GUG is a turn-based tactics roguelike developed by Martian Lawyers Club where you control the titular GUGs in combat. Type whatever you like to grant your GUGs new powers and fight your way through waves of enemies. Purchase more GUGs on the way and evolve them with different words or strengthen them through combat. It’s also possible that the next wave of enemies ends your run and you must start again.
The concept of typing whatever you like to create a GUG is enjoyable, letting any phrase become a competent fighter. Gameplay is confusing at first and many concepts aren’t explained without a tutorial to help. Many GUGs aren’t useful which ruins the appeal of trying out phrases. There are also several bugs and rough edges that impede your experience. GUG has a great concept but the execution is faulty in some areas, resulting in a decent experience overall.
The premise of GUG is that you can take any GUG and turn them into powerful fighters. You get a taste in the beginning where you type whatever you like to create a unique GUG. Testing them in gameplay is satisfying because the GUG is made from your phrase. You can recruit new GUGs and turn them into new variations with other phrases. This boosts the fun as you experiment to find a team you like or see what GUGs can be made from your words.
Unfortunately, GUG holds itself back in several areas. The first is the lack of explanation; you are thrown into the game with barely any instruction. You must figure out how to play on your own, discover what the goal is, and learn the different mechanics. This isn’t easy to learn because there is genuinely no instruction on what you should do. You click on objects, hope it works, then experiment more to figure out why it gave you a certain outcome.
While figuring out how to play a game is part of the appeal, not having any guidance leads to avoidable mistakes. For example, you have a Mother Morula GUG that you must protect. But the game never tells you that you must intercept every opponent or Mother Morula gets hurt. You eventually learn about this but having no explanation leads to easily avoidable losses, which leads to frustration when more advanced concepts arrive.
This is compounded by GUG’s difficulty which is considerably high. Even after you figure out how to play, most of your runs end in quick failure because your opponents are tough. The enemy AI understands how to use their GUGs and their goal is to overwhelm you. Your mission is either to defeat all the enemies or attack a boss. But even bosses can have blatantly unfair abilities like having one million HP that make you end a run.
Several GUGs have abilities that require in-depth explanations. They are shown in info boxes when you highlight them. Some GUGs are easier to use than others because there are GUGs whose info boxes are too long to read. Too much text (useful or otherwise) is packed into the box and scrolling down doesn’t always work. You might obtain or encounter a GUG whose abilities you never understand because you can’t fully read how it works.
The unwieldy text makes it less likely that you experiment since if you don’t know how a GUG works, it’s risky to use. Several GUGs have effects that are dangerous if used incorrectly and experimenting is often frustrating. You may just randomly use GUGs or attack while hoping for the best because you never understand how it works, which reduces the enjoyment because instead of making confident moves, you just hope for the best.
GUGs are also not created equally; some are significantly better than others. For the game’s premise about experimenting with different phrases, the appeal quickly wears off when you start losing. While losing in roguelikes is part of the appeal, losing because your phrase created a decent GUG isn’t fun. This makes you less likely to experiment and more likely to stick to powerful GUGs you chance upon.
Even GUG’s premise is weakened once you learn that more targeted phrases give you better GUGs. Getting GUGs that are invincible, gradually get stronger, or absorb health are easy to obtain with related phrases. There’s little reason to experiment once you figure out what works because there’s no reward for winning with other GUGs. Eventually you view the phrase typing as a necessary process, not as a fun lottery with unpredictability that is part of the charm.
GUG is also filled with bugs and glitches that can crash a run if not the game itself. Most of the bugs are visual in nature but it’s not uncommon for the game to become unplayable. Examples are enemies never advancing or GUGs retreating into each other and deleting themselves. This makes GUG feel like a rushed project, just getting the core product out without a double-check.
All of this comes together to make GUG feel unwieldy and reduces the strength of its premise. When GUG works, it’s a simple roguelike where you can use the power of phrases to get what you want. However, GUG throws you into the deep end with the deck stacked against you with little relief on your side. It’s good for experimental play and may be great for hardcore roguelike players. But for those who want something with complexities that don’t run into themselves, look elsewhere.
Victor reviewed GUG on PC with a provided review copy.
