Thanks to my laser focus on tabletop games I escaped from Balatro fever when it swept the videogaming world in 2024, but I may not be able to avoid its addictive gameplay loop for much longer. Roguelike games based on traditional games of chance have spread like wildfire, and they’re even making their way into the world of board games. Example number one: the upcoming Rolling Deep, which combines Yahtzee style dice re-rolling, Balatro-inspired upgrades, and retro ‘rubber hose’ cartoon art straight out of Cuphead.
Rolling Deep is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter, with an estimated delivery date in April 2027. I haven’t played a demo of the game, so I can’t tell if it has a chance of being one of next year’s best board games, or if it’s already doomed. But a provisional version of the rulebook is available to download from the game’s Kickstarter page, and reading it has left me eager to get it to the table.
When it comes to solo board games I’ve dabbled a bit with Mage Knight, Super-Skill Pinball 4-Cade, and Mini Rogue, all of them excellent but none of them enough to make me a genre convert. The core rules of Rolling Deep tantalize me, enough that I want to know if the content built around them really supports that promise.
Procedurally, Rolling Deep is a Yahtzee-style game with a dungeon crawler theme; the higher you roll on your dice, the more progress you make delving into the dungeon. Each round you’ll be set a new score total, and have three chances to ‘score’ your dice to reach it; after your initial roll, you can spend re-roll potions from your limited supply to try and fish for a better result.
Make it to the end of the round and you’ll receive a reward, a chance to buy upgrades, and a new, higher target. Every three rounds you face a boss who adds a complication, perhaps by destroying some of your upgrades or preventing you from scoring two identical dice, but rewards you with a potent Discovery; beat five bosses and you’ve beaten the dungeon!
The upgrades you can buy at the end of each round are where the Balatro side of the game comes in. Each of your three dice is customizable, and every face – except for the actual face of each dice-headed character – can be swapped out for higher scores or different effects. Each character has an unique upgrade deck, and as well as face-swaps, you’ll be able to buy single-use scrolls, tokens that give you extra movement when you score a certain dice total, and permanent equipment with bonuses that can trigger under all sorts of circumstances.
I’ve just uninstalled Slay the Spire from my laptop for the fifth time because it was getting in the way of my sleep, so an analogue game with the same metagame of upgrading your abilities and hunting for broken combos feels dangerously alluring to me. But can a board game – with it’s oh-so-finite cardboard components – ever have as much longevity as a videogame?
I’m waiting for this to get a general release, but if you can’t, it costs $59 (£45) to back a copy of Rolling Deep in the Kickstarter; you can get it bundled with another solo Yahtzee-inspired game, Eureka, for $84 (£64); and of course there are deluxe versions if you want fancier components.
What’s your favorite solo game, digitally or in cardboard? Let us know in the Wargamer Discord community.
Source: Wargamer
