Slice and Dice - You'll just keep rollin’

Matt Fuller, 4 June 2022

The fantasy genre and dice have been together since the early days of DnD, and that same couple has been used time and time again in countless other games. So when I saw Slice and Dice for the first time, I was intrigued by the new and interesting way its developer Tann had decided to use these concepts. It turns out it made for a fun and addictive roguelite that I've been playing more than id care to admit, and I mean that in a good way.

When it comes to luck in games, I'm not its biggest fan. I've personally found relying on luck can often feel a bit cheap and unfair to players and potentially ruin the gameplay experience, so I often stick to more skill-based games. 

Then imagine my surprise when Slice and Dice, a game that uses luck as a key design choice, turned out to be a great game that uses luck in an effective and fun way. Developer Tann and artist a3um won me over with this dice-based roguelite, and its mixture of strategy, luck, and good ol' dice rolls ended up being compelling, even if it's still a little rough around the edges.

Slice and Dice has taken its name quite literally, as in the majority of the games mechanics revolve around a roll of the dice. With a party of 5 heroes, each character has a unique dice with actions they can take, such as attacks, guarding, gaining mana, or healing. Maybe a blank space if you are unlucky.

You'll roll to see what action each character takes, and can reroll a few times if your dice ain't playing along. A nice addition is the option to save dice, adding that bit of choice and skill to the gameplay. Do you want to save a passable roll, or try again and hope for a better one?

Once you and your enemies get your dice, it's time to think strategically. Enemies roll first and target your heroes with all types of abilities, then it's down to you how you use your dice, mana, and rerolls to best tackle each turn. Which hero needs more defence? What enemy needs to go down first? Is it worth using the last reroll on this turn? All these decisions make the game feel like an equation and it's up to you how you solve it. It's simple but adds some needed depth to the overall experience.

To add some layers to gameplay, Slice and Dice offers a great amount of content. With each successful battle, you'll get a choice of two random bonuses to improve and upgrade your party. Heroes can upgrade and become more powerful, with 60 classes in the full game. Each class has its own dice that can change your tactics with more damage or unique abilities and spells. There are 171 items, ranging from giving you additional health or mana, to changing dice faces to help tweak heroes with new skills. Then you have the variety of enemies themselves — with 36 in total, these are just as varied in their skills and tactics, making each run feel unique and forcing you to adapt and consider each move carefully. 

That is not to say it's a perfect balance. There is still luck involved, and because of that there are times where it becomes difficult or frankly impossible to strategize around certain scenarios. The random nature of the upgrades makes creating certain or preferred builds difficult, and higher difficulties turn the dial away from strategic thinking and begins to fall back into purely luck based slog I dread. Then there are some issues with balance, with certain attacks and enemies feeling far too strong and appearing to early in a run, and certain combinations and builds that are clearly better than others and either make the game a slog, or suck any challenge or fun from it. Maybe a few more updates, a little polish here and there can fix some of these issues, and take the game that step further to excellence.

When it's all brought together, these additions offer both replayability and variety in its gameplay. With the number of heroes and items you can acquire, each run feels unique, and the random nature of your rewards and the enemies add enough randomness to keep things interesting. Coupled with elements of skill and strategy, how you use your dice and random upgrades feel like a welcome challenge, and what could have been a rather lacklustre experience is elevated thanks to the wealth of content it offers.

Slice and Dice manages to take the luck of the dice and your skill and strategic thinking and meshes them together into a pretty solid experience. Despite some moments that can be unlucky or unfair, the overall package is a great, simple, and fun roguelite that is well worth its asking price. I bought the full version after playing for a few minutes and it's been hard to stop playing since, and I can imagine you'll feel the same way too.