I conjured that speech to summarize Let’s! Revolution! the minesweeper-like roguelite puzzle game from Antfood and BUCK. It has finally released consoles after a successful launch on Steam in July 2023, where it currently sits at a Very Positive 95%.
Ok, it was Braveheart. You got me. But it doesn’t take away from the sentiment of the core concept driving this game. Fight against the King using a cast of characters with varied skills, rise up, and liberate the throne once and for all.
In a puzzle-y, minesweeper-y type of way.
Stay off the Kingsroad. As true as it was in Game of Thrones, so it is in Let’s! Revolution! That’s the idea anyway, except you don’t actually know where the Kingsroad is. This is where the minesweeper elements come into play.
So, why Minesweeper? Well, enemies lurk on the King’s Road, and as you uncover the map, each non-road tile will indicate how many road tiles are directly surrounding it. So, if the non-road tile says 0, every connecting tile is safe. If it says 8, then you’re pretty screwed, hoping the tile you step on next doesn’t actually contain an enemy. When an enemy is uncovered, it has a turn counter before it will attack, so you have time to either defeat it or hide it again to stop health from being reduced.
It took me back to the olden times (four score and seven years ago… I’m old) when I played Minesweeper in my university dorm room, trying to take that expert high score from my friend. The nostalgia got me in the feels. I’ll get you next time, Mike!!!
Tile grids are procedurally generated so it’s completely random whether you have a straight shot to the road endings (if you can decipher it). Because those endings contain goodies like shops, money, or even the King himself!
Let’s! Revolution! has roguelike elements. You choose a hero, each with a certain set of skills, to start a run. With that hero, you attempt to complete ten different stages, finding the King at the end of a path and chasing him until the final stage, where you fight and kill him. Along the way, your hero can gain new abilities, max out their health, find one-time-use items and power up, but these are only applicable to this run. If your hero falters, the run ends, and your upgrades are lost. Time to start again.
There are six hero types to unlock, starting with the tank-like Trooper, who is a dab-hand at fighting. The Shadow is a ninja assassin, much more adept at moving quickly than taking out enemies. The Oracle is a magic user who has weird abilities. There are also three other classes which are unlocked later in the game.
I found myself wanting to see how far I could get with each type of character, but some of the hero types are much more fun to play than others. The Shadow was great in attempting to get through all of the runs without taking a hit. I do not know, however, how to play Oracle correctly. I don’t think it’s necessarily confusing, but I couldn’t find the right mesh of abilities to smoothly take the crown off Lord Farquaad look-a-like’s head!
I’m not sure this has staying power in my game rotation for prolonged plays, but for a quick fifteen minutes every now and again, attempting a run or two, the gameplay is solid enough to keep it installed on my PS5.
The overall presentation of Let’s! Revolution! is where it excels. Each stage is beautifully rendered and animated. It’s bright and colorful, almost like a high-end Saturday morning cartoon. In fact, if someone used this art style to create a cartoon based on this game, I’m sure it would be a hit (writing dependent).
The music was brought to life by the in-house composer from Antfood, Wilson Brown. It’s a perfect accompaniment to the puzzling gameplay. Ear-wormy though the tracks may be, the music doesn’t overpower your thoughts, which is essential when you’re plotting your approach to assassinate the King. Not only that, but the themes feel like a lo-fi Renaissance faire. It’s on point with the fantasy setting.
I almost forgot to write about performance because there’s nothing to talk about. I played Let’s! Revolution! on PlayStation 5, and I encountered no bugs, crashes, frame rate drops or anything that would detract from the gameplay. It ran perfectly.
The puzzle and minesweeper elements of Let’s! Revolution! are challenging and fun to tackle. However, the map can feel unfair at times, and because of its roguelite nature, it’s the luck of the draw as to which abilities you can unlock and upgrade. Again, this can sometimes result in frustration because it feels like there are unwinnable stages (even if that’s not strictly the case).
Having said that, I did enjoy most of my runs, especially when I used it as a little amuse-bouche between meatier games. Let’s! Revolution! is a game that is perfect if you have fifteen to twenty minutes spare or you are playing on a handheld device. And that’s fine! Every game doesn’t have to cause a rehab check-in for addiction!
Enjoy it for what it is: a stunningly animated roguelite experience that you can pick up and play for short sessions.
Let’s! Revolution! is available to buy on PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and 5 right now for around $20.
