When I first had Zet Zillions drop on my desk I didn’t know what to think about it. The only roguelike deckbuilder I had really dug into prior to this experience was Balatro. I still can’t play that game because of how addictive it is and because I don’t have the time right now. Anyway, that was the last game of this type I played and it set the bar for how good a deckbuilder could truly be.
Where does that leave Zet Zillions from developer OTA IMON Studios? Well, it leaves it dealing with unreasonable expectations. The game needed to have a catch to it, had to be a quick experience, and there had to be so many different cards to make the gameplay engaging that I couldn’t stop playing it. Sadly…it checked all those boxes and I’m now left with yet another deckbuilder I can’t seem to stop playing.
Dammit, OTA IMON Studios, I really don’t have time for this.
Sigh.
Kick back. Relax a bit. Make sure to stack those cards because this is going to be one helluva space adventure.
I seriously don’t have time for this
I wasn’t joking. I have games to review. I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS. Fineeeeeee. Since we’re here, and you’re reading, and I’m avoiding playing more of the game because I need to review it, let’s break down the gameplay.
Zet Zillions makes its complications easy to understand. The gameplay has a traditional roguelike structure, where you play until you die, then you start over and try to do better, with randomly given cards. That structure is great for hooking someone because eventually, you’ll get the cards you want that will give you the best advantage. The concept and design are simple, and when combined make the game replayable as Pac-Man in 1980. For you young readers out there, that means it was incredibly replayable.
Anyway, when I first kicked Zet Zillions into gear and understood the structure, the game started to really open a bit. The cards became a thing of beauty with how you played them and the stackable mix/match nature of them helped to sell the title’s addictiveness. The cards are the beauty of this beast, as they range from offense, defense, and then odd cards sending little ‘volunteers’ floating around enemies in space. They are weird cards, but vital to the game’s strategy.
Starting with offense, these cards come in different styles and shapes. The basic cards are stackables. You can take a card with a single volunteer on it and stack it together with space junk to create a damage card worth seven points. The more volunteers on the card, the greater the damage will be. The game stresses stackable plays and depends on them to make the gameplay more strategic and addictive. It certainly helps to keep the player locked into the gameplay design and makes them think about if/when they should execute their offensive move. It took me about 2-3 games before I realized what was happening with the offensive cards. It didn’t immediately click, but once it did, the game became so much more interesting.
The stackable element to the gameplay can turn cards very powerful and provide a multi-step strategy to take down enemies quickly. The game does a quiet yet good job of encouraging the player to stack and make offensive cards better than expected. When you pull a card up to play it, if there is anything stackable with it in the hand, then that card will make its presence known by standing up. Grabbing, dropping a card on another, and seeing what their stats equal to on the offensive side is a portion of the exploration and fun of the game. Stacking is such a key component for the offense. I hadn’t imagined that this game could produce this type of forethought when fighting and determining when to strike, but it did, and it made the entire experience fun.
On the defensive side of the card tracks, some cards come with shields on them and allow you to build up a big defense for an enemy attack. That is especially important when fighting mid-bosses or bosses. They usually come at you with double or triple (or more) HP, which means you must slow their attacks just enough to survive and defeat them. Just like the offense, you can stack defense cards on top of each other to create a massive shield to protect your characters. You can also convert those defense points into offense, should the right set of cards become randomly available. There are a lot of ways you can take the defense side, but mostly you want to make sure you have a healthy shield to repel bosses.
Now, as one would expect, the defensive cards play together with the offensive, which forces you to truly create a thick strategy of how you’re going to approach a fight. Should you lean on the offense side more sometimes? Should you prepare a big defense? There’s a lot going on here and finding the right balance helps to make the game enjoyable. The game leaves it up to the player on how they approach a fight, as the only gameplay element that is controlled by the non-user is the randomness of the cards.
So, with offense and defense out of the way, how about those odd cards? Well, the odd cards come in a variety of flavors, but one set of the more amusing versions of them is the volunteer cards. I don’t know whether to laugh or feel bad for the volunteers, but basically, you shoot them out into enemies and use them to disorient them or set the volunteers up for exploding and causing more damage. There are many of these cards, and you will find them incredibly useful when playing the game, as well as adding yet another layer of strategy to the overall gameplay.
Some stops along the way
Zet Zillions tries to add more stuff to its fluff with other gameplay elements. The first one, and the one you’ll notice right from the get-go is the map. The maps for each act are laid out in branching stars. This means you can start at one point and have the choice about which direction you’ll go next. As you complete each stage of enemies, you’ll have an enemy following you trying to prevent you from backtracking. You can go back and fight them, but the game proves that this is potentially a waste of your time. Why is it a waste? Well, you have a finite amount of health that doesn’t replenish until you complete the overall act, so wasting that health and putting yourself in danger may not be worth the backtracking.
Why backtrack at all? Good question! As you complete small tasks in the game and complete each level, you gain access to more cards or traits. The more cards you have, the more you can strategize your gameplay. It’s good motivation for backtracking, but, again, it may not be wise to do so due to finite health.
Another reason to backtrack is the pit stops along the way. These stops include busting up a floating pod in space, running into a small narrative that means more cards, and/or converting one of your cards into a more powerful one. There is also a health stop before the boss and, if you move around the map long enough, a shop where you can purchase some support (health, power, etc.) with pineapples (the currency) you earn from fighting.
These additional elements work well with the card game component, and they keep the gameplay even more interesting and make the strategy even deeper.
Again, I didn’t expect this much out of Zet Zillions, but it truly was a RISK type of gameplay that does more than I thought it might. It’s simple to pick up, strategic with its intentions, and packed with additional content that keeps pushing the experience along. I’m very impressed by what this game has to offer.
Controls and difficulty
When I first began this game, I had some issues with the controls. The game has tutorials, and it does what it can to explain how to use cards and such, but the controls sometimes weren’t obvious. For example, it took me a minute or two to understand that if I picked up a card from my hand, the only way to return it to my hand was to use the mouse to place it back on the bottom of the screen – no left/right clicking was necessary. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I didn’t understand why a right-click or left-click, or end-of-round switch didn’t return it. It just wasn’t obvious. Sure, you can write this up as user error, but after 44 years of gaming, I have pretty much nailed down HCI on gameplay mechanics.
Anyway, in addition to controls, sometimes the onscreen prompts weren’t obvious either. For example, when I earned a trait or a new card between rounds, they would appear in the bottom left of the screen as I was staring at the map. There were several times at the beginning of this review period when I didn’t understand why I couldn’t move my craft from point to point…but then I saw the card/trait box and it wanted me to confirm it. I know this is nit-picky and I realize this is probably more me than the game, but it was a stumbling point during my review period.
The only other minor complaint I have with this game is that it’s incredibly challenging. I know roguelike’s carry that motif with them but after the first big boss, the game absolutely shows you no mercy. It’s tough as nails, though I don’t think most players will be surprised by that when they sit down with Zet Zillions.
I’m just old and cranky about ‘different’ things in games.
Bah. Humbug.
Anyway, let’s wrap this review up.
Conclusion
Zet Zillions from developer OTA IMON Studios is an addictive roguelike deckbuilder that doesn’t quite reach the likes of Balatro but certainly proves its worth in replayability and thick strategy. While it isn’t completely perfect in some elements of its design, it’s still one of the better games of this genre that I’ve played in 2024.
