dicey dungeons

content/games/pc/floppy-knights.md

@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ game_release_year: 2022
 howlongtobeat_id: 77703
 howlongtobeat_hrs: 8
 game_name: "Floppy Knights"
+tags:
+  - 'SRPG'
+  - 'card game'
 game_developer: 'Rose City Games'
 game_genre: 'Turn-based Strategy'
 ---

content/games/switch/dicey-dungeons.md

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+---
+title: "Dicey Dungeons: Roguelike Rolling"
+date: 2024-01-06
+score: 3
+game_release_year: 2019
+howlongtobeat_id: 69646
+howlongtobeat_hrs: 26.8
+game_name: 'Dicey Dungeons'
+game_developer: 'Distractionware'
+game_genre: 'card/boardgame'
+tags:
+  - 'cardgame'
+  - 'roguelike'
+---
+
+In case you were wondering what a combination of dice rolling, deck building, and roguelikes would look like, you can stop wondering now. Terry Cavanagh's _Dicey Dungeons_ is the result of an interesting set of card game, dice game, and video game mechanics, topped with a dash of [roguelike fluff](/tags/roguelike) to increase the lifespan of the game. 
+
+The game is surprisingly difficult to accurately describe. You play as a... die with a unique class? You roll... dice? But you build a deck first, and if you win all the battles of all the levels, you unlock more stuff and play again? All character classes are locked though, except for the fighter, which plays the easiest to get to know the game. You then move on to the thief, the robot, the inventor, and so forth. 
+
+Each character plays radically different. The thief is looking to roll low eyes to repeatedly use his "Dagger" card, which only takes dice 1---3. Luckily, he has an "Unlock" card that has you (randomly) split a die of your choice in two, just in case you throw a 5 and actually want a 2 and a 3. Ooh, Unlock threw you a 1 and a 4? Tough luck. At this point, you start to realize that in _Dicey Dungeons_, Lady Luck can be very much against you. 
+
+![](witch.jpg "The Witch fighting the Dryad, with the 'Hall of Heroes' card highlighted.")
+
+The way the deck building mechanics work is simple but effective: during your venture into the depths of the dungeon, you'll encounter treasure and shops which might yield new cards. You only have a set amount of space available to play with, so swapping in and out to change tactics is sometimes a good idea. Sometimes, a smith can help you upgrade a card, or reduce a big one to a small one meaning more space for another small one in your deck.
+
+Each card can be played by placing the required die onto it. Depending on your character level, you can throw a certain amount of dice each turn, which of course can be modified by various effects, like the split card from the thief, or a crystal ball bonus move from the witch that spits out a few extras when in dire need. She can even throw dice to your enemy (take that, _njyah_! _ouch_!) to do 1 damage, which can be handy if you didn't roll the ones you wanted or if the enemy is low in HP but your cards right now aren't of the direct damaging kind. Again, _Dicey Dungeons_ does a marvelous job at playing completely differently depending on the character. The fighter is straight-forward, the thief requires a bit more strategy, and the robot, inventor, and witch had me stumble and scratch my head on multiple occasions.
+
+![](map.jpg "Floor 4 of the dungeon. The boss awaits in floor 6.")
+
+The dungeon floors and enemies are randomly generated, including the surprise boss battle at the very end, should you be bold enough---or, in reality, lucky enough---to make it that far. The starting decks stay the same, but after unlocking characters, you can also make progress by replaying them and finishing different episodes, where each one introduces funny and/or annoying effects, such as every throw is a 1, or enemy equipment can be stolen, or start with severe penalties. This is here to keep you occupied for a long time. 
+
+Except that for me, going at the _Dicey Dungeon_ again and again quickly felt tiring. I know, I know, this is where the subjective I-dislike-roguelikes part comes in. I also think that while I love board and card games, I love them more in a physical off-screen manner. _Dicey Dungeons_ felt like a cross between a _Roll for the Galaxy_ kind of game and a video game. I have the same problem with _Slay The Spire_: they're both great, but feel like nothing more but a fun diversion from the _real_ games. Which is of course a bit unfair to say, especially given the effort of the indie developers. 
+
+The tiring effect is unluckily (ha!) multiplied by the hard-to-avoid presence of dice and their sometimes painful disobedience. There are ample cards present in each character's deck to mitigate this, but that didn't help in shaking the feeling. _Dicey Dungeons_ feels like a great pick-up-and-play game, if you have to kill time for a minute or 10, and I think it's best approached like that. According to How Long To Beat, it will take you over 25 hours to unlock everything, but after 5 of those hours, I was ready to move on. I still dislike the repetitive nature that comes with the roguelike label---amplified by the setup of a digital dice game---but do respect the sheer amount of variety that comes with the characters, the cards, and, should you want to shake things up, the modifiers in the episodes.
+
+![](smith.jpg "The smith can upgrade my Chef's Kiss card to a Chef's Kiss+.")
+
+In case you recognize the art in the screenshots: indeed, it's by Marlowe Dobbe who also did 2022's [Floppy Knights](/games/pc/floppy-knights) that showcases the same bright and lovely vectory artwork. The soundtrack is nothing to sneeze at either, hand-crafted by Chipzel and [available at Bandcamp](https://chipzelmusic.bandcamp.com/album/dicey-dungeons-original-soundtrack). The album (including the _Reunion_ one that has the free DLC songs on it) is superb and has a chill chiptune vibe going on that's ideal to put on while doing focused work. It's easily one of the highlights of the game.
+
+I think I'll go back to _Dicey Dungeons_ once in a while in-between playing other games to try my luck and hopefully make a successful run. So far, it's one of the better roguelikes I played, but I don't think I'm part of the main target audience. I'd rather roll my dice on a table together with friends, which allows for spilling drinks and cursing. Cursing by myself is boring. 
+
+_Damn it_, another 2, I wanted a 6! 
+
+![](characters.jpg "Choose your character: this is the thief, with a difficulty of 2/5.")

