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Black Die's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Audio | #145 | 3.719 | 3.719 |
| Overall | #159 | 3.731 | 3.731 |
| Theme | #187 | 3.825 | 3.825 |
| Visuals | #224 | 4.123 | 4.123 |
| Innovation | #233 | 3.579 | 3.579 |
| Gameplay | #319 | 3.491 | 3.491 |
| Enjoyment | #335 | 3.649 | 3.649 |
Ranked from 57 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does the game fit the theme?
You gamble your soul for gold.
What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
Wood texture, skeleton 3D model, crown icon, fonts.
How many people worked on the game?2
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Comments
Fun entry with some gorgeous art and strong sound design that does exactly what it sets out to do. I really enjoyed it, nice work!
Your words are so kind, thank you!
First off, love the occult vibe. The eerie background and otherworldly whispers sell the premise that I'm dabbling in some unholy powers. Things were rendering a bit dim on my monitor, and so I thought the skeleton outline was supposed to be a glowing demonic sigil of some sort until I popped back to the game page and saw what it was a bit more clearly. It didn't impede gameplay at all, so no biggie.
Gameplay had fantastic "risk it for the biscuit" mechanics. I stumbled around for a few turns before starting to intuit the impact of various roll and purchase choices. At first I had wondered why I would bother going for a dice with only skulls and rerolls. Playing a bit longer answers that question: rolling from your bag does not expend rerolls and you are likely to need to stockpile them in order to hit three crowns. The reroll bank, as a whole, adds a lot here. You really need to question whether you are going to start burning rerolls to try to push your skull count down and make a safety buffer for your next roll or whether you should just call the round a wash and save them for next time. After getting burned in some of the early turns, I pretty much avoided risking a third skull whenever I was given the choice. I did end up purchasing a dice pair at one point and rolling straight into a bust, which was kind of funny. Seemed perfectly in line with the lawful evil vibes of the soul-gambling skele-demon.
Very fun! The mechanics all fit together harmoniously.
Wow, I very much appreciate the kind words and the detailed feedback. You really got most of the nuances there, with rerolls being central element as they have different value based on the expected value of the die they're used on and they allow to play larger bags by mitigating skulls and can also be used to refresh the shop. At the same time, you need a good deal of them if going for a high score and therefore a last turn win!
Really solid work! The atmosphere is awesome and the art looks amazing. I tried to get to a 100 coins but forgot on the last turn and spent it all on rerolls to win XD
Many thanks for playing the game! 100 is an amazing score, anything above 80 makes for a pretty good run. I know the pain of forgetting about crowns, highlighting the last turn is on the todo list.
By the way I love your profile pic.
I spent several tries to understand what was going on in the game, but I didn’t get tired. I figured out the strategy to win—and did it. Nice game!
Congrats on the win and thank you!
The atmosphere is great! I didn't understand the strategy right away, but I completed it on the second try. Of course, I was often lucky with the skulls)
I like the concept of the game. Simple, but interesting. I would like to see what the game would look like if they finished everything they planned!
Thank you for playing!
Great game! It took me a minute to understand, but once you get it, it's very fun to try to see how far you can get. The pixelness + glow + sounds makes it very satisfying to throw the dice! I made it in 7 turns :)
Glad you enjoyed, thank you!
Wow wow and wow This is might be the most interesting concept I played in this Jam! I'm really like the idea and unique gameloop.
In my opinion only one thing this game lacks is more of this game!>
I will mention it took me some time to figure out what was cubes in bag,
I think it will be really nice to point that this is sides of cubes with some other visual tips.
Not sure tho what exactly can show it easily :'(
But I really enjoyed playing your game, definitely subed for some updates!>
Thanks a lot for the kind message! We already have a few changes planned to smooth things out. I think I have a solution solution for explaining the die preview in particular. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
Incredible atmosphere! The audio and art fit together really well. I think some skeleton animation would add even more to the experience. In terms of gameplay, I was getting frustrated with my luck, but I managed to get the crowns at the very end, which was satisfying. I do wish there were more ways to influence the outcome of the die, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Great submission!
