A fresh fairy tale with a hand-crafted look
Zoink’s dice-slinging fairy-tale adventure game Lost in Random is now playable through EA Play and Xbox Game Pass, and you shouldn’t miss it! I know there are tons of games coming and going from the various subscription-based libraries. I know our gaming time is limited. But I think this one’s pretty special, and it’s worth giving a chance if you’re subbed.
If you’re a PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate member, you’re good to go. Lost in Random is even playable in your browser via the cloud — mind the data usage, though!
The game’s aesthetic draws from Henry Selick and Tim Burton, so if you feel at home in the worlds of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, or James and the Giant Peach, then it won’t take long for Lost in Random‘s numbered realms to feel strange yet comfy.
The protagonist, Even, is off to explore Onecroft, Two-Town, Threedom, and the rest of Random to rescue her sister from a cold and calculating Queen. Each zone has its own set-in-stone logic, with its own quirky characters, which ended up being a real highlight.
Cards shouldn’t be a deal-breaker
While I could take or leave most card-based games, I actually ended up getting invested in the combat, too. You’ll fight mechanized soldiers alongside your trusty companion Dicey, and while there is real-time slicing and shooting, there’s a deck-building card system to dictate which attacks and abilities you can whip out at any given moment. An example:
You’ll collect more cards as you go along (a great reward for exploring each oddball town to the fullest), and you can stack your deck with duplicates if you’d like; I definitely did!
The way every facet of Lost in Random fits the “dice” theme is icing on top. It’s a really original-feeling place, and I appreciate its mostly family-friendly tone. I got a kick out of this game as a grown adult, but I’m sure I would’ve liked it as a kid as well. There are some absolute weirdos running around Random, including a creepy leather man, and the art direction is very “crafted,” in a way that speaks to the game’s iconic inspirations.
As I said in my review, I hope enough people find it — I hope Lost in Random becomes a series. The dark fairy-tale world is already so well established, all I’d really be looking for in the next game would be more variety to make the most of the card-based combat. I wish I had played along with a guide, though! I missed my chance to nab some of the collectibles.
If you’re down to play Lost in Random with EA Play or Game Pass, mentally prepare yourself for about ten to twelve hours of exploration, NPC chats, and dice-rolling action.
