The less buttons I have to press a game, the better. I am not doing a bit here, no japes to be found, a refined, paired down control scheme is like a cherub’s smile to me. KAZ, then, is arguably almost the perfect game, perhaps three buttons away from such a status, as it only requires four of them. Those will be the up, down, left, and right arrows keys (or the WASD keys, depending on your hand preference (and okay you do also need to press enter occasionally, I’m getting away from myself here)).

KAZ is a grid-based, arcade roguelike, one where you have to hit enemies to rack up points. When you start a game, the grid will be small, generally max four squares, so it’s easy to hit the various enemies that pop-up almost whack-a-mole style. There’s a minimum points threshold you have to meet every round by taking out these enemies and doing so lets you move to the next round. Beating around lets you add an ability to your crop, with varying effects.

Some are simple, like adding a couple of extra seconds to a round so you can more easily meet your quota. Others help you take out enemies from a far, like a laser or lightning bolt. And then there’s some that shows the joys of a roguelike. One ability you can pick up is called negate, whereby you input your keys in a certain order, turning every empty space into an enemy-filled one, and vice versa. Then there’s the Sandevista ability, which yes is a (slightly cheesy) reference to Cyberpunk, where at the start of the round you can button mash and instantly take out any enemies that appear. Setting yourself up with the negate ability in turn lets you go hog wild and rack up lots of points early on.

This can be built upon further, like another ability that makes stars that give you extra points appear, and one further that activates the Sandevista ability when you get a star, and so the speedy point gathering begins again. It is tight and uncomfortably moreish, particularly because my fingers are genuinely a bit sore from trying to play too much. Good things the demo has a chill stress free mode where time only moves when you do. That sounds familiar too…

Carpal tunnel notwithstanding, KAZ is suitably crunchy, the kind of game that reminds me of the Nitrome minigames I used to play in days gone by. I like it! And you can check it out on Steam here.