# Buckshot Roulette

Buckshot Roulette is a 2023 indie tabletop horror video game developed and published by Estonian game developer Mike Klubnika on itch.io. It was released on Steam by Critical Reflex on 4 April 2024 to coincide with a new update. The game has been likened to the 2021 roguelike video game Inscryption, featuring gritty and industrial visuals as opposed to Inscryption's more rustic and mythical style. Klubnika developed the game in the Godot game engine, and also composed the game's soundtrack.
Released on 28 December 2023, Buckshot Roulette became popular online in early 2024 and was praised by critics and players for its strategic gameplay and replay value.
The Steam release reportedly sold a million copies in two weeks. By December 2024, the game had reached a milestone of 4 million copies sold.

## Gameplay

The regular game mode involves the player playing a modified game of Russian roulette in a nightclub with a mysterious entity known as "The Dealer", using a pump action shotgun instead of the revolver traditionally used in Russian roulette.
The game consists of three rounds. At the start of each round, the computer-controlled Dealer loads the shotgun with a specified number of red live shells and bluish-gray blanks in a random order. The player then chooses to either shoot the Dealer or themselves. If the shell is live, whoever was shot loses a life and the shotgun is forfeited to the Dealer who plays their turn. However, if the player shot themselves with a blank, they take another turn. Lives are represented by defibrillator charges administered by a scorekeeping machine, starting with two charges on round 1, four on round 2, and five on round 3; the first party to deplete all of their charges loses the round. The player and the Dealer can respawn indefinitely during rounds 1 and 2, but during round 3, the defibrillator's wires are cut, leaving the affected party under a "sudden death" mode that forces the player to restart from the beginning if they lose. If the shotgun's magazine is emptied and neither party has lost all of their charges, the Dealer loads the shotgun again with another load of shells.
Starting on round 2, a random set of items is distributed to each party before every load to give different advantages; two are given during round 2, and four are given during round 3. The items are:
| Item Name | In-Game Description | Usage | Available In |
| Magnifying Glass | Check the current round in the chamber. | Reveals whether the currently loaded shell is live or blank. | Regular, Double or Nothing, Multiplayer |
| Cigarette Pack | Takes the edge off. Regain 1 charge. | Restores one charge (non-functional during round 3's sudden death or when charges are already full). | Regular, Double or Nothing, Multiplayer |
| Beer | Racks the shotgun. Ejects current shell. | Safely racks the shotgun, ejecting the loaded shell without consequences and effectively skipping a turn. | Regular, Double or Nothing, Multiplayer |
| Handsaw | Shotgun deals 2 damage. | Converts the shotgun into a sawed-off shotgun that takes two charges if the shell is live. | Regular, Double or Nothing, Multiplayer |
| Handcuffs | Dealer skips the next turn. | Forces the opponent to skip their next turn. | Regular, Double or Nothing |
| Burner Phone | A mysterious voice gives you insight from the future. | Reveals whether a random shell, excluding the current shell, is live or blank, and its position in the chamber (e.g. the fourth shell is blank). If there are less than 2 shells in the shotgun (3 in multiplayer), the phone will prompt "HOW UNFORTUNATE..." without giving any useful information and essentially wasting the item. | Double or Nothing, Multiplayer |
| Inverter | Swaps the polarity of the current shell in the chamber. | The current live shell becomes a blank shell, and vice versa. | Double or Nothing, Multiplayer |
| Adrenaline | Steal an item and use it immediately. | Allows the user to steal one of the opponent's items, using it immediately. | Double or Nothing, Multiplayer |
| Expired Medicine | 50% chance to regain 2 charges. If not, lose 1 charge. | -- | Double or Nothing |
| Jammer | Selected opponent skips their next turn. | Forces another player of the user's choice to skip their next turn (similarly to handcuffs). | Multiplayer |
| Remote | Swaps the current turn order. | Reverses the order of play. | Multiplayer (>2 players) |
Once the Dealer is defeated at least once, an endless game mode called "Double or Nothing" can be accessed if the player takes optional pills at the beginning of the game. In Double or Nothing, a random number of items is given at the start of every round, along with a random number of charges, rather than the game's item and charge counts being determined. Upon defeating the Dealer, the player is rewarded with up to 70000 points, based on how much time was taken. They are then prompted to either leave normally or continue the game, doubling their earnings if they beat another three rounds. This loop is repeated until they lose, which will force the player to restart completely, or leave with an amount of cash equal to their points. On April 4, 2024, along with the release of the Steam version, four new items exclusive to Double or Nothing were introduced. Namely, the Burner Phone, the Inverter, the Adrenaline, and the Expired Medicine. On October 31, 2024, a multiplayer mode was released for up to 4 players. Two items were added exclusively for multiplayer games: the Jammer and the Remote.

## Plot

The game begins with the player in a dilapidated bathroom, which features an old computer monitor and a bottle of pills on the countertop after first defeating the Dealer. They leave it to reveal an energetic rave happening below. The player enters the room with the Dealer and signs a General Release of Liability waiver by entering their name. Midway through round two, the player pulls out a bloody contract with the name "GOD" signed in the name box, looking similar to the waiver that the Dealer made the player sign before playing the game. If the player defeats the Dealer while it is in sudden death, the player is displayed driving home with the shotgun and briefcase of money won from the game. If the player is defeated in sudden death, they are shown to be entering a rusted, bronze gate with metallic spikes jutting into an all-white sky, presumably Heaven.
The multiplayer game mode starts outside the building at nighttime while loud music from the rave plays. The camera reveals a man working on a van's engine, a waste container and a boombox on top of a pile of pallets outside, before swerving to a drain that leads to a room underneath the rave where the game takes place. The game ends outside the building at daytime, when the rave has finished.

## Development

During the game's development, Mike Klubnika took heavy inspiration from Half-Life, Silent Hill and Postal 2.

## Reception

Aggregate scores :
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 85/100 |
| OpenCritic | 83/100 |
Review scores :
| Publication | Score |
| Hardcore Gamer | |
| TouchArcade | 4.5/5 |
Released to positive reviews, Buckshot Roulette quickly gained popularity on Twitch and TikTok, which subsequently led to increased popularity on YouTube. It has been noted for its similarity to Inscryption, with multiple reviewers commending the strategic element introduced by the game's item system.

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Date | Category | Result | Ref. |
| The Vtuber Awards | December 14, 2024 | Stream Game of the Year | Nominated | |