Luck Be a Landlord Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Switch & PC)

If only it were as simple as chucking a virtual coin into a slot machine to pay our monthly utility bills and rent. Well, I suppose it can be that simple, but I for one am not willing to indulge in cryptocurrencies or staple all of my eggs into the one basket for a chance of earning enough to abolish capitalism. But in Luck Be a Landlord, I don’t have to fret about the mere possibility of being out of pocket for a chance; in fact, I can afford to lose a lot, and still find a way to keep my irregular contractual obligations from falling under lock and key. It’s thanks to this peculiar rogue-like deck-building hybrid that, weirdly, I can still afford to make mistakes, and should I fail to snag the correct items on the slots, then I can always pull the crank and try again.

Luck Be a Landlord is all about outsmarting the tight-fisted landlord—a corporate suit who, like so many others who prey upon the housing market and the tenants who struggle to make ends meet, has a natural tendency toward boosting the monthly payments to meet their ever-stretching needs. This is where you come in. To earn the rent and keep the landlord from pummeling their fists at your door, you must learn to counter their demands, if not in a quick round of fisticuffs, then on the slots. That’s right, slot machines now have the power to pay the rent — hallelujah. Well, not entirely; these machines have a temperamental reputation, you see, and aren’t known for coughing up great rewards. But more on that shortly.

If you’re looking to invest your time and money into something that’ll keep you busy for a handful of hours, then read on.

Inflation Sucks

Luck Be a Landlord fosters a very simple mechanic—a multi-button system that allows you to spin the rollers on a slot machine and, in turn, unlock items and other perks that you can ultimately mesh with various combos and synergies. The journey, which sees you tackling the questionably high tenancy fees on a month-to-month basis, tasks you with playing the slots in a relatively traditional setting, and then using a specific combination of rollers to counter the costly curveballs that steer your game. For example, finding a specific symbol that compliments another corresponding symbol may inflate your chances of earning a higher payout, and vice versa. It’s merely the case of remembering which symbols work best, and which rollers are not nearly as useful as others.

There is, of course, a fork in the road here: the fact that each spin conjures a random series of symbols, and that there are numerous variations on each slot to sift through. To that end, there is a bit of a learning curve to the process; you begin your quest to banish the landlord with a lot of information to onboard, and thrice as many plausible scenarios arise as you begin to explore new deck types and strategies. However, after a handful of rounds, the experience does become a lot easier to understand and work through, as you begin to comprehend which items are more effective, and which of them are far better suited for alternate purposes, and so on and so forth. And it’s only then, as you start noticing the patterns, that eventually, the experience seems less of a challenge and more of a laid-back doddle.

Pixel Perfect

Aside from the treasure trove of items and synergies that flesh out the core gameplay experience, there isn’t a tremendous amount to come to grips with. And it makes it easier to gel with, too, given that there aren’t any confusing UI elements in the mainframe, or even any overarching themes that require a deeper understanding of how they work, for that matter. It is, in short, a slot machine with a relatively simple rogue-like twist, and therefore if you’re somewhat familiar with games like Balatro, then chances are you’ll have a vague sense of how everything ticks and how much you need to do in order to maximize your potential returns. Is it difficult? Perhaps a little, yes. Is it fun? Absolutely, even in spite of its gimmicky charm and simplified mechanics.

The pixel art is a good fit for this particular game; it’s a crisp, oftentimes crunchy-looking retro style that accommodates plenty of vibrant features, reminiscent to those seen in earlier 90s-esque arcade rollers. Sure, it’s a little on the low end of the spectrum in terms of quality, but given the fact that this is, respectfully, a pocket-sized slot machine with a few basic touch controls, it doesn’t really need any more than that. It works, is what I’m saying, and it doesn’t need to prove itself as anything other than what it says it is on the tin. The point is, if you’re a sucker for simplicity, then naturally, you’re going to enjoy the quips and tropes that eject from Luck Be a Landlord. But, eh — don’t expect its images to remain with you after beating it for the first time. Honestly, I’ve already forgotten them.

Verdict

Luck Be a Landlord delivers a simple yet highly effective retro-like slot machine experience with a surprisingly entertaining rogue-like twist that’s as equally satisfying as it is accessible and addictive. It’s a short one I’ll give it that, and therefore something of a secondary browser extension as opposed to a full-fledged title with all of the bells, whistles, and 777s of a natural-born video game. But that isn’t what this is; it isn’t so much a big-budget game as it is a time waster for those who wish to indulge their gambling interests and potentially capitalize upon them for a few hours. If that’s the sort of thing that ticks your boxes, then I have no doubt in my mind that Luck Be a Landlord will be more than enough to scratch that itch of yours. It’ll also make you hate capitalism even more — so that’s another thing, I guess.

For as little as three bucks, you could certainly do a lot worse than Luck Be a Landlord. While it isn’t something that you’ll likely return to after giving your dearest landlord a big ol’ slap on the cheek for a final time, it is something that you’ll want to keep in your back pocket for several hours or so. More to the point, if you can scrape at least three hours out of it, then I’d say you’ve probably got your money’s worth. If you’re still around after that, then there are bonus points for the taking, right there.