Zoominoes

Awesome

An addicting rogue-like deckbuilder with board game-esque vibes. Positives: Great art, sound design, and overall presentation. Very fun and snappy gameplay loop. Runs advance quickly (as long as you increase the animation speed!) with basically no downtime or unnecessary time sinks. Runs are also easy to jump in/out of and you are able to play at whatever pace you like. Negatives: The balancing is a bit crazy. It can feel like half of the trinkets, animals, or zookeepers are just flat out useless or irrelevant after the first week or so, thus making most “good” runs feel samey. I experienced more than a few glitches regarding how animals are scored or tiles in hand being stuck until the game is closed and reopened. The game can feel extremely RNG dependent. Conclusion: You will know right away whether Zoominoes is for you or not. This game is right up my alley, so I meshed with it instantly and am willing to overlook its flaws because the gameplay loop is so rewarding; however, those flaws still undeniably exist and will undoubtedly turn some people away. I do not think Zoominoes has the complexity or depth of games like Balatro or Slay the Spire, but if you like casual roguelikes (or especially deck builders) I would recommend giving it a shot. I personally have had a blast with the game up to this point, and I could see myself easily doubling or tripling the hours I currently have.