DICEY DUNGEONS Review

Channel:

The Cheapness Review

Subscribers:

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Published on September 7, 2023 3:00:43 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZnQ33AKg6U

Game:

Dicey Dungeons (2019)

Category:

Review

Duration: 14:21

55 views

3

Want a deckbuilder where you kill enemies with dice and the power of math? Then check out this Cheapness affordable gaming review of Dicey Dungeons [Episode 64]

This game was made by Terry Cavanagh and the review shows how:
-The game has light, cute, cartoony visuals with a hodgepodge of enemies (Even a vacuum cleaner with eyes) and it looks as though it was made out of craft paper (Very little animation though and the cards are most of what you see a lot of the time)
-Lovely and extremely fast music: Kind of a mix between instrumental club music and chiptune... very funky at times, calming at other times (Great but I won't be surprised if it gives some people headaches)
-Plays like a roguelike deckbuilder with turn-based combat and cards except you always draw the same cards you equipped and the random is brought by the dice you roll: They slot into indents in the cards that state something like you damage the enemy by two times the value of the dice inserted, or an even valued dice can activate this attack or status etc.
-Some cards can modify the dice to keep the usual purpose of the genre intact (Decreasing the randomness and turning the odds in your favour), for instance some cards can increase a dice's value by one or split it into two different die
-You get new cards, gold, upgrade cards, level up to improve
-The map layout and leveling structure is quite fixed and you will know each run's progress like it's second hand but that doesn't make it stale, it lets you focus more on the fun of math during the short runs
-Unfortunately, while I and a lot of other people refer to the game as a roguelike, it probably isn't... the only thing you hold onto between runs is knowledge and the characters you can unlock and play with (You don't make it easier on yourself)
-But fortunately, the campaign is approached in a strange way. Each character plays differently (Quite differently) and each one of them has different cards, special powers and fundamental mechanics even which adds variety. And each one of them has six episodes to play with vast differences in rules between them and the episodes of other characters. Sometimes even status effects will work differently than the base rule set taught you in specific episodes. On occasion later episodes are easier than earlier ones. Other times they offer new cards! This variety in experience was enough that even though I saw most of the game's enemies and maps quite early on I hung in there for a surprisingly long time (Completed all episodes for 4 characters')
-But yes the lack of roguelike elements meant I started feeling antsy and eventually stopped playing
-The story didn't keep me around, but it did help. Very short, digestible, humour in the form of some dialogue or character cards you can unlock through completing challenges (Not much but nice with a gag or two on them). Plus Lady Luck can be surprisingly scary when she gets serious even if it was mostly me not expecting her intensity.

Thank you for watching this review and I truly hope I turned you onto your next game whether through identifying its cheapness, quality or weirdness.

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0:00 Cheapness Intro
0:11 Gag and Summary
0:57 Beating the Odds... to Lose
1:36 Kind of Like a Roguelike Deckbuilder
2:15 Manipulating the Odds
2:28 Types of Attack
2:42 Simple, Clean, Repeating, Procedural Maps
2:52 General Gameplay
3:02 Pattern Becomes Second Nature
3:36 Leveling Up
3:59 Characters Play Differently, Episodes Play Differently
4:50 Adds a Whole Lot of Variety!
5:30 Length and Fatigue
5:47 Kind of Like Gambling
6:10 Strange Approach to Difficult
6:25 Cartoony Craft Paper Visuals
6:41 Enemies Are a Hodgepodge
7:04 Really Fast Chiptune/ Club Music
8:17 Humorous, if Slight, Story
8:35 A Warning!
8:48 Good, Digestible Humour
9:09 Challenges for Story
9:27 You Don't Expect Lady Luck's Intensity
9:43 Didn't Finish Plus it Has Free Dlc
10:16 Excellent Value for Money
10:27 OK Download Size
10:37 Easy to Run
10:44 Kid Friendly (Maybe It's Too Close to Gambling)
11:00 Pros
12:23 Maybes
13:38 Cons
13:51 Ending Gag
14:08 Cheapness Outro

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