It's no secret that there's a severe lack of hockey games, and Tape to Tape is yet another indie project trying to fill that void. I spent a bit of time with the demo during Steam's Next Fest and came away mostly satisfied, but a little underwhelmed.

Tape to Tape uses classic 3 button controls: shoot, pass, body check. This is fine, but it also leans heavily into the humor and arcade gameplay, much like Super Blood Hockey. The simplicity of the controls, along with the arcade gameplay and disregard for real-life hockey rules really keeps me from enjoying these games long-term. It always just makes me want to play a "real" hockey game, and I find myself turning back to EA's NHL series on the consoles. I wish one of these devs would try to make a sim game, even if the NHL license is impossible for them.

Tape to Tape does have a interesting campaign mode where you pick events similarly to choices in Slay the spire, and earn upgrades and powerups as you advance. If you lose, it's back to square one.

TtT was fun enough, and it's staying on my wishlist for now, but I can only see myself picking it up on a deep sale or if I'm truly desperate for some hockey. The gameplay just isn't deep enough to keep my attention.