Dice A Million Review (Xbox Series X|S & PC)

Dice A Million asks a simple question: Can you roll a million with as little as five meager dice? The obvious answer to that question is, no, you absolutely cannot. But what you can do with a single hand is manipulate the faces, the digits, and the effects that each number represents to make a million. Or at least, to come within spitting distance of whatever ludicrous figure that the dealer decides to make up on the spot.

While an average dice here might have three or four faces, at no point are you made to believe that there are three or four miserable numbers behind each roll. Well, technically you are. However, there is, believe it or not, another layer here that dares to push the limits and make a twenty-sided die look powerless. To that I say, eat your heart out, Dungeons & Dragons. 

In an effort to keep to rogue-like traditions, Dice A Million builds its concept around a familiar blueprint, with ability-bloated dice, stat-boosting synergies, and a perpetual cycle that mostly consists of tailoring your deck and building your score over a drawn-out period of time. In the beginning, you have a mediocre hand—a poxy five dice that allow you to just about make ends meet. But as you progress and earn your stripes, you unlock more dice and, with them, additional bonuses that increase your overall score. And that’s pretty much what Dice A Million is all about: fooling around with the dice and working towards that ever-elusive million point milestone.

It starts out simple, with a target of fifteen and four quick rolls of the dice. As you advance to the next stage, the target increases, and the synergies begin to unveil their respective strengths and weaknesses. For example, one surprise die can multiply your score, and another can double your overall score if another die happens to land in the appropriate spot on the board. Rings, too, also begin to take hold and tamper with the flow of the game, with abilities that can either reverse negative side effects or elevate your existing dice value. With all of this in tow, you have a simple objective: to select the right dice, and to reach the target figure.

To call Dice A Million an easy game wouldn’t be an accurate statement of what it is. Granted, the idea is simple, as are the mechanics and the rules. Yet, for a game that is quite literally about dice, there are faces here that often require you to carefully consider the smallest of details. Rolling a dice is one thing, but finding good dice that can compliment your hand and help you reach your target score, however, is a lot trickier than it sounds. The fact that the game has over a hundred dice synergies, rings and cards, too, makes it surprisingly difficult to master. And don’t even get me started on the Boss Battles.

Of course, when sliced and diced effectively, Dice A Million can feel strangely rewarding to roll with. I won’t pretend that the idea isn’t a simple one, much less a mechanically complex one, given that the whole point is to roll dice and unearth greater synergies. But that’s a rogue-like game for you, in a nutshell: a slow-burning process that often involves taking two steps forward and one step back. It can be dull—tedious, even. But it can also be oddly therapeutic, especially when you begin to bond with the synergies that it has in its back pocket, of which there are hundreds to experiment with.

While there is a bit of a learning curve to Dice A Million, the overall experience is rather enjoyable. Or at least, it can be, once you’ve learned to manipulate the system and juggle the correct dice, that is. Though, there is a lot of trial and error involved here, and not to mention a great deal of curveballs to overcome en route to the next bastion. Boss battles, for example, have their own set or rules and dice, as do they have a lot of irritating tricks for you to consider. But, in the spirit of a traditional rogue-like battler, a mishap here often leads to a greater future with far better odds. It’s sticking it out long enough to see all faces of the die, that’s the tough part.

Visually, Dice A Million is as barebones as rogue-like deck-building games come. Given that most of the game is centered around a colorful board, there isn’t a lot for you to soak up here. A brief conversation over the phone or a snide remark from a cloak-and-dagger curator here or there, sure, but that’s about as far as it goes. And so, if you are on the hunt for an experience that has the flamboyancy and frills of an effect-littered deck builder, then you might want to consider looking elsewhere to get your kicks.

All in all there’s a pretty good game here. It might not be a brilliant game, much less one that is capable of holding a candle to the likes of Balatro, for that matter. However, if you enjoy incremental rogue-like games that reward patience and skill, then there’s a good chance that you’ll find something that’s worth throwing your dice at here.

Verdict

Dice A Million keeps one hand in its back pocket and another at the scruff of the neck of a traditional rogue-like deck-building game, which in turn translates into a perplexing experience that can leave you feeling at a loss for words. On occasion, it works. The synergies are plentiful, as are the rings, cards and milestones. But, to call it an easy hand to judge just wouldn’t be true, as there are a lot of faces here that require more effort to scrutinize than in other games of its kind.

With all of the above said, Dice A Million can make for an entertaining experience. A difficult experience, I’ll admit, but also one that is likely to trigger some well-needed ‘a-ha’ moments, nonetheless. If you can take enough time to master it, then you should find yourself eating out of the palm of its hand for a few hours, give or take.