This new survival roguelike has everything I want: wizards, guns, co-op, killer art, and one of the best titles of the year
Oct. 18, 2023I cast shotgun in Wizard With a Gun
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Wizard With a Gun gets automatic bonus points for having an amazing title, but the game is pretty darn cool too. It’s a new survival roguelike from developer Galvanic Games, published by Devolver, and as a co-op action game with magic, guns, and beautifully drawn landscapes, it’s perked my ears right up.
Frankly, the name of the game tells you almost everything you need to know. You are a wizard… with a gun. I cast fist? No, no,I cast shotgun, and so on. But it is, at its core, a survival game, and one that’s specifically giving off some Don’t Starve vibes to me. I’m not just saying that because of the lovely, heavily inked art style, either. Don’t get me started on the fantasy Western aesthetic, either. Chef’s kiss stuff.
Explore alone or with a friend – and I do mean one friend, because co-op is capped at two people – in search of resources and adventure. Plunder randomly generated biomes, magic missile some bosses, then bring your haul back to base to forge better guns and acquire more stylish robes. You know, for wizarding.
In an amusingly literal translation of the survival game handbook, there are evenwooden gunsto start you off. Of course, this being Wizard With a Gun, the game’s isometric action combat is also supported by a proper magic system for when you get tired of casting shotgun.
“Experiment with new spell combinations and find out how they affect enemies and the world around you the hard way,” theSteam pageentreats. “Creative arrangements can lead to powerful creations that overwhelm your foes while untethered amalgamations can be a recipe for disaster!”
Wizard With a Gun is ticking lots of boxes in my head, and it’s been popular with the roguelike community so far. At the time of writing, it’s sitting at 86% positive reviews on Steam. You can get it there, or on PS5 or Xbox, for $24.99.
Elsewhere, the roguelike experts behind Slay the Spiremade their first new game in six years in just three weeks, and it’s an absolutely chaotic disco deckbuilder.
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