Reigns Beyond review – sci-fi silliness meets rock band road trip

iPad/iPhone, Nintendo Switch (version tested), PC; Nerial/Devolver Digital
Quick-witted and hilarious, this madcap band tour/space caper is sold short by its premise

You may remember the Reigns series from its excellent Game of Thrones tie-in: its signature is Tinder-esque card swiping, where you make snap decisions on what to say or do by flicking left or right, before watching the consequences unfold. After crash-landing on a random planet, you are roped in to joining an intergalactic rock band, which seems only fair as you just accidentally killed their guitarist with your out-of-control ship. From there you set off across the stars, landing on whatever planets you come across, picking up stowaways and goopy space-creatures and occasionally making a discovery about the universe (or your mysteriously sentient ship).

You also die, a lot. Rarely have I played a game in which death is so frequent, and so funny. I have inhaled a deadly space fungus, been smothered by multiplying fluffy space bunnies, and had my head literally bitten off by my manager, who is also a shark. I have exploded, expired, aspirated, starved, and once I accidentally vaporised all life in a solar system by plugging in a guitar amp. Every time this happens, you are resurrected to the last planet you visited, ready to go again – there are no lasting consequences in Reigns, just momentary catastrophic setbacks.