Buckshot Roulette opens on a grimy worn down bathroom with the sound of pulsing club music playing loudly through the door. The intense party atmosphere emphasizing the extreme highs and lows that comes with the game the dealer offers. Using a pump action to decide who's death comes quicker.

In the end the game feels very inspired. Providing you with a rich and dark atmosphere to enjoy. The dealer themselves provide a simple yet responsive personality. Saying little lines here and there and changing there expression if they get shot. The game in a span of an hour and a half brings out a soul in its atmosphere that is tense and final.

And its gameplay is fun as well! The simple system of roulette being upgraded with light upgrades such as health and later items. These pieces to the puzzle create enough depth to really engage for a solid couple hours. However I am rather thankful the experience is short. As the amount of luck required for long playthrough can get very grating.

BR is a game of chance. The slug's order in the gun is randomized, the number of slugs is randomized, even the items you get each new round is randomized. And while that may be best for the gun. The items are a different story.

Some items are certainly worse than others. The cigarettes are an obvious choice for best item, which give you an extra health point. That health point gives you leeway to play around and take more risks. Knowing that in the aggregate if you lose one of your 50/50's you can heal back without much risk. The next best items are the magnifying glass and the handcuffs, granting you in order the ability to see the round in the chamber and lock the dealer for an extra round. These abilities grant you extreme control over the gun letting you take low percentage scenarios with ease. The other items, beer can and saw, have some utility use being able to chamber a new round and do 2 damage. But they're inability to create guarantees make them situational.

And that's a problem for a game of chance. You can be in a situation where you lose the item draw and receive 4 handsaws or 3 beers and a handsaw and not have any real control over the gun. The game does try to give you advantages, always giving you the first turn. But it can be frustrating walking into a round. Seeing the items you have vs. the ones the dealer has. And knowing you are completely screwed no matter what you do.

Overall for a dollar and a quarter Buckshot Roulette is certainly worth a buy. You'll play it for 2 hours, die once or twice, get the good ending and the bad ending, and be satisfied. If you're looking for more than that by trying endless mode I think you'll be disappointed.

Choo-Choo Charles, unlike some gimmick mascot horror games that have come out as of late, does have some things to bring to the table. Its gameplay is largely smooth, its train system is innovative and fun, and in general the game doesn't feel like a slog to play. But there isn't much to sink your teeth into.

It's main baddie, charles, doesn't provide a significant threat for more than thirty minutes. By the time you get enough armor and damage upgrades you can very easily damage him enough to have him leave. And even when he does take you down the scrap loss is so minimal you practically use him showing up as a way to warp back to your train.

Not only that but anything not train related is awkward to play. The stealth system put into place when dealing with human enemies is shoddy at best. With no way for enemies to lose detection they follow you to the ends of the earth. The most optimal way I found to deal with them was to literally run them all the way outside and shoot them with my train's guns. Something that can take minutes at a time to do. Beats trying to get the stealth system to work.

There are side quests that seem reasonably interesting but most are simple fetch quests. The character's feel well acted and decently written. But it doesn't stop the concept from feeling utterly ridiculous. Making you quickly desensitize and skip through dialogue like a speed demon. The map overworld feels similar to an graphically amped up area of Skyrim. The music is dull, feeling like its genuinely trying but frankly feels flat. And finally the nail in the coffin, the models. Many of them ripped directly from asset stores gives the whole experience a cheap bland feel that fights against the games attempts to jar you with its main antagonist.

I wouldn't call Choo Choo Charles a truly horrendous game. And I wouldn't say that you wouldn't enjoy some bits of it. But I don't think its a truly good game and I think there are others that are much more worth your time.