Anything But A Gun

Corporate warfare, no guns allowed

Anything But A Gun is a free-to-play roguelite first-person shooter from Forward Slash Studios, dropping players into a corporate office overrun by AI and arming them with twenty deliberately bizarre non-gun weapons, from divorce-paper-flinging printers to a cactus that turns out to be surprisingly effective, across randomised floors players fight through to "take back everyone's jobs." It released free on 18 May

2026. This review draws on the full English review sample available at the time of research, 20 reviews

out of 20 total, split 17 positive to 3 negative for an official "Mostly Positive" rating.

Praised repeatedly for its creative, comedic weapon concepts

The clearest strength this review's sample identifies is the game's commitment to its own premise. "Fun little roguelike in an office environment," writes one reviewer, going on to praise the "different weapons, some of whom were office related I guess," while a separate reviewer independently singles out "destroying mice spawning computers with divorce papers" as a highlight, adding "wasn't in my bingo card, but was enjoyable." A third reviewer praises "the weapon designs" as "fun and varied," even while flagging balance concerns elsewhere in the same review. This review reads that convergence as fair, specific praise: reviewers consistently credit the game's central gimmick, absurd non-gun weapons in a mundane office setting, as genuinely funny and well realised rather than a thin premise stretched too far.

Praised for its core movement and shooting feel

A second consistent theme is appreciation for how the underlying shooter mechanics feel to play. "Movement feels pretty good (the dash is nice), the shooting feels solid, and the art style is appealing," writes one reviewer, while a separate reviewer independently calls it "the best FPS I've played all night." A third reviewer, admitting they "wanted to talk smack about it," concludes "honestly its really fun," suggesting the moment-to-moment feel won over even a skeptical player. This review treats that as fair, credible praise, since it comes from reviewers explicitly comparing the game's feel against genre expectations rather than judging it purely on novelty.

Praised as a strong effort for a free release

This review also found consistent praise for the game's value proposition as a free download. "Absolutely goated game; I don't know why a gem like this is free," writes one reviewer, while a separate reviewer, disclosing a friend worked on development, writes that "with no bias in mind, it was definitely worth my time and I enjoyed it," describing the first level as consistently fun across a twenty-minute session. A third reviewer calls it "super cute" and simply "love it." This review reads that as fair praise specifically calibrated to the game's price point, since several reviewers explicitly frame their recommendation around the fact that it costs nothing.

A fair, corroborated complaint about weapon and difficulty balance

Set against that praise, this review found a fair, corroborated complaint about how unevenly the game's weapons and encounters are tuned. "Guns/enemies are unbalanced," writes one reviewer, citing the specific example that "the final boss can be melted with a 'weak' but fast shooting gun, like the cactus." A separate reviewer independently confirms the exact same pattern without prompting, writing they "struggled for my first couple runs then breezed through with the Cactus," while a third reviewer more broadly notes the game "could have done with some re-balancing." This review reads that repetition, three separate reviewers converging on the same specific weapon as an outlier, as strong, corroborated evidence of a genuine balance problem rather than an isolated complaint.

A fair, corroborated complaint about thin, repetitive content

This review also found a fair, corroborated complaint about how little content currently exists to explore. "It's basically just use weapons that aren't guns and kill enemies," writes one reviewer, adding that "repetitive games aren't my style" despite having fun for the thirty minutes it took to finish. A separate reviewer independently describes the current build as feeling like "a decent little demo," explicitly hoping for "more than 2 levels" and "some added difficulty," while a third reviewer, having completed it, writes "I would love more stages to get added." This review treats that as fair, expected criticism for a short, free release, but a real one given how many reviewers separately raise it.

A note on production values and the game's free-to-play framing

This review also found a fair complaint about the game's technical polish. One reviewer cites "the small, cluttered, low-quality environment mixed with the poorly executed 2D enemies" and "rough lighting" as making the game "feel more like someone's first unity project rather than a complete game," while a separate reviewer independently notes the sound design "doesn't give that oomph" on hits and rarely telegraphs incoming enemy attacks. This review reads that as a fair, if secondary, complaint, since it comes bundled in several otherwise-positive reviews rather than driving outright non-recommendations, and because the game's all-language sample, 25 reviews with 22 positive, tracks closely with its English sample rather than diverging from it.

Final verdict

Anything But A Gun is a creative, genuinely funny free roguelite that this review found built around a strong central premise, twenty absurd non-gun weapons wielded against an AI-run office, credited consistently by its review sample for solid movement, comedic writing, and being a clear standout at its price of nothing. That praise comes with a fair, corroborated note about weapon and difficulty balance, several reviewers independently confirming the same overpowered outlier, and a fair reminder that its current two-level scope leaves many players wanting considerably more. For fans of short, free roguelite shooters willing to overlook some rough edges, it's an easy recommendation; players wanting a long, carefully balanced experience should treat this as an early, promising step rather than a finished product.