i love games that are devilishly simple but gradually unravel into a nightmarish puzzle box
dicey dungeons is just one of those games that you can't stop playing. you can't do it! you're playing it right now. i see you. you should pick crowbar.
it's the sort of game that is just so mechanically easy to understand but utilizes that simplicity in order to craft the potential for thousands of game-breaking runs. there's so much equipment that has the potential to synergize with one another that the act of finding a really, REALLY good synergy gives you the same feeling as solving a difficult puzzle in a game.
but the game isn't all about skill. it's called "dicey dungeons" not "assemble a perfect rube goldberg machine dungeons." a lot of the game is inherently about chance.
random chance mechanics in any game are a tightrope balance. while often unwelcome in games that rely heavily on reaction timing, it's almost a necessity in any given rpg in order to avoid stagnance in either direction. it's no fun being locked into winning or losing at the very start of a fight. variable damage numbers, critical hits, dodge chances... there's a lot
for dicey dungeons, the randomness is baked into the system itself. you roll dice from 1-6 and that determines the actions you're allowed to take. this system actually works a lot better than most rng elements due to the amount of tools the game provides you that allow you to counterbalance this innate randomness.
the warrior starts with a reroll skill that can reroll dice up to three times. the thief starts with a lockpick that allows him to split up higher dice into lower dice, allowing him to utilize his equipment even if he rolls high. robot can find lots of equipment that decreases the randomness of his cpu or gives you cushions in case you bust. the inventor's scrapping mechanic is offset by choosing one of three pieces of equipment and having certain equipment be guaranteed to show up for scrapping. i could go on. every character has mechanics like this.
speaking of characters, they all act as an "ascending order of complexity" that helps ease players into the more unusual aspects of the game like a frog in a simmering pot. the complexity usually just boils down to finding the character's win condition.
warrior and thief both have very simple win conditions, that being "roll as high as possible" and "roll lots of small dice." warrior is fairly consistent throughout and thief can potentially build in a direction where his win condition becomes "roll as high as possible and get lots of countdown equipment." (you should've picked crowbar, by the way. why didn't you do that?)
robot leans heavily into the "game of chance" aspect, since acquiring dice essentially requires that robot play blackjack. their win condition is usually "hit the jackpot" but further complexity is added through either building around hitting consistent jackpots or through acquiring safety cushions in case you fail. they're probably one of my favorites because you can choose to lean heavily into random chance or lean heavily outside of it. and darn it, it's exhilarating getting a jackpot when you're expecting to bust.
inventor and witch are a bit more divisive for me. inventor's core gimmick is simple, but forces you to always have backup plans in mind. her playstyle is completely incongruous with your general win condition of setting up a kit that will work in 90% of scenarios, and her win condition is more closely aligned with "have at least 3 kits that have a 75% chance of working in mind at any given time." the best parts of playing inventor are often in the final stretch of enemies before the boss, where you're trying to optimize your kit so you can get a really good gadget that gives you that proper "90% chance of victory build" going into the boss.
witch is divisive for a different reason. she is THE setplay character. her win conditions are essentially "fill out your spellbook with equipment that synergizes well." unlike other characters, witch's power often requires a lot of preparation time and usually requires a level of foresight on the part of the player in order to avoid being trapped into bad builds.
this comes down to a specific design element exclusive to her and the sixth character, that being a lack of inventory. acquiring equipment affixes it to your spellbook, and replacing the spell removes it entirely. this one design choice is the source of many, many frustrations while playing as the witch. you can't alter the contents of your spellbook to get that golden build, you just have to know in advance what her potential spells are so you can hope to eventually get to that point.
this complexity means that witch often has the potential to do all sorts of things, i won't deny that, but much of the experience playing witch leads to her doing things worse than everyone else up until the very end. so many of my runs ended at floor 5 because fights simply were taking long enough that the witch's hp would be worn down to nothing.
the sixth character is possibly my favorite, and i won't spoil their identity. their win condition is something like "find lots of good cards, but keep your deck as lean as possible." this new cards system along with their "snap" limit break leads to some of my favorite synergies in the entire game. there is nothing quite as satisfying as curating your deck so perfectly that you can end fights in a single turn.
all of this, by itself, is pretty great. the witch may be a bit frustrating to play, but the variety in and of itself means that you'll rarely get bored so long as you're willing to experiment. but each character has six episodes which take each of these concepts and take them even further! whether it's episode 4's hard mode or the unique challenge runs of episodes 2 and 3, the "close to true rogue-like" bonus round that is episode six, or the ENTIRE PARALLEL UNIVERSE THAT ALTERS EQUIPMENT AND STATUS EFFECTS
the game always finds new rabbits to pull out of its hat, is what i'm saying.
on a more aesthetic level, the game's got a great sense of style and an incredibly great soundtrack that almost never got old for me. it's a small detail, but i love how battle themes always start at random points in a song. it's a small touch that keeps the music from ever getting too repetitive.
if you're looking for an addictive rogue-like, there are few as fun as dicey dungeons. now if you'll excuse me, i'm off to play the other level packs!
because the game has those.
