How many uses can one d6 die have? According to Dicey Dungeons, the new game by prolific designer Terry Cavanagh – famed for VVVVVV and Super Hexagon – the answer is quite a few.
Dicey Dungeons reviewDeveloper: Terry Cavanagh, Chipzel, Marlowe DobbePublisher: Terry CavanaghAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam and itch.io) for $15 (£11.39). There’s hope for Switch and mobile versions but they’re TBC for now
Dicey Dungeons riffs, tongue-in-cheek, on a gameshow. You’re a contestant playing for a chance to spin the wheel and win your heart’s desire, if you reach the end of the dungeon, that is. And you’re a die, a d6 die (a wry observation on how characters in games boil down to the same thing, I think). There are a few contestant-characters to choose between once you really get going, but to begin with, there’s only one: the Warrior, the simplest, the one-star difficulty character.
Combat works by rolling dice, surprise surprise, and dragging them onto equipment or abilities – represented by boxes on your screen – to use them. The game rolls dice for you but you decide what to do with them. If you’re rolled a six, for instance, you could drag it onto – and therefore use – your sword and deal six points of damage. But it’s not always so simple.
Items and abilities have requirements. Some require odd numbers, some even. Some require you roll a three or higher, and some, a three or lower. Some have a big number to incrementally whittle down, turn by turn, and others can be used more than once. There are also abilities and equipment which affect the dice themselves, rerolling or combining them, or nudging them up or down a point. The permutations are many.