Buckshot Roulette

It took me exactly 15 minutes to complete Buckshot Roulette the first time. It cost me about £3 on Steam. It took me about half an hour to complete Double or Nothing, which unlocks after you complete it the first time, and now I've finished it and feel like I got exactly what I paid for. 45 minutes of innovative entertainment for the price of a cup of filter coffee at Shell.

Many people have seen little clips of Mike Klubnika's games on Twitch or TikTok and imagine that this does for Russian roulette what Balatro does for poker, but this is something very different. It's the gaming world's answer to an innovative short film, a little taste of what the developer can do, and that's all it is.

You start in a dirty toilet in an underground nightclub with pulsating music in the background. You're not down among the dancers, but up above them on a small walkway, moving through a worn door into a dark room. At the far end sits your opponent, who, like in Inscryption, is a monstrous figure, inhuman and terrifying to look at. You've agreed to play the deadly game of hands, which is, as the name suggests, Russian roulette with a shotgun. If you win, you get rich, and if you lose, well, you know what happens.

That's the setup, it's very simple, and no, there's no exploration of the nightclub between rounds, no roguelite mechanics that make the game easier over time, and no extra narrative dimension either. You are you, at the end of the table is this mysterious, creepy figure, and in front of you is the (perhaps) loaded shotgun.

The rules are simple, but a little more involved than regular Russian roulette. You pick up the weapon and if you choose to point it at yourself and the shot is blank, your opponent's turn is automatically skipped. It quickly becomes a matter of counting bullets and constantly being aware of what's left in the pot. You play in rounds and have a set number of lives each. When the turn's shells are gone, a new magazine is inserted, and you only get a quick glimpse of the distribution between blank and live rounds.

There are three rounds in total, and both the second and third are played with a number of extra tools. A box of cigarettes gives back a life, a can of beer skips the round in the chamber and the knife increases the damage of the next shell. These are simple tools that make the game a little more advanced and add a level of strategy to an otherwise luck-based setting.

To be honest, it's still over before it's even started, and you'll either die suddenly or be left with a briefcase filled to the brim with dollars as the victor. Buckshot Roulette adds a little consideration, a little thoughtfulness and a little depth to its otherwise simple premise, but it doesn't pretend to be more than it is.

There's replay value without a doubt, and the sultry atmosphere, excellent old-school sound design and, above all, Inscryption-esque visuals do their part to lure you in for another round, and it's the tension that gives the game character, but at the same time, there's not... well, much to dislike here. It's easy to recommend at this price, no doubt about it, and Klubnika demonstrates its abilities by combining pricing with an experience that's not a second longer than it should be.

I wish there was just 10% more though, just a little extra dimension that could give the game a little more depth, but at the same time it's pretty clear that Buckshot Roulette is exactly what the creator wanted, and that's something to admire.

Eventually, there will also be multiplayer, which is absolutely brilliant, but until then, it's still highly recommended.