So after forty hours of being obliterated by clowns, dragons, and floating starfish all while jamming to a sometimes rocking soundtrack, I've come to realize that I like this game more than I thought I would. Sure the game can be frustrating when the AI suddenly has his sixteenth industrial revolution while you're still banging sticks and skulls together, and the UI can be a smidge clunky at times, but I've found myself easily ignoring these issues in favor of admiring the sheer amount of charm this game oozes. Charm is an essential element of this game. If you don't like the style of gameplay or the art style itself, you will NOT like this game. But if you do, goodness gracious are you in for a fun time.

For context, I have played this game with a partner for the vast majority of my 40 hours. I am not one to speak on the singleplayer experience alone. But if you get a friend or two, some time to kill, and some good snacks to munch on, this game is an absolute joy. The music (looking at you Sawtooth Peak) has been living in my head rent-free ever since I picked the game up, to the point that I bought the Supporter Edition just for the soundtrack alone. The chaotic little minions you have at your disposal are diverse and expendable so losing a few (hundred) skeletons is never an issue, and I am still encountering enemy types that thoroughly bamboozle me.

For someone who was just looking for a cute strategy game to play during the off-days with a friend, I was pleasantly surprised by this. You will have to overlook a few flaws, that much is true, but do I believe those issues outweigh the positives? Hell no. The game's current review rating, mostly positive at the time of writing this review, surprises me greatly. I've gotten more joy out of this game than I have out of many of the recent releases in the past handful of years. So play it! Try the demo if you're on the fence, but give this game and the devs plenty of love <3

- Decay for Life