Reigns: Beyond is a choose-your-own-adventure arcade game, developed by the English studio Nerial, published by Devolver Digital, and now available on Nintendo Switch, PC and as a mobile game. This indie title is a unique card game that requires swipe-based decision-making that could make or break the narrative.

You wake up on the Sandman, a mysterious spaceship managed by a sassy AI computer, as its sole survivor. Soon after assuming command of the ship, you crash land on a planet called Sidoma; a small colony planet that is currently hosting a concert for an indie-rock band with a cult following.

When the ship crashes, it kills their guitarist, Brandon, and in your concussed haze, you pick up the guitar and play. The band loves it and invites you to join them in return for joining you on your ship as its crew.

Travelling through space, you embark on a journey of fame and fortune, making decisions that ultimately can either destroy your ship completely, as well as ending all life onboard, or, bring you to new planets and sectors that unlock more mysteries for you to discover. Whilst travelling, you need to try to balance the main systems of your ship: power, oxygen levels, the shield, and hull, as well as your own mentality.

You can also choose to pick up new characters along the way, unlocking more storylines and objectives, depending on what that passenger’s goal is. With the ever-present risk of interstellar space fights, or giant monsters that can eat your ship whole, your job is simple. Stay alive and make it to the next planet. You will die a lot, but the ship is prepared for that, allowing you to resurrect on the last planet you visited.

As you leave a planet, you can choose a new path in a different sector, but each one will vary in length in terms of light years to travel. Each has different areas available, with some having a bar or a shop, allowing you to buy components to fix your ship, and others feature black markets, offering up some more elusive tech – if you have the money.

When you’re not traversing space, you are the guitarist for this ambitious band, playing gigs along the way and gaining fans and income. Throughout the game, you collect guitars that play a particular song, and depending on where you play in space, or the demographic of the crowd, each guitar has a different level of effectiveness to win over new fans.

This is done through a minigame, where you follow a path of music, riding the guitar and collecting the hearts that coincide with the melody of the song. This minigame was really fun, and as a long-time fan of rhythm games, this particular feature is really well done.

As previously mentioned, the main game is a card game, and the graphics are really colourful and enjoyable to look at. Each character has their own unique portrait card, and when a system of your ship fails, the icon representing it starts smoking and flashing red. Or, if you take a hit during space combat, your screen starts blinking orange, and these little details make it feel like more than just a card game.

The graphics in the rhythm minigame are of the same style, but the look of the guitar you’re playing depends on which one you select to play before going into the gig. The sound design is really cool as well; the songs are original and pretty catchy, but the sound is also good at exhibiting a sense of danger when something is going horribly wrong, such as when a system fails and everything starts beeping.

All in all, I enjoyed playing Reigns: Beyond. It’s definitely a fun little timewaster that does require a little bit of forward planning to keep you and your crew alive. Balancing the overall health of the Sandman’s systems can be a bit challenging, especially when it feels like the crew is just trying to sabotage you by making silly decisions, such as getting high off the oxygen tanks. The different storylines are well told and engaging, but they can get a little lost if you have too many passengers on board your vessel, equally trying to pull you in different ways through the cosmos.

I love the sound design, and the rhythm minigame is definitely the highlight of Reigns: Beyond in my opinion, but this is great work from indie studio Nerial, and I’ll definitely be picking it up again in the future.

Written by: Emily France