With every game over, you are thrown back to the main menu with the option “Start Dreaming” waiting to be clicked. This is where the game shows its rogue-like side. However, not every outcome can be good and a few game-overs were experienced along the way. This is accessible to those wanting a more relaxing tactical game, but fans of the genre may find this too simplistic. The gameplay strategy ultimately boils down to throwing a ball, and I found success even when I forgot to use any abilities. That being said, the game moves at a fairly brisk pace and I never found myself getting overly frustrated with its mechanics.

This coalesced in the characters visually spinning around on screen. Unfortunately, I found that the mouse did not always follow where I was aiming and I spent far too long trying to correct that dead-zone. Every time that you aim, you have a line that indicates where your ball will hit and what it will bounce off. However, I found the core mechanic, aiming, messy and unintuitive. Factor in some special abilities to create distractions, block attacks, and more, and you have the dodgeball you wish you played in school. Nothing is more satisfying than using a well-placed corner to rebound the ball at an enemy, and then watching the ball hit two more.

The best part? The ball bounces and can rebound off both enemies and obstacles allowing for trick shots. You throw the ball at enemies until their health hits zero.

Through turn-based movement over a grid, conflicts are resolved through these tactical ball-fights.

Twisted lies review