Dicevaders Review
A highly replayable roguelike game takes inspiration from Starvaders and is able to build on the formula.
I spent over eight hours with the demo, and the experience was polished from beginning to end during Steam Next Fest. Dicevaders is a follow-up to the developer's previous card game, Starvaders, but it takes inspiration from games like Balatro, where the goal is to build an army that can reach a minimum score each round. Unlike Starvaders, you play as the invading aliens, defeating pilots and conquering planets along the way.
The current version features 10 commanders with four acts per chapter, and a boss fight at the end of each act. Most players can expect to spend at least 15 to 20 hours completing all six chapters. After my eight hours of playtime, Chapter 6 still offered meaningful challenges and plenty of replay ability for players looking to test new strategies.
Initially, Dicevaders can seem overwhelming due to the number of mechanics and trinkets. However, after a few runs, it becomes much easier to understand which strategies are effective. The in-game strategy guide does a good job of teaching players how to the basics explained in the tutorial.
Your objective is to reach the minimum score requirement for each round, and you have four attempts. Failing a round costs health, and you only have five health points to complete a run. The game also introduces two important resources: Chrono and Budge. Chrono allows rerolls for dice or shop offerings, while Budge lets you shift dice left or right to maximize scoring opportunities.
Success can sometimes depend on shop luck and item rarity. However, winning rounds within one or two attempts increases shop rarity, improving access to rare and legendary trinkets as well as stronger units. If you consistently need all four rounds to win, you may have to rely on additional rerolls to find the trinkets or units needed to scale your score.
Commander balance could use some changes. For example, the Hex Prince feels noticeably stronger than several other commanders in the early game because its starting perk provides extra income that can be invested into future rounds. Fortunately, there are no restrictions on which commander can be used for each chapter, allowing players to progress with whichever commander they enjoy most. Moving to the next chapter requires completing runs with 2 unique commanders. Successful runs gradually unlock new trinkets that become available in future runs for that commander. Trinkets are extremely important in the late game and can provide effects such as additional mini dice, multipliers, and other powerful bonuses.
One issue with the progression system is that abandoning a doomed run provides no progress toward unlocking new trinkets. This can create situations where players feel obligated to continue a run they know will eventually fail. Adding a visible progress bar that shows how many acts or runs remain until the next unlock would help reduce hidden information and make progression feel more rewarding. As runs progress into the later stages, players should not hesitate to replace weaker trinkets with higher-rarity ones, as the increased power can significantly improve their chances of success.
Visually, Dicevaders is great. Each commander and shop item features unique artwork, and the menus are clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate. My only presentation criticism is that scoring animations can feel a bit slow, especially in act 4 when multiple mini dice and activation effects are triggering. A 1.25x speed option would be a welcome quality-of-life addition.
As a roguelike fan, Dicevaders delivers the satisfying dopamine hit that keeps you coming back for "just one more run." While progression could be smoother and some commanders feel noticeably weaker than others, the game excels in its presentation, strategic depth, and replay ability. The artwork is fantastic, the interface is polished, and the relatively short run times of 45 to 60 minutes make it easy to fit a session into a lunch break or other short gaming window. Overall, Dicevaders is an engaging and highly replay-able roguelike that successfully builds on the foundation of Starvaders while carving out its own identity.
Dicevaders
A highly replayable roguelike game takes inspiration from Starvaders and is able to build on the formula.
