I Hate 1v1 Competitive Games, but ROUNDS Is the Unhinged Exception

Card drafting and 10-minute matches make ROUNDS the ultimate low-stress 1v1 game.

A vibrant, abstract digital scene with colorful beams of light and geometric shapes, resembling a futuristic game environment.

Published: Jul 24, 2026, 1:18 pm Updated: Jul 24, 2026, 1:18 pm

Primary Subject: ROUNDS
Key Update: Landfall Games expanded ROUNDS with crossplay support across PlayStation, Xbox, and PC alongside ongoing stability and localization updates.
Status: Confirmed
Last Verified: July 24, 2026
Quick Answer: ROUNDS is a 1v1 roguelike shooter where losing players select card upgrades to build absurd superpowers, making matches fast, balanced, and chaotic.

I'm not usually fond of 1v1 games. Even as a long-time player of Valorant, I haven't touched the Skirmish modes. Just the thought of it stresses me out.

The only exception is ROUNDS. A close friend of mine introduced it to me, and while I was hesitant, my boyfriend bought me the game - leaving me with no choice but to play it. As someone with a hyper-competitive partner, I dreaded playing a 1v1 game with him. I just knew he would rage-bait me after every loss.

So imagine my surprise when I actually ended up loving it! I didn't feel salty when I lost; it just made me want to play more.

Why ROUNDS Is the Ultimate 1v1 Party Game

Unlike 1v1 games that demand practice and time commitments, ROUNDS is an easily digestible shooter party game that features quick 10-minute matches.

Two colorful characters, one orange and one blue, are engaged in a playful confrontation on a brightly colored geometric background with various shapes.

As I mentioned, I absolutely hate losing in 1v1 matches. I don't like to admit it, but I can be a sore loser - especially if my opponent talks smack. One of the reasons I loved ROUNDS was because it featured a "loser gets a superpower" card drafting system. If you lose a game, you can pick a card upgrade for a higher chance of beating your opponent.

You know what that means? It means losing wasn't a punishment. Losing meant being bestowed chaotic powers. Sure, my boyfriend could have beat me in round one, but once I got that homing missiles card, it was on sight. Soon, we'd both have cards and the screen would be filled with utter madness in the best way possible.

ROUNDS didn't focus on who was the most skilled. The winner would be determined by who crafts the most unhinged deck stack. Who has the most broken abilities? I would always try to get the toxic poison, homing missiles, and the giant bouncing bullets - that combo was OP. Of course, my boyfriend would somehow craft something even more unhinged, and we'd have to play again to settle the score.

A blue character holding a card labeled "COLD BULLETS" with a game interface in the background showing partially obscured shapes.

It was easy to keep playing a lot of rounds (see what I did there?) since each game would only last around 10 minutes. It's a quick-paced game with physics-reactive maps. I didn't feel pressure to dedicate hours of my life to 40-minute-long matches. All I needed to do was jump into Discord, launch a match, and within a minute, my boyfriend and I would be laughing over how absurd everything was.

It could last an hour, but since it was a new game every 10 minutes, it didn't feel like we were dragging it out.

ROUNDS proves that competitive games don't need to be high-stakes. It can be fast, ten-minute party games where even the loser feels like the winner. ROUNDS has been a constant in my gaming rotation because, for once, nobody ends the game feeling bad. And sometimes, that's all we need.

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