Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

If it's a video game it goes here.

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, Arcanis, $iljanus

Post Reply
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Sudy »

I've played several rounds of this now. I'm not yet certain whether it has legs, but it's an interesting spin on a deckbuilder. Cheap, too. The art and UI is somewhere between horrid and charming, depending on your point of view.


I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
User avatar
Anonymous Bosch
Posts: 10512
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:09 pm
Location: Northern California [originally from the UK]

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Sudy wrote: Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:56 pm I've played several rounds of this now. I'm not yet certain whether it has legs, but it's an interesting spin on a deckbuilder. Cheap, too. The art and UI is somewhere between horrid and charming, depending on your point of view.

I've thoroughly enjoyed playing this on my Steam Deck.

It ain't much to look at, but it definitely delivers in terms of interesting gameplay. I find it reminiscent of Slay the Spire, but with dice instead of cards. So, it's certainly worth checking out considering its bargain price, all the more so if you enjoyed playing Slay the Spire.

You can see how it plays below, courtesy of Northernlion:

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." — P. J. O'Rourke
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by LordMortis »

Looks like there is a demo you can play for free, but for $5 it looks like it could scratch an itch so I picked it up. Maybe it'll have more legs than dicey dungeons. It looks like a solo version of a game I've played quite a bit on BGA.
Zenn7
Posts: 4447
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:15 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Zenn7 »

My first thought on a dice deck building game is way back to TSR's Dragon Dice (late 90s). There was computer game version too, but it only ran on Win 98 pcs.

I got several, then my wife got into it a little and we picked up someone's collection of 1000+ dice of all sorts on EBAY. I can field a force of just about any type for just about all the factions in the game. We rarely play though (shame, I enjoy it).
User avatar
Hrothgar
Posts: 1087
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 11:38 pm
Location: Houston, TX
Contact:

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Hrothgar »

Zenn7 wrote: Fri Dec 30, 2022 12:21 am we picked up someone's collection of 1000+ dice of all sorts on EBAY. I can field a force of just about any type for just about all the factions in the game.
Just out of curiosity, was this at fire sale prices or something more?
Zenn7
Posts: 4447
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:15 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Zenn7 »

Hrothgar wrote: Fri Dec 30, 2022 5:31 pm
Zenn7 wrote: Fri Dec 30, 2022 12:21 am we picked up someone's collection of 1000+ dice of all sorts on EBAY. I can field a force of just about any type for just about all the factions in the game.
Just out of curiosity, was this at fire sale prices or something more?
Don't remember the exact price, but definitely he was dumping them. By that point, the game was pretty much dead I think.
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Sudy »

There's definitely a lot to do here! At first I thought the thirteen scenarios wouldn't be enough, but you're supposed to beat them with each of the ten classes. And unlocking each character adds their mechanics and spells to the pool. And then there's hard mode. And then of course there are the sixty relics to unlock. And the day/night cycle. And enemy mutations that add additional difficulty and rewards. Maybe additional stuff I haven't unlocked yet?

What I don't like or am mixed on:

- There are only so many waves, and in the early scenarios there's barely enough time to purchase interesting upgrades. While you can try to turtle to earn more gold, you lose score for each turn that passes (I think), and you run the risk of not being able to clear the wave which is even worse. I presume you have more time to build interesting combos in later scenarios.
- When each wave is complete, it seems like you have to select the score multiplier to have a shot at the highest score/completion level. Especially as the bonuses increase by forming a streak of score multiplier upgrades. Maybe I'm wrong about how necessary this is? But feeling compelled to pick the score multiplayer means you miss out on other interesting upgrades which include other classes' spells.
- It's fun to replay each scenario with the different classes... to a point. I'm not sure that it'll hold my interest long enough to do 130 runs followed by another 130 runs in hard mode. (If that's how hard mode is designed.)
- I've only unlocked seven classes and ten relics so far (so hardly any of the latter), but it seems like there are some relics that are just better than the others, or highly situational. But there's a lot I haven't discovered yet that may switch things up.
- Some of the spells are pretty hard to understand at first. But a little complexity/learning curve isn't a bad thing. Just don't expect the game to hold your hand. The stuff is usually easy enough to figure out after a run or two, though. Though I often forget to use my spells as much as I could.
- I wish it was clearer when an enemy is going to drop a chest. There's just a little icon in the top corner of their card that you have to scan for. Sometimes I forget. And if you kill the final enemy you won't get a chance to unlock any remaining chests. (But otherwise I guess that would remove a lot of the challenge.)
- Sometimes you're just boned. But that's par for the genre, and the scenarios I've played so far don't last nearly as long as a Slay the Spire or Roguebook run, where losing near the end can feel devastating.
- I really, really wish the presentation were a little nicer. I mean it's quaint as an indie game and all, and I'm sure more/better art would have raised the price. But it just doesn't make the gorgeous impression of a title like StS or Roguebook. Having background art for each scenario would add a lot I think. This would probably make a good mobile game where standards aren't quite as high.

