XBOX REVIEW | Let’s! Revolution!

“A minesweeper roguelike that swept me away”

Let’s! Revolution! first released on PC in the summer of 2023 and was received well, but didn’t seem to have made an explosive impact. With a console release this year, they’re aiming for another shot to plant their flag.

I have to admit that looking at the game at a glance didn’t tell me a lot about it. It was only when I read the pitch and noticed that little numbers in the corner of every tile that I understood this was basically an RPG/Roguelike version of minesweeper and that’s when I became interested in checking it out.

Things I liked!

• Music | There is a repetitive yet relaxing soundtrack throughout the game that never really tired me of it. In fact, here is a recommendation to play the soundtrack in the background while you read the rest of this review!

• Minesweeper base | “Game” but roguelike is a genre we’re seeing more and more of, with Peglin bringing us Peggle, but roguelike and Balatro offering a roguish approach to Poker. Minesweeper is another choice I hadn’t considered until now but the result is very interesting. Just like in the ancient desktop PC timekiller, you use the numbers on each tile to determine if it’s safe to reveal a tile or not. Only here, you have to move to each tile and consider spending action points on attacking it. You buy new abilities and items or upgrade them to get further into the game.

• Find the king | You don’t need to defeat any enemies other than the king in the final level. It suffices to chase him in the 9 levels before that and depending on which class you picked you may even be rewarded for playing in a certain way: not getting damaged, revealing all roads or all non-road tiles etc. Getting enough money for upgrades will be vital, however.

• Different styles | There are three different characters but each with 2 different styles, making for a variety of 6 different ways to approach each puzzle. Some, like the charger, prefer to dive headfirst into the combat zone and deliver a roundhouse attack, while others are more fragile and aim to detect the king while staying out of harms way. They each have a different method of moving around, attacking or casting powerful spells. The main tactic however, comes from carefully managing your available action points as these don’t just recharge for free.

• NG+++++ | After beating the level on Normal, you unlock a NG+ and this keeps building up in difficulty to allow even the smartest players to still feel challenged. The increase in difficulty comes from enemies attacking sooner so every move you make will count. I also liked how there was an Easy mode that marked safe tiles so you could navigate the map without risk of getting harmed.

• Unlocks | You can also discover green gems if you’re lucky, or earn them for completing a run. Get enough of them and that’s what’ll unlock new characters, abilities and items to purchase. Looking at the list of Achievements, it feels very doable to get 1000G, except for maybe beating the king in NG+5

Neither good nor bad

• Artstyle | BUCK brings a distinct artstyle to this game that may not be for everyone. The art is clean, and the pastel colours are calming, but the character designs themselves aren’t my cup of tea somehow. It’s very much a personal preference though, so don’t take this as a negative strike against the game.

• Hidden info | There is a variety of enemies, each with different abilities. Most will just damage you, but some reveal other foes on the map, or there are a few that steal your coin or energy. I like to have full knowledge of what ability is about to be triggered, but unless I had an ability that was in range, I couldn’t hover over them to find out what they do. After a few runs, however, you build up knowledge of each opponent and how to prioritize them.

• Not *THAT* much variety in the long run | The best roguelikes keep you coming back for dozens of hours. While there was a great (r)evolution to the game at the start and I kept discovering new things, eventually you’ll have seen everything it has to offer, and the repetition will set in. For me, I’m sure I’ll get around 10 hours of fun out of this in total, which is perfectly fine for it’s low asking price, but it’s not the endless fun that games like Balatro deliver. Then again, it’s not like every game of minesweeper blew us away with new modifiers, so I may have just been spoiled recently.

Things I disliked!

• Balance | I’m not sure if there is a solution to every single run with every character. To proceed, you often need to eliminate enemies, but all while staying alive yourself and having enough action points or items to attack. I often found myself losing because I had run out of both, even though I was paying careful attention to not waste a single attack. Losing a game that felt impossible is not the best feeling in the world.

How long did I play the review before publishing? 10 hours
How long to beat the story? ~15 mins for a single run
How many Achievements did I earn before publishing? 535G or 23/30 achievements
How long to achieve 1000G | ~12 hours?
You’ll love this game if you like these | Peglin, Balatro, Minesweeper