The Loopler

I realize I have a lot of hours in this for not recommending it. That's partly due to stubbornness. That's also partly because the first several difficulty levels are actually quite enjoyable. The later difficulties are just brutal with RNG dictating almost entirely whether you win or not. You can choose not to play with any items/cards/gates you want, but what's the point in not playing with the things you unlock? You *can* create a custom build to blow through even the highest difficulties, but that isn't very enjoyable. Unfortunately if you don't, you'll find yourself just praying that you can even start a build, let alone finish a run. If you play this only on lower difficulties, it's fun. If you want to get the achievements, no. There are far better games to achievement hunt in.

So, at first it feels a lot like playing Balatro for the first time, right? Where you see all these choices for paths and all these rewards, but you have no idea what any of them do. So when you first play you basically have to choose random buffs because you need to get a good feel. The problem is that once I've chosen an upgrade or a part, its extremely difficult to tell...what it actually did. Or if it was worth it. In Balatro you will know immediately because your playstyle will become faster or more efficient. In this, it's very hard to tell if you're actually doing well. I think a big part of it is the "click and forget" kind of gameplay. You have no active role in how well you do outside of upgrade choices which you have no idea if they're good or worth it. I'm sure someone with more interest in this style of gameplay could sit down and go through the motions to learn and optimise, but if I'm being honest I just don't care enough.

It's not too bad, but not too good either. The first few difficulties are incredibly easy. The higher difficulties REALLY railroad you into certain builds. It's so bad that unless you happen to roll well early in the run, the run is guaranteed to fail. That, plus the gameplay really doesn't leave me wanting to come back for more, even on a win. I only have 2h in the game, but I feel like I've seen everything the game has to offer. For $10? That's not great.