We’re in a weird spot in video games, aren’t we? While extraction shooters and other game genres embrace gambling design to enhance the connection between player and game, indie games are leaning into it in a different way. Slots & Daggers is a prime example of this new trend, combining slot machines with rogue-likes, which is funny because it’s one of two games that I can point to as prime examples as to why I don’t gamble.
Slots & Daggers is presented as if you’re sitting down in a busy fantasy bar with a slot machine game. The aim is to make it through each world and survive the monster you’re facing. As with the rogue-like or rogue-lite genre, you’ll need to restart from zero, but there are some permanent upgrades to help nudge you along.
The difference between Slots & Daggers and the typical rogue-like is that the player is at the mercy of the slot machine. Sure, you can manipulate it to suit your needs, but more than a dozen times I’ve lost rounds simply due to a bad slot result.
Slots & Daggers Gameplay
Each world has a number of enemies to beat before you move on. However, Slots & Daggers is more about a war of attrition against the upgrade system than it is against the beasties it presents. The game is quite kind in that it lets you pick up from where you were beaten, albeit from the start of the level. However, I found that if I simply go from the start, getting ever faster with each persistent upgrade, I’d net enough chips (the currency used to get permanent upgrades) to pump up some upgrades far faster.
As with any rogue-lite, the upgrades don’t feel particularly powerful to begin with. Eventually, I was tanking hits and using five-slot panels, rather than three, resulting in an avalanche of damage being dealt. Each symbol on the slot represents an item acquired or taken in.
It’ll start with three items that it lets you can choose from, and can be expanded with coins earned during each round. On top of this, power-ups will let you pay for an active ability, or certain items, like mushrooms or cheese, will increase healing or the overall health pool. However, not every item is passive or will work automatically.
A small dagger will deal poison damage, which builds up and increases damage if there are additional boosts in place. So I combine that with a magic shield, which boosts spell damage, and in turn, poison. When the magic shield comes around, it then presents a meter that I have to stop to determine how much shield it’ll provide me. The same is for a third item, a big sword, which, when the meter is stopped, deals damage based on the number.
Combination of Rogue-Like and Slots
Slots & Daggers seamlessly combines the addictiveness of the real slot machine with the pure adrenaline of constantly being on the edge of losing. It’s a perfect combination, hoping that I not only hit a jackpot of three in a row, but also manage to hit it big with the active abilities like the magic shield.
However, I think Slots & Daggers, in comparison to say, CloverPit, lacks the critical eye that I think is needed in these games. Balatro is so far removed from poker, only pinching how cards pair up in the hand to score points. At no point do you actually rely entirely on luck.
In CloverPit, you need luck on your side. As with Slots & Daggers, it allows for certain nudges to get around the strict luck-based game that is slots. It’s just that it’s entirely designed to poke at the gambling industry through a metatextual level, rather than how Slots & Daggers provides zero commentary on slot machines. It’s a fun concept that’s steeped in historical horribleness. You know, addiction, and all that.
Slots & Daggers is fantastic at recreating that environment, providing an almost ultimate rendition of the “one more game” concept. I wanted to keep pushing it further and further, because the reduction of the wider gaming industry’s mechanics down into this rendition of a slot machine is a lot of fun.
It’s probably a glaring example of why I don’t gamble. Slot machines are entirely designed to keep you playing. Everyone knows that there’s going to be a massive payout at some point, so let’s just keep hammering it until it makes us rich. Here, it’s not riches I’m after. It’s defeating these monsters.
It’s Lucky I’m Not a Gambler
However, I notice that with each spin, I become more and more reckless, despite keeping tabs on the actual video gamey bits. There are no real tactics that I can employ once the spin is in action, despite choosing items and the like. I have no idea what’ll happen next, because of that slot machine presentation, and Slots & Daggers, much like CloverPit, engages that part of the brain that enjoys the slots. We all have it; it just needs activating.
Maybe it’s opening Magic cards or pulling gacha. Here, Slots & Daggers’ lack of introspection makes it feel like it’s exploiting that side of the brain to keep me coming back. I don’t feel dirty after playing, unlike CloverPit, but there’s just something missing from the whole idea of integrating actual gambling machines into a video game without any commentary that feels odd.
Slots & Daggers Review Final Thoughts
Slots & Daggers is a solid rogue-lite, even if I have my misgivings about the rise of gambling mechanics in video games. While this won’t pinch any cash off you outside of the entry fee, I still found myself routinely frustrated by the sheer luck of it all.
Thankfully, Slots & Daggers is a rapid experience, with each run not lasting all that long. It’s what drives its “one more game” feeling throughout, with its chunky graphics and satisfying sounds really bringing the whole thing together.
I just wish it had more to say about the industry it’s very clearly pulling from, which would have added that tiny nugget to latch onto from a critical eye.
3/5
| Pros | Cons |
| Has a great aesthetic, really brings the whole thing together | Lacks any critical eye around gambling |
| Incredibly addictive, as both a slot machine and rogue-like | Can often become a war of attrition |
| The way you can manipulate the game is really engaging | You’re still at the mercy of Lady Luck |
Platforms: PC
Developer: Friedemann
Publisher: Future Friends Games
Release date: 24 Oct, 2025
