4/5 ★ – THRILLSON's review of Buckshot Roulette.

I will admit first off that I have seen a lot of gameplay ahead of playing this, so nothing was a surprise to me. I beat the game first try. Had I not seen anything online, I might have died once or twice before figuring out how the AI worked. You can tip the odds in your favour, as can the Dealer. however, the powerups are random, as are the shotgun loads so you or the dealer can still end up dying to chance, like real Russian Roulette. I think as an art piece this game is wonderful; the style, music and sound effects create a very uneasy atmosphere. I am reminded of Paratopic, in that they share a similar art direction, and the story is largely left up to interpretation. Which leads me to believe that the easy AI is on purpose. The Dealer never cheats, and the player always goes first, so the game is weighed in the player’s favour. I get a sense the game is an allegory for the afterlife. Winning the cash the player is free to go, losing means your soul passes to the dealer. I don’t want to say much more as even though there are spoilers everywhere, including my impressions here, you should experience this game yourself. It is only $1.20, but I think it is worth more than that. (I donated extra as I appreciate the art.) I can’t say there is anything I could suggest improving other than maybe expanding the endless mode with difficulty or power up modifiers. Either way, Kino.