Thank you! We wish we could've so much more with the skeleton. Congrats on getting the win!
Quite cool and idea, the art is pretty cool. Though I will say that I did find a bit confusing how to play, eventually I understood. I feel an small tutorial could work, as after I understood how it works, I started to have more fun in it, though still, it needs more stuff I feel, as my strategy was to get 3 dices with a crown, and just throw everything and reroll until I win. With more depth added, this can really be a good strategy game.
Overall pretty cool game, great potential.
Many thanks for playing and for the kind words! I definitely agree with you, the onboarding is rough. We had to make many cuts. An interactive tutorial would definitely be great, but it was expensive time wise. There is a complete guide hidden behind a "read more" button when you open the quick guide. Getting a win is indeed very achievable, I recommend trying to play for a high score should you feel like coming back to it. Our current record stands at 104! It might possibly reveal the depth you felt lacking.
Really liked the game, it was just a little hard to get into, because the mechanics were a bit hard to get by just what was written. Creative way of making a game, tho.
Thank you! Hopefully you managed to understand later.
Feels like the dice effects were a bit boring, in that it was pretty obvious in my assessment that most of the deals on offer weren’t tempting, especially because they cost me my precious reroll money. Still felt clever and fun, really enjoyed it! Would definitely play more with it fleshed out :)
Thank you so much for playing and the valuable feedback! Trying to play for a high score rather than simply scoring a win might reveal some more interesting nuances to the gameplay and change your perspective on deals. On the other hand, I sure agree that we implemented the most basic feature set for this jam version. I'd love to explore more of the design space!
Feels like the dice effects were a bit boring, in that it was pretty obvious in my assessment that most of the deals on offer weren’t tempting, especially because they cost me my precious reroll money. Still felt clever and fun, really enjoyed it! Would definitely play more with it fleshed out :)
I really love how you introduce the theme in this game. Good work!
Thank you!
The complete process tutorial is concise, easy to understand, and full of gameplay. It's really a good game
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!
Great. Very fitting to the theme. Risk it for the biscuit. Keep up the good work!
Thank you!
Really cool game! Super unique with a great twist on familiar mechanics! At first I was a bit confused, but by the end of my first run it all clicked, and that made the next attempts even more satisfying. Took me a couple more tries to finally win, but it felt earned and totally worth it.
I love the vibe, it’s got this awesome blackjack-like tension, mixed with a sleek retro aesthetic. The visuals, sound effects, and atmosphere all come together perfectly. Everything feels polished and intentional, no cheap exploits or random glitches, just tight, well-thought-out design.
Plus, it’s seriously addictive. I kept playing longer than I meant to, just chasing that “one more try” feeling. Super easy to pick up, hard to put down. Great job all around, this is how game jams should be done!
Awesome! Thank you so much for the nice comment. Glad you enjoyed!
Awesome game!! I really like the blackjack-esque vibe of it. Love the visuals and sound effects for the game, they matched really well. It's very addicting to play, I found myself playing for longer than I expected! Very polished and easy to learn, well done!
Thanks a lot! Glad to know some people had an easier time learning than others. Unrelated, but I checked out your portfolio and I think your work is amazing. We'll probably try your game later!
Wow, thank you so much for your kind words!!
Really cool! I was pretty confused at first but by the end of my first playthough I got it, then I took 2 more tries to win. I really like the ambiance and visuals. Also I think all the mechanics are really well thought out, there didnt seem like any big opportunities to cheese or unexpected things happening. Nice work!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed. Also hey, I remember your name and your game from the Godot Wild Jam #81, I spent a good while playing that one.
AY pretty nice, I like the risk factor and this is very polished and smooth. the sounds are fire and so is the art. It seemed boring then I spent 15 mins trying to win haha.
Thank you! We really like going for simplicity. Glad you enjoyed!
LETS GOOOOOOOOO I DID IT!!! turn 7/10 i was so lucky!!
This game is really really really good, the concept the theme implementation of risk it to get the crowns, and if goes wrong you get skulls and lose, its so simple and at the same time so good!!! I hope you are one of the winers, really well done guys!!!
Thank you so much!