Maiden & Spell is a bullet hell fighting game by solo developer mino_dev, released in 2020. It’s a novel concept with a clean and impressive visual design to complement its original gameplay and clever writing.

Maiden & Spell re-envisions a classic Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party, and the monsters they encounter, as magical girls. The adventurers are on a journey to the bottom of the dungeon for a treasure, and the monsters are protecting it and the two groups fight it out in flashy bullet hell battles. There are very few bullet hell fighting games out there (the Acceleration of SUGURI games are the only others that I know of) and Maiden & Spell does the gameplay well with extremely readable projectiles and hitboxes.

There are eight characters total - a fighter, wizard, healer, and thief, and on the monster side there is a lich, basilisk, dragon, and some kind of water cat thing? I’m sure they said what she was at one point but I forgot. In a match, two of the magical girls square off in a bounded arena and can move in all directions while firing a variety of different attacks. Generally, they have a basic attack, a wide attack, an offensive special, and a defensive special. These abilities vary dramatically from character to character, so the different characters can play quite differently from each other. The controls are very smooth, and in addition to the different attacks characters can focus which slows them down allowing you to micro their movement through the projectiles with more precision.

The art style is extremely cute and cartoony, and very colorful. Each character has a unique design and color palette, and the backgrounds to the arenas are rendered as 3D animated environments though they never distract from the battles themselves.

The writing for the game has a very distinctive voice which is clever and humorous and sometimes moving. This isn’t a perfect comparison, but tonally I would compare it to the animated series Adventure Time. The story mode has you play 6 different storylines, each revealing more about the characters, their relationships, and the treasure at the bottom of the dungeon. Each character has a different personality and motivations, and if I had one complaint it’s that I wanted more story, more time with the characters, and to learn more about them and the setting.

Maiden & Spell is 12.99 USD at full price, and playing through all the single player stories took me about 3 hours, but the game doesn’t end there. There are 4 difficulty levels, and the online multiplayer. As a fighting game, the competitive multiplayer aspect is truly where the meat of the game is and extends its life considerably.

I was blown away with how much I enjoyed this game. The look of the game is very simplified, but this is to the advantage of the gameplay as it makes the projectiles unmistakable during a match - something that’s critical to a good bullet hell, and even though the story mode was very short the writing was very enjoyable.

I also want to touch on the game’s multiplayer community. The player base is rather small, with fights being organized over the developer’s Discord community, but every time I checked there was a handful of dedicated players duking it out in a lobby. The game is four years old so you can expect to battle some very serious players, but I found them friendly and welcoming, and very generous with pointers and advice to a newcomer. There is also an active tournament scene, with tournaments taking place twice a month.

When I first looked at the Steam store page for this, I never would have guessed that I’d have a new game in my rotation of favorites, but it has sucked me in. If you have any love in your heart for bullet hell games, or if you like the cute aesthetic, I recommend checking it out. If you do pick it up, maybe I’ll see you in the lobby.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the game, and if you’re interested please follow my Steam Curator page Hidden Gem Highlights for reviews of lesser known titles like this of all genres.