Death Game Hotel is an intriguing VR horror title that excels in multiplayer but sometimes falls short. Read on for our full review.

White Owls Inc. has always made interesting games. So far, we’ve had The MISSING, which is sublime, The Good Life, which is fun but sort of middling, and Deadly Premonition 2, a cult hit with niche appeal. That brings us up to Death Game Hotel, a new VR visual novel puzzle game that will be ideal for some people but likely misses the mark for many. 

You and 15 other people have been kidnapped and taken to the Death Game 2000, which offers the means to make a lot of money and also grant a wish… apparently. This is necessary because not only have the rich continued to get richer, they've also unlocked the power of immortality, letting them hoard wealth with even more efficiency and ruthlessness. That's obviously bad, and the rest of the world has suffered. 

Contestants enter the Death Game using a hashtag on social media, and then 16 people are chosen, seemingly at random, to participate for the chance of winning. The game’s aptly named, though, because while you’re playing through the single-player mode, you’ll regularly meet the Reaper, who descends on each match to claim body parts from the losers.

There's an enjoyable anime-inspired story filled with plenty of recognizable character tropes and pleasant chats. I’d appreciate more options for your responses but the single-player mode feels more like a vehicle for learning to play the Goblet of the Reaper mode before heading to multiplayer. Oh, and there’s also a profoundly creepy baby seemingly controlling everything, so that’s fun. 

Death Game Hotel also includes a fun 'Death Poker' mode, which is basically poker with an extra suit of cards, and you can also bet body parts to use cheats. The cheats are dictated by which body parts you have left, and this is true in both modes, which is a very cool idea. After all, how can you make a sleight of hand move without hands?

Goblet of the Reaper has you trying to get rid of your tiles by putting them into goblets. Some tiles have special effects, like forcing people to draw more tiles or discard their current hand and draw a new one. Regardless, the aim is to put your pieces into the goblets without them overflowing. If they overflow, one of the three candles on the table's center goes out. Once all three are out, that’s when the Reaper appears.

The next overflow is a loss, and the Reaper will claim all body parts bet by the losing player. That means they’re closer to losing overall because they only have so many body parts to offer, and losing them means they can’t use some of the cheats. You have to bet a body part upon starting and another when the Reaper descends, too. Theoretically, you can win without the Reaper appearing, but you’ll see them more often than not. 

It’s a lot of fun figuring out the totals for each goblet and then trying to strategize on how to be the first one to ditch your hand. That’s especially true in multiplayer when you’re against multiple people because it usually ends up as pure chaos while you’re all yelling at each other. However, getting an online game going was tough without pulling specific people in.

Death Game Hotel is an absolute blast in multiplayer, and White Owls Inc. delivers well on its premises. However, if you don’t enjoy the Uno-style gambling mini-game that sits at its core, then you won't have much fun with the rest. It's a niche concept that won't universally appeal, but if you're up for some anime-inspired gambling, Death Game Hotel handles this nicely.