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Slap a goblin with another goblin in The World Is Your Weapon

Take a swing at it.

Back in the early days of Dwarf Fortress, one of my favourite parts of the game was the ability to use anything as a weapon, from cups to dead lions. The World Is Your Weapon looks like a whole RPG built around this gleefully daft concept, and it's out today. Developed by Kagaya, it's a turn-based dungeon crawl (but not a roguelike) where weapons merchant Weaco can pick up and use almost anything in the world to batter her enemies or sell. Rocks, trees, entire bodies of water (somehow) and even other monsters are up for grabs. Below, a potentially lethal trailer.

I've not taken a swing at The World Is Your Weapon yet, but the trailer and screenshots look like a bloody good time. It's a cute 16-bit dungeon crawler with some endearingly scruffy character art. Simple controls, simple tactics, and one very comprehensive joke. Almost everything in the world from lampposts to refrigerators (it's a comedy game, don't overthink it) can be picked up and swung in combat, and you identify their stats by using them. Once appraised, the weapon can either be kept until it breaks, or sold in Weaco's weapon shop to fund further (mis?)adventure.

Watch on YouTube

Outside of the turn-based combat, you make money through stocking Weaco's shop shelves with weapons collected and they're sold in real-time, even if you're not playing. A nice way to encourage taking a break every few hours, and oddly fitting for a game as tongue-in-cheek as this. It's obviously a simpler RPG than the Shiren The Wanderer roguelike series that it seems to be paying tribute to, and a simpler merchant game than Recettear, but with a joke is this good, that might be all it needs.

The World Is Your Weapon is out now on Steam and costs £7.19/€8.19/$9.99. It's localised and published by Dwango. Credit to Chris Franklin of very good YouTube channel Errant Signal for spotting this one.

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