But bear in mind this is an early impression, and the value at $5 is amazing regardless of how long this will last you!

I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by LordMortis »

Sudy wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 2:16 am - When each wave is complete, it seems like you have to select the score multiplier to have a shot at the highest score/completion level. Especially as the bonuses increase by forming a streak of score multiplier upgrades. Maybe I'm wrong about how necessary this is? But feeling compelled to pick the score multiplayer means you miss out on other interesting upgrades which include other classes' spells.
On the first non tutorial, I broke the streak twice to take XP and did not get enough score to five start or whatever is required to max. I have no idea how score or what score is required to fill the stars. I don't care for that dynamic of not having score explained to me.
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Sudy »

LordMortis wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:30 am
Sudy wrote: Sat Dec 31, 2022 2:16 am - When each wave is complete, it seems like you have to select the score multiplier to have a shot at the highest score/completion level. Especially as the bonuses increase by forming a streak of score multiplier upgrades. Maybe I'm wrong about how necessary this is? But feeling compelled to pick the score multiplayer means you miss out on other interesting upgrades which include other classes' spells.
On the first non tutorial, I broke the streak twice to take XP and did not get enough score to five start or whatever is required to max. I have no idea how score or what score is required to fill the stars. I don't care for that dynamic of not having score explained to me.
The multipliers and star requirements seem to be explained if you hover over the score counter in the upper right, but I've been too lazy to figure it out. :mrgreen: I usually just try to do the best I can while only picking the multiplier each wave unless I know completing the run may depend on selecting something else.

I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by LordMortis »

So after a bit of playing, it seems you pretty much have to take the streak every time to five star a level. You might be able to forego the first one maybe two if you are crazy fast on the last rounds. I may experiment with that a bit if I ever get better.

It turns out I'm enjoying this fare more than I thought I would. I've unlocked 8 of the ten characters and have only played the first three scenarios so far but each step forward so far has unlocked new aspects of the game. I'm guessing that will proceed until I unlock all 10 characters. Then relics unlock like achievements. I like games that do that. Minigoals with a gameplay point appeal to me. The last one that really pulled that dynamic off was Into The Breach, which I really enjoyed have been meaning to restart one day.

This could have a bit of legs for me considering the $6 price point. Steam says I have 11 hours into the game, thought that is going to be high as a chunk of time with the game open is not actually me playing. I can see me getting 30 hours of actual entertainment before I get too distracted then never get back to the game, as I am wont to do. :oops:
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Sudy »

Yeah, I realized it has oodles of potential for replay. I've rather cooled on it after about ten hours and unlocking all the classes though. I'm sure I'll come back to it occasionally, but I dislike that the games don't usually last long enough to do a lot of cool stuff, unlock all the chests, and uncover crazy combos. I get that's part of being a roguelite, but it always seems like the game ends before it gets really interesting. Similarly, it's frustrating when you wind up in a situation where you never had a realistic chance (but again, rouguelite). I also find figuring out the relic and spell combos to be daunting because there are just so many.

But for $6? If you like this style of game at all, slam dunk.

I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
User avatar
Jaymann
Posts: 19324
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 7:13 pm
Location: California

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Jaymann »

Did anyone else read that as CANADIAN Dice?
Jaymann
]==(:::::::::::::>
Black Lives Matter
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82094
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Isgrimnur »

Cicada Dice
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by LordMortis »

Made it to the 10th character. Hate the illusion die face.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by LordMortis »

Still playing this as my take a break game. Each round only take a small amount of time, so it's ideal for me to keep the pace of having a day without accidentally getting sucked into a game for a few hours and wasting a day to inactivity. I've done all of basic character unlocks so now I'm just going to advance the first character through the rest of the scenarios to get all the basic character unlocks. That puts me up to three relics and the combats/relics are just getting interesting the necromancer, where there there is an interesting puzzle to try and both get gold and to defeat the undead in the proper time limits.
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by LordMortis »

Hitting my sadness with the game. It crashed on my first attempt to play the Frozen scenario last night. It did the same thing this morning. A game this simple shouldn't do that. Piercing damage seems to be a crashing thing for at least just shy of a year

https://itch.io/t/2004927/crashed
User avatar
LordMortis
Posts: 70101
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:26 pm

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by LordMortis »

Same problem crashed a third time. The designer replied right away through Steam. Said he's working on a fix and to avoid the Bow + Eye combo on the frozen scenario until the next patch. So thumbs up for support I guess. Now if I want to continue my playthrough before the next patch then I need to come up with a less intuitive solution for the scenario.
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: Circadian Dice [Deckbuilder]

Post by Sudy »

Nice! Hope it comes soon for you.

I've given up on this for now. Not because of any frustration... just on to Super Auto Pets for my quick game.

I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
Post Reply