(Image credit: Zoink Games)

A Wonderfully Random Tale

Delightfully dark and artful, Lost in Random makes its entry as an EA Originals, their indie section. Zoink Games released this third-person RPG where magic and randomness rule on PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. The story follows a girl named Even as she journeys deep into the Tim Burton-style heart of Random for family, and she meets plenty of dicey characters along the way. The Load Screen reviews this delightful action-adventure game with interesting gameplay mechanics.

Even’s journey begins in Onecroft, where the roll of a magical die forces her sister Odd into the hands of the evil queen, but the tables turn when she finds a supernatural die named Dicey. Since the queen destroyed all other dice wielders, she will stop at nothing to end Even’s chances around every corner. Even is not alone in her quest as she leaves her rubbish-filled hometown that is the only place she has ever known.

The colorful citizens of Random will often help Even in her quest after she helps them, of course. They come in all shapes and sizes, resembling fish, dogs, trolls, and more. One odd character, The Narrator, influences the hero as she struggles but provides comfort to her. My favorite character is the mysterious salesperson Manny Dex who lives in a cupboard selling cards that Even needs for upgrading combat. Every character has immersive qualities seen throughout all Random that is not common in many games. The game map resembles a board game like Chutes and Ladders with a curving path but has an even space grid layer.

(Image credit: Zoink Games)

The evil queen has corrupted the land of dice and magic to her bidding, but the twisted remains hold plenty of beauty and mystery for Even’s journey. The six cities of Random are beautiful in a twisted fairy tale way, and each has a unique layout with specific puzzles to match the absurdity. Levels have twists and turns, while buildings look just as manipulated by the queen’s power. Zoink Games cleverly placed pots filled with coins for Manny Dex everywhere around the landscape so that players will explore every detail of this wonderfully constructed Alice in Wonderland-style universe.

Starting in the town of Onecroft, it has a dank and trash-filled theme since it is at the bottom of Random, and no one cares for Oners. The next city is Twotown which has a different personality, and later Threedom is a war-torn landscape reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. Fourburg is interesting since it is a thriving metropolis built within the ruins of the older and larger Four-Town. Then there are the evil Willy Wonka-style factories of Fivetropolis and the distant dreamland castle that is Sixtopia.

Once Dicey and Even get rolling, the gameplay mechanics make every battle a challenge on Adventure mode, while Story Mode gives the player just a taste of that action. The developers set up combat to ensure button-mashing baddies is not an option and is one of the best aspects of this game. However, not every fight resolves by destroying all enemies since several battles require completing a board game event by rolling dice and moving a giant game piece around a tilemap. Dicey’s rolls become essential and offer an excellent twist to the typical fighting sequences.

The basic combat mechanics of Lost in Random are unlike other third-person action-adventure games where combat is straightforward since Even cannot immediately harm the robotic enemies without Dicey’s help. She must earn dice energy by busting crystals off enemies with her trusty slingshot. The energy unlocks up to five cards that Even uses for combat, defense, life gaining, and more. Before activating any card, the player must roll Dicey, and the results become Card Tokens. Those tokens are used to cast the value of the card, and the playing costs vary.

The layered combat can seem overwhelming since it requires five phases: building dice energy, gathering cards, rolling Dicey, activating cards, and fighting the enemies. However, it has balanced limits and pauses everything but Even in the dicemension after the Dicey roll. The limits include: the card token values never go beyond three, earning energy for a card is quick, and players can roll after revealing a single card. Once the player understands the combat sequence, they can utilize multiple layers of it at the same time while repositioning using the dicemension after every Dicey roll. Once Even adds card upgrades from Manny Dex, the combat setups get more personalized. I loved putting a set together with every size dice like a Dungeons and Dragon player getting ready for a new campaign.

(Image credit: Zoink Games)

Lost in Random did have a few issues, and most gamers will only experience a minor annoyance with the platforming. The walking zones are tight across weirdly slanted platforms with paths that diverge unexpectedly and Even catches on edges easily. The effect amplifies when players look in weird angles for hidden pots as they walk. I ran into a bizarre issue after completing a board game sequence but dying to an enemy simultaneously. After respawning, the combat finished, but the event was still active with a completion bar on the UI. The issue persisted after multiple deaths, and I thought my save file broke, but it resolved itself after entirely restarting the game.

Zoink Games combines an excellent story of loss and rebelling with innovative gameplay and rewarding combat sequences that everyone can experience in a family-friendly environment. Since the way every fight plays out is random, the game has a ton of replayability at every stage. This artful EA Originals is set in a Tim Burton fairy tale with story and gameplay to match. The Load Screen will keep on rolling with one of the best action-adventure games played this year.

Lost in Random

• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

• Developer: Zoink Games

• Publisher:  Electronic Arts (EA Originals)

• Release Date: 9/10/2021

• Played on: PC