Lost Potato Review | Frantic roguelite with no attacks.

Lost Potato is a small arcade game where the player is given no way to directly destroy the enemies. Instead, you can only shove them. Luckily there are floor spikes and other traps you can use in the level. It immediately turns into trying to identify the easiest and quickest way to dispatch the enemies.

The developer takes the main mechanic and runs with it which makes Lost Potato interesting to talk about. It's fun in a challenging and hectic way but also nails the "Just one more run" feeling. You play a little potato guy who for some reason enters the arena without any weapons.

That's OK, as I mentioned before, there will be something in the arena to help you out. Like floor spikes or a spike ball and your goal is to knock all the enemies into whatever you got. The starting trap is randomized which can be a little annoying if you have a favorite but the rounds only last three to five minutes so I end up playing it out anyway.

You never know what's going to happen. The key here is the traps are only dangerous to your enemies. They don't hurt you. So feel free to run through those spikes and the enemies chasing you will be impaled. Lost Potato turns into a combat puzzle. Trying to stay out of harm's way but line up enemies to be destroyed on the traps.

There are also many different ways to play. For example, if you end up with a lot of floor spikes many of the enemies will be destroyed on their own but you'll likely have to push a few them to their death. Which can be a little more dangerous. It's also more passive than playing with the ball shooter traps.

Those will only hit an enemy if you hit the ball into them. The strategy changes to playing at more of a distance. I prefer to have a mix of traps since there are far too many situations where one is better than the other. While you start with only one trap you will be able to add more as you go.

About every three levels you can choose an upgrade. They're completely random so sometimes you get a potato upgrade or trap upgrade and other times you get a new trap added to the arena. They're only explained by the drawings which may bother some players.

However, after a few runs, I figured them out. Normally I get annoyed with missing information but when rounds are this short there's always another run right around the corner. Managing the upgrade is important because selecting between them is a balancing act.

More traps vs powering up the potato. I've tried waiting too deep into a run to get more traps, it was a terrible mistake. When over ten enemies are crawling around the screen it's impossible to knock them all into one little square of floor spikes. I don't think you can't have too many traps but then you've ignored upgrades.

Being able to push enemies more is extremely useful. So it's trying to choose the best upgrade for your situation. If you make a mistake, that's OK, there's always another run right around the corner. Still, it's a great system and each run is unique.

I love how many different ways there are to play. My playstyle, right now, is focused on getting a lot of floor spikes and trying to increase my speed and push power. But I gotta change it up to something else. Luckily you only need to change your attire if you want to have a different run.

To add some variety the developer creator new potato outfits that give you starting upgrades and downgrades. For example, the tiny hat gives you more strength but one less heart. Definitely going to be a more difficult run. These are fun and once I get frustrated playing with one I swap to another one.

There's a separate score tracker for each. Hey, if you think this art style looks familiar then you might remember the developer's other game "Space Gladiators: Escaping Tartarus". That one is in early access right now but it's just about feature-complete.

I enjoyed playing it and I have a video on the channel if you want to check that out. That one is a roguelike platformer if you're into it. Overall, Lost Potato is what it is. A simple arcade game that I'm enjoying. I must get a higher score! The super punchy combat and fast gameplay have me hooked.