follows a branching plot line that offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters.

Across the national semi-monthly ranking of bishōjo games in amount sold in Japan, the limited edition of Shuffle!

The choices will determine who will be Rin's destined love; depending on which route the player takes, there will be between 8 and 12 multiple-choice questions.

[1] At a certain point in the visual novel, a translucent image of the destined character appears when the day changes indicating whom Rin has fallen in love with after which the multiple-choice events become almost nonexistent.

The characters attend the multi-racial high school, National Verbena Academy (バーベナ学園, Bābena Gakuen) in Kōyō-chō (光陽町, lit.

[2] At the story's onset, two girls Rin had met once during his childhood came to his school as transfer students and began living as his next-door neighbors.

She comes to the human world as a possible marriage candidate for Rin and as the daughter of the Lord of Gods, thankful for his kindness to her in the past.

[8] Soon after the two daughters come to his school, Rin meets Primula, a strange, soft-spoken girl who often carries a stuffed cat around.

[10] She takes pride in her smallest bust size, a fact often made fun of by Rin and Itsuki, claiming them to be a rarity sought after by a select group of men.

[10] Kareha is of the god race and is Asa's friend and classmate who enjoys making sweets and taking on related part-time jobs.

She's confident, firmly stepping on the ground, single, attractive, and frequently the victim of pickup lines, including from the Devils King and Itsuki.

follows the life of Rin Tsuchimi, a normal seventeen-year-old second-year[n 1] high school student who finds himself sought after by a variety of girls.

Eight years prior to the onset of the story, he lost his parents in a car accident that also took the life of Kaede Fuyou's mother.

's development team was largely composed of members involved with Basil's Cherry Petals Fall Like Teardrops.

[13][14] Art direction and character design was split between Aoi Nishimata, who had previously illustrated Cherry Petals Fall Like Teardrops, and Hiro Suzuhira.

コミックアラカルト) written by Comptiq's Editorial Department, was published across five tankōbon volumes by Kadokawa Shoten between July 8, 2004 and December 10, 2005.

[29][30] For the PlayStation 2 version, an additional two CDs were released on February 22, 2006 and May 24, 2006, respectively, each focusing on Mayumi Thyme and Kareha, the two new heroines.

Memories, two additional drama CDs were released on July 25, 2007 and October 24, 2007, focusing on Kaede Fuyou and Lisianthus, respectively.

[40] A series of seven character novels was published monthly by Kadokawa Shoten between June 8, 2004 and January 10, 2006 each focusing on each of seven heroines of Shuffle!, including the two introduced in the PlayStation 2 version.

[41][42] Each of the novels were written by Seishi Ogata and illisturated by Shiroi Kusaka with cover illustrations provided by Aoi Nishimata and Hiro Suzuhira.

It included detailed story explanations, seventy-eight illustrations for Shuffle!, a specially drawn A3 poster, and interviews with the creators.

The book contained all the production sketches, concept art, and interviews with staff relating to the PS2 version of the visual novel compiled by Comptiq.

It features 13 pieces of theme music performed by Yuria, Miyuki Hashimoto, and the respective voice actors for the five heroines of Shuffle!.

[60] Following a month after the release of the series of five drama CDs for the PC version of the game, Lantis released an album in October 2004 containing eleven tracks of character image songs, some of which were featured in the drama CD series, each performed by their respective voice actor.

[62] Two maxi singles containing the theme music used in the first anime adaptation titled "You" and "Innocence" were released in August 2005.

had much pre-sale hype as the development team was largely composed of former members of BasiL, including Hiro Suzuhira and Aoi Nishimata, the illustrators for Shuffle!.

For the 2004 ranking, the categories were: overall, scenario, theme songs, background music, visuals, gameplay system, and heroines.

[85] Smith criticized the ending for lacking "intensity"; however, Ellingwood praised it for showing the consequences of avoiding which heroine the protagonist would choose to love, unlike harem anime she had prior.

[82] Santos stated that the animation was "sloppy" for the secondary characters, however praised the high quality and detail of the artwork.

[94] The user and chara-doll reside together on one of the three in-game "islands" depending on which franchise the heroine is from, which includes a house with furniture and clothes that can be purchased.