If there were an organization like Alcoholics Anonymous for rogue-like fans, I would have been a card-carrying member for several years now. I really enjoy the genre, at least when it’s done well and carefully balanced. Even then, I’ve never played a rogue-like quite like Dicefolk. The closest I experienced was a game called Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles. Unlike that game, Dicefolk is a rogue-like adventure with a team of monsters called Chimera. So it has a bit of Pokémon or Digimon energy, which is new to me. Developed by Tiny Ghoul and Leap Game Studios, Dicefolk is an ambitious take on the genre set in a world beset by a powerful entity named Salem. As a powerful Chimera Summoner named Alea, your job is to put a stop to their machinations. And for the most part, it’s a successful adventure.
Do My Bidding, Please?
The first way that Dicefolk differentiates itself from other monster catchers is how you control your monsters. Instead of each one having a variety of attacks, each Chimera has a unique ability. Some will attack the very first time they spawn in a battle, others when they’re rotated around, and yet others can even have their effect activated at any point once per turn. That might seem limited, at least if it weren’t for your secret weapon. You’re equipped with will-bending magical dice that let you control the flow of battle. Every turn, you have three dice that get automatically rolled for you and three for your opponent. You’re the one that decides when they’re activated, with the proviso that you have to play all the opponent’s die, but not all of yours, before you can end your turn.
What’s important to note is that each dice has multiple faces full of different combat choices. You might have one face with Clash, which makes the Leaders of both teams duke it out, or you might Guard from the next physical attack; there’s also the option to rotate your team in one direction or another or even launch an indirect attack on any opposing Chimera. Though battles flow remarkably quickly, there’s a lot of nuance to combat. More than anything, what matters is the order in which you play each dice. If you Guard before Clashing, your opponent will take damage, but your Chimera won’t. Or if you’re Incapacitated, your Chimera won’t attack that turn, even if you have a dice that allows it.
If that wasn’t complex enough, you can also buy additional dice, craft new faces onto your existing dice pool, and even roll temporary dice that only last for one battle. What’s that, you want more complexity? Well, you can also equip individual Chimera on your team with equipment that provides new passive effects and bonuses, gobble fruit that punishes you and then provides a lasting reward at the end of combat, eat delicious Broodberries to permanently raise stats, activate single-use Tokens to either heal your team or impact your opponents and plenty more besides. While it’s true there’s no evolution mechanic in Dicefolk, it really wouldn’t help if there was. Because your team of Chimera is one you can change often and at a moment’s notice.
RNG Don’t Fail Me Now…
There are special Shrines in each biome that reveal a set of 3 new Chimera, and you can take one with you. Or you might prefer paying cold, hard cash to have an artist summon a new Chimera into existence. If you’re really lucky, you might even run across a rare Iridescent Chimera, who is blessed with improved abilities from the run-of-the-mill variety. Just don’t get too attached because your Chimeras only heal after beating a biome’s boss. Otherwise, the only way to heal is with various items you’ll randomly encounter at campsites or with special equipment. And if a Chimera is KO’ed, you’ll either have to find a way to revive them or take the much more expedient route of just replacing them with a new one.
Lucky Talismans
Because Dicefolk isn’t just a monster catcher, but a rogue-like, there’s a lot of stuff you’ll be regularly unlocking. At first, you’ll have access to the Warrior Talisman, which dictates the Chimera you’ll encounter and start runs with. As you progress, you’ll also get access to the Storm, Pain, and Wrath Talismans. I’d love to tell you what the latter two are like, but so far, I’ve only played around with Warrior and Storm and have yet to unlock any others. Warriors are the default, directly attack monsters breed, whereas Storm are agile, and revolve around rotating constantly to your benefit. I definitely preferred them unless I was facing Chimeras that inflicted Bleed since that deals damage every time an affected monster moves.
You’ll also unlock scrolls that reveal more of the game’s lore, new Chimeras you can encounter in runs, and even new in-game features such as legendary heroes and various chests. I really appreciated this loop, as it made every run feel fresh, especially when I encountered new biomes like a harsh desert. There’s only one thing that diminished my overall enjoyment of this adventure – the difficulty.
Burning Desert Sun
Now, I can hear some people complaining that this rogue-like fanatic is grousing over difficulty. I get that, but in my experience I can tolerate a lot of difficulty so long as I feel things are well balanced. And while Dicefolk is a lot of fun, it’s also even more difficult than the already quite challenging Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles. So much so that even after spending many hours with the game, I have yet to reach Salem once. In fact, the farthest I’ve made it is three biomes in before getting annihilated by that area’s boss. In fairness, for a while, I had a really hard time getting past the poisonous swamp dragon in the forest biome, so I’ve been gradually making progress. I just feel that it’s a bit too gradual for my tastes. And if that’s my take, I know there are plenty of less patient gamers out there that will take issue with the game balance.
Stunning Bestiary
Though I have issues with the game’s challenge factor, there’s one area where Dicefolk completely shines – the design. I love the creativity on display in each and every Chimera, from the goofy green Boglins to the sneaky Minkpockets to the horrifying swamp dragon Gargullet to my personal favorite, the three-headed duck, Hydranath! The artwork is spectacular and frankly gives Pokémon a run for its money. The music design is also flawless and alternates between a variety of tracks that soothe the ears while you make important tactical decisions.
Luck Be a Lady
As a fan of the rogue-like and monster catcher genres, Dicefolk is a treat. But while I love the design and enjoy the overall gameplay, the challenge could desperately use some retuning. But if you’re a glutton for punishment and don’t mind a ton of grinding, in that case, I can wholeheartedly recommend this challenging hybrid.
Final Verdict: 4/5
Available on: PC (reviewed); Publisher: Good Shepherd Entertainment; Developer: LEAP Game Studios, Tiny Ghoul; Players: 1; Released: February 27, 2024; MSRP: $14.99
Editor’s note: The publisher provided a review copy to Hey Poor Player.
