The Zibbo Show is what happens when a dice game becomes a death trap

What do you get if you cross the wild and feral landscape of TV game shows in the 90s and the murderous intent of Jigsaw in the Saw movies? Well, wherever that weird introduction took your mind, throw in some dice game shenanigans, and you pretty much end up with The Zibbo Show.

The Zibbo Show is a deckbuilding nightmare of a virtual game show… game that's currently in development by Tessera Studios. And yes, I know that sentence is an abomination against the English language, but it stays, because it’s true. In The Zibbo Show, you’re essentially held hostage inside the world of the game show and pitted against rivals who want to be there possibly even less than you do, all while rolling dice for survival. 

It is a whirlwind, and it makes you mean in the best possible way. 

The roll of a dice

In the dark and twisted world of The Zibbo Show, the host is a TV screen suspended from the ceiling who loves to offer words of ‘wisdom’ and ‘encouragement’ before and after every round. Between appearances from Zibbo himself, you’re left to your own devices to battle it out against your opponent by filling up a 3x3 grid with nine dice that may or may not have abilities tied to their individual faces. 

The game is over when someone places all nine dice, but of course it’s not that simple. You can remove (read: explode) opponents' dice by placing a die with the same number in the opposite column. It’s easy to think you're miles ahead and destined to win with three sixes neatly lined up, then your opponent plonks down a six opposite them, and you internally weep as your sixes go kaboom and your score plummets. 

On the plus side, from my own experience in the demo and confirmed by the developers, the person with the highest score always wins regardless of who places their ninth die first, so you can get lucky with the dice even if you're a couple behind your opponent!

This game makes you so mean

Okay, listen: what I’m about to write makes me sound utterly depraved and terrible, but when it’s a matter of (virtual) life and death, and all you have between you and your almost inevitable demise is winning a dice game, things tend to get a little dark. 

Your opponents, who appear on an old-school CRT-style TV screen opposite you, are all kidnapped. And I’m not talking “oh they look like they don’t want to be here.” No, I mean they are very obviously gagged, terrified, and unable to escape the game show hell in which they find themselves. And these aren’t animated characters. These are actual videos of real humans who have acted the part. 

I don’t know who they are, and I took great pleasure in absolutely decimating them on the playing grid. I’m a monster.

As I said, it sounds terrible. But do you want to know what happens if you lose? Your own head, presumably also displayed on a similar screen, is removed from your body, taken back through a corridor, and then you die. Brutally. With your head apparently being sawed off your actual body. 

It was them or me, and I chose me. I’m not sorry. And the worst part? You can’t help wanting to go back for more! 

Upgrades and dice faces

If you want to survive The Zibbo Show, you obviously need to pour your winnings into purchasing upgrades between rounds. These upgrades come in three different varieties: cards with glorious rubber hose-style drawings on them, single-use chips, and different faces for your dice that add effects. 

Now, I’ll be honest. My brain is a little slow at the best of times when it comes to understanding the ins and outs of gameplay mechanics, so while I can pretty confidently tell you how cards work, I’m not entirely sure about the chips and dice faces. With that in mind, I’m going to skip trying to explain them to avoid getting things woefully wrong. But I can talk about the cards, so let’s do that. 

Before your first round, you get to pick one card that will stay in effect for the entire run. You then get to buy new cards each time you win a round. Some cards add bonus points to odds or evens, some provide boosts depending on placement, and some offer the chance to get free rolls. All of them, however, feature absolutely gorgeous rubber hose-style art that looks like it’s straight out of the mid-20th century. 

There is a gallery of cards in the menu, with new cards added as they appear in the shop, so you can admire your growing collection even if, like me, you only vaguely understand what half of them do. 

The Zibbo Show is one of those games that feels completely unhinged, but also lovable and moreish. The style and the gameplay fuse in a way that is absolutely glorious, and I can’t wait to see more of Zibbo and his kidnapped contestants when the full game is released. The game is due to arrive before the end of 2026, and I highly recommend you play the demo in the meantime.