Buckshot Roulette is a grim and grimy strategy game from one of Itch.io’s more prominent developers, Mike Klubnika. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Buckshot Roulette Review Overview
What is Buckshot Roulette?
Buckshot Roulette is a strategy game by Mike Klubnika that puts a macabre twist on the already grim concept of a game of Russian Roulette. Instead of a revolver with spinning chambers, however, you’re playing with a pump action shotgun loaded with buckshot and blanks.
You’ll be playing against a twisted creature called "The Dealer" in a game of strategy, chance, and most of all, death. Victory is never certain, even when the odds are in your favor, but surely what you’re playing for is worth braving the Buckshot Roulette, right?
Buckshot Roulette features:
⚫︎ Quick and easy gameplay
⚫︎ Thrilling game of chance and probability
⚫︎ Mike Klubnika’s signature visual style
⚫︎ Hours of tense strategic plays against the Dealer
⚫︎ Steam-exclusive items, game modes, and endings
⚫︎ International leaderboards for maximum bragging rights
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Buckshot Roulette's gameplay and story.
 Steam |
$2.69 |
Buckshot Roulette Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Easy to Play, Easier to Understand Satisfying Item Combos Fun and Tense Situations |
Can Get Frustrating Imagery and Subject Matter Might Affect Some Players |
Buckshot Roulette Overall Score - 80/100
Buckshot Roulette is an interactive work of art that neatly combines its grungy industrialist visuals with legitimately fun gameplay and macabre environmental storytelling. Some players might find the true randomness in the game’s main gameplay loop to be frustrating, but I suppose that’s just a part of its message. Maybe it could be a little more substantial, but what little I did get blew me (and my head) away.
Buckshot Roulette Story - 7/10
The meat of Buckshot Roulette's story really isn't present in the gameplay itself. Instead, it lurks in the background, serving as setpieces and environments for the grander narrative at play. Small details like God's liability waiver, the club at the start, and the bathroom you repeatedly wake up in all paint the picture of a bigger story that the game's quick runtime simply cannot contain. It's fun to pick at the details and come up with theories, but not everyone might be a fan of this kind of storytelling.
Buckshot Roulette Gameplay - 7/10
Buckshot Roulette’s gameplay is exactly what you’d expect from a name like that. Morbid themes aside, it’s simple and easy to understand for anyone who knows what Russian Roulette is. Even if you somehow didn’t know, the game makes sure that you realize what it’s about in a quick and bloody fashion. The items are fun, if not a little bit imbalanced, and the randomness works for and against it in equal measure.
Buckshot Roulette Visuals - 9/10
It’s easy to tell sometimes when a game was made by a certain developer and Buckshot Roulette is very clearly Mike Klubnika’s handiwork. From the increasingly popular quantized shaders to the dank industrialism of the entire setting, the fittings of Klubnika’s latest creation make for a grim and iconic design you won’t soon forget.
Buckshot Roulette Audio - 7/10
Buckshot Roulette’s audio is very high quality and helps one immerse in the surreal reality of the game’s universe. Unfortunately, among the gunshots and scraping metal is a singular bass-thumping techno track that will only grow more tiresome with every death. It works for how short the game is but it doesn’t make for a stellar auditory experience.
Buckshot Roulette Value for Money - 10/10
This game is an absolute steal, no gun pointing or briefcase of cash is required. Sure, it’s a short experience, but it also only costs a little over $2. If you can spare a couple of bucks for a few rounds of buckshot, you surely won’t regret it, not with this game.
Buckshot Roulette Review: Trigger Warning
I won’t beat around the bush with this review because the game doesn’t do that either. Buckshot Roulette is a tense and frightful strategy game about carefully weighing choices and turning the tide in your favor. If the title wasn’t telling enough, this is basically Russian Roulette but with a pump-action shotgun instead of a dinky revolver. You and your opponent take turns shooting at yourselves and each other with a random assortment of buckshot and blanks until there’s only one of you left standing. Simple enough, right?
Well, there’s much more to this game than that, but we can discuss what the game presents front and center first. The gameplay is so simple and intuitive that the game has no qualms with throwing you right into the action. You’re already playing for keeps the moment you start the game up and it’s not going to hold your hand through it. I think this works to the game’s advantage, as a dedicated tutorial would definitely work against the foreboding vibe it’s trying to project—more on that later.
As you win rounds and figure out how things work, new mechanics like consumable items and sudden-death rounds are thrown in to keep things interesting. By the time you reach the final round, you’ve pretty much learned all you can to survive one last confrontation with the Dealer. This is where the fun begins, as this last round is all that stands between you and a briefcase full of cash. You’re going to have to spend your items wisely and weigh the probability of doming yourself over the Dealer in this round because there’s no coming back.
And that’s Buckshot Roulette’s gameplay in a shotgun shell. Shocker, it’s mostly shooting people and messing with probabilities, who could’ve thunk it? I certainly don’t mind the fact that this game is as direct with its premise as a shot to the head, but that directness does lead to a pacing issue. As it is now, the game is way too short, and I mean that as a compliment. I had fun, I wish I could’ve had more fun for longer. Still, the game managed to cram a lot of tense gameplay and eerie world-building in its short runtime. Speaking of, let’s get to that.
For how direct this game is with its premise and the delivery of said premise, it’s just as indirect with its environmental storytelling and worldbuilding. A lot of the story is unimportant to the Buckshot Roulette itself, serving more as setpieces to ongoings than actual elements of the narrative.
I think this works well for the game because it doesn’t have room for spanning narratives and detailed characters. What it does have is an environment and multiple opportunities for the player to encounter said environment by way of dying and coming back. Despite not explaining much, this game’s setting and story intrigue me far more than anticipated, but hey, that’s Mike Klubnika’s work for you. This is far from his only game to have this kind of storytelling, and all the others are just as enthralling.
