You already know I love board games. Rough Justice ’84 is a strategy game set in the gritty 1980s. Players manage a private security agency, balancing risks and resources. It combines board game elements with narrative-driven gameplay, which means I should love it. While this is undoubtedly a cool game, it falls short in many ways.
In Rough Justice ’84, the story takes players into the crime-filled streets of Seneca City. Players step into the shoes of a former cop framed and imprisoned, now seeking redemption by running a private security agency. The game has a colorful cast with brief but interesting backstories, making it entertaining while capturing the era’s feel. It embraces its power, justice, and corruption themes and wears its inspirations well.
Throughout the game, players manage a team of agents, each with unique stats suited to cases, including security, repossession, and fugitive recovery. The depth lies in balancing agent specialization and resource management. Dice rolling decides an agent’s success on a mission, with additional dice available at the cost of expending energy. This reliance on chance can make progression unpredictable, and will frustrate players who see cases fail despite meticulous planning.
The gameplay is broken up with mini-games such as lock-picking, surveillance, and cryptograms, but these can quickly become repetitive. The operations that advance the main storyline are the most engaging parts of the game, but the luck-based mechanics mean failure often feels unfair. Players will be forced to restart or lose agent stamina, and it feels punishing for no reason. These mechanics work well in a board game, where the expectations are different, but video games should feel more secure in probability. For those drawn to board games with heavy luck, the mix of strategy and randomness can be appealing, but it will wear thin with extended play.
Rough Justice ’84 nails its ‘80s aesthetic, filled with neon-lit cityscapes, gritty agent portraits, and synth-heavy music. The character designs have a neat mix of ruggedness and nostalgia to go along with the setting. While the city map is stylish, it can feel a bit empty, leaving it more as a visual backdrop than a fully interactive environment. Still, all together, this is a good-looking game.
Rough Justice ’84 is an ambitious blend of strategy, luck, and ’80s noir charm that falls short of being great. While the characters, music, and aesthetics work together well, the gameplay is a mixed bag. Fans of board games and those willing to embrace the randomness might enjoy Rough Justice ’84 but it won’t be satisfying from beginning to end.
