A Way To Slay
Review

A Way To Slay (2018) is a fighting game that channels bloody battles from brutal action movies. You play a sword-wielding hero outnumbered by enemies trying to kill you. So far, so video game. Here though, the game waits for your input so you can tap the next enemy to attack. It offers this mature violent action to players who don't want to worry about fast reactions or complex button presses.

You soon learn that the challenge is deciding the order of enemies to attack. If you go for one that has a comrade nearby they will attack you back and kill you. You have to attack on each of your moves, and some enemies have more than one life. It develops into a complex puzzle game that requires clear thinking and strategy.

As you get better at the game you can notice which enemy types are slower or which you can goad into running at you. In this way you work through different eras of foes - Norse, Samurai and so on. You are awarded stars for how quickly you complete the level so there's plenty of reason to go back and try again to improve.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked A Way To Slay 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 5 months ago.