In the words of its creators, Hoa is “a puzzle-platforming game that features breathtaking hand-painted art, lovely music, and a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere.” Hoa was developed by Skrollcat Studio in partnership with KYX Studio and published by PM Studios. Hoa was released on August 24, 2021 for PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

GRAPHICS 10/10

Hoa’s graphics are so beautiful that they might make you cry from appreciation. As you play through the game, you are greeted with HAND-PAINTED ART! That’s right, hand-painted—and you can see the effort from the moment you start the game. From the backgrounds, flowers, and plant life to the details of all the characters and creatures you see along your journey, only a few words come to mind: awe-inspiring and breathtaking. While playing the game, you can see the inspiration taken from the likes of legendary Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli (creators of Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, just to name my favorites). As the leader of the Hoa team said in an interview with 80.lv about the Studio Ghibli influence, “Another plus point of this art style is its attention to depicting plants and flowers…” This game’s graphics truly deserve an 11/10. 

SOUND QUALITY 10/10

The sound quality in Hoa will have you doing a double-take on whether this game is an indie rather than a AAA game. The audio team for Hoa consists of composer and pianist Johannes Johansson (aka Akmigone), orchestrator and sound designer Lauri Koivisto, and sound engineer Simon Evig—and they do not disappoint. From the moment you land on the title screen you are greeted with the sweet sounds of piano to help set the mood, and once you start the game, it only gets better from there. The swell the music makes as you start your adventure into this beautiful world had my spirit jumping for joy. Not only is the soundtrack excellent, it also put me in the mood to continue playing the game and discover more about it. The sound design of the game is also well done, from the pitter-patter of your character’s feet as she runs to the squeaking of the enemies as they move about. Mix all that with the music of the game and you have yourself a match made in heaven.

GAMEPLAY 9.5/10

The gameplay of Hoa is that of the puzzle-platformer genre. As you start, they introduce you to the basic movements and mechanics of the game. As you progress and earn your character’s upgrades by collecting butterflies, you are granted new moves and power-ups that are common to this type of game. You are granted a double jump, a float/fly ability, and the ability to push heavy objects. These are not optional—you have to collect these power-ups to finish the game, and they work quite well together. None of the puzzles are very hard, but I believe that is a benefit of what kind of game this is trying to be. This is what the kids are calling a “cozy” game: something that relaxes the player instead of stressing them out by making them save someone on a time limit or fight a ton of enemies. Speaking of enemies, this game doesn’t have anything that would be seen as a traditional enemy. There are squeaky robot guys that give you a kick in the pants (...cloak?...hoodie?), but that’s more of a mild inconvenience than actually harmful. No spoilers, but for me and my playthrough, I would say the ending segment was the hardest part of Hoa. It threw me for a loop, but in a good way. I beat the game in about three hours, so for the final segment to have me feeling topsy-turvy towards the end was refreshing. My only complaint about the gameplay would be the segment right before the end—and again, not to spoil anything, but a part of me wishes I could have played the cinematic they showed before the previously mentioned end segment; but then that wouldn’t be that much of a cozy game if they did that I suppose.

CHARACTERS 10/10

The characters of Hoa are well designed and adorable. Your main character’s fairy design fits the game well, and you have friends along the way to help you traverse the world. As mentioned in the gameplay section, you upgrade your character by activating symbols and awakening the guardians of the forest. Once awakened, these characters usually give you a little hint about your past, family, and the circumstances that led to you starting your story on a little boat by yourself. All the creatures are very helpful, besides one previously mentioned squeaky individual. You have the rhinoceros beetle, who helps you out by letting you jump on its back to reach higher places; the bouncy green bugs that also help you out by letting you jump on them to access out-of-reach places; the ladybugs that get spooked easily, so you have to jump on them and quickly move to the next object; and rock buddies that help you out by—you guessed it—letting you jump on them to get to higher places. They also all have eyes—even the rocks—and that adds a charm to this game.

STORY 9/10

Hoa’s story is hidden behind all the cutesy-ness. As previously mentioned, when you awaken the guardians of each section of the game, they fill in your character’s backstory one piece at a time. As you play through the game and start to learn about your avatar’s circumstances, family, and past, you will see a different side of this game. In the later levels, Hoa shows you exactly what happened long ago. This turn in the game’s narrative helps set the foundation of the game and the main character’s determination to bring life to the world that saved her. Hoa’s ending is cinematic and beautiful. The hand-drawn, stop-motion style is well detailed. No words are said and none need to be said, because the team at Skrollcat Studio did a wonderful job illustrating what their vision was for the game’s story.

OVERALL 9.7/10

Hoa has beautiful art, music, and a fun, easy-going style of play. With its wonderfully mastered and melodic tunes, this game receives my recommendation to play it just for the music alone. So if you are in the mood to relax and enjoy an inviting atmosphere with cutesy bug friends and rock friends alike, I believe you will enjoy the game that the team at Skrollcat Studio has so lovingly made for us.

Hoa was released on August 24, 2021 for PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The reviewer purchased the game at full retail price. This article included Amazon affiliate links.