Despot's Game Preview: They Had To Cool Off

Let’s catch up with some of these demos from the Steam Game Festival – the first is Despot’s Game, coming to Steam, from Konfa Games and publishers, tinyBuild.

In tinyBuild’s recent announcement of their upcoming games, Despot’s Game felt incredibly familiar. Not that it was ‘borrowed’ from another title, but the art style and wit had to be the same team as the game I was thinking of.

That game is Despotism 3K, and yes, it’s the same developer, the same aesthetic and dark comedy. In Despot’s Game, you are a god-like character, unleashing a legion of puny humans into a, perhaps, endless dungeon, risking their lives over yours.

Despot’s Game Preview

That ‘perhaps’ relates to this being a demo and that the chances of getting far in the game are pretty minimal, but the difficulty is there. Plus there’s no point in getting attached to your units – they’re expendable.

Bear in mind, even for a demo; this is just a teaser. At the start of a round, you can select equipment for your unit and position them based on their ability. With about as much money available as the coins in my pocket, only one of them was armed with a sword, and another had healing skills.

Without much scope of decking them out in riot gear, I proceeded to the next stage by entering a door. Despot’s Game is tile-based, but they don’t show up with a grid overlay, you sort guess where to place your units before the game begins.

However, it’s not turn-based, and once you’re ready to go, it’s a free-for-all. My faceless minions were throwing punches fruitlessly, while my Cloud wannabee was swinging his sword. Wahey! 

With the medic constantly healing from the back, I looked untouchable, so accepted my rewards of dosh and hamburgers and went to the next room to upgrade my loadout. 

Insert 80s Cooling Off Joke

This time I had the option of a Zanussi fridge – how could I refuse?! It was a game-changer as almost one hitting enemies. Nobody messed with the refrigerator, and From Software should take notes for their next game.

Alas, nothing lasts forever, and on my final room there was a boss (who knows – they were pretty big and hit like a truck) and Cloud was the first to go, followed by my fridge-wielding maniac. It was game over, and I’ll miss Connor Clegane, the minion with a name label generated by the game.

In the very brief experience, Despot’s Game was a bit of fun and anticipate that this will be a game worth having if you like the challenge, that somewhat manipulates your temper control through a wicked sense of humour and even better music.

There’s no release date yet, but when it is known, it’ll be shared. Feel free to wishlist it yourself – especially if you were a fan of Despotism 3K but want to tackle with a different genre, only the same rogue-like qualities.