For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Spin Break: Roulette Battle, from FIFTYONE PERCENT on my iPhone 14 Pro.
The Roulette aspect of the gameplay was what caught my attention. i was very curious how they would incorporate such a mechanic into the gameplay. would it be simple or would there be depth and strategy to it. the trailer for the game on the iOS page did tease the graphics and some aspects of the gameplay and it helped solidify Spin Break: Roulette Battle as being this week's game.
Once it's started, it takes you straight to a tutorial. at first i thought that it was good, but once i started playing the game i feel like the tutorial was a bit too basic in hindsight. there were on screen stuff in battles not highlighted, nor was the main home screen detailed. i would've liked more help with strategy and a deeper dive into the luck mechanic as throughout this video it felt like i didn't have much and was getting beaten by it.
Thankfully, if you do fail it's not a big issue as this is a roguelike. the only thing that carries over from the stages you completed is some of the blue crystal currency and one relic, out of however many you picked up. if you used a relic during that run, it's now gone, as are any cards and stat boosts you picked up during the run. when it's over, everything's reset to how it was before the start of the run.
the gameplay loop that i uncovered from playing Spin Break: Roulette Battle is simple. get blue crystals and use them to level up your character and your items. But because of how bad my runs where, i don't know a lot about this game. there is a power limit, it takes 5 to do a run and you only have 20 when it's fully charged. my guess is it takes 30 minutes to recharge 1 power.
I was genuinely surprised by how bad i was at this game. i couldn't defeat the first stage after the tutorial, it's 1-1. because of the game's luck mechanics and run to run randomness, i don't know if it was a skill thing or a luck thing either. that's kinda the main negative i have with this game. i'm bad at it, i don't know why, i don't know if it's meant to be like this, and i don't know how to get better at it other than grinding the blue level up crystals.
This isn't a fault with the roulette aspect of gameplay. i actually enjoyed what it added to the game. it's not simply choosing who goes first, if you land on red the enemy attacks and if you land on blue you attack, but there's a surprising amount of strategy to it as the deck building is also somewhat tied to it. if you're able to turn all spots on the roulette wheel blue, you unleash a super powerful attack. to turn the pieces blue you need to land on blue and then use cards. the cards are a mix of attacking the enemy, healing yourself, putting up shields, working the graveyard mechanic, and changing piece color on the roulette wheel.
This is where luck is powerful and not explained fully. there are times when your card will go up against the enemies card and who has the strongest card wins and deals damage. but then there's two luck mechanics that can turn a 70+% card vs. a 30% card from the enemy into a loss. there are also parts of the enemy UI that i don't understand.
I feel like there is a solid game here, but in it's current state it feels unbalanced and is hiding a bit too much from the player. the start of the game shouldn't be this tough. with some better tutorials, some gameplay tips, and perhaps making the first couple of stages part of the tutorial, Spin Break: Roulette Battle could be a game that'd be fun to keep coming back to. as it is now, i do think it's worth trying as the music is great and i did enjoy the pixel art. i liked the strategy aspect, too. but it'll put a lot of people off as it's not quite all there at the moment.
Version 1.0.7 Played.
