How to play Dice Delve
You lead a party of five heroes through 20 floors: five areas of four floors each, from the Mossy Hollow down to the Starfall Sanctum, with a boss at the end of every area. Each hero has its own six-sided die, and each face of that die is an action. A turn goes like this:
- Read the enemies' intents. The chip over each enemy shows what it will do at the end of the turn, and a small portrait shows which hero it targets. The red number on each hero adds up the damage heading its way.
- Roll. All five dice roll at once. Tap (or press 1–5) to lock the faces you want to keep, then reroll the rest. You get two rerolls a turn.
- Use the dice. Drag a die onto a target, or tap the die and then the target. Swords and arrows go on enemies; shields and heals go on heroes; mana goes into the pool for spells.
- Cast spells with the mana you've gathered. Mana carries over between turns until the fight ends.
- End the turn. Poison ticks, then every enemy does what its chip said. Damage you didn't block lands.
A hero who drops to 0 HP stays down until the fight is won, then gets back up with part of its HP. Lose all five and the run is over. After each win you choose one reward: a level-up, which moves one hero into one of two stronger classes with a better die, or an item, which changes a die's faces or gives the party a lasting bonus.
Dice faces
- Sword: damage to an enemy in the front row. Cleave also hits the enemies beside it, and Drain heals the hero by the damage dealt.
- Arrow: damage to any enemy, including the back row (casters and archers stand there, out of a sword's reach while a front-row enemy is standing).
- Shield: blocks damage to one hero this turn. Ward blocks for every hero, andProvoke blocks for the hero and pulls every single-target attack onto it.
- Heal heals one hero, Mend heals them all, and Revive brings a fallen hero back mid-fight.
- Mana fills the pool for spells such as Ember Flick, Firebolt, Meteor, Regrowth and Sanctuary.
- Poison hurts an enemy at the start of every enemy turn, one less each time, and ignores block and armor.
- Stun deals damage and cancels the enemy's next move (bosses shrug it off). Luckygives you one more reroll. A blank face does nothing.
The classes
The party starts as five tier-1 heroes, one from each path. A level-up offers the hero's own next class and one from another path, so a Hedgeling can become a Stonewall or switch to, say, a Foxglove. Three more classes unlock through achievements.
| Path | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guard | Hedgeling | Stonewall | Oakheart |
| Blade | Burrfist | Duelist, Bullrush (unlock) | Warlord |
| Arcane | Apprentice | Dewcaster | Moonwright, Stormcaller (unlock) |
| Mender | Sprigling | Grovehand, Alchemist (unlock) | Sage |
| Trickster | Scout | Foxglove | Songthrush |
Enemies worth knowing
About 25 kinds of enemies across five areas each do one thing that changes how you play them. Bone Rattlers pull themselves back together once, Fuse Gremlins blow up the whole party if you let the fuse run out, Rime Sprites freeze a die so it can't be rerolled, Wailing Shades curse a hero's next roll into a blank, Slag Golems and Dusk Lancers have armor that takes a point or two off every hit (spells and poison go straight through), and Echo Shades split in two when they fall. Each area ends with a boss, and some bosses change tactics at half HP.
Seeds, daily runs and saving
Every run has a seed that fixes its enemy lineups and reward offers. The daily run uses one seed for everyone on the same date (UTC), on Normal, and you can type any seed on the title screen to replay it. Daily runs and typed seeds use the starting set of classes and items, so everyone meets the same run whatever they've unlocked. When a run ends, Share result makes a link with your party, your floor and the seed. Whoever opens it plays the same seed with the classes and items you had unlocked, so they're offered the same rewards you were. Your run, stats and unlocks are saved in this browser after every move, so a reload picks up where you left off.
Tips
- Kill what you can before the enemy turn: a dead enemy's attack never happens, which is often worth more than a shield.
- Lock mana and damage early, and keep rerolls for the dice that decide whether a hero survives.
- Poison the enemies with the most HP, and use arrows on the back row: healers and curse casters make fights drag on.
- Don't level up only one hero: the reward always offers the hero that's furthest behind.
Dice Delve is inspired by Slice & Dice, the tactical dice roguelike by Tann. The classes, items, enemies, art and balance here are our own, and we're not affiliated with that game. To settle a board game instead, roll real dice with the dice roller; for a shorter puzzle, try 2048, or let the wheel spinner pick who plays next.