content/games/switch/void-bastards.md

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ game_release_year: 2019
 game_developer: 'Blue Manchu'
 ---
 
-_Void Bastards_ is as weird as the title suggests---but in a delightuf way. In it, you board spaceships, shoot stuff, watch "foomp", "whizz" and "mumble" comic effects, loot even more stuff, and get the hell out of there. Chances are also high of dying from radiation, oxygen shortages, or just a hail of missiles. Not to worry in that case: there's always another anonymous captive convict (against their will?) waiting in line to rinse and repeat. That's _Void Bastards_ in a nutshell!
+_Void Bastards_ is as weird as the title suggests---but in a delightful way. In it, you board spaceships, shoot stuff, watch "foomp", "whizz" and "mumble" comic effects, loot even more stuff, and get the hell out of there. Chances are also high of dying from radiation, oxygen shortages, or just a hail of missiles. Not to worry in that case: there's always another anonymous captive convict (against their will?) waiting in line to rinse and repeat. That's _Void Bastards_ in a nutshell!
 
 ![](enemies.jpg "A couple of senior scribes about to get their head popped with my just upgraded stapling machine.")
 
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ For some runs, I found myself carrying plenty of screws for my riveter but barel
 
 ![](pirate.jpg "WHUMP! - this space pirate ain't dead yet.")
 
-I find that the randomness of roguelikes and roguelites eventually kills the fun in games such as these. After a while, ships start to look alike: the layout of these is also generated. You have your helm (where you can download item and enemy locations), a security section, power and waste recycler, the cafeteria, etc, but they all look alike. And even if the thing you're looking for is something different---a mouse ball, a mattress, cooling liquid---the modus operandi doesn't change: enter, pess `A` on every green lit cabinet, drawer, or locker you come across to loot it, shoot stuff that's in your way, and make it back in time before your oxygen supply runs out. 
+I find that the randomness of roguelikes and roguelites eventually kills the fun in games such as these. After a while, ships start to look alike: the layout of these is also generated. You have your helm (where you can download item and enemy locations), a security section, power and waste recycler, the cafeteria, etc, but they all look alike. And even if the thing you're looking for is something different---a mouse ball, a mattress, cooling liquid---the modus operandi doesn't change: enter, press `A` on every green lit cabinet, drawer, or locker you come across to loot it, shoot stuff that's in your way, and make it back in time before your oxygen supply runs out. 
 
 You could mix up strategies if you wanted to. _Void Bastards_ tries to put emphasis on stealth: if you don't run and kill security cameras on time, you'll encounter less enemies, you can lock doors, and even hack certain bots. But at the same time, the clock is ticking, and I happen to like pressing the fire button or releasing that destructive kitty robot, so in the end, my approach converges to entering and exiting with a bang. After a few hours, you've seen everything the random generator has to offer. Granted, the workbench has plenty of unlockables to offer: each gun and trinket can also be upgraded a few times, and these unlocks are permanent.