Now and then, a game crosses our desk that makes us stop and see if it’s worth our wallets and our attention. Slots & Daggers is or can be one of those games. We recently had the chance to sit down and put it through its paces, and what we found is one of the most delightfully weird roguelites we’ve played in a while. For those coming from Cloverpit or Baltro, this is another addictive casino-style game you will be hooked on immediately.
It’s the kind of game that sounds like a fever dream when you describe it out loud: a slot machine mixed with a dungeon crawler, dressed up in chunky pixel art, and powered by the rhythm of crunchy hip-hop beats. But somehow, it all clicks.
Developed entirely by a single person (the same mind behind Summerhouse and Pizza Possum), Slots & Daggers turns randomness into strategy and chance into tension and excitement. Every pull of the lever isn’t just about luck; it’s about how well you set up your chances beforehand, which can make or break your entire journey in this pixelated world.
Spin to Win or Die Trying
Slots & Daggers takes a simple premise and folds it into a fantasy roguelite. You’re not gambling for jackpots here; you’re gambling for your life. Each spin determines what actions you’ll take that turn, from attacking to defending or earning coins. Daggers, shields, and arcane symbols become your arsenal, with every spin pulling from a custom loadout you’ve selected before your run. You will start with a preset, but as you play and progress, you can unlock more items to change your loadout.
It’s easy to grasp but surprisingly deep once you get into it. You’re constantly balancing your odds, trying to line up symbols that will hit hard without leaving you defenseless. When everything lines up, the triple daggers, perfect timing, and critical hits, it can be genuinely satisfying. And when it doesn’t? Well, that’s part of the fun, too.
This isn’t randomness for the sake of randomness; you can control the chances and upgrade your items as well. The design pushes you to plan around the chaos. How you build your slot layout and what you choose to risk on each run says just as much about your skill as your luck. So pick your items and off you go.
Build, Coins, and Unlimited Combinations
One of the things I appreciated most about Slots & Daggers is how much room it gives you to experiment. You can approach it with a straightforward physical build, lean into magic, or take the poison route for consistent damage over time. After several runs, the poison build quickly became my go-to setup. The gradual damage helps smooth out bad spins and keeps the pressure on when luck isn’t in your favor.
Coins are the primary currency driving both short- and long-term progress. You collect them mid-run to purchase upgrades or new items, while the modules earned after death serve as permanent upgrades for future attempts. This loop of running, dying, and improving works exactly how a roguelite should. Each failure feels like progress rather than punishment. Also note, you can use coins on certain items to heal or deal damage.
The game’s pacing keeps you on your toes. Enemies gain strength the longer a fight drags on, discouraging overly defensive play. It creates a steady sense of urgency that forces you to think ahead and make every spin count. It’s a simple mechanic, but one that adds real tension to every encounter. So prepare for the worst.
During my time with the game, I noticed that magic damage doesn’t seem to have any meaningful counterplay. It doesn’t break the experience, but it can make some builds feel unbalanced compared to others. There is no magic protection, so you have to have high health points to survive and some healing items; however, that won’t last if the fight goes on for quite a while.
A World of Pixels, Plings, and Personality
One of the first things that stood out to me while playing Slots & Daggers is just how much personality it has. Despite its simple presentation, the pixel art isn’t trying to look pristine or overly stylized; it’s intentionally rough, expressive, and full of character. Each creature and environment feels like it was hand-drawn by someone who enjoys the strange and imperfect. There’s a quirky energy running through the entire game that’s hard not to appreciate.
The sound design reinforces that charm. Every spin of the slot machine delivers a satisfying cascade of “pling, pling, pling,” like an old arcade cabinet coughing up coins. Layer that over crunchy hip-hop beats, and you get a soundscape that feels as odd as it is memorable. A lucky spin that lands just right doesn’t just look good, it sounds good.
This isn’t a massive, studio-scale production trying to do everything. It’s a focused, handcrafted game that understands its limits and plays to its strengths. There’s no wasted content, no bloated systems, it’s just a tight, replayable core loop built around risk, reward, and a bit of luck.
The campaign runs somewhere between four and eight hours, depending on how well you play, but that’s just the start. The meta-progression system, combined with the reels’ inherent randomness, gives the game plenty of replay value. Each run feels a little different, and even after several hours, that sense of “just one more spin” doesn’t fade.
As someone who values strong design over sheer content volume, I respect what the developer achieved here. Slots & Daggers knows precisely what it is: a nice, compact, personality-driven roguelite that’s as fun to listen to as it is to play.
More to Come
Slots & Daggers takes an unconventional concept and makes it work. It blends roguelite structure with slot-machine randomness in a way that feels intentional and balanced most of the time. Every spin matters, every upgrade feels earned, and the pressure of growing enemies keeps the tempo high.
It isn’t the largest or most complex roguelite, but that’s not the goal. It’s concise, mechanically sound, and distinct in presentation. For a one-person project, it delivers a cohesive and well-paced experience that fits neatly into the genre without overstaying its welcome. The blend of luck and planning scratches the same strategic itch that makes the best roguelites so engaging.
The developer is constantly updating and working on the game, so we will see many more things to come. Stay tuned. The game is currently available on PC (Steam). Be sure to check it out, as it is on sale at the time of this writing.
