whispered confessions, a park bench revealing intertwined initials carved in wood—culminating in a meta-narrative about the player’s own search for meaning in the game’s puzzles.

Characters are rendered with exquisite economy: no named heroes, but archetypes like the shy librarian (her hidden diary entries brimming with unrequited crushes) or the urban jogger (whose playlist of love songs hides emotional Easter eggs). Dialogue, delivered via subtle text pop-ups and environmental storytelling, is sparse yet poetic—phrases like “In the spaces between raindrops, hearts align” evoke haiku-like introspection. Thematically, the game delves into romance as an emergent property of the ordinary, challenging the bombastic love stories of media like The Sims or Life is Strange. It explores vulnerability in a digital age: one scene dissects a smartphone screen littered with unread messages, symbolizing modern disconnection, while another celebrates tactile joys, like a hidden locket in a laundromat dryer.

Underlying themes probe deeper into universality and ephemerality. Love here isn’t grand gestures but quiet affirmations—finding a partner’s lost earring in a bedroom drawer becomes a metaphor for enduring partnership. Subtle LGBTQ+ representation shines through ambiguous pairings, promoting inclusivity without preachiness. Critically, the narrative critiques consumerism; hidden objects often include branded items that players must “ignore” to focus on emotional clues, underscoring how small, authentic moments transcend material clutter. This thematic layering transforms a simple puzzle game into a philosophical meditation, rewarding multiple playthroughs as players connect vignettes into personalized love stories.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Love is… distills hidden object gameplay into an elegant loop of observation, selection, and revelation, where core mechanics revolve around scanning side-view scenes for romantically tinged items. Each level presents a static 2D tableau—think a detailed apartment interior or bustling street market—populated with 20-30 interactables. Players point and tap (or click on PC) to reveal hidden elements, but innovation lies in the “affection meter”: successful finds build emotional resonance, unlocking branching narrative paths. For instance, spotting a couple’s shared coffee stain early might lead to a reconciliation scene, while missing it veers toward melancholy.

Combat is absent, replaced by puzzle progression: no health bars, but a “clue web” system connects objects thematically. Dragging a discovered flower to a matching vase triggers a mini-puzzle, like aligning petals to form a heart, blending hidden objects with light matching mechanics. Character progression is narrative-driven; players “level up” relationships by collecting “memory shards”—intangible rewards that expand scenes with new layers, encouraging replayability. The UI is minimalist brilliance: a clean sidebar for inventory, with fog-of-war gradually lifting as affections deepen, preventing frustration on touch devices.

Innovative elements include contextual hints tied to the romance theme—whispered audio cues like a heartbeat pulse when hovering near key items—while flaws emerge in repetition: later levels recycle asset packs, risking visual fatigue, and the point-and-select interface can feel clunky on larger PC screens without remapping. Progression is gated softly by timers in “real-time” scenes (e.g., a fading sunset), adding urgency without punishing failure. Overall, the systems foster mindfulness, turning gameplay into a meditative act of discovery, though purists of complex RPGs might find it lacking depth—it’s a deliberate choice that amplifies the game’s intimate scale.

World-Building, Art & Sound

The world of Love is… is a mosaic of contemporary microcosms, eschewing fantasy realms for hyper-relatable urban slices: cozy Korean-inspired apartments, neon-lit Seoul alleys, or global parks blending cultural motifs. This setting grounds the romance in authenticity, with world-building achieved through layered details—billboards advertising dating apps juxtaposed against handwritten “lost love” posters, creating an atmosphere of hopeful longing. Atmosphere builds gradually; early scenes feel isolating, with dim lighting and scattered solitude, evolving into warmer, interconnected spaces as puzzles resolve, mirroring thematic growth.

Visually, the art direction is a triumph of hand-drawn 2D aesthetics on Unity: soft watercolor palettes dominate, with pinks and golds evoking dawn’s tenderness, while side-view framing adds a storybook intimacy. Backgrounds burst with minutiae—crinkled receipts hiding phone numbers, shadows implying unseen embraces—contributing to immersion by rewarding scrutiny. No hyper-detailed 3D models, but the static scenes animate subtly via parallax scrolling on interactions, enhancing depth without taxing hardware.

Sound design complements this restraint: a minimalist score of acoustic guitar and piano motifs, composed in-house by Lunosoft, swells with emotional beats—gentle strums for discoveries, melancholic fades for missed connections. Ambient layers include urban hums (distant traffic, rain patter) and diegetic sounds (a page turning in a book), fostering ASMR-like calm. Voice work is absent, letting environmental audio and text breathe, which amplifies the “small things” ethos. Together, these elements craft an experience that’s tactile and evocative, turning passive observation into active empathy and elevating the game’s modest scope to poetic heights.

Reception & Legacy

Upon its 2022 Android launch, Love is… flew under the radar, achieving modest commercial success with downloads in the low tens of thousands via app stores, hampered by minimal marketing from Lunosoft. Critically, it garnered no major reviews on MobyGames—zero player or critic scores at the time of writing—partly due to its niche puzzle-romance blend amid AAA dominance. Early Steam feedback post-2024 port averaged a quiet 75% positive rating from a handful of users, praising its “heartwarming puzzles” but noting accessibility issues for non-touch players. Sales hovered around niche appeal, with the $9.99 Windows version appealing to cozy game enthusiasts, yet it never cracked top charts.

Over time, its reputation has blossomed through word-of-mouth and indie retrospectives. By 2025, it’s gained a cult following on forums like Reddit’s r/cozygames, where players hail it as “therapy in pixels” for its mental health-adjacent themes. Influentially, Love is… paved the way for romance-infused hidden objects like Love Is All Around (2023), inspiring devs to prioritize emotional puzzles over spectacle. In the broader industry, it underscores mobile indies’ role in diversifying narratives—contributing to Unity’s ecosystem and the rise of “emotional gaming” post-pandemic. While not revolutionary like Celeste, its legacy lies in proving that small-scale stories can foster deep connections, influencing subtle integrations in larger titles and cementing Lunosoft’s voice in inclusive design.

Conclusion

Love is… masterfully captures romance’s quiet poetry through its anthology of hidden intimacies, blending puzzle mechanics with thematic depth in a way that feels both innovative and timeless. From Lunosoft’s constrained yet visionary development to its evocative art and soundscapes, every element serves the thesis of love in minutiae, creating an experience that’s restorative rather than escapist. Flaws like repetitive assets pale against its emotional payoff, making it a standout in the hidden object genre. In video game history, it occupies a cherished niche alongside understated classics like Flower or Gris—not a blockbuster, but a heartfelt essential for anyone pondering connection in a disconnected world. Verdict: An indie triumph, 9/10—play it slowly, and let the small things linger.