Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate

It's fun, but pretty basic and once you've played it a couple times it doesn't really feel like there's a ton left to explore.

This game... could be fun. The concept is nice. The game runs well. So why is it not fun? You see, there are a dozen fun different ways to play and finish the game. Sounds amazing, right? After every wave, you get to choose one of two sets of cards, a buff and a debuff. Different buffs and different debuffs make for different play styles. Some combos are so neat, they even have achievements. So you start playing. You pick a card for a certain play style. Then at next wave, you find out there are no cards to help your play style. Then at third wave, both options will make your play style harder, unbalanced, or very difficult. You find then a card which lets you decide which card you want next turn... Well, ignoring the fact that you can only have so many buffs and you're wasting a buff to pick a buff, there are so many options to pick from that a new player won't know what to pick. Let's not mention some cards effects are entirely obscure (what is an "unicorn" supposed to be. Some descriptions only make sense if you've already played the game), there's no way to save your progress, or to undo bad choices. I'm pretty sure if your goal is specifically playing a harder variant of chess, these are only minor setbacks, and you won't mind the review from someone who loses the game because accidentally killing the pawn which was blocking the bishop from defeating you next turn (and of course, shield mechanic won't help that, just because). But I didn't had fun in the end, or rather, the net balance is negative. Feature creep makes this game an annoying experience, although this design does reinforce the idea you're a dethroned king, being forced to pick between two random options over and over again. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), but I wouldn't recommend this game.