Demo Dive #1 - April

We are back! That one-month pause needed to handle a different, external project turned into a two-month stop, but I never intended to put Tiny Gaming out of the loop. I always knew my desire to cover cool indie games would never dwindle, and my latest and much-coveted aquiring of Steam Deck finally aided me in checking out games in my spare time. And so, we are coming back in force with material ready for the coming few weeks on a regular schedule - and since it's a beautiful Sunday, we're kicking things off with our traditional DEMO DIVE. Let's roll!

CLOVERPIT

Now, this was thrilling. I am not bold enough to say this is some sort of genre-forming bit, but I sure as heck see inspirations from games like BUCKSHOT ROULETTE or even INSCRYPTION. This is a dark-themed, twisty, and grim take on a rather simple game concept. CLOVERPIT fits that whole schema to a T, but does it in a very elegant, streamlined way that I cannot really fault it for digging into that theme - it fits like a glove. There is an almost whimsical sense of threat and danger here, and I know this sentence sounds a bit nonsensical. You are stuck in a grimy, tiny room of corroded metal, meaty gribblies, and some mechanical rudimentaries to feed your addiction - Gambling. In every single cycle, you need to keep on winning to feed your ever-growing debt, or, well... you'll end up in a grinder. It's a grim prospect with an immediate sense of danger, that tight schedule and tighter numbers you need to achieve work in tandem to turn a simple act of pulling a lever on a one-handed bandit slot into quite a thrill.

But of course, this is a game, so there must be some control over what you're cookin' there to survive, and like every proper Roguelike, you can buy trinkets that help you modify your machine behaviour. Building up to proper combos is quite possible, and so your fight against randomness is entertaining from start to finish - even if things won't go your way. And of course, there's more! Red phone rings to blend lore-building with in-game bonuses. The deadlines set by the voice outside govern your life in this tight cell. There's a bit of a fun mystery here to solve in your attempt to get free. It's stylish. It's fun. It's addictive. Can't wait for the full version to fall into my lap.

WORDATRO!

Yeah, the name gives away how absolutely shameless this is, but I sure as heck don't mind. In my eyes, turning more and more game formulas into BALATRO-like systems can only be a good thing, especially if executed well. This title ask the same question as its source material does: "What if we take [insert popular simple tabletop game] and make it a roguelike?" and applies it to... Scrabble, of all things. You get your letters. They have point values. And you form words on a limited number of tries in an attempt to cross the arbitrary score goal. Simple as heck, but of course it wouldn't be a proper BALATRO clone without the usual bits and bops - the longer the word, the bigger the Multiplier you will score. Letters come in variety of bonuses - bold letters trigger multiple times, italics boost the multiplier spots, and golden letters provide fatter points bonuses. And there are even special symbols that aid you in various ways.

Then, between rounds, you earn bonuses that offer additional synergies, which you can cleverly pick and match to stack more points and multipliers matching your 'style' of word-filling. Of course, the freedom of using them isn't as spectacular as you'd hope, since the random letters you get often will force your hands into making words you can scrounge up from them... Sometimes, omitting the bonuses you hoped to trigger. But it doesn't happen often, as said bonuses are quite general in nature.

It's good fun, and for any BALATRO-brained individual that needs their daily shot of such kind of gameplay, it can be a new fix to get hooked on. My only minor complaint is that the audiovisual style is rather... rough. Rudimentary, with huge UI elements, pastel colors that just didn't work for me. I wouldn't say it's cluttered, but it feels a bit rushed, a bit 'old flash games' vibe to it. Nonetheless, I had fun blasting through the demo and can see myself getting a good bit of enjoyment playing the full version.

FUNGUYS SWARM

Oh boy, a Survivor-like? We sure as heck don't have enough of those, right... right? Well, I am a fan of the genre, but even I would say that we are definitely reaching a point of over saturation, where every month it feels like we are getting 10-20 new clones of VAMPIRE SURVIVOR winning formula. It is therefore a challenge to break through the mire of same'ish games by offering something new, unique, and some special hook to tantalize the players with.

FUNGUYS SWARM doesn't have it. Now, this sounds like a final verdict: the game's bad, nothing new on the table, ew, take it away... BUT, dear readers, no, that's not the case. It can be a very rudimentary example of the genre with all the obvious - and customary! - elements on display. Multiple weapons to unlock, various upgrade systems, biomes, levelling up weapons, and passive, the whole shebang. So what makes me feel good about this game is the fantastic execution. It is unique on that front in the best possible way. Cartoony styling, superb rendering, cutesy but exquisitely crafted visuals. It is a delight to play through, a sheer bundle of explosive joy. Characters are goofy, enemies are animated well, hub is colorful and fun... And all that still retains superb readability, a clean interface that gives you the key information you need to craft your success in a run. It has a sense of whimsy that no other game in the genre ever matched for me, and that alone feels like a breath of fresh air.

With all the other mechanics being done way beyond competent, it shines during moment-to-moment gameplay. Controls are tight, enemies' hitboxes are well adjusted, your powers are clear and punchy, and there is really not a single complaint I can give to the execution of any of the game elements. It's a survivor-like done right.