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Dicey Dungeons |OT| Crawling in Terry Cavanagh's Dungeon

transience

transience

Found the ultimate water hazard
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Oct 27, 2017
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diceydungeonslaunchdate.gif


Terry has called Dicey Dungeons "by far, the best game I've ever made", which is big talk coming from the guy who made VVVVVV and Super Hexagon.

This 5 second loop kind of describes the game:

Ts2QMei.gif


Dicey Dungeons is a dungeon crawler that you play by rolling dice. You choose a class, battle enemies, level up and build a "deck" of abilities that you can use in battle. A good run is usually around 20-30 minutes in length. Dicey Dungeons features six very unique classes, from the standard sword-and-shield Warrior to more unique classes like the Inventor, which recycles his equipment every turn. Each of the six classes has six different 'remix' episodes that all play very differently, along with final quest for a total of 37 different episodes. Dicey Dungeons is probably around 30ish hours if you want to play through all the content.

Details:
  • Release Date: August 13, 2019
  • Developer: Terry Cavanagh (Design), Marlowe Dobbe (Art), Justo Delgado Baudí (Programming)
  • Music: Chipzel (Super Hexagon)
  • Platform: PC/Mac/Linux (Steam, itch.io)
  • Price: $15


Media (note: some screenshots are from the alpha so things may change for the 1.0 release):






maxresdefault-8-e1548779505201.jpg

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episodes.gif


jestergameplay.gif

blacksmith_thief.gif

dicey_dragon_boss.png



Reviews:

Opencritic (79 average)
 
Last edited:
Hupfen

Hupfen

Member
Oct 27, 2017
73
Glad to see someone make an OT, since I can't make a thread. :)

I've been helping test the betas/RCs the last few months, the game's evolved a ton just from the last public alpha. I've cleared the finale twice, both times I had to kind of cheese it. Game is tough. The music in particular has changed a lot, Chipzel's outdone herself. She's been tweeting snippets of the final soundtrack if you want to give them a listen.
 
OP
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Lumination said:
How's this hold up against StS? I'm about to fully beat that game, so perfect timing.
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I'm a big STS fan too. It's easy to compare them and I think both have their strengths. Basically, if you like STS, you should like DD unless the differences between them mess with you.

I like DD a little bit more because it's a little more joyful and a little less strict. STS has no real RNG in battle and it's all due to what cards you pick up. DD has more classes, less variability in your deck build, and adds the RNG of how you roll your dice in battle (with lots of ways to counteract that). DD's classes are what sell it for me though. Twice as many, and then way more modifiers in the different quests. You can't go wrong either way though.
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

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Oct 25, 2017
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I loved the early access build from a year ago. Looks and sounds so much better now!
 

Sloane

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,244
It's great!

Anyone not sure about it, should try the free alpha -- game has changed a lot since then but the basics are still the same. Definitely scratches the Spire itch to some degree.
 
OP
OP
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Yeah, I hesitated to post the free alpha because it's been improved on so much in the last year. It feels more like a proof of concept compared to where it ended up. But, if anyone wants to get a taste before spending their money, by all means. Just know that the final version is vastly different in just about every way.
 
Daouzin

Daouzin

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,261
Arizona
This is stupidly up my alley. Looking forward to playing it once it's available on Steam. Seems like it could be a good mobile game.
 
.exe

.exe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,241
Ready for this to consume me. Been playing early access for months. This will probably end up as my favorite game this year.

Would love to see it on mobile as well. Bet it would work really well there.
 
hersheyfan

hersheyfan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,749
Manila, Philippines
Yeah, I'll buy this at launch to support Terry Cavanaugh. Looks very fun, though something that seems more suited to mobile (99% of my Super Hexagon playtime is on my phone).
 
Kalor

Kalor

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Oct 25, 2017
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I'm looking forward to playing the full release. The alpha builds have been cool and there's a decent amount of new stuff for 1.0.
 
Razorrin

Razorrin

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Nov 7, 2017
5,236
the HELP Menu.
I played this on Itch while it was still in alpha, and it's AMAZING, CHECK THIS OUT IT'S SO FUN AND GOOFY!!!

