High-Rolling Innovation in the Deck-Building Genre
In recent memory, roguelike deck-builders have had a huge surge in popularity. Slay the Spire, Balatro, or even more obscure games such as Deathless: The Hero Quest have captivated players, each with their own unique selling point. Balatro incorporates Poker mechanics with a twist, whilst Slay the Spire opts for ascending levels of action.
Thanks to this innovation from game to game, the genre has avoided the stagnating standard many others fall into. With a little title named Rune Dice spinning into action, the genre seems to have maintained its high-rolling winning streak.
Rune Dice sees you begin in a tavern; this will be your main hub and act as the game’s main menu. You can navigate between the various heroes willing to take a risky adventure, with John Wickblade and Merlin the Purple the duo of starters to choose between, along with deciding upon which final boss to take on. Aside from the heroes’ names personifying the strange charm Rune Dice consists of, they each harbour unique starting dice.
Following this initial decision, your dice-rolling adventure will begin with yet another case of multiple choice, offering various pathways to choose from. Those familiar with Slay the Spire will have no trouble understanding how Rune Dice approaches traversal, offering various available tiles to choose from, each with differing symbols along with differing routes. One path may offer consistent combat tiles yet little reward spaces, whilst another may consist of mini-boss tiles with huge reward breaks in-between. Each route interlinks allowing for tactical planning in a risk-reward based labyrinth of progression.
The Board Mechanics
Now you’ve decided upon which route to take, you’ll be introduced to Rune Dice’s main gameplay loop, presented through a board filled with die of various numbers and colours. Each number corresponds to the damage said dice will do once you remove it from the board. And just how do you remove them from said board? It’s simple really, you are given the lowest tier of throwing die, and every identical dice that touch will merge into the next number. After merging, they will then launch into the nearest die with the same value; these merged dice will then be added to your attack metre and replaced by a higher tier die. To save from stagnation, the board will also refresh after a certain amount of turns.
One might be inclined to simply launch their throwing die at the corresponding number, but they’d be forgetting this is a physics-based roguelike; the greatest saviour for Rune Dice’s often repetitive gameplay. Instead of merging your throwing die, launching it into other dice to merge the higher numbers can lead to bombastic and explosive results which yield extreme damage.
Building the Deck
For those worrying that this is the extent of Rune Dice’s main loop, thankfully it’s not; keen-eyed readers will notice I intentionally labelled Rune Dice as a roguelike deck-builder earlier and this wasn’t a lie. In addition to the classic numbered dice on offer, there are many special dice with unique effects. Whether it’s poisoning foes, protecting yourself from damage, or causing an explosion on the dice board, these wacky effects are truly game changing.
Further enhancing the uniqueness of each run are relics and runes. Runes are the equivalent to Slay the Spire’s potions or Balatro’s tarot cards, giving temporary perks for a single use, and relics offer permanent perks for the run they’re acquired on. Although special dice, runes, and relics may not seem like much in addition to the base gameplay, a few brilliant changes can make a terrific difference, and in this case, they do.
Traversal Tedium
Unfortunately, Rune Dice does make a few blunders, largely present in the stage design. Despite my mention of the tactical planning players can apply to navigating between tiles, this design never progresses throughout Rune Dice’s runtime. Between each new environment you discover, or the various bosses you opt to fight, Rune Dice’s traversal mechanic ironically remains in the same stagnating position. This leaves each run differing thanks to gameplay, yet like an extension of the same long journey.
Thankfully, Rune Dice does offer players some pixel-art eye candy to soften this blow. Whether it’s the brilliantly designed characters, diverse range of foes, or simply the dice themselves, Rune Dice is always a treat to look at. Your ears may not have quite a quality experience as your eyes, with the soundtrack consisting of rather generic sounding tracks; not great, not terrible, simply inoffensive. The entire experience is presented with obligatory dice themes, adding that extra layer of polish which covers the jagged edges of certain aspects of Rune Dice, and creating a seamlessly flowing experience between menus.
Building and Rolling
Rune Dice is a charming roguelike deck-builder that fans of the genre will have a quality time with. The only question is: for how long? A main gameplay loop that offers original and compelling dice-rolling extravaganza is juxtaposed by the stagnating map design. New experiences are to be had in each run, yet it’s as if they’re an extension of one large adventure that will never end.
Important Links
Rune Dice Is All About Chain Reactions And Smart Planning – https://www.thexboxhub.com/rune-dice-is-all-about-chain-reactions-and-smart-planning/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/rune-dice/9MZ2B5MWCJTB/0010
