Dice Roguelike — Game Concept v3

Status: Design complete — archetypes added, balance pass applied Last Updated: 2026-04-06 Supersedes: game-concept-v2.md

A solo roguelike where you roll elemental dice, build Yahtzee hands for damage, and trigger elemental combos that chain devastating effects across multiple monsters. Permanent PoE-style skill tree between runs. Balatro's scoring depth meets elemental synergy.

Elevator Pitch: Yahtzee meets Balatro meets Path of Exile. Roll dice, make hands, trigger elemental combos, build your tree.

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1. Core Game Loop

Per-Run Loop

1. Map — STS-style branching path, 15 floors, choose your route
2. Combat — dice combat encounter (1-3 monsters)
3. Reward — relic / consumable / skip bonus
4. Repeat — until boss defeated or HP = 0

Combat Turn (alternating turns — player then enemies)

1. Roll dice pool (5d6 base, each die has % chance to be elemental)
2. Hold dice / reroll (2 base rerolls) — held elemental dice keep their element
3. Use consumables to manipulate dice (optional)
4. Choose target enemy → score hand → deal damage to target
5. Elemental combo check → if elements match a combo, trigger bonus effect
6. Stun check → if single-hit damage > 30% target's max HP, target is stunned 1 turn
7. Enemy phase → each living, non-stunned enemy executes their intent (damage OR interference)
8. Status effects tick (burn damage, freeze/stun expiry)
9. Next turn

Session Loop (~30-60 min per run)

• 15-floor dungeon, ~10-12 combat encounters per run
• Natural stopping points: after each floor, at shops/rest nodes
• "One more run" hook: skill tree progression + new build ideas

Meta Loop (between runs)

• Earn skill points (win or lose) from two sources:
  • Base formula (floor-scaled): deeper floors worth more. Floors 1-7 = 0, 8-10 = 0.2/floor, 11-14 = 0.4/floor, 15-19 = 0.5/floor, 20+ = 0.6/floor. Bosses +2 each. Combos capped at +3. Early deaths (before floor 7) earn 0 base SP.
  • Achievements: one-time milestone bonuses (2-8 SP each) — front-loads ~55 SP across first 10-15 runs
• Lifetime SP cap: 100 — forces build specialization. 100 SP fills ~55-65 nodes out of ~95 allocatable (with choice locks). Can't fill the whole tree — pick your path.
• Achievement categories: progression milestones, archetype completions, skill milestones (first combo, five-of-a-kind), challenge runs (no relics, full HP, speed)
• Allocate points in permanent skill tree
• Unlock new keystones, improve elemental chances, grow base stats
• Try different builds: Pyromaniac, Permafrost, Purist, etc.
• Natural diminishing returns: achievements dry up, base SP scales with depth but cap stops accumulation
• UI shows lifetime progress: "+X Skill Points (Y/100)" on run end

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2. Combat System

Player Stats

Monster Design

• 1-3 monsters per encounter (basic: 1-2, elite: 1-2, boss: 1 + 0-2 adds)
• Each monster shows intent at start of turn: damage, interference, defend, heal, or buff
• Player chooses which enemy to target with hand damage

Intent Types

Key design: damage-dealers vs disruptors create interesting targeting decisions. Kill the disruptor messing with your dice? Or the heavy hitter draining your HP?

Monster Tiers

Stun Mechanic

• If a single hit deals > 30% of the target's max HP, the target is stunned for 1 turn
• Stunned enemies skip their next action (no damage, no interference)
• Stun is separate from Freeze (elemental status) — both can apply
• Bosses have stun resistance: threshold is 40% instead of 30%

Damage Formula

hand_damage = (base_chips + scoring_die_values) * multiplier
final_damage = hand_damage * streak_modifier * relic_modifiers

• If target has Vulnerable status: final_damage *= 1.25
• If target is Frozen and hit by non-Ice: final_damage *= 1.0 (normal)
• If target is Frozen and hit by Ice combo: final_damage *= 1.5

Enemy Interference (applied during enemy phase)

SNIPE, CHAOS, WEAKEN, GRAVITY, BURN (die removed temporarily), STEAL_REROLL, LOCK_HOLD, STEAL_DIE, CURSE, EVENODD, RIG, LOCK_DIE, STRIP_ELEMENT — all existing effects remain. These are now one possible intent type, not the only thing enemies do.

STRIP_ELEMENT (Dispel): Strips elemental status from N dice. Only activates if player has 5%+ elemental chance per die — otherwise falls back to an attack. Used by Beholder (boss, 3 dice) and Frost Wraith (elite, 2 dice).

Deep Freeze (elite/boss SNIPE): Value crushed to 1. Excluded from combo detection and elemental contributions. Value added as flat damage only. Soft freeze (basic): value locked, still counts in combos and elements.

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3. Elemental Dice System

Core Mechanic

• All dice are d6. On each roll, there is a single % chance that 1 die becomes elemental
• Base chance: 5% per roll (upgradeable via skill tree, up to ~25% at deep investment)
• This is a per-die check (3% base) — each die rolls independently, so multiple elemental dice can appear naturally
• Element is random: Ice (blue), Fire (red), Wind (green), Lightning (purple)
• The die's number = damage (used for hand evaluation as normal)
• The die's element = combo fuel (color-coded glow on the die face)
• Held dice keep their element — you can strategically hold elements to build combos

Early Game Guarantee

• Floors 1-3: At least 1 die is guaranteed elemental per roll
• This teaches the system before chance takes over
• After floor 3: pure % chance (5% base)

Elemental Combo Detection

After hand damage is dealt, check rolled elements for combo matches. Only the highest-tier matching combo triggers (no stacking).

Priority: 4-element > 3-element > 2-element > no combo

2-Element Combos (Dual)

3-Element Combos (Triple)

4-Element Combo (Ultimate)

Singularity damage = hand_damage * 1.20

Status Effects

• Burn stacks (multiple applications = higher tick damage)
• Freeze does not stack (refreshes duration)
• Vulnerable does not stack (refreshes duration)

Elemental Dice Visuals

• Normal die: white/grey face, black pips
• Ice die: blue glow, frost particles on edges
