‘Devil Jam’, published and developed by Rougeside, is incredibly addictive. A testament to not necessarily the game, but this genre of roguelite gameplay. Similar to the likes of popular ‘Vampire Survivor’, Devil Jam adds a twist by weaving a rhythm-based mechanic into its gameplay, making it stand out from the rest.

The story is quite simple, and its rollout is even simpler than you sometimes forget it is there in the background. You play as a struggling up-and-coming Rockstar, but after signing a contract with the Devil himself, you are dragged down into the depths of hell to do his bidding.

How could the Devil have beef with you, you might ask? Well, Death. Dealing with contracts from the Devil and his sidekicks, you must battle hordes of Death’s monstrosities to succeed and return to the world of the living. I wish there were more specific cutscenes to flesh it out a bit more along the way, as the graphics are so well done that they deserve to be tag-teamed with a solid story.

As is typical of these types of games, you start with a solo basic attack, but this time the auto attacks pump to five beats, and as you kill minions and collect their souls along the way, you can acquire more powers or upgrade your current ones and place them along the line to the beat.

They are presented to you as cards, and you can pick one of three. Sometimes these present as attacks, buffs or even demonic temptations, huge buffs at the expense of a debuff somewhere. As time goes by, you can upgrade each of these as you destroy enough minions to get to the boss encounter. The powers are unique enough to be interesting, and the powers on screen look rad and satisfying.

The map is littered with shrines, which also add additional buffs, pickups like health to perk you up or potions to use in the merchant store at the hub. The hub is the Devil’s office. Here, you can change your difficulty level, obtain quests, buy permanent buffs to your character from the Merchant, trade, buy and sell potions and even change your character to one of three options.

The boss fights are super fun; each has its own distinct patterns and style, but there aren’t many instances of them, as there appears to be only one map to play on at the moment. Even though they do get repetitive, no two runs are the same, especially when you switch up characters, as each has a different playstyle, from melee to ranged.

The graphics are definitely a bop. They are dark and mysterious, as you would expect from the underworld, though with bold pops of colour. Each minion or character is a neon surge with vibrant details, definitely giving an 80s rockstar feel. My only gripe is that I do wish they had more than one map; a fiery level is such a missed opportunity. Who knows, maybe in the future.

Devil Jam is also definitely on beat with the music too. Rock music and rock sounds are staples in this game. The music shreds and guitar notes and riffs cut through as you attack. My only wish is that there were more tracks or a track selection, because they’re bangers to listen to in-game.

In whole, Devil Jam is an addictively fun game that just runs its course with a single map and a few bosses. I would love to see the team at Rougeside build on this incredibly solid foundation, as I couldn’t stop diving in and having a quick run with different characters. Rock out devilishly.

Written by: Stacey