Summary
Particularly prevalent in the RPG genre, minigames have been around since the early days of gaming, with 1980s games like the originalFinal Fantasyhaving rudimentary optional puzzles that players could engage in. Minigames have continued to be a staple of the gaming industry, appearing across many genres and taking on countless different forms, from card games to shooting galleries and a whole bunch in between. And whilethe Soulslike genredoesn’t often contain minigames,Flintlock: The Siege of Dawnputs one at the forefront of its gameplay.
Available just an hour or so intoFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn, Sebo is a minigame with a very basic premise, but one that players will quickly realize has a surprising amount of depth. It may not be the most compelling minigame ever made, butFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s Sebo can be a welcome distraction from the game’s action-platforming, and it holds up fairly well against some of the best minigames in recent years.
How Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s Sebo Compares to Other Minigames
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s Sebo Explained
After players meet Enki, liberate their first outpost, and meet back up with their Sapper ally Baz, they’ll unlock the Sebo minigame. This minigame sees players move several coins around a board. In the first round of Sebo, players will try to form a triangle with three of their coins, and they have a limited number of turns to do so. In the second round of Sebo, players will need to block their opponent from forming a triangle with their coins for a set number of turns. It’s a simple enough set of rules, butFlintlock’s Sebo minigamecan get pretty complex quite quickly.
After challenging a few opponents inFlintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s starting areas, players will encounter someone using a coin with a special ability. These coins have a range of different powers, such as being able to push an opponent’s coin into an adjacent space or being able to swap positions with an opponent’s adjacent coin. These special coins add quite a bit of depth to Sebo, and they go a long way in ensuring the minigame remains fresh throughout.
Winning a match of Sebo will reward players with some Reputation –Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn’s currency– which can then be spent on skill tree abilities, weapon and armor upgrades, and new outfits. Its randomized mechanics can feel a little tedious at times, butFlintlock’s Sebo mode mostly feels like a rewarding distraction.
How Flintlock’s Sebo Compares to FF7 Rebirth’s Queen’s Blood
The most recent minigame phenomenon,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Queen’s Blood card gameis naturally very different fromFlintlock’s Sebo, but the two do share one or two key elements. In both Sebo and Queen’s Blood, positioning is key. Sebo is all about predicting the opponent’s movements and maneuvering around them, and Queen’s Blood requires a similar strategy, with some ofFF7 Rebirth’s toughest opponents needing the player to predict their potential card placements and cut them off before their side of the board can gain power.
How Flintlock’s Sebo Compares to Horizon’s Machine Strike
Much like Queen’s Blood,Horizon Forbidden West’s Machine Strikealso puts a strong emphasis on positioning. In Machine Strike, players need to carefully move their pieces onto different terrains to gain the tactical advantage, and like in Sebo, it’s then a guessing game about where the opponent is going to move their own pieces, and how the player can counter that.
How Flintlock’s Sebo Compares to Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Holotactics
One of the few other Soulslikes with a minigame,Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Holotactics shares Sebo’s random nature. While players can master a winning strategy for Holotactics, sometimes luck just won’t be in their favor, and the same is true for Sebo. Sometimes Sebo’s opponent AI is just too smart for its own good.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
WHERE TO PLAY
From games studio A44, makers of Ashen, comes an explosive Souls-lite, where Gods and guns collide in a battle for the future of humanity.The Door to the Great Below has been opened unleashing the Gods and their armies of the Dead. The lands of Kian are besieged, the city of Dawn is on the brink of destruction. It’s time for the Coalition army to fight back. Embrace vengeance, gunpowder and magic as you embark on an epic journey to defeat the Gods, close the door and retake the world.Kill all gods.Your battle begins now.
