Game Review: Lost in Random (Xbox Series X)

Lost in Random is an action-adventure video game developed by Zoink and published by Electronic Arts. Part of the EA Originals program, the game was released in 2021. The game is set in the Kingdom of Random where the fate of all individuals is decided by a cursed black dice when they reach the age of 12. Set in the town of Onecroft, you play as a character called Even whose sister Odd is on the cusp of her twelfth birthday. The pair attempt to avoid the dice rolling ceremony but are caught. A six is rolled which means that Odd must live out the rest of her days alongside the wicked Queen of Random in Sixtopia.

Even refuses to let her sister go as she suspects that there might just be something sinister at play in the land of Random. Accompanied by an over watching narrator, Even journeys across the six realms of Random to rescue her sister. Along the way she meets Dicey, a sentient dice who has lost nearly all of its pips.

In combat, the player can use Even’s slingshot. While it does not damage enemies, opponents hit by her slingshot drop energy cubes which fuel Dicey. Once Dicey is fully fuelled, players can roll the dice and time will be temporarily stopped. During this period, players can select the card they want to use, which is the only way to deal damage to enemies.

There are five different types of cards (Weapon, Damage, Defence, Hazard, and Cheat), offering different gameplay advantages and combat abilities. For instance, one of the cards turns Dicey into an explosive cube, while another allows players to place traps.

When Dicey and Even are exploring the Kingdom of Random, they meet various NPC’s. There are a decent number of side quests that help to flesh out the world and its inhabitants. There’s even dialogue options.

The biggest and most obvious highlight of the game is the striking art style. Anyone who has seen the game in action will draw comparisons to Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride and the dark fantasy film Coraline to name a few. Simply put, this twisted nightmarish world is an absolute delight. There’s an impeccable attention to detail throughout that I really appreciated. There’s an abundance of cutscenes that will have you feeling like you’re witnessing the next big hit animated film. I loved how every character is designed to look as ghoulish as possible. Another aspect worth highlighting is the excellent soundtrack that adds wonderfully to the dark fantasy feel.

The story plays out in fairly predictable fashion but there’s a few twists and turns that are executed well. Even is a likeable protagonist and the impeccably written dialogue does her justice. The world and the concept surrounding dice wars, magical card makers and so forth is just so wonderfully unique. The combat may sound complicated on paper but in reality it’s actually very easy to get to grips with. For the most part, it’s a lot of fun and delivers some challenging moments. However, it certainly starts to lose steam as the game reaches its final third. As much as I enjoyed Lost in Random, there is no doubt that it does overstay its welcome. Possibly a few too many detours, battles and setbacks left me with a feeling of wanting it to conclude sooner than it does.

Still, once the credits started to roll there was no doubt in my mind that I had just experienced a fantastic video game. It’s a damn shame that I had never even heard of it before it appeared on Game Pass. Hopefully this review will convince you to check it out.