seriously. they just keep finding new ways to iterate on the concept.
dicey dungeons is just one of those games that you can't stop playing. you can't do it! you're playing it right now. i see you. you should pick crowbar.
it's the sort of game that is just so mechanically easy to understand but utilizes that simplicity in order to craft the potential for thousands of game-breaking runs. there's so much equipment that has the potential to synergize with one another that the act of finding a really, REALLY good synergy gives you the same feeling as solving a difficult puzzle in a game.
but the game isn't all about skill. it's called "dicey dungeons" not "assemble a perfect rube goldberg machine dungeons." a lot of the game is inherently about chance.
random chance mechanics in any game are a tightrope balance. while often unwelcome in games that rely heavily on reaction timing, it's almost a necessity in any given rpg in order to avoid stagnance in either direction. it's no fun being locked into winning or losing at the very start of a fight. variable damage numbers, critical hits, dodge chances... there's a lot
for dicey dungeons, the randomness is baked into the system itself. you roll dice from 1-6 and that determines the actions you're allowed to take. this system actually works a lot better than most rng elements due to the amount of tools the game provides you that allow you to counterbalance this innate randomness.
the warrior starts with a reroll skill that can reroll dice up to three times. the thief starts with a lockpick that allows him to split up higher dice into lower dice, allowing him to utilize his equipment even if he rolls high. robot can find lots of equipment that decreases the randomness of his cpu or gives you cushions in case you bust. the inventor's scrapping mechanic is offset by choosing one of three pieces of equipment and having certain equipment be guaranteed to show up for scrapping. i could go on. every character has mechanics like this.
speaking of characters, they all act as an "ascending order of complexity" that helps ease players into the more unusual aspects of the game like a frog in a simmering pot. the complexity usually just boils down to finding the character's win condition.
warrior and thief both have very simple win conditions, that being "roll as high as possible" and "roll lots of small dice." warrior is fairly consistent throughout and thief can potentially build in a direction where his win condition becomes "roll as high as possible and get lots of countdown equipment." (you should've picked crowbar, by the way. why didn't you do that?)
robot leans heavily into the "game of chance" aspect, since acquiring dice essentially requires that robot play blackjack. their win condition is usually "hit the jackpot" but further complexity is added through either building around hitting consistent jackpots or through acquiring safety cushions in case you fail. they're probably one of my favorites because you can choose to lean heavily into random chance or lean heavily outside of it. and darn it, it's exhilarating getting a jackpot when you're expecting to bust.
inventor and witch are a bit more divisive for me. inventor's core gimmick is simple, but forces you to always have backup plans in mind. her playstyle is completely incongruous with your general win condition of setting up a kit that will work in 90% of scenarios, and her win condition is more closely aligned with "have at least 3 kits that have a 75% chance of working in mind at any given time." the best parts of playing inventor are often in the final stretch of enemies before the boss, where you're trying to optimize your kit so you can get a really good gadget that gives you that proper "90% chance of victory build" going into the boss.
witch is divisive for a different reason. she is THE setplay character. her win conditions are essentially "fill out your spellbook with equipment that synergizes well." unlike other characters, witch's power often requires a lot of preparation time and usually requires a level of foresight on the part of the player in order to avoid being trapped into bad builds.
this comes down to a specific design element exclusive to her and the sixth character, that being a lack of inventory. acquiring equipment affixes it to your spellbook, and replacing the spell removes it entirely. this one design choice is the source of many, many frustrations while playing as the witch. you can't alter the contents of your spellbook to get that golden build, you just have to know in advance what her potential spells are so you can hope to eventually get to that point.
this complexity means that witch often has the potential to do all sorts of things, i won't deny that, but much of the experience playing witch leads to her doing things worse than everyone else up until the very end. so many of my runs ended at floor 5 because fights simply were taking long enough that the witch's hp would be worn down to nothing.
the sixth character is possibly my favorite, and i won't spoil their identity. their win condition is something like "find lots of good cards, but keep your deck as lean as possible." this new cards system along with their "snap" limit break leads to some of my favorite synergies in the entire game. there is nothing quite as satisfying as curating your deck so perfectly that you can end fights in a single turn.
all of this, by itself, is pretty great. the witch may be a bit frustrating to play, but the variety in and of itself means that you'll rarely get bored so long as you're willing to experiment. but each character has six episodes which take each of these concepts and take them even further! whether it's episode 4's hard mode or the unique challenge runs of episodes 2 and 3, the "close to true rogue-like" bonus round that is episode six, or the ENTIRE PARALLEL UNIVERSE THAT ALTERS EQUIPMENT AND STATUS EFFECTS
the game always finds new rabbits to pull out of its hat, is what i'm saying.
on a more aesthetic level, the game's got a great sense of style and an incredibly great soundtrack that almost never got old for me. it's a small detail, but i love how battle themes always start at random points in a song. it's a small touch that keeps the music from ever getting too repetitive.
if you're looking for an addictive rogue-like, there are few as fun as dicey dungeons. now if you'll excuse me, i'm off to play the other level packs!
because the game has those.
seriously. they just keep finding new ways to iterate on the concept.