VA-11 Hall-A KIDS! is a free adventure video game wherein your favorite female VA-11 Hall-A characters are in a hilarious alternate universe. Developed by Sukeban Games, this visual novel is an official spin-off of VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action, turning some of the original characters into high school kids. This is the developer’s 2018 April Fool’s gift to their fans and features wacky school hijinks.

From the dreary future to the simple present 

VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is an indie bartender simulation video game developed by Sukeban Games. In it, you play as Jill, a bartender in the dystopian downtown of a cyberpunk world—serving and concocting drinks for your wide variety of customers. This is the only way you can interact with and talk to them, unlocking more and more stories about their lives by pleasing them with the drinks you prepare. 

In this spin-off, however, the setting becomes a high school mystery comedy instead and only has some of the female cast. This time, you play as Dana Zane, who decides to track down the culprit behind the destruction of Sei’s festival booth. The game mostly plays out like the investigation part of the Ace Attorney series, wherein you can do three actions in each location: move to another place, talk to someone, or look around.

This game is pretty short and has a pretty linear story. Much of the fanservice here is in exploring this alternate universe through dialogue, and the whole investigation is mostly just to give you a purpose in looking around and talking to get clues. Even if you don’t do a lot of that, you can easily solve the case by simply following the suggested actions on the dialogue box.

For the fans

Overall, VA-11 Hall-A KIDS! is definitely more for the fans of the original game. The graphics were completely changed to resemble anime much closer to fit the high school theme, and the background visuals compose of simple 3D locations and colored animations. It won’t satisfy mystery fans, but it’s still a great extra material for the original game.