Developer: Friedemann
Publisher: Future Friend Games
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Slots & Daggers – Review
Recently, gambling games have been experiencing a surge in popularity, often due to their simplicity and unique twists. We are then, of course, talking about gambling games such as Balatro, Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers, and CloverPit, all of which have unique mechanics and present gamers with a title that may look familiar but adds a lot of quirky elements. In the case of Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers, you’re playing Blackjack, albeit in a medieval setting, with many cards that wouldn’t be found in a regular deck of cards. It’s these additional quirks that make standard gambling games a lot more fun for a single-player home setting, and the subject of today’s review, Slots & Daggers, does try to jump on the bandwagon. For the most part, we were entertained, even though the game itself was rather short.
Story
As the name may imply, the game is somewhat of a modern take on a medieval gambling simulator, where you’re playing a very old-looking slot machine with RPG-like symbols on it. As you play the machine more and more, you’ll unlock new areas of a world, and at set locations, you’ll be presented with a small text explanation of the things that are going on in said world. There is a bit of story content present, but in all honesty, we doubt many potential players will really care about the unfolding narrative here. We do commend the developer for adding a bit of a plot to the things that happen on the slot machine, but the presentation might be a bit too basic, making it hard to really care.
Graphics
Graphically, Slots & Daggers is a very neat-looking gambling roguelite game with a twist. The game features retro, pixelated graphics that wouldn’t look out of place in an old-school RPG, albeit set in a casino-like environment. All the monsters you’ll be battling will be visible on the monitor of a small slot machine, where you’ll be rolling for different weapons, defensive abilities, and passive bonuses. The overall look of the game feels extremely polished, and we were actually a bit sad that there isn’t more content, as you’ll have seen everything on offer fairly quickly. Some more items, or perhaps a few customization options, would have done wonders here. Nonetheless, Slots & Daggers looks really good, and we wouldn’t mind seeing other titles doing something similar.
Sound
The sound design of Slots & Daggers is also quite good. It’s perhaps a bit basic, but the ambiance really sets the mood, as you’ll have a few tunes playing in the background, the slot machine makes fairly accurate sounds, the combat SFX pack a proper punch, and even the crowd in the background makes it feel like you’re in an actual casino setting. The music may end up becoming a bit repetitive, but we reckon a lot of potential players might play through this title in the background with their own music playing.
Gameplay
Slots & Daggers is a gambling roguelite with RPG elements. You’ll be playing a slot machine in a dark, tumultuous place, where you’ll have to roll different symbols to defeat the enemies on the screen. You can deal physical damage or magic damage, heal, gain shield, but also roll items such as coins or symbols that allow you to spin again. In between battles, you can use the aforementioned coins to buy new symbols you can spin, symbol upgrades, or passive and active bonus items. It’s a fairly simple format that doesn’t need explaining. You’ll figure things out easily, and the more you play, the more new items you’ll unlock. At the end of a run, you’ll be awarded poker chips with which you can buy permanent upgrades.
The biggest problems we had with Slots & Daggers are that this is a really short game, and with the right combinations of weapons, you’ll have completed the game in less than two or three hours, and there is also no replay value. When you have beaten the main game, the Arena mode opens up, which allows you to set high scores, but it doesn’t offer any new content. You can grind a bit if you haven’t unlocked all passive upgrades, but that’s pretty much it. The price of entry might be a bit steep because of this, as the recently released CloverPit is only a few Euros more expensive and offers a lot more content and replay value. Even so, Slots & Daggers was a polished and amusing bite-sized experience that is fun to play through in an evening or two.
Conclusion
Slots & Daggers is a fun, bite-sized gambling roguelite with RPG elements. While very short and without any real replay value, there is still a lot to love here for an evening or two of simple entertainment. The overall amusing gameplay loop is further supported by great visuals, a decent soundtrack, and the perfect atmosphere. If you’re a fan of titles such as CloverPit, this one might be worth looking into as a fun title to play in between bigger games.
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