Buckshot Roulette review

(No) Rush in roulette

Mike Klubnika’s Buckshot Roulette left me feeling a bit off. Its premise, life or death roulette, can trigger PTSD for those who may have gone through tense situations. The depiction of a gun pointed squarely at our camera, especially if it goes off with a flash of light, can cause us to feel a light uppercut into our chest, even if we’re expecting it. Over time we get used to it, but those initial shocks are what we need to be willing to accept. We definitely need a bit of a warning ahead of playing it.

And though it’s one thing to play the game it’s a whole other to watch it, because Buckshot is perfectly built for streaming. Basically, we have a gun and its rounds, some of which are live and some are blanks. Our goal is to knock health points off of our opponent, a “dealer” who wears a modern terror smiley mask, before they do it to us first. There are a few rounds, each getting more complex with more live & blank shotgun shells and modifiers that let us see moves ahead or make our shots more lethal.

It’s turn based, so it’s nice that it lets us move at our own pace, letting us play while we’re doing something else — but that’s kind of boring. Being tun-based doesn’t make any tension. We can put it down or just quite. And that’s where the streaming aspect comes in, because not only is this sort of violent dice role intriguing to watch, but viewers can be encouraged to help us select our next moves.

Buckshot Roulette is incredibly simple. The game mostly relies on luck, with us being able to help our chances a bit here and there, and that’s where viewers can find their hook (and they already have, apparently). It’s definitely for adults to play, and definitely only if we’re ready and not squeamish. But it’s almost too simple to warrant any personal satisfaction outside of drawing an audience.

A sweet, sweet, unsuspecting audience.

This review is based on a Steam code sent to SideQuesting by the publisher. It originally appeared on The SideQuest Live for April 23, 2024. Images and Video courtesy Mike Klubnika.