I'm buying it immediately when it comes out tomorrow!
 

Nickmar

Member
Dec 27, 2017
7
daxy said:
Ready for this to consume me. Been playing early access for months. This will probably end up as my favorite game this year.

Would love to see it on mobile as well. Bet it would work really well there.
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While there is no native mobile version currently available. I played the itch.io alpha version pretty much exclusively on the iPad and it worked well. Not sure if the same will be true of the release version, however. I hope so!
 
Mobyduck

Mobyduck

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Oct 27, 2017
2,100
Brazil
Great OT! Bought this when it released on itch, and now am waiting for the full release. The new trailer makes me very excited about it!
 
.exe

.exe

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Oct 25, 2017
22,241
Nickmar said:
While there is no native mobile version currently available. I played the itch.io alpha version pretty much exclusively on the iPad and it worked well. Not sure if the same will be true of the release version, however. I hope so!
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Hopefully! Also, I just remembered that I could hook it up to the Steam Link app (when I'm at home at least), so there's that too. I'm not sure if Steam Link Anywhere is available for the app yet.

Edit: ah, SLA is available on Android but not yet iOS it seems?

 
Last edited:
Fizz

Fizz

Member
Jul 15, 2019
107
Ontario, Canada
This would be a lot of fun on the Switch or in the app store on mobile, and it seems like it might eventually make it there, so I'll hold off and pick it up then.
 
Harbinger00

Harbinger00

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,760
The dice and dungeon crawling thing reminds me a bit of One Deck Dungeon. Looks cool, i'll check it out.
 
More_Badass

More_Badass

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Oct 25, 2017
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Has there been any word on if this is also coming to mobile/iPad? Been loving the alphas on itch and the design seems tailor-made perfect for mobile
 
OP
OP
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Terry has said that he's getting through this launch before considering other platforms. It'll probably be like VVVVVV where it gets everywhere eventually, but I wouldn't expect it in 2019.
 
OP
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Terry's blog post today is pretty interesting: all of the times he's tried and failed to make an RPG. It's probably worth mentioning that indie rockstar Terry Cavanagh's favourite game is.. Final Fantasy VII. I love that for some reason.

Have you ever made a game like this before?


I've never finished a game like this before. But I have spent a lifetime trying to make games just like it – all the way back to when I was a teenager and discovering Final Fantasy VII for the first time. When I have to describe Dicey Dungeons, I tend to call it a deckbuilding roguelike which, is a kind-of modern genre term. But what it really is in my head, is an RPG with a combat focus rather than a story focus.

The way I think about it is: The distinction between a rogue-like and an RPG is that an RPG is about developing a single character over the course of a game, having your character grow and change over time. Whereas a rogue-like is about changing your character and starting over from scratch and taking that character in a different direction every time you play. For me they're two sides of the same coin, and I've always been really interested in both – from the combat system angle and from the character and world angle. Dicey Dungeons is definitely not a traditional RPG, but I think it's probably actually more RPG than roguelike.
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.exe

.exe

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Oct 25, 2017
22,241
Interesting read! Thanks for the share. I can definitely see it as a micro RPG but I don't think I'd have independently come to that idea.

A little sleepy and I thought that "Untitled Card Drafting Game" from 2016 was some kind of proto Dicey Dungeons at first. Looks like some of DD's aesthetic started there.
 
OP
OP
transience

transience

Found the ultimate water hazard
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Oct 27, 2017
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Hupfen said:
Glad to see someone make an OT, since I can't make a thread. :)

I've been helping test the betas/RCs the last few months, the game's evolved a ton just from the last public alpha. I've cleared the finale twice, both times I had to kind of cheese it. Game is tough. The music in particular has changed a lot, Chipzel's outdone herself. She's been tweeting snippets of the final soundtrack if you want to give them a listen.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

hey, question for you. how do you recommend playing the final game - doing all quests with one class at once, or bounce around?
 
1upsuper

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Jan 30, 2018
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Do we know if the Steam version will have cloud saves? I don't actually know if that's a built in feature for Steam. I want to start on my laptop then move to my desktop later on.

