Introduction

Picture this. You're in a casino. The smell of cigarettes and desperation shoot up your nose like morphine in a junky's veins. Across the room, you see a drunk; drunk on his own self pity, completely detached from this reality - this is a golden opportunity for you. You rummage through his tattered wallet, praying he doesn't wake up, all the while, you are thinking about where your next drink comes from. In a den of cheap thrills and even cheaper booze, there is no honour, no right or wrong. Cash is king. If that sounds appealing to you, Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers (DDG) will certainly stroke that inner sleazebag itch.

About Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers

If you ever wanted to live like that, but missed the chance because of those pesky smoking bans, DDG will bring you pretty damn close. DDG is a deck-building rogue-like, but unlike others in the genre, the core gameplay is blackjack. In laymans terms, blackjack is a card game where players compete against the dealer as opposed to eachother. Cards are dealt by the dealer, and whoevers cards are closest, or exactly, to 21, wins. If a players hand is over 21, they are "bust" and lose. If one player, for example, has 20 and another has 19, the player with 20 wins and deals damage equal to the difference of the players score (in this case, 1 damage). If a player has 21, they get blackjack, which in real casinos, is the highest payout. DDG is not a full blackjack game however, as there are many different types of cards with unique abilities. Being a rogue-like, there are many ways to play, but much like real gambling, is heavily reliant on luck.

Gameplay

If you're familiar with blackjack, the games basics are pretty easy to learn. The aim of the game is to stay just under or on 21. But unlike real blackjack, there is alot more to it than pure guess-work. For starters, players can choose a starting deck of cards, and they all have unique abilities. If you choose a deck of hearts for example, getting blackjack with one of those cards will heal you. If you use a diamond deck, you will earn chips - the ingame currency. And if you use clubs, a blackjack will inflict damage on your foe. Spades will grant you shields, which become quite important in the later stages.

Along with the traditonal cards are "face" cards, tarot cards and even loyalty cards. Face cards shake the game up alot, and can be a blessing or a curse depending on the situation. Some cards can "lock" a foes, or yours, played card, which means the card is always there at the beginning of a turn unless it is unlocked by another card. This can backfire if, like me, you were stupid enough to lock an enemey's card with a value of 20, which 99% of the time will cause you to lose. Other face cards can "burn" yours or your foes card, which destroys it for the duration of the encounter. To "shred" a card destroys it for the entire run.

Between encounters, you can take part in various activities which will help or hinder you along your pub-crawl. You can buy cards of course, or take part in various games of chance like Three Card Monty, or simply flipping a coin. You can also go to the bar and get a drink, which can give you a loyalty card, or discard a card from your deck, at the cost of some HP. You can also rob other clientele for their cards or chips whilst they sleep, but be warned, each card you pinch, the chance of them waking up increases.

I've played for about 7 hours and I haven't gotten a win yet, but that is because I suck at rogue-likes. Regardless, the basic gameplay loop is easy to learn and once you figure out what each of the cards do, a win is almost guaranteed if lady luck has taken a liking to you. There are immediate comparisons to Balatro, another deck-building game but instead of blackjack, it's poker. Whether they are comparable or not, I don't know as I have not played it yet, but expect a review on it soon.

Flaws

In my 7 hours of play, I've noticed very few issues. Apart from the obvious frustration of luck based games, theres very little actually wrong with the game. The game is easy enough to learn but like any other rogue-like, a pain to master. It has to be said though, there is little incentive to keep playing if you don't like blackjack its self. I am inherently biased in this review because I love blackjack, but even I can see that there is very little reward. As far as I know, and I could be wrong, there's no permanent awards like skins or unique titles like other games like Noita. This is a pretty hit or miss game for some, and those who don't enjoy the tension and thrill of blackjack are unlikely to continue playing this. For some, it is too RNG based and alot of times, seemingly no strategy works either due to bad luck or because your foes have insane decks with cards you have never seen before.

The early stages of each run almost always play the same too. You defeat a few easy guys, get a special permanent chip which grants a bonus in Advantage (advantage is another currency which you can spend on using your face cards), and then just beat the rest of the guys, gaining their chips and using them to buy cards for use against the tougher opponents. It gets quite repetitive, though it is probably different in the late game. I'll update this review when I find out.

Conclusion

DDG is alot of fun for blackjack players - providing a new twist on an otherwise ancient and archaic card game. But as a rogue-like, it can leave alot to be desired. Over reliance on RNG and countless instances of softlocking can lead to immense frustration. But for me, it is still worth my time because at the end of the day, it's a game of chance. Don't go in expecting to win, as even the game says "the house always wins". This is the kind of game where you log on for a few hours and try your luck, without the pitfalls of real gambling and losing your car and wedding ring. The game also has a beautiful pixel art style, which frankly was the second reason I bought it in the first place. It is quite reminiscent of those old Windows card games, which to me are pure eye-candy. Overall, DDG shouldn't be played hardcore like other rogue-likes, but like a game you'd play when you're high and don't have the energy to play something more taxing like an FPS.

It is a bit expensive for what it is however, at £11.50, but this is also a very new game, having only released on August 8th, and it is constantly being updated. I cannot recommend this game to people who don't like blackjack, as that is the main selling point. Nor could I recommend it to die-hard rogue-like fans due to it's over-reliance on RNG, but I can wholeheartedly recommend it to those who wish to play blackjack with a twist, as it is probably the most fun take I've seen on blackjack.