Roller Dramais a new hybrid of sports simulation and character-driven adventure games. The game follows Coach as she navigates the world of Roller Derby. Doing so, she must deal with far more than just winning a tournament. More thanany other sports sim,Roller Dramabrings to mind old kids’ sports movies likeLittle GiantsorAir Budwithout the dog.
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Roller Dramais a unique experience, sure, but it can also be a confusing one. The game explains thebasics of managing matches, but it never gets into the specifics. It also never explains how to deal with the quests between matches, when Coach tries to help the members of the team work through their issues.
7Ignoring The Shrink
The coach’s closer companion through her adventure is theshrunken head of Shakespeare. This counselor and confidant is called Shrink and can usually be found in the player’s inventory. During each chapter’s quest but outside a match, Shrink will give the player hints on how to help the girls with their problems.
While there are many ways to fail a quest or even a whole chapter, sometimes messing up just means losing the team’s respect or lowering a character’s self-esteem. Shrink’s hints will be helpful in either case. His suggestions scroll by in the bottom right of the screen, along with casual conversations and new objectives.
6Leaving Everything In The Inventory
The house inRoller Dramachanges constantly, but objects placed during a quest will stay where they are until the next chapter. This is important because the game will often require the player to drop items from their inventory, either to hide them or to deliver them to their new owners.
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To drop an item from your inventory and into the world, first click on the backpack icon and then look for the object in question. Items sitting above a white arrow pointing down can be placed in one of the spaces available in the room that Coach is currently in.
5Not Speeding Up Through The Whole Race
InRoller Drama,matches are chaotic and fast. More importantly, they aren’t very well explained. The core abilities of Block, Attack, Speed Up, and Jump all refer to jammer actions. The jammer is the player running around the track, scoring points for lapping her adversaries.
Though it is only specified in the tips section that comes up between rounds, speeding up constantly is essential for winning more than the first few matches. Clicking or tapping in time with the skill’s recovery time and keeping it active as long as possible can save precious seconds in the course of a round.
4Not Using Guard And Jumps
Each team’s jammer scores point by lapping the other team’s defense, so players should know how to avoid getting stuck in what the game calls “the scrum”. The best way is to use the Guard skill. Wait until the jammer is almost in front of the defense before activating the Guard for maximum effect.
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Thejump abilityshould be leftas a last resort. It consumes far more energy than a simple guard but is more effective if the jammer is stuck and risks getting lapped by the enemy’s jammer. Executing a jump could free the jammer from the scrum, but it could also fail. This ability should be left for desperate situations. Using a bomb is often more effective than jumping.
3Forgetting To Close And Open The Defense
Team maneuvers are as important as piloting the jammer. Of the four maneuvers here present, 2 are especially important: creating a wall, so to block the other team from scoring, and dispersing, allowing one’s jammer through. The other skill, Behind the line, can be dismissed at first.
To activate a team maneuver, players have to first enter the dedicated sub-menu by clicking on the icon representing four helmets. This will pause the game and also allows changing the team’s energy levels. Choosing when to activate those maneuvers is as important as activating them in the first place. For example, forming a wall can stop both jammers, not just the enemy’s.
2Never Using Cards And Bombs
Cards are one-use boosts that the player gathers between matches. Those go from short-lived stats enhancements, like a higher defense for 30 seconds, or one-shot effects like reinvigorating the whole team’s stamina.Cards should be used soon, since players can’t hold too many of them at the same time.
Bombs are one-use only, just like cards, but they always have the same effect: stunning the defense of both teams. They also recharge between matches. Bombs can turn the tides of a round, here called jams, but that goes for both sides. To use one of the five bombs available, open the tactics menu and click on the bomb icon. It’s wise to remember that this tactic has limited uses and that it affects both teams.
1Not Managing The Team’s Energy Levels
Energy is the main stat to keep in mind during a match inRoller Drama. Team maneuvers will drain the defense’s energies while activating the jammer’s abilities will lower hers. The other thing to keep in mind is energy intensity, which can beset individually for every player.
Each team member can play at low, medium, or high intensity, which controls both performance and energy consumption. What’s more, putting a player at low energy and avoiding unnecessary maneuvers can increase their energy levels, as indicated by a green arrow below their name.
Roller Dramais available now on PC
