Balatro meets Scrabble in this new roguelike from the creators of TimeSplitters—and I'm just thrilled to finally find a word game that lets me score with swear words

So, the latest game from FPS legends Steve Ellis and David Doak—who worked on GoldenEye and Perfect Dark at Rare before co-founding Free Radical and creating the TimeSplitters series—is… a spelling game. But putting any disappointment that it's not a shooter aside, the question is: is it any good in its own right?

Based on my time with the demo, currently available to try for free as part of Steam NextFest, I think it's looking surprisingly promising.

(Image credit: MindFuel Games)

In the wake of Balatro's success...