There’s something to be said about the game’s message too. Mike Klubnika, the game’s developer, is no stranger to tackling mature themes in his games, and Buckshot Roulette, in all its bearings and casings, is a story of addiction. The Dealer is an honest opponent, not even a villain in this game, just another player allowing you an honest shot at winning. You come back to try again, even if you’re not being forced to. Adding on the game’s countless imagery of other vices like smoking and alcoholism, it’s not too much of a longshot to consider this an allegory for gambling addiction. What do you think?
Moving swiftly along to visuals, Buckshot Roulette is dark, shadowy, and grungy in true Klubnika style. It’s a look that one might have seen in other games like Content Warning or Lethal Company, but Klubnika adds his own dark flair to this design by incorporating heavy industrialism in his environments. I’m a huge fan of how alien and foreboding the entire thing looks despite being set in a place that I should be familiar with.
Audio-wise, this game has well enough sound effects for its guns and items. I will say, the bass-thumping techno track that persists through the entire game does become grating before long, especially after dying multiple times due to bad RNG.
Overall, Buckshot Roulette is a short but sweet game with something to say and nothing to hide. Its directness with its premise and gameplay helps keep it simple, but these characteristics also leave me wanting more. The indirect storytelling is chilling and effective at fostering an environment that can effectively convey the game’s message, but not everyone might be a fan due to its dark subject matter and macabre presentation.
Pros of Buckshot Roulette
| Things Buckshot Roulette Got Right |
|---|
|
Easy to Play, Easier to Understand Satisfying Item Combos Fun and Tense Situations |
Easy to Play, Easier to Understand
This game really is as simple as pulling the trigger. It might not seem like it at first, but this game is a point-and-click adventure with a unique premise. You don’t even have to press any of the WASD keys to move—not that you had anywhere to go anyway.
You’re provided with a host of items, but they’re all labeled, and you’re still left with one of two possible actions no matter how many of these items you use. You’re basically going to get what this game’s going for by the 5-minute mark, and that speaks volumes about the intuitiveness of its gameplay.
Satisfying Item Combos
You get items after passing the tutorial and boy, let me tell you, they change EVERYTHING. Before you get consumable items, Buckshot Roulette is a simple numbers game where knowing the probability of shooting a blank is all that matters. After you get them, though, you can legitimately pop off, as the game’s very generous with how many of these they give you.
I’ll let you discover what each of the items does on your own, but trust me, nothing’s more satisfying than handcuffing the Dealer to the table while knowing full well that there are two live rounds in the chamber.
Fun and Tense Situations
Circling back to the items I mentioned earlier, a lot of this game’s excitement comes from the tension of not knowing what’s in the chamber. The items help you make educated guesses or sweeten your next choice, but they hardly ever show you the full picture. You can pop off as previously stated, but victory is never certain, especially when there remains a 33% chance you lose despite your best efforts.
This is what keeps this game fun. Tension and uncertainty will be buzzing around your head with every shot you take.
Cons of Buckshot Roulette
| Things That Buckshot Roulette Can Improve |
|---|
|
Can Get Frustrating Imagery and Subject Matter Might Affect Some Players |
Can Get Frustrating
Randomness keeps the game tense, but it also makes the game frustrating. You can lose everything to a bad dice roll and your items can only tip the scales so far in your favor without actually guaranteeing anything.
This can be a point of frustration for some players, especially if they were on a roll for the longest time. It’s in no way unfair, quite the opposite.
Imagery and Subject Matter Might Affect Some Players
This game tackles a lot of mature themes and shows a lot of imagery that some may consider disturbing. While it serves the game’s environment, message, and gameplay well, it nonetheless could negatively affect certain players, hence the review’s title.
While not a downside per se, it’s understandably a downside for those who’d rather not deal with such themes and imagery. There’s also no way to turn it off since the game’s disturbing visuals are integral to it as a product.
Is Buckshot Roulette Worth It?
Very Much So, and Only for a Couple of Bucks
I think this game is an absolute blast—pun very much intended. The best part is that I won’t have to win a briefcase of cash to play it, as it only costs $2.69. There are countless cosmetics on other games that cost twice as much, so you’re surely not going to regret spending just a couple of bucks for a chance to try your hand at Buckshot Roulette.
And on the off chance that you’d rather not pay for this game, worry not, a free version is available on itch.io. Just don’t expect the new "Double or Nothing" mode in that one.
| Platform | Price |
|---|---|
| Steam |
$2.69 |
Buckshot Roulette FAQ
How Do I Unlock Double or Nothing Mode in Buckshot Roulette?
To unlock the game’s Double or Nothing Mode, you must first win a normal game of Buckshot Roulette by surviving until the third round and defeating the Dealer.
How Do I Win in Buckshot Roulette?
Buckshot Roulette is a game of statistics and strategy, so there’s no one way to win and you’re going to have to adapt your strategy according to the situation. That being said, it’s generally a good idea to shoot the Dealer instead of shooting yourself.
The only situations where you shouldn’t shoot yourself are when you know the next shell is live, or if a retaliatory shot from the Dealer has a very high chance of killing you.
How Many Endings Are in Buckshot Roulette?
Buckshot Roulette has three canonical endings, which can be unlocked by doing the following: Losing the game in the first round, losing the game in the second round, and winning the game.
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Buckshot Roulette Product Information
 | |
| Title | BUCKSHOT ROULETTE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | April 4, 2024 |
| Developer | Mike Klubnika |
| Publisher | CRITICAL REFLEX |
| Supported Platforms | PC(Steam, Browser, Windows) |
| Genre | Horror, Simulation |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| Rating | Not Rated, Implied Mature Rating |
| Official Website | Buckshot Roulette Official Itch.io |
