Hell in a Cell: CloverPit
Spin for your life in the horror roguelike where winning is everything.
‣ CloverPit
From: Panik Arcade, Future Friends Games
Platforms: PC
Release: 2025
Genre: Slot Machine Rogue-lite
Steam Page • Demo Video • Developer Site
With the right buffs and spins, maybe this time you have a chance to escape.
You are trapped in a small room, captured by an unseen sadistic tormentor. Your captor wants you to gamble for your life, pulling the arm of a slot machine to earn coins and pay back your debt.
Fail to pay, and you plunge into a dark hole to your death. Yet, settle the debt and you get rewarded with more debt! Still, maybe you can manage to pay back enough to gain your freedom. That won't be easy though, not unless you bend your luck in CloverPit.
CloverPit has a basic gameplay loop. During a round, you play the slot machine, the number of spins depending on how many coins you insert, with a maximum of seven spins allowed (without buffs). You pull the arm, watch the symbols spin into place, collect winnings, and deposit them into an ATM. Each debt has a deadline of three rounds, after which you better match it or be exterminated.
Winning is simple: create a row of three or more of the same symbols, which can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal (there are also higher-tier patterns). Yet, while a match will give you money, it's a small amount. To earn big, you want multiple patterns to appear in one spin, ideally a screen full of the same symbol, triggering a jackpot.
Still, it will not be enough—you need more luck on your side. After each round of spins, you also receive tickets to buy prizes and charms that act as buffs. Some will double payments. Others increase the odds of specific symbols appearing. Some buffs grant you extra spins. Several add luck. A few protect you from nasty surprises, like hitting the dreaded triple-6.
The system selects six random buffs at the start of a debt deadline, and you can refresh the selection for a fee. There is also a telephone with a mysterious caller who offers special conditions that can further help you, such as increasing some symbols or giving you more prize tickets to afford extra buffs.
These choices represent the strategy in CloverPit. To get big wins, you want the best combination of buffs and bonus conditions. But all that does is improve your odds. You can still have losing spins, and just a few are enough to stop you earning the cash you need.
CloverPit calls itself a horror game, using retro-3D graphics to create a grimy aesthetic. The cell reeks of desperation and cruelty, and there are various small touches that amplify the miserable ambiance. You might even be dead, in Hell, and this is torture, or maybe some maniac captured you. The game doesn't show its hand, but it hints enough to keep you guessing.
But this is not a scary game. The real tension lies in your situation, as your fate depends on luck. Yet, you keep playing because CloverPit has excellent production values and a fun gameplay loop.
Most attempts are short—roughly 10 minutes. I rarely managed to reach the fourth stage that requires over 2,000 coins. However, there are multiple people on the Steam forums bragging about massive winnings. So, it is possible to do very well.
📽 Demo Snapshot: You have no choice but to play.
Most of the time, though, you fail. But then you start again. It's too enticing not to. CloverPit attracts comparisons to two other very recent indie hits that combine roguelike and gambling mechanics, Balatro and Buckshot Roulette, which it openly cites as inspiration. All three hook you with high odds for failure yet the dangling carrot of success through rapid gameplay and concepts that are easy to grasp yet hard to master.
However, CloverPit is a unique addition to this new genre. It is enjoyable and very compulsive. Popping in coins, pulling that arm, and watching the wins come in is incredibly satisfying. Death is dramatic by design, but soon you're back at it. With the right buffs and spins, maybe this time you have a chance to escape. Maybe this time…
CloverPit will release on Steam in 2025.
Explore The Game with YouTube Chapters:
📽 01:05 The basics
📽 03:20 Gamble for your life
📽 05:20 Made the first deadline
📽 06:15 Answer the phone
📽 10:56 Not enough money...
📽 11:25 Let's try again
📽 17:30 Buy some buffs
📽 21:25 Phew! Reached 200 coins
📽 25:36 Triple-6
📽 26:28 Another chance
📽 29:01 Number 1 and Number 2
📽 36:25 One more try...
📽 42:15 Jackpot
📽 43:36 Let's buy everything
📽 45:10 Triple-6... twice!
📽 48:12 Down the hole
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