What started as a very normal first look into an upcoming creature battler ended up turning into an addictive and extended playsession. Dicefolk is to blame, a game of deliberately deceiving simplicity that quickly unravels a myriad of combinations and possibilities, with a unique twist where you are, in fact, fighting against yourself. It’s not as complicated as it may sound; once you get the hang of this unconventional system, you will come up with countless stratagems and start wondering how this brilliant idea came to life.
Fighting With My Chimera
Dicefolk is a roguelike deckbuilder where you play as a summoner capable of recruiting and commanding chimeras in tactical battles. It’s hard to hide the similarities with Pokémon or Temtem, but there are enough distinguishing elements in this game to make it feel fresh and worthwhile, starting with the effect of dice in battles.
Each team may feature up to three chimeras, and they are standing on what looks like a standard spinning plate. This is an integral part of gameplay, as the creatures facing each other at the front are considered leaders, and apart from rare instances where an ability allows chimera in the back row to attack, usually with a spell, these are the ones who are fighting it out. That is, until you decide to use a rotation dice and switch the positions on your plate, or do the same with your opponent’s, but the rotation is independent from each other.
During a turn, you can use dice to perform actions such as attacking, rotating, guarding, and more, with the variety of options increasing as you unlock and purchase new dice. And now comes the surprising part – you must use the opponent’s dice against your very own team. You are in fact controlling both squads, with the left one intrinsically being yours, the chimeras that you want to care about, and the squad on the right being your target. In theory, you must damage your own creatures, but there are ways to avoid doing so if the rolls are on your side and you’re witty enough to use the gamechangers at the most appropriate times, such as chips and rerolls. There’s no enemy AI, no waiting to see what they do as in other battler; here, you’re in control all the time and the consequences are the exclusive result of your actions.
You can leave some of your dice untouched if you don’t find them useful at the time, but the turn only ends after you use all the enemy’s dice, the purple set. Eventually, this is going to translate into some significant damage to your squad if you don’t foresee the outcomes and carefully read the attributes and effects of each creature, and rotating away from the strongest foe is crucial. Chimeras also have slots for items that give additional buffs of various types, from regen to poison, and coming up with a balanced party capable of facing unexpected situations is a good shot at reaching and defeating the final boss. Which is you; again, you are in control of every single move, every creature in front of your eyes.
At the end of each run, successful or not, you may have unlocked new chimeras, items, and events that change the course for the next one. The non-linear nature of exploration is a joy, with unmistakable excitement when we reach the bonfire and can revive a unit, or when we stumble upon terrific loot that boosts your attributes right when we needed it the most.
A new chimera is waiting for you at the three shrines, but the twist is that you must recruit or reject it without room for regrets or second thoughts – if you have welcomed one, then the others won’t be available to inspect anymore, let alone recruit. Mistakes will be made, and angry fist pounding may happen as you reach the third shrine, and it turns out to reveal a lowly chimera. What’s done is done, no use crying over spilt milk. The immense replayability is a factor that gets under your skin and pushes you into just one more run, and it’s only much later that you notice hours have gone by.
Gotta Dice Them All
Dicefolk managed to leave a great first impression, with the cute critters serving as a charming greeting card for a tactical creature battler with a couple of tricks up its sleeve. The Pokémon inspiration is hidden in plain sight, with the rotation and dice elements putting its very own spin on the game, pun intended.
Behind an apparent simplicity lies a game that is both addictive and extremely easy to enjoy. The matches are fast, clutter-free, and with enough depth to provide many tactical opportunities. With several dozen chimera to unlock and use, it’s hard to gauge how much more exciting the high-level battles will be, but color us excited and spin us around until the official version launches later this year.
MP1st was given access to a preview build of Dicefolk for our hands-on session. Dicefolk launches in 2023 for PC.