Genius Beauty Knight, the main protagonist, and Magical Science Angel
Hero Hours Contract is a turn-based strategy game released on August 27, 2020, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. It is primarily created by Steve O'Gorman, who also made The Rainsdowne Players.
A free sequel was released on September 7, 2022, titled Hero Hours Contract 2: A Factory for Magical Girls. In it, the magical girl trio from the original game have to face their greatest challenge yet: a gig economy.
Tropes:
- Beach Episode: Due to a stretch goal being reached, one of these can be negotiated into your contract.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Your primary foes in the tactical segments are brainwashed zombie minions.
- Child Prodigy: Magical Science Angel is described as such, as she's only twelve years old but has an intimate understanding of chemical compounds.
- Fighter, Mage, Thief: How the trio shakes out, though it is a little shaky since a lot of the usual tropes don't work due to the girls being invulnerable.
- Bea is the Fighter, as she can dish out large amounts of damage. She's not good for much else though.
- Genius Beauty Knight is the Thief, able to speed about the battlefield and knock back enemies.
- Magical Science Angel is the Mage, since she can take out large chains of enemies in a row with a single attack.
- Gamer Chick: Another stretch goal reached is a side-story for Genius Beauty Knight, who wants to know the identity of the person beating all of her high scores at the local arcade.
- In Medias Res: The main protagonist has already been a Magical Girl for four years when the game begins.
- Invincible Hero: The Magical Girl protagonists are so powerful that regular minions cannot hurt them in any way, making the tactical segments a challenge of efficiency and speed rather than strength.
- Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction: Rather than being the embodiments of purity and justice, Magical Girls are treated as mere employees of a larger system, and having to regularly protect the world from the forces of evil has interfered with Bea's education and left her with no possible career other than working in a (struggling) family-owned store.
- Magical Girl Warrior: All of the playable characters fall under this sub-type, having to fight villains on a near-nightly basis.
- Magically-Binding Contract: One of the game's main elements is renegotiating yours.
- Magic Knight: Genius Beauty Knight, whose weapon of choice is a rapier that can pierce through multiple foes.
- Mentor Mascot: The creatures that empower the Magical Girls look like tiny phones with charms.
- No Name Given: The main character of the story is listed as "Nameless Protagonist" on the Kickstarter page. In the game proper, she is actually called Magical Girl [Provisional] 927 B. She says just call her "Bea".
- Relationship Values: You can power up your abilities by making new social connections and developing your bonds with them.
- Rich Bitch: Genius Beauty Knight's profile on Kickstarter implies this, as she's from a wealthy family, she proclaims that she's modest but came up with her own title, and she mainly fights for fame and adoration. She also has Magical Science Angel do her homework.
- Science Hero: Magical Science Angel leans into this, having her own laboratory and fighting with high-tech weaponry such as a bazooka.
- Secret Identity: All of the Magical Girls have one; the main protagonist, for example, is a school dropout who works in her family's struggling convenience store.
- Signed Up for the Dental: Averted; one of the major demands of the protagonists is for proper healthcare, which includes dental.
- Summon Magic: The protagonist's special ability is to summon the spirits of her closest friends and family to fight on her behalf. The stronger the bond, the more they can do.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: The Tower in general. It puts different rules on each set of floors, such as racing against an Advancing Wall of Doom or racing to reach a point total before the enemy.
- Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Deconstructed; having to fight evildoers every night instead of focusing on homework eventually led to the main protagonist flunking out of high school with no marketable skills. It's implied her mother did the same thing.
- Weird Trade Union: The game's primary focus is managing a "Union of Magical Girls" who, when they're not fighting brainwashed monsters in turn-based strategic combat, are negotiating with the coalition of magical creatures that gave them their powers for better pay and benefits.
