Zet Zillions is a fever dream of talking planets and weird aliens, a strange and provocative exploration of deckbuilding mechanics, and one of the more memorable games I’ve played since I started Rogueliker last year. But is it any good? Dear Reader, I shall attempt to work that out in the paragraphs that follow…
What on Earth is Zet Zillions all about?
I’ve been playing the new game by OTA IMON Studios on and off since before the weekend, and after a week spent exploring the galaxy with a character called Foam Gun who rides a planet-gun, I have to say that I still feel like I’m playing through an absurdist hallucination.
I’ve not played the developer’s previous game, Wolfstride, so I can’t comment on the evolution of this unique setting, which somehow encapsulates both games, but I can say that Zet Zillions makes a strong first impression. A big part of that is the visual presentation, which draws inspiration from Mike Mignola and anime (and probably a load of stuff that flew over my planet-sized head), and I think the whole thing is quite striking to behold.
Nothing prepared me for the story, which I’m still working my way through and is more fundamental to things than I first figured. I used the word “absurd” earlier, and it’s worth returning to that sentiment. A straightforward game of cards rarely has serious consequences, but here the stakes are dialled up to 11, and raised to a planetary scale. I can’t help but feel like there’s a deeper sentiment bubbling under the surface of this strange little roguelite deckbuilder.
The dark side of HR
Your people are your ammunition in Zet Zillions, and you must draw cards from an ever expanding deck and fling your population at your enemies. Fill them up with your folks and you can use special attacks to destroy them. BOOM. There goes an enemy planet and all the people you put there. It puts a whole new spin on the concept of Human Resources.
Your enemies are not just planets; you’ll encounter a wide range of entertaining celestial beings during your journey through the stars. You control a ragtag band of space plonkers including the aforementioned Foam Gun and a giant lizard-dinosaur-thing called Dok. And yes, the planet-gun that Foam Gun is standing on in all the screenshots is called Baby Violence. I’m not entirely sure why, maybe I missed something. I’m also not entirely sure why the in-game currency is pineapples.
Your weapons are in your deck. By combining different items, you can change the function of certain cards, and in doing so create new strategies on the fly. There’s a lot more to it, including a trait system that adds further diversity to your plays, but the main crux of it is that you must use your population to fill up planets to make them vulnerable, and then, usually, blow them up. The blowing up is typically done using weapons that have also been made by mashing your people into giant piles of junk. It’s a bit yuck if you think about it for too long.
They don’t just turn one’s stomach; the card combinations also elevate the gameplay by adding that all important wrinkle that keeps things interesting. Fusing cards can create blunt weapons like the “meatball” in the screenshot above, but you can also link together clever combo attacks that give you other advantages, such as adding shields or spikes to your planet, or stocking up the action points needed to go all out and finish off an enemy with a huge flurry of blows.
What about the roguelike bit?
Your adventure takes place in a Faster Than Light-inspired sector map. In my experience, you can only traverse these maps by moving in one direction, at least in most roguish games, but as in FTL you can make the most of each section of space by moving in any direction. There is a monster chasing you, which you can stop and fight, but ultimately you can pick your own path through each map, stopping off to pick up rewards and upgrades in between all the battles.
At the end of each section there’s a big bad boss. These final face-offs are as zany as the rest of the game but they offer an extended challenge – and it was in these encounters that I usually met my end. Death is part of the experience, though, and at least Zet Zillions tries to bake our constant renaissance into the story, which is always something I prefer games to acknowledge if they can.
To strengthen your core and offer a bit of soft progression, you can unlock dozens of new cards and a couple of additional decks, giving you plenty to busy yourself with and help you push through the gameplay loop again and again. A growing array of potential card combinations is a good hook, especially if your first focus is gameplay instead of the overall cartoon aesthetic.
The controls weren’t always as buttery smooth as I like them to be. I played for the most part on mouse and keyboard, but I was constantly getting controller prompts (I’ve got one plugged into my PC but I wasn’t using it for the most part). As prompted, I did try using a controller at one point, but it just didn’t feel as intuitive as it should do. I also had to fiddle with the resolution on my widescreen monitor. These are minor things that point to a last minute dash to the finishing line, and I would expect bug fixes for these sorts of things to be made as a matter of course.
Overall, I think Zet Zillions does a lot more right than it does wrong, and one or two rough edges aren’t enough to detract from its overall plucky appeal. This is macabre card-based ultraviolence on a planetary scale, but it does all that with a wink and a grin that I have to respect.
Zet Zillions is currently available on PC Steam, and I played the game via a code provided by the developer and publisher – thanks for that!
