It seems indie games are continuing to have a rather exciting year, especially considering the struggle they’ve been under recently. The latest piece of news is the upcoming release of RP7, a slot-machine roguelike by Turtle Cream. Allow me to explain what that means exactly. The player controls a character who navigates back and forth across seven slot machines looking for their lost pet frog. Each slot machine is controlled with a different keyboard key to spin it. These determine enemy encounters, loot, different events, and more.
The game is set to launch some time in 2024 according to the Steam storefront. The initial release will contain 5 random stages, 10 possible boss encounters, and three playable characters (as of now) to tackle the game’s more than 40 enemy encounters. Current playstyles seem to revolve around the three archetypes of knight, archer, and ninja that are playable in the demo out now, and at launch.
RP7, which certainly feels like the first of its kind, is a game with very little input from the player – who are only pushing 7 keys – but has so much variety that no one run will feel the same. Unlike a traditional roguelike where players customize their character’s loadout and then play the field, or gather buffs as they fight, RP7 will involve trying to control what is in the next room. A challenge for players indeed, but one that will hopefully prove to be more rewarding than frustrating.
While the game does center a slot machine mechanic, don’t worry. There are no microtransactions within the game. This paired with its hopefully indie game pricing might make it a bigger bang per buck spent so to speak, as one payment leads to one endlessly replayable game. Whatever is to come of RP7 will just have to wait and see. For those who currently wish to play the game, a demo is available on the Steam storefront right now.