Slot machines are, to put it lightly, just a tiny bit addictive. There’s that compulsion to go for just one more spin because that next one will definitely be the one to get you a jackpot. It’s almost devilish that Friedemann has taken the workings of a slot machine and wrapped a highly engrossing dungeon crawler around them. Slots & Daggers mixes gambling with fighting monsters and attempting to overthrow an evil Lord. It is very entertaining.
The set up of Slots & Daggers is simple. You are on a quest to overthrow the evil Lord Slother, but to do that you have to traverse through different places like swamps, sewers, and citadels. Luckily you can do that from the comfort of a seat at a table with a slot machine in front of you. You start your journey by picking three items to populate the rollers, with the initial offerings being a rusty sword and shield, but as you progress you will unlock better and more powerful items. Once you have picked the items, you begin the adventure.
The slot machine screen shows you the enemy you are facing, with their health and attack power also displayed. Below the screen are the slots, with a tray of coins to the left, for spending in the upgrade shop, and your health and shield bars to the right. Both you and enemies have melee and magic attacks to use, with magic being especially powerful as it bypasses shields altogether.
While the set up of Slots & Daggers is simple, it is a game with a lot of depth to it. As you make your way through the game, you will be able to pick new weapons, skills, and power ups to take on stronger foes. There is a major tactical element to it too when deciding on which items to upgrade, add to your inventory, or even remove. You can pick as many items as you want, as long as you can afford them, but overloading the rollers with too many items can see you missing out on critical attacks or getting things you do not want. For example, if your shield is maxed out but you have a few shield items equipped, there is a big chance they will appear in a slot doing nothing when you would rather a weapon appear to attack. Some weapons and items have bonuses like dealing poison damage, or getting more powerful the more times they appear on screen.
You need to plan out what you think will get you through each enemy, but you cannot continuously rely on the same tactics as each enemy has their own tactics, strengths, and weaknesses to consider. The further you go, the stronger they get, so you need to be prepared. And in roguelite fashion, all your items, weapons and their upgrades are lost whenever you die.
Modifiers are available to unlock to help give you an advantage as permanent upgrades. These can be bought with the chips earned form defeating enemies, and I advise spending the earlier part of the game repeating levels to get chips quickly so you can boost things like critical chance, get a revive option, and lower prices in the upgrade store. Doing so will make the later runs against the stronger enemies much easier to deal with. It was only after a couple of attempts at the same level around the halfway mark that I settled on this approach, and it helped a lot. It is also nice to see enemies that once caused major issues fall within a couple of hits.
The presentation of Slots & Daggers is really good. The enemies are quite simple in design but each has its own look, and the subtle changes in lighting as you move through levels is well done too. The coins falling into the tray to your left make a satisfying clinking sound as they fall, and the music is atmospheric too. The sounds and looks combined with the slot gameplay really make the time pass quickly as you try to beat the enemies.
It took around seven hours for me to overcome the main campaign, but there’s then an arena mode to tackle, which introduces enemies that are not present in the story. It is a good way to keep things going, and allows you to experiment with new ways to take on challenges while chasing a high score.
My one gripe with Slots & Daggers would be the upgrade store, specifically the power ups that cost additional money to use in combat. I do get what the developer is trying to do by forcing a tactical decision like using one of your slots to get coins, but some of the prices did seem a bit steep to use the items. Fortunately, you can complete the campaign without using power ups that need additional in game currency to utilise.
