Lately I’ve been trying to find video games that aren’t excessively long, that don’t last dozens and dozens of hours, but something that I can easily play over the weekend or something that can keep me entertained enough. That’s when I was looking through the Xbox Game Pass catalog and I came across Dicey Dungeonsan indie that a friend had already told me about a while ago and assured me that it was a tremendous vice.
So, after seeing that it was available for download on Microsoft’s service, I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a try. The funny thing is that, after a first playthrough, I got the feeling that it was too weird and I wasn’t really convinced if it would really captivate me as much as I had been promised. Well, the truth is that it did, because it’s practically the only game I’ve played this weekend and I couldn’t wait to let go of the controls.
Terry Cavanagh, who you may be more familiar with as the creator of VVVVVV and Super Hexagon, is the one behind this nice roguelike that immerses you in the game like in a kind of television contest. The contestants are faceless humans who come to this program presented by the goddess Fortuna. At first glance she seems charming, but in reality she is a wicked bitch who only seeks to make the contestants suffer by any means possible.
And they transform into dice with arms, legs, eyes and mouths. In other words, they have a life of their own. From there, they have no other option than to enter A dungeon that is not free from dangers after promising them that they will take home a very succulent prize that will change their lives completely if they manage to get out of this place alive. However, Fortuna is so extremely cruel and merciless that she will not make things easy at all.
As a good roguelike, Each game is unique and different from the previous ones. The dungeons have several floors in the form of boards with squares through which you have to move and which are occupied by evil creatures, but also by food that restores life points, shops, upgrades and chests. All of these are essential elements to take into account because of how fun the battles are with a great component of strategy, but also luck.
These battles are easy to understand and there is no mystery to them. Basically, each turn you have a few dice with a score ranging from one to sixThe number that comes out is what determines which cards in the form of abilities can be used at that moment, whether it is a direct attack, healing, defensive, support, etc. That is, little by little you have to build a deck that is unstoppable to wipe out any beast that stands in your way.
And that’s where the randomness factor comes in, because there are cards that, the higher the number, the more damage they do, especially if it’s a six. However, there are also those that require a specific number, that covers a certain range or that is even or odd, so these are details that should never be overlooked when composing the ideal deck. It’s not like it’s made up of dozens of cards, either, since There are only a few that are equipped to the character
Still, altered states can be set with passive effects, such as poison, charge, or weaken, while there is also no shortage of abilities that allow you to repeat the roll, split the number into multiple dice, increase or decrease the numbers, and much more. In addition, Each character has its own characteristics and mechanics which influence the way you play and the difficulty. And yes, it is very noticeable, because after playing a good handful of games I have found that with the Warrior it is almost a walk in the park, but with the Witch, the most difficult, it becomes hell.
Of course, Dicey Dungeons I didn’t find it to be an easy title at all. The goddess Fortuna clearly doesn’t like to lose even at caps and gives the impression that she is capable of manipulating all events at will so that we really suffer a severe punishment. The problem is that Luck ends up being too decisive
At least, over time the enemies end up being the same, so it’s a way to know how to approach these fights and equipping yourself with the necessary skills, just as not all fights are mandatory. Anyway, that doesn’t mean that it’s a game that sometimes gives the impression of being unfair and designed so that you have to play a multitude of gamesLuckily, the characters are so likeable, the pace is so fast, and each game is so different from the next that, no matter how bad it was at times, I wanted to keep playing.
Also, another point that I loved is that it is a game that is easily can keep you entertained for weeks or even monthsbecause each of the characters has their own episodes, with their respective levels of difficulty and their flaws, to which are added countless challenges to overcome, so I think I already have a clear idea of what my new roguelike is going to be, which will become a wealth of hours.
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