Saturday Morning Gaming: Dice N Goblins First Impressions

Dice N Goblins sent me a review key! I don’t even consider this breaking my Lent fast because I didn’t spend any money but, also, because I was so excited that I just cashed it in without even thinking about it.

So here are some of my first impressions of Dice N Goblins.

The maps are fun throwbacks. My immediate first thought running around on the map was that I was playing The Bard’s Tale again or one of the Gold Box games like Pool of Radiance.

It’s fun to explore and there’s a handy auto-mapper (never had that in Pool of Radiance).

Where the game shines, though, is in combat.

You start off with a simple little wooden stick that does 1d4 damage. That’s it. You quickly find a wooden shield that protects you from 1d4 damage. And you get a little healing potion that heals you up 1d4 damage.

I’ve been playing just enough to have found a sword that does 1d6 instead of a mere 1d4. It also limits your inventory so you can only roll 3 dice at first… are you going to have a weapon, shield, and healing? Are you going to have two weapons and a heal?

I ran around with a sword, dagger, and heal for a while and now I’ve hit the level where I can roll *FOUR* dice instead of just three and, lemme tell ya, it’s a game changer.

There are also various combos you can roll. Look there on the left. If I roll a 1, 2, 3, I get an extra 1d6 healing roll. If I roll a 2 on any of my dice, my poison dagger does poison damage.

Different weapons offer different potential combos:

The monsters you’re fighting can also get combos. So you may think “yeah, I rolled a 4 on my 1d4!” until you see that, whoops, that roll gives your opponent a bonus.

This is a seriously cute game that is surprising me with its potential depth.

If you’re into nostalgic dungeon crawlers and throwing dice, you should seriously check this game out (it’s got a free demo and everything) and I’m not just saying that because I got a free review key.

So… what are you playing?