I just created a compilation of indie city builders with intriguing twists that piqued my curiosity. And the one that piqued my interest the most was Dice Legacy, which takes place in a medieval ringworld. I’ve seen lots of sci-fi ringworlds, but never one from the past, complete with creaking wooden ships, pleasant pubs, and peasants working in the wheat fields. It’s a novel idea.
Furthermore, Dice Legacy is a survival roguelike city-builder, not merely a city-builder. And it’s all accomplished through the use of dice rolls—but the dice don’t simply dice. Your citizens are the dice. They are viable options. They have the ability to fight. They have the ability to explore and level up. They can become wounded, freeze, and perish. If that’s too much to take in at first, the new gameplay trailer above should help.
Basically, you start with a bunch of dice, each of which represents a citizen (a peasant, to start, though education can change that). Rolling the dice will reveal what each die-peasant is capable of: gathering wood, mining iron, building something, fighting, and exploring. Each job takes time, and the dice must be re-rolled to accomplish another task. However, each roll reduces the durability of each dice, so be careful not to let them expire, maybe by letting them rest in the cookhouse with a meal of ham.
Yes, your dice may eat and even drink, as demonstrated by placing them in the bar with a little mug of ale. If you build a house, you can throw two dice into it and get a third. Is this the first time your dice have had sex?
To clear the fog that covers the strange ringworld, you’ll need to expand your town boundaries, and your dice won’t be alone here—enemies will try to destroy your buildings and take your resources, so you’ll need to make army dice to protect yourself.
Building a school to convert peasants into citizens will also allow you to explore and unlock new technology. And this ringworld has seasons, including severe winters that may turn your dice into ice crystals. There’s a little more Frostpunkiness as well because you can build a tall, wood-burning generator to keep your dice warm in the winter, and you have a council that passes new rules every season.
It’s a pretty cool concept with an odd, appealing medieval background, and I’m looking forward to rolling those dice. Dice Legacy will be available on September 9, 2021.
