An 8chan basement dwelling simulator has finally come to Steam, the wait is finally over! The Wheel of Fortune is a visual novel that features you as the main character trying to escape a fate that has bound you to a life of parental supervision. You play a loser, a dork, a nerd. Today is will be your best attempt at not being one.
The attraction here lies in its humor. The Wheel of Fortune knows its a ridiculous game and wears that badge on its sleeve. It makes fun of itself and it makes fun of you… and it does a pretty good job of it! You end up in a hot spring with three girls and have the opportunity to get with one of them. Choices matter, and I felt there was just the right amount of them given the game’s length.
The writing in this game is actually very good. In a genre filled with poorly translated imports it was nice to see intelligent humor and an author with proper understanding and usage of the English language. I also laughed a fair amount of times, which can also be a rare occurrence in this genre.
The music is very fitting, and although some tracks tend do be short loops some of it is very catchy and fits its Balkan theme. The art looks a bit… amateurish? but it does the job. Think anime meets South Park. The sex scenes are… there. Don’t buy the game for them, they’re a bonus if you manage to unlock them.
Every day the wheel of fortune spins and determines your luck. Luck in this game can alter the choices available to you. In a long visual novel this would be just dumb, but in a game this short and satirically self-aware it works well. In fact, it gives the game more replay value and I think it was a smart addition. If you played their first visual novel there are some throwbacks. I’d never heard of it, but its free so I’ll probably check it out.
The Wheel of Fortune doesn’t take itself seriously at all and neither should you. Its a fun game with above average art and music, and for the price it will keep you entertained for an afternoon or two.
