Dicefolk (Nintendo Switch) – The test

By dint of being used wrongly and indiscriminately, the roguelikes that are coming onto the market are as appealing as they are scary. Are we going to have a great experience? A game with limited content and bland gameplay? A mix of both? Dicefolk is a roguelike deckbuilder with dice which arrived on PC in February 2024. Developed by the Peruvians of Tiny Ghoul and Leap Game Studios, it arrives on theeShop Nintendo Switch for fifteen euros. Good deal or rather average experience?

A Pokemon-like deckbuilder

Dicefolk is a roguelike deckbuilder with dice. The concept is difficult to explain but easy to learn. Overall, you play as a sort of “monster trainer”.

Your objective is rather simple: you must succeed in going up the floors to the final boss by killing all the monsters that are in your path.

You have three monsters (called chimeras), like a kind of Pokemon, which fight alongside you. Each has a strength, an intelligence, a number of equippable relics, a life, but also a specific talent.

Strength allows you to hit opponents, Intelligence allows you to cast spells (from what we understand), and Talents are diverse and varied.

Some chimeras will have the ability to revive after death, others will be able to put negative effects on opponents while others will be able to boost their teammates.

In Dicefolk, to fight, you must first manage your monsters. Of your three monsters, two will be in the back row and the last will be the leader. The leader is the one who will fight while the other two can be brought into combat depending on your throws.

You will have three dice at the start (you can buy more) with different faces. We can attack the enemy, defend ourselves, or even rotate in order to change leader.

There are several different dice faces per category. For attacks, there is for example the “normal” attack, which allows you to hit the leader, the ranged attack, which allows you to hit any monster, the shock wave, which allows you to hit the leader. enemy without making an attack, etc.

There is also rotation to the left, to the right, random rotation or even free rotation to choose the monster that must go into battle.

Each monster can be equipped with relics, which are objects giving more or less interesting advantages for our monsters. Some relics will heal your monster, others will allow your monster to attack again, and others will even be able to resurrect them during combat!

Our chimeras (like enemies) can inflict negative effects on us such as bleeding which removes life from us with each rotation or confusion which removes life from us with each attack.

Simple but terribly addictive gameplay

To complete this already provided inventory, we also have tokens, single-use objects, which are dice faces to be used during critical situations.

And to win in Dicefolk, we will have to succeed in beating the three bosses (plus one after a few victories) which constitute our part. Each boss is in a different biome that is composed roughly the same way.

There are several possible paths, which are blocked by monsters. These paths lead us to various bonuses that will improve our team.

For example, there is the shop where we can spend the money we have earned in combat, but also sanctuaries to recruit monsters, campfires to heal / improve our statistics / gain an equipment slot (of your choice), or even wandering heroes who will exchange your relics with theirs.

Chimeras can also be iridescent, a kind of shiny that has enhanced abilities.

To conclude this long summary (long, but nevertheless succinct!), we can choose between several starting talismans that have access to different chimeras. For example, we have the talisman based on the brute force of chimeras or the one based on the permanent rotation of our creatures.

The gameplay of Dicefolk is both inspired by roguelikes already seen and reviewed, but yet, with its little Pokemon side, it manages to stand out from other current productions.

We had a rather strange feeling while testing this game. We found this game repetitive, very simple (even in the hardest levels), but at the same time, we wanted to go back again and again, just for one game, just for one more victory.

The concept is catchy, very addictive, and even if the games can last for hours and the progression in terms of rewards is slow, we have this almost irresistible desire, like Balatro did a few months ago, to go back to it to unlock everything.

The monsters are not very well balanced, and all it takes is a monster that can resurrect itself with a few healing relics to win easily. Nevertheless, Dicefolk manages to deliver what gamers want: fun and enjoyment.

The game is simple, the games are similar… but we come back to it every time

The difficulty is not very high and could frustrate roguelike regulars. Don't expect the cruelty of a Slay the Spire or of a Dicey Dungeon. Same for the content, don't expect a game as advanced and complex Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles Or Wildfrost.

We are rather in a kind of Fight in Tight Spaces (without the difficulty), this type of game accessible to all players who want an experience that pushes them to think… without being insurmountable.

Moreover, even when the difficulty increases, the title always offers rewards that make the game accessible. Do enemies have stronger dice? No problem, you'll get more money in return at the start. Are the enemies stronger? No problem, you'll start with iridescent monsters.

These rewards are interesting and make the games always enjoyable, if not difficult. They are even so enjoyable that it is impossible to return to the difficulty below afterwards. Why abandon iridescents? And the free dice reroll?

Careful artistic direction

There is a rough outline of a storyline, but it is not really developed. It is a shame to have the same cutscene that repeats itself with each victory despite the increasing difficulty.

More generally, Dicefolk is a very good roguelike deckbuilder that could have really reached the top with a bit more content (and enemies!). The chimeras are good, the concept is catchy and the gameplay is really fun.

The lifespan is also enormous: just for our test, we spent several dozen hours on the game. For fifteen euros, it's really a game with interesting basic content and a truly colossal lifespan.

The colorful graphics are successful, the chimeras are varied and the universe is pleasant to look at. The soundtrack is remarkable with very worked music that corresponds well to the universe. Despite the repetitiveness (in the long term) of the tracks, they are always pleasant to hear.

Dicefolk is as enjoyable in docked mode as in portable mode, it is also a perfect game for portable mode with its simple and not too nervous gameplay which allows you to play even while traveling.

We are attaching a one-hour gameplay video made by us so that you can form your own opinion.