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I must admit that I have not delved much into the deckbuilding genre with touches of roguelike, and without a doubt the one that has stayed with me the most has been Slay the Spire, who many will know. However, I find it to be a rather curious style of game that is perfect for both short and long gaming sessions, which is why this title managed to capture my attention, especially for its charming visual section which I found very attractive from the beginning.
Dicey Dungeons is a creative and interesting proposal in the deckbuilding roguelike genre, putting as protagonists the very mechanics of the game and depicting the characters as dice: the RNG itself, right. It’s presented as a peculiar adventure where we must explore the dungeons of the Lady Fortune, challenging her in a series of games and confrontations to find an incredible prize at the end. Having several episodes and different characters to explore, I found it quite promising.
The story, as I mentioned, is given through episodes that we can unlock as we progress, defeating bosses and completing mazes. All of this unfolds in a "TV quiz show" fashion, with voiceovers by the antagonist and other characters such as the jester, prize wheels and so on, which I found quite entertaining and unique. Each character has their own reason for venturing into the dungeon, but the plot is still pretty much the same for everyone: get to the end and claim the reward. However, Lady Fortune will challenge and hinder us at every step we take, and said loot will seem farther and farther away; does it even exist? I can't answer that question, nor do I have much more to share regarding this section, since I haven't finished the game at the moment (after all I'm pretty bad at roguelikes), but I want to make it clear that I find it very curious and enjoyable.
I found the visual section charming and very unique, featuring a very particular artstyle that reminds me of coloring books and some watercolor or crayon, cartoonish so to speak. The "protagonists" are designed in a very simple way, as they are dice that differ from each other by some visual characteristics, such as: the thief who wears an eye patch and dual daggers, or the robot who well, is a robot with screws and an antenna on his head. The enemies and bosses are very varied and colorful, and change depending on the area we find ourselves in, with different levels and their own specific attacks. The environments and menus go pretty much hand in hand with the rest of the art, and it's all very pleasing to the eye, in my opinion.
The soundtrack is phenomenal! I loved the various tunes I heard, and the mixes between techno, chiptune and electronic. This is definitely my favorite aspect of the game so far. It's not every day that a game of this style, turn-based or similar, becomes so exciting to me thanks to its catchy and upbeat music that keeps me much more hooked than I expected; I appreciate the dedication to this section by the developers, as it really captivated me.
On the gameplay side, it's a fairly simple roguelike to learn, but at the same time a bit difficult and that relies, in my opinion, a bit too much on the RNG aspect. Maybe it's because I'm not very good at these games, but I feel that luck is a very prominent factor in this particular title; although, the game has a "relaxed" mode, which I imagine makes the experience more enjoyable, but I'm playing it on normal difficulty so to speak, so yeah! Leaving aside my opinions, I will comment that the game is handled in two parts: exploration, with inventory and resource management, and combat. Exploration is presented to us on a sort of board with linked squares. In some squares you will find enemies (with which you can initiate combat by moving towards them), healing apples, stores or upgrading anvils.
Inventory management is based on choosing which "weapons" we will use in combat, since we will have a limit at our disposal, and there will be boxes in which we can place our dice to release their effects in the middle of the battle. Some of these tools require specific dice, such as one that can do up to 3 damage and can be reused, but the maximum value of the dice must be 3. Others have altered states, such as freezing the opponent's dice, reducing their level to 1, or burning them so that the opponent suffers collateral damage when using them.
As we defeat enemies we will level up, increasing the amount of dice we can use in combat, which will help us to better use the characters' abilities. Each character has their own style of play, some being better benefited by high value rolls such as 4 or 6, and some applying the opposite and managing better with amounts between 1 and 3. The Thief, for example, has reusable tools that allow him to double or split dice to make better use of his attacks, which usually do little damage but can be devastating if you manage to form a chain or sequence with them. There is enough versatility with these attacks and tools, being able to buy or obtain different versions in the stores, improving those already obtained, or by defeating enemies, thus generating some customization for each game; this gameplay loop so iconic of a roguelike is what the game bets on the most in my opinion, and I found it a pretty well thought out system, which I really liked its execution, even though the game itself is a bit hard for me in general.
In conclusion, Dicey Dungeons is a very elaborate and peculiar title, in my opinion, a very entertaining and striking proposal of the deckbuilder and roguelike genre. The very charismatic art and the amazing soundtrack are the icing on the cake, and while I mentioned that I haven't finished the game, I wanted to write a review to recommend it, as I think fans of this type of games should give it a try!