Home / Features /Luck Be a Landlord isn’t a looker, but I still can’t get enough ByKim Snaith 5 February 20255 February 2025
It took me a few goes to get into the swing of things, but I simply can’t tear myself away from Luck Be a Landlord now. This slot machine, luck-based roguelike is all about earning enough money to pay your landlord — and it’s just about believable that in some dystopian, not-so-far-off future, a landlord actually would install a slot machine and force you to keep playing until you can make rent.
That’s the premise here and thankfully, there’s no going into crippling gambling debt: the worst that can happen is a ‘Game Over’ screen. In which case, in true roguelike fashion, you simply start all over again and attempt to do better next time.
I say ‘attempt to do better’, but because of the luck-based nature of Luck Be a Landlord, your success is largely down to the hands of fate. Starting out with just five icons, each time you spin your slot machine you’ll get the chance to add one new icon. To begin with, most will give you just one coin. But that’s not going to be enough to pay rent in the long run — it goes up every time, because your landlord is, in typical fashion, a douche. So you’ll need to work on getting icons that work well together and create synergies.
If a dog is near a human, for example, it’ll get extra coins, because dogs like being around people. And if you have a miner and an ore next to each other, you’ll get a big bonus: the ore will get used up, but you’ll get a wad of coins out of it. Of course, exactly where icons land when you spin your reels is random, too, so even if you have a good amount of icons that all work well together, there’s no telling whether they’re actually going to land in the right places.
But that’s the nature of Luck be a Landlord, and that’s perhaps why I can’t stop playing. Getting a synergy just right is seriously fulfilling, and outwitting your landlord by being able to afford his ever-increasing rents is gleeful. The more you play, the more you’ll learn about each icons and what synergies work best.
It doesn’t matter that Luck Be a Landlord isn’t the prettiest game, or that on console its controls can occasionally be a bit fiddly if you need to select something specific. Once you get into the groove of this moreish little morsel, you won’t care about any of that.
I’ll likely tire of it eventually: it is repetitive, in its very nature. But then, aren’t most roguelikes? And the allure of doing just that bit better on another run is keeping me coming back for more so far.
Luck Be a Landlord is available on on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
