Sometimes, a short game hits the spot
Sometimes, a short game hits the spot
有时候，一款短小精悍的游戏正合我意
Slots & Daggers, a low-key, fantasy-themed slot machine roguelike, was one of my favorite games last year. That may sound like a complicated description, but the game mixes ideas from deckbuilding roguelikes with slot machines to create an engrossing loop, and there’s steady meta-progression that helps you push further with just about every run. Perhaps the best part is that Slots & Daggers is short: Solo developer Friedemann describes the game as a mini roguelike, and I completed it, including all 12 achievements, in just under six hours. This month, Slots & Daggers came out on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X / S, and it’s been the perfect excuse to revisit it.
《Slots & Daggers》是一款低调的奇幻主题老虎机 Roguelike 游戏，也是我去年最喜欢的游戏之一。这个描述听起来可能有些复杂，但该游戏将卡牌构筑 Roguelike 的理念与老虎机机制相结合，创造出了一种引人入胜的循环，并且拥有稳定的元进度系统，让你在几乎每一次尝试中都能走得更远。或许最棒的一点是《Slots & Daggers》非常短小：独立开发者 Friedemann 将其描述为一款“迷你 Roguelike”，我只用了不到六个小时就完成了游戏，并达成了全部 12 项成就。本月，《Slots & Daggers》正式登陆 Nintendo Switch、PlayStation 5 和 Xbox Series X / S，这正好给了我重温它的绝佳理由。
Slots & Daggers has a game-within-a-game perspective. On your screen, you’re looking down at a seedy table littered with things like a drink, cards, dice, a knife, and a cigarette on an ashtray, and in the middle of the table there’s an electronic machine, which is the thing you actually interact with. At the beginning of a run, you pick three pieces of equipment to kick off the quest, like a rusty dagger or a poison blade or a shield.
《Slots & Daggers》采用了“戏中戏”的视角。在屏幕上，你俯瞰着一张破旧的桌子，上面散落着饮料、扑克牌、骰子、小刀和烟灰缸里的香烟，而桌子中央则是一台电子机器，这正是你实际操作的对象。在每一局游戏开始时，你需要选择三件装备来开启冒险，比如锈迹斑斑的匕首、毒刃或盾牌。
Each turn, you’ll see three spinning slot machine wheels (or up to five with upgrades). You press a button to stop the wheels, and each wheel will stop on a symbol from the equipment you’ve picked up along the way and then do something depending on the symbol. So, for example, if the wheels stop on a dagger, a poison blade, and then a shield, you’ll hit the enemy, apply poison to them, and then get some shields for yourself. Getting three of any symbol in a row lands a critical hit with a celebratory burst of lights and sounds, much like hitting a jackpot on a real slot machine. You’ll also get items that let you respin wheels, which quickly become crucial (and very satisfying) tools to get more opportunities to hit your foes.
每一回合，你会看到三个旋转的老虎机转轮（升级后最多可达五个）。你按下按钮停止转轮，每个转轮会停在你所选装备对应的符号上，并根据符号触发相应效果。例如，如果转轮停在匕首、毒刃和盾牌上，你就会攻击敌人、施加中毒效果，并为自己获得护盾。如果三个转轮停在相同的符号上，则会触发暴击，伴随着庆祝性的灯光和音效，就像在真实的老虎机上中了大奖一样。你还会获得允许重新旋转转轮的道具，这些道具很快就会成为至关重要（且非常令人满足）的工具，让你有更多机会打击敌人。
Over the course of runs, you’ll also accumulate poker chips that you can spend on modifiers, which are cleverly represented as little things you plug into the “machine” you’re playing the game on, like additional wheels, improved attack and defense, and even a revive. At times, Slots & Daggers does feel artificially difficult, as if you have to lose and upgrade your modifiers to advance. And while I like to feel as if I have some influence over the wheels, at the end of the day, you’re still playing a slot machine, so there’s a fair bit of luck and randomness involved, which can be frustrating.
在游戏过程中，你还会积累筹码，可以用来购买修改器。这些修改器被巧妙地设计成你可以插入到“机器”中的小零件，例如增加转轮数量、提升攻击和防御，甚至获得复活机会。有时，《Slots & Daggers》确实会让人感到难度有些刻意，仿佛你必须通过失败并升级修改器才能继续前进。虽然我喜欢那种能对转轮施加影响的感觉，但归根结底，你玩的依然是老虎机，因此其中涉及相当多的运气和随机性，这有时会让人感到沮丧。
Jumping back in to Slots & Daggers on the Switch, though, I remembered why I liked the game so much the first time around: Because you’re constantly getting poker chips after each run, you’re constantly able to buy new modifiers that make you stronger, but usually only strong enough to get just a little bit further. Before you know it, you’ve finished the game, left wanting more instead of completely tired out. The journey there is an engrossing loop — and it gives you the dopamine of gambling without any actual risk.
不过，在 Switch 上重回《Slots & Daggers》后，我记起了当初为什么那么喜欢这款游戏：因为你在每一局结束后都能不断获得筹码，从而不断购买能让你变强的新修改器，但通常只会强到让你刚好能再多走一点点路。不知不觉中，你就通关了游戏，留下的只有意犹未尽，而不是精疲力竭。这段旅程是一个引人入胜的循环，它为你提供了赌博带来的多巴胺快感，却没有任何实际风险。
Slots & Daggers is out now on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X / S.
《Slots & Daggers》现已登陆 PC、Nintendo Switch、PlayStation 5 和 Xbox Series X / S 平台。