Peppermint Academy

A cute western bara visual novel with RPG combat, where you can build a party, collect monsters, and have a romance with hot guys.
Peppermint Academy is a strange school that brings together humans, demons, and angels from many different worlds. It is colorful and a little chaotic, but the romances are surprisingly personal and grounded.
Behind the cute art and fantasy setting, this is a game about relationships, emotional baggage, and learning how to connect with people who are not perfect, including yourself.
Developed by solo developer and artist Neptune
With some background art by Azzedar and some CG art by Ctreuse Lex

Characters That Feel Human
You meet men dealing with real-life struggles like:
Faith and religion

Grief and loss

Sexuality and identity

Masculinity and expectations

Being a parent, being alone, or starting over

Some are loud, some awkward, some gentle, some guarded.
You do not have to like everyone, but there is room to find someone who feels right to you.
The three main romance interests are Rick, Dimitri, and Jet.

There's also two more romances planned for stretch goal, the angel Pryce and the demon Momozon.

Combat System
Combat is turn-based, easy to understand, and built around an elemental rock-paper-scissors system.
There are 8 main elements that counter each other in a simple chain. There are also support roles like healing, summoning, and hand-to-hand fighters. You do not need to memorize charts. Strengths and weaknesses become intuitive as you play.
You can swap party members before each mission, letting you adjust your strategy without being punished for early choices.
Outfits and gear can get damaged over time, adding visual feedback to tough battles, and showing more of their bodies.

The story takes you through 12 themed missions, each in a different pocket world. These range from strange and spooky locations to playful, fantasy-inspired areas like a Haunted Toy Store or a Wild West bar.
Progression follows a satisfying gameplay loop without endless grinding.
Defeat enemies and complete missions to earn:
Loot

Experience

You use these to:
Craft items and potions

Unlock new abilities

Your main character grows too. As you progress, you unlock:
New customization options

New skills
The element advantage system:
Physical cycle:
Ignis > Glacial > Terra > Aer > Aqua > Ignis
The abstract cycle:
Solar > Dark > Mind > Solar

The Setting
Peppermint Academy was founded by beings from the afterworld to bring different races together. Students and Masters come from all walks of life, and the rules are more flexible than in a normal school.
Throughout the year, you travel to mysterious pocket worlds, strange locations where reality works a little differently. Pocket worlds are fantasy-themed whimsical worlds, based on the fears and dreams of the characters. The planned themes:
Haunted Toystore,

Western farm,

Gym Beach,

Royal Tea Court,

Valhalla Mountains,

Voodoo Park,

Museum of Memories,

The Chess Temple,

Hero City,

Demon Onsen,

Honey Casino,

Magical Circus

People inside pocket worlds often forget about the real world. Each area has its own vibe, characters, and enemies.
Other than the romance routes, there's a main story tying the game together, which has multiple possible endings.
Monsters and Collection
Each world has its own strange creatures, with near 100 custom-designed collectibles.
These are not simple palette swaps. They are tied to the themes of each pocket world and add personality to exploration and combat.
You can use creatures as familiars to strengthen your party.

Party Building and Customization
Build your party from around 30 characters

Many alternate outfits to mix and match

Your main character’s dialogue sprite is fully customizable

This game is for you if
You prefer western bara over anime-style pretty boy designs

You want NSFW content that still cares about character and story

You enjoy cozy, low-pressure gameplay

You like having choices in party members and playstyle

You are tired of romance stories where everyone is flawless

Why support this project?
This game exists because I wanted to play it and could not find it anywhere. There are fun, light-hearted bara visual novels out there, and I love them, but most of them are story-only. I kept wishing for something with actual gameplay, even if simple.
So I started making the game.
This project is also very personal to me.
Many of the characters in this game are long-time original characters I have had for years. I care about them, I know their stories, and I want to give them a proper home instead of leaving them unfinished.
No matter what happens with funding, I intend to finish this game.
Support does not decide whether it exists. It helps me work on it full-time, finish it faster, commission help, and make it even better.
If this sounds like the kind of game you have been missing too, your support genuinely helps bring it to life.
Looking Ahead
Right now, the focus is on delivering one complete, finished game.
I have been building this world and its characters for a long time. If the game resonates with people, I would love to explore it further in the future through small spin-offs, side stories, or even tabletop or card game ideas.
For now, all energy is going into making Peppermint Academy the best it can be.