Bite-sized Review:
Zoe Begone!

By Chris Picone, 21 September, 2025

Zoe Begone! is a new shooter with a somewhat unique look and feel - one of which I love, though the other took some getting used to.  It feels very fresh, it's cleverly made, well-presented, and surprisingly hard. 

Aesthetics

Zoe's played out on a giant film reel and it's cleverly minimalistic.  While the background's primarily monochrome and the only real difference from level to level is that the colour changes, the background is interactive. At the bottom of the screen are a series of coloured dots which, when broken, not only provide you energy or health but also create the ripped panel effect you can see in the screenshots. Likewise, while the enemies are all just cartoony shapes, many work in unison, and their movement and attacks make them feel like more than they are. The bosses are presented in much more detail but otherwise Zoe Begone! is very no-frills; there are no cut-scenes but there are snippets of visual storytelling throughout the game. 

Gameplay

Zoe Begone!'s core gameplay is simple. Fly (or walk) across a horizontally scrolling screen, shooting everything while trying not to be shot at. But what makes Zoe great is that everything has extra layers; subtle, but adding to gameplay in a meaningful way. You have a time limit to kill each wave, for example. And when you kill a baddy and it drops an apple, the apple shrinks with time. Bigger apples give more points, so you want to grab them quickly. Energy and health dots are littered across the bottom of the screen, but they don't replenish after each wave, so you have to make them last. Mid-level boss attacks let you rack up bananas which you can use to purchase in-game upgrades between waves, and if you make it to the end you're rewarded with a boss fight. And the bosses are gnarly. They're fast and interesting and presented bullet-hell style, requiring memorisation of attack patterns to beat. They also include extra layers of challenge; for example, a freeze frame, limiting your energy & health boosts to what you're able to fit on a single screen.  Zoe Begone! is surprisingly hard but does feature selectable difficulty levels.

Verdict

Zoe Begone! is fantastic. The only warning I'd give is that, although it might give off "kid's game" vibes, it's surprisingly tough.  You can expect to die a few times before you even beat the first level.  But if you're up for a challenge, it's a bloody great new shooter. 

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1266610/ZOE_Begone/