Summary
Dicefolk,a highly rated creature collector roguelike, is coming soon to the Nintendo Switch, where it’s looking to find a new audience after quickly racking up great reviews on Steam. Games that market themselves asnew approaches to thePokemonformulaare starting to sprout up more and more as they seemingly try to replicate the success ofPalworldfrom earlier this year.
Dicefolkis the latest entry from Netherlands-based publisher Good Shepherd Entertainment, which is known for interesting titles such as the cel-shadedHellboy: Web of Wyrd, which also released for theSwitchin 2022. The game was developed by small companies LEAP Game Studio, an award-winning indie outfit, and Tiny Ghoul.
Dicefolk’s gameplay involves the familiar mechanic of catching and collecting various creatures, called Chimeras here. The player takes the role of Alea, a young Chimera Summoner navigating the game’s world, which is on the brink of ruin after the evil sorcerer Salem ordered Chimeras to turn against humans. Alea is able to tame and befriend Chimeras through the power of her magic dice, using this ability to try and stop Salem.
Pokemon With D&D-Style Dice Rolling
Dicefolkinnovates on the classic formula through its combat, in which teams of three Chimeras fight, and everything is determined by rolling dice a laDungeons & Dragons. This type of gameplay can get tricky and frustrating, as everyone who has recentlyplayedBaldur’s Gate 3and its dice mechanicsalready knows, but the hook is that great rolls feel really rewarding. This system is likely why many media outlets have already ratedDicefolkhighly.
Meanwhile,Dicefolkisn’t the only new take on a classic Nintendo genre on Steam. TheAnimal CrossingtwistAmber Isle, which trades the Nintendo franchise’s cute forest critters for equally adorable dinosaurs and ancient animals, has been announced for release soon. The game retains much of the foundation ofAnimal Crossing, such as an island to rehabilitate and villagers to interact with.
While the official trailer listsDicefolkas “coming soon,” there’s no definite release date for the Switch port just yet. In the meantime, the game is cheap to get on Steam for PC players who want to try it out. Meanwhile, other creature collectors are still worth trying for those who need to scratch aPokemonitch—Palworldhad just released a new updatethat makes a lot of good quality-of-life changes. With the game regularly on sale, it’s never been a better time for the genre.
Nintendo Switch Lite
The Nintendo Switch Lite was released in 2019 as a low-cost, handheld-only game system. It’s designed specifically for handheld play, offering a lightweight design as part of its portable offerings. The controllers are built into the system for handheld play, unlike the larger Switch models. The console itself retains full functionality as a standard Switch, but it does not support docked mode.
