Or Die Trying

Dicey Dungeons Forges One Rng To Rule Them All.

- Phil Iwaniuk

A lazy journalist would call this Hearthstone meets Yahtzee, and just as a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, sometimes lazy journalist comparisons are bang on. Dicey Dungeons rolls you a few dice, presents you with cards which harness those dice in damage-dealing or character-buffing fashion, then pits you against a series of opponents in a dungeon-crawling RPG setting. It feels like playing a CCG while wearing X-ray specs.

Because while the roguelikes and card games that Dicey Dungeons is referencing with its visuals and mechanics would hide away their RNG elements, Terry Cavanagh’s new game puts it under a spotlight. Quite literally. The setup is that of a gameshow, so while you’re fighting sneezy hedgehogs and sharply dressed hammerhead sharks there’s a studio audience gasping and cheering over it all. They ooh and aah when you open chests in its simple dungeon maps. There’s even a wheel of fortune. Those disparate elements – rolling dice, D&D-inspired questing, and the gameshows of yesteryear – shouldn’t gel together, but somehow it all feels like the most natural thing in the world while you’re playing.