I presume with the itch version I can just transfer saves manually.
 
.exe

.exe

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Oct 25, 2017
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Edit: seems like Terry misunderstood



Edit 2: price is £11.39 GBP, $14.99 USD and €12.49 EUR as per his post in the Steam forum.
 
Last edited:
Ryszard

Ryszard

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Apr 7, 2018
395
I bougth it when he launched the alfa at itch.io and with that should come a Steam code once the game is finished. How can I retrieve that code now?

I don't use itch.io a lot, only with this game and Overland.

Thank you!
 
Kalor

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OP
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Some more reviews - 10/10 from destructoid, 7/10 from gamespot. I'll aggregate them all when I'm at a computer, or someone else can if they're interested. I'd recommend not reading the rock paper shotgun one though as it has the game's best spoiler! (unless something new is better that's introduced in 1.0)
 
Ryszard

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Kalor

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The presentation and music were already great in the final alphas but it's even better now. The music in particular. I didn't play much of the alphas since I was holding out for the full version but I'm really excited to dig in now.
 
Kadzork

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Oct 27, 2017
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Unlocked the Thief on my first run - amazing music and I love the visuals.
 
.exe

.exe

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Oct 25, 2017
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Got my first finish with the robot. It was a blast.

This works really well with the Steam Link mobile app by the way. I set it so that touch acts as the cursor meaning that tapping is a click on that place on screen, then disabled the button overlay and voila. Perfect for getting numb legs on the toilet.
 
Zissou

Zissou

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Oct 26, 2017
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Grabbing this when I get home. Terry Cavanagh is one of the few creators where I don't feel the need to do research before buying something they made.
 
.exe

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What I like most about this game and what separates the roguelikes that I like from the ones I don't is that the moment to moment gameplay, the decisions you get to make, are fun throughout the game -- from start all the way to the end. I'm not waiting for that handful of drops so that my build will really start taking off. The core mechanics of the game are really solid. Splitting dice, choosing how to spread out your moves, balancing damage versus defense, etc. It's really fun. In comparison, Slay the Spire does have a bit of a slower early game compared to DD. Every time you start a new run in STS you kind of feel like you need to start all over to build up an interesting deck, whereas in DD it's as if you're going 60mph from the start. Very well designed. In this sense, its draw is very similar to something like Into the Breach which also has exceptionally strong core gameplay.
 

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daxy said:
What I like most about this game and what separates the roguelikes that I like from the ones I don't is that the moment to moment gameplay, the decisions you get to make, are fun throughout the game -- from start all the way to the end. I'm not waiting for that handful of drops so that my build will really start taking off. The core mechanics of the game are really solid. Splitting dice, choosing how to spread out your moves, balancing damage versus defense, etc. It's really fun. In comparison, Slay the Spire does have a bit of a slower early game compared to DD. Every time you start a new run in STS you kind of feel like you need to start all over to build up an interesting deck, whereas in DD it's as if you're going 60mph from the start. Very well designed. In this sense, its draw is very similar to something like Into the Breach which also has exceptionally strong core gameplay.
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Yup, this. The balance so far is *spot on*. Like it's just the right mix of making most battles feel close so long as you're thinking about how to optimize your moves, but it never feels like you're praying to RNG gods despite it being a dice game.

This game is real good.
 
TYRANITARR

TYRANITARR

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Oct 28, 2017
3,967
This game deserves a lot of love. It's so easy to get into it.

My 4 year old daughter, who loves gaming, is having a great time with this ! It's easy enough to explain the game to her: use your highest number on the red moves, when playing the warrior. But the other characters are out of her ballpark.

I love how differently each character plays, and of course the music is Chipezel so it's AWESOME.

I'm excited to play more of this tonight.
 
TYRANITARR

TYRANITARR

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Oct 28, 2017
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Okay it took me a minute to wrap my head around the Witch character, but wow, she's VERY fun to use!

This game is so creative in how it shakes up what you expect "The highest number does the most damage" and characters you have playing/wish for odd numbers, even numbers, low numbers, everything. Each character really feels different!
 
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