The medieval dice game you play in Kingdom Come: Deliverance is now a retro Arthurian roguelite
Dicealot of roguelites these days
Many are the minigames that threaten to be more entertaining than the games that host them, stealing the player’s attention like those flatworms that absorb snails from the inside. Tetra Master. Gwent. Fishing in any number of RPGs. The flushable sinks in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Or how about Space Harrier, which has only ever existed as an arcade cabinet offering inside Yakuza 0.
Sometimes, these minigames escape the host's body and achieve a standalone existence. It’s not entirely true to say this of Dicealot, which is based on Farkle, a dice game you may have played inside Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
For Farkle is actually a real medieval dice game from the 12th century, in which you roll six dice and score by achieving certain combinations. Dicealot takes a few liberties with the premise: it introduces a frame narrative in which Queen Gwynevere is trying to save a bewitched King Arthur, together with additional power and quest dice, acquired from mission to mission, that modify the basic rules. It’s a roguelite, in other words. I know, we haven’t played a lot of those lately. Here’s a trailer.
There’s a demo on Steam if you’d like to give it a whirl. I am keen on the presentation: it’s like an illuminated parchment and a cathode-ray TV had a baby, and the baby grew up and dabbled in art deco.
The developers are Goodviewgames, who are based in Leeds and Bordeaux. I was born in Leeds and still have family in Yorkshire. I assure you that I discovered Goodviewgames have a foothold Leeds after viewing and enjoying the trailer. Let it be known, developers and publishers, that you will not automatically earn my interest if you happen to be based in Leeds. Though if you do want to relocate there and host some studio visits, it’d mean I could see my dad more often. Ball's in your court.