It takes a lot for a turn-based roguelite/like to catch my attention nowadays, mostly due to how utterly saturated that specific niche is in the indie gaming sphere. It takes even more for me to fall for one of those, to the point of not being able to put it down. Ever since Slay the Spire stormed into digital storefronts, only to become an enabler for a myriad of copycats, I don’t think any other game in genre captivated me like it and Inscryption, even though the latter had way more in its guts than just turn-based roguelike combat. You can now add Dicefolk to this small club. Where did that game come from? When was it announced? I have no idea how to answer either question. All I know is that it’s out, and it’s amazing.

Dicefolk adds some brand new elements to this stale subgenre. For starters, it’s not a deckbuilder. It’s a… dice builder? I don’t know how to particularly specify its combat system, but instead of having a deck with all of your commands, you have three editable dice. Each turn, you roll them, and you can perform actions on the battlefield in any order. The catch is that you are the one also responsible for your enemy’s battle commands and order. You can use that to your advantage, if, say, you have any kind of passive effect which deals damage to the opponent if they attack you. It opens up a bagillion possibilities and strategies. Even though rolling dice is still luck-based, you can purchase new tiles for them, giving you some extra leverage on the outcomes of each battle.

The other important element featured in this game is the fact it’s a monster collecting title… sort of. Yes, you do command a team of three monsters, and you can acquire new ones during a run, but you don’t catch them or anything. You have the opportunity to recruit one or two per map, with the offset of having to dismiss another member of your party in the process. You can also, on occasion, purchase a new monster.

It all boils down to your strategy, as each monster has specific stats, but also a special passive ability, not unlike Pokémon in this regard. Depending on the kind of strategy you want to pull off (as well as the map you are playing, as each one is focused on a specific kind of battle approach), you may want to have a team of bulky tanks which can outlast the opposition through sheer attrition. You may also come up with a strategy involving three monsters with very aggressive abilities, dishing out tons of damage towards the opposition before you even roll your dice. It’s really fun and addictive, as the game gives you a lot of room for experimentation outside the realm of actually having to hope for a good roll.

The roguelite elements come in the shape of randomly generated maps, and the fact you can unlock new chimeras (the monsters you can recruit in Dicefolk) to be spawned at random during a new playthrough. You cannot choose your initial lineup, as you always start off with three straw dolls, but you can insert these new beasts onto the game world the more you play the game. A bit of an odd decision, but it allowed for a fresh playthrough every time I booted the game up. It’s not a particularly deep roguelite system, but it worked just fine.

As for the presentation, it’s not the most mind-blowing thing in the world, but it’s far from being considered bad. Every single chimera is well-designed. They don’t feature a lot of animations, but it’s just enough to make them look like animated cartoons. The rest of the visuals isn’t impressive, though. Cute, sure, but repetitive, as all you do is alternate between an adorable HUD and the battlefield. The same cannot be said about the music. Even though the score isn’t comprised of a lot of songs, what little variety is included in this package is incredibly well-composed. Those songs stuck into my head and refuse to leave to this day.

In short, Dicefolk stands out in an otherwise stale and saturated genre by having one of the most addictive combat systems I’ve seen in a long time. Shockingly enough, that was what I liked the most about it, and not the monster collecting elements. Those were there, and worked wonders, but were quite minute at the end of the day. With a lot of content and reasons to replay each map multiple times, this game won me over after expecting nothing from it. Don’t ignore this one. It might be yet another turn-based roguelite, but this one’s got more care put into it than literally dozens upon dozens of competitors.

 

Graphics: 7.5 Every single monster is well-designed, and even though their animations are limited, they aren’t terrible, either. Environments are a bit repetitive. HUD elements are adorable.	Gameplay: 9.5 The monster collecting bit isn’t the main focus of this gameplay loop. The dice-based gameplay, and the fact you are the one dictating the enemy’s strategy as well as yours, is what made this turn-based combat system a lot more interesting and engaging than most roguelites in the market.
Sound: 8.0 Even if the amount of songs included in the package wasn’t huge, the selection of bangers in question was impressive. Those songs stuck into my head and refuse to leave to this day.	Fun Factor: 9.5 It’s all about the addictive combat system. This game dared to bring some actual innovations to a stale genre, and it succeeded at that. Dicefolk is really addictive, easy to learn, hard to master, the whole shebang.
Final Verdict: 9.0

Dicefolk is available now on PC.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Dicefolk was provided by the publisher.