Slots & Daggers

"Ding-ding-ding" is a sound that I am more than happy to hear ringing in my ears. Those of you who have been around for a while and read my texts know that I'm a dopamine junkie and that games that move in some kind of casino context are close to my heart. {Balatro} and {Cloverpit} are games I really love, and so when {Slots & Daggers} came along, I didn't hesitate for a second. I quickly punched in a review code and parked myself in front of the computer to (hopefully) enjoy a similar spectacle as the aforementioned roguelite games. Win some, lose some, upgrade and then start all over again. A familiar but satisfying loop.

{Slots & Daggers}, like {Cloverpit}, is a game whose central mechanic is orientated around a one-armed bandit. But they don't really share more than that similarity, instead {Slots & Daggers} is closer to games like {Slay the Spire} and {Monster Train}. The symbols on the one-armed bandit you play on work in much the same way as the deck you use in {Slay the Spire}. There we find shield, healing and both magic and physical damage. Spin a sword and you deal damage, a shield gives you protection and the ability to block attacks... well, you get the idea.

Simple, but still very elegant.

Each course in {Slots & Daggers} consists of a handful of different enemies that constantly increase in difficulty. That bit is just as it usually is - no quirks. The truth is that {Slots & Daggers} is very easy to pick up, and because of that, it's also extremely easy to just disappear into. It really is one of those games that makes time disappear and you find yourself sitting in front of the computer in the middle of the night with the mouse in your hand, frantically clicking in search of the next kick, the next unlock and the next advancement.

Each round also results in the accumulation of coins that you can spend in the game's shop. There you can, among many other things, unlock more resilience, more health and get more and bigger rewards after each round. What immediately caught my eye, however, was something else, something that sounded unreasonably tempting - another spin on the bandit. After all, a classic one-armed bandit houses three reels - at least the simpler models do, and so does {Slots & Daggers} - but imagine how much better the odds are of hitting a jackpot if you have four or maybe even five reels to generate a win.

Then again, it's not all about pulling the trigger. Some weapons require a kind of "skill check" before the attack is launched. The bow, for example, presents a little mini-game where you have to time the centre of a target, and then there are also shield and healing items that also meet you with similar stuff. This adds a bit more depth to the game, and add to that a plethora of boons/charms/items that you can buy during the round that change the bandit's characteristics in different ways, give you more health or unlock new, more deadly attacks, and we find a game that is not as simple as it looks at first glance.

Between rounds, you can purchase new weapons or various modifiers that will either help or hinder you along the way.

Although you don't visit any environments other than the one-armed bandit, you can't really say that the game lacks atmosphere - because it's certainly there, and with a vengeance. You can clearly see that the machine you are playing on is set up on an old wooden table along with playing cards, dice, an ashtray with a cigarette and a drink. This image, together with the background noise, clearly indicates that we are in some smoky, rather dirty and dodgy tavern. The music and even the soundscape in general add to that image, where we are treated to some strange - but incredibly catchy - jazz tune to the soundtrack while the coins clink and the machine dances out its characteristic sounds. {Slots & Daggers} doesn't make much of a fuss, but the little game it does work with actually does great things.

The graphics are a mix of 2D and 3D. The screen of the bandit, where you see the monsters you're fighting, is in a really lovely 2D pixel style. It too, like the atmosphere of the dirty old pub you're in, feels dirty - almost yellowed and aged - as if it's been in the same place for decades, gathering dust and tobacco smoke. The 3D graphics on the other level give it depth, and on some level you can feel like you're in there. It's simply beautiful.

Upgrade more! That's my tune.

Where games like {Balatro} and {Cloverpit} instantly shine, {Slots & Daggers} doesn't quite manage to reach the same level. It's fun, very fun even - but despite some depth, you feel like you have seen enough after spending a couple of evenings with it. I hope, and to some extent suspect, that there's more to come on that front in the future for {Slots & Daggers}. Those dice placed next to the machine are bouncing around and being tossed about wildly with no explanation - yet anyway. Maybe it's about some secret stats, just for purely aesthetic reasons or maybe and hopefully about a future mechanic that will be baked into the game. We'll just have to see.

So, with that said: {Slots & Daggers} is a great game - through and through. It's addictive enough to keep you coming back for a few nights in a row to keep spinning out the right symbols and getting further and further on the map, unlocking more and more new things. It's also got a great atmosphere, a great jazz beat, and a very accurate and beautiful aesthetic. It doesn't even cost a hundred bucks either, so if you liked {Cloverpit} and other similar games in the roguelite genre, I highly recommend that you also park yourself in front of the computer and find yourself in the middle of the night with a Nocco in your fist, thinking"just one more round, then that'll be enough" for the umpteenth time.