Let’s! Revolution! | PS5 Review

What a nifty concept! Developer Buck took a couple of classics, Minesweeper and the old card game Labyrinth, made some small alterations, and created a fun board game Let’s! Revolution!. There are some roguelite elements included which keeps the board fresh, rewards accomplishments, and makes the player want to try another run. Let’s dig in on this playful, well made, colorful game and see if I can convince you to try it out, as well!

Not Too High on Stories

There is a King. He is rich & snobby and wants to control everything to the detriment of the common folk. You get to choose a character to defeat him using various styles. The King has guards who will attack you. Depending on the character that you choose to play as, you will either defeat the guards or sneak around them. You will want to defeat the King, because he is snooty and insults you frequently. He is a terrible person. Defeat the King and return peace and civility to the lands. 

Blasts from the Past Combined

We’ve seen elements of Let’s! Revolution! before. Minesweeper is the most obvious style. The player is introduced to the concept of how to move about the board using the numbers on each revealed space as a guide. In Minesweeper, the number was how many of the connecting spaces have a mine. In Let’s! Revolution!, that number indicates how many spaces contain a road/path. On that road could be nothing, it could be an enemy, it could be a reward or a helper, or it could be the King! That unveiling of the path is what reminded me of the old card/board game, Labyrinth.

In Labyrinth, you would shuffle the deck of cards, deal them out, and the players would use the cards to build a path to the goal. You could also use the cards to block your opponents’ path or give them an obstacle to defeat. The more I type, the more I’m beginning to feel like Labyrinth isn’t the greatest comparison. But, while I was playing, the art style and “roads with obstacles” certainly sparked the connection in my mind, so I’m going to go with it!

Let’s! Revolution! is marketed as a roguelite. This is a stretch, but I see where it fits. The board is randomly generated at the beginning of each run. Each run has 10 rounds. You find the King, he moves to the next round, you chase him. If you die, the run is over. You have to start a new run on a freshly generated map. The only thing you retain are the unlocked items, but you don’t get to keep them. Instead, they might be available to you as you find the upgrade spaces on the board.

You can upgrade your weapons by finding “The Smith.” You can also improve your abilities by training with Gemma, a former friend of the King who now wants to help people defeat him. Finally, there’s Chovy’s Shop where you can increase your health or replenish the limited supply of ammo such as arrows. So, those NPC roguelite tropes can also be found in Let’s! Revolution! Just remember, if you die, you’re starting over at square one with those newly unlocked items being available, at random, when you find friendly power-up spaces on the board.

As you defeat the King, new personas for who you play as come available. You start with the “Trooper” who is a brute. You are strong and your moves are meant to defeat the king’s guards. Other characters give you a chance to play the game differently. A Charger is similar to the Trooper. The Shadow and The Hunter utilize stealth. The attack of this character is very weak; you’re better off avoiding conflict and just searching for the King. This player can re-hide enemies so that they don’t have the ability to attack in the board game turn-based style. Finally, the Oracle and the Witch utilize magic. They also have little to no attack at the start of the run. You can use premonition to avoid battles.

The problem that I had using the magic or the stealth characters was while avoiding the enemies, I also missed opportunities to land on power-up spaces for fear that a guard was hiding there instead. There is an increased risk for me when playing with the non-brutes.

At some point, you can run out of unlockables. There is a progress percentage as you play the game. However, the purpose of this game is not to “roll credits” as we often like to celebrate in our Gaming Outsider social media spaces. Between the randomly generated boards and multiple play styles of each character, Let’s! Revolution! has seemingly infinite replayability. There is also a difficulty setting offering the player a new challenge! For how simple this game is, the offerings are deep. Hours and hours of potential are there for the taking for a gamer who enjoys it!

Crisp Look and GREAT Sound

On the surface, Let’s! Revolution! is a reasonably simple game. It won’t stress your system’s resources with a glut of enemies or a map so large that it’s overwhelming. What is DOES is done very well. The graphics are crisp and clean, the art style is cartoon/anime with a dash of whimsy. Sharp outlines and nifty backgrounds based on your location bring the game to life. The comic style text bubbles are a fun touch.

The controls are equally simple. There are basic commands to move around the board, and the tutorial gets you up to speed in no time at all. Responsiveness is great but is also an unnecessary area for critiquing. If I had one tiny little gripe? When I would select the attack move, I would also have to select my character in his board square. This extra step seemed redundant, but at this point, I’m splitting hairs. 

The sound is simple, yes. However, I found myself loving it! Each location comes with its own music which is masterfully composed; they are mysterious and adventurous in equal parts. It fits perfectly within the game considering that you aren’t always sure what lurks in the next square, but you might need to face it to gain the rewards needed. The sound cues are also a great deal of fun, particularly the King who makes a funny noise when you find him. His proclamations that he let you win or that you cheated add to the fun.

Final Thoughts

Let’s! Revolution! hit all the right notes for me. I love board games, I just don’t have a lot of local connections who also do. Therefore, when I have an opportunity to play this style of game on a console or PC, I jump at it. Let’s! Revolution! did not disappoint. I didn’t get frustrated when losing a run, but I learned and adapted my style based on the character.

I’ll admit, the stealth character didn’t connect with me. I didn’t want to skulk around and hope I didn’t run into an enemy. I’d rather face the battles head on. However, as my playtime increased, so did my desire to try a new challenge. On that note, the game also offered a “Daily Challenge” section to keep you coming back to try something new. A great idea to keep the player engaged! This would be a game that I could pick up and play if I only had a few minutes to spare. I’m hoping that you’ll give it a try and that you’ll feel the same way.

To hear me talk more about Let’s! Revolution!, be sure to listen to the April 24th episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast around the 55:13 time stamp.

This review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy of Let’s! Revolution! provided by Stride PR for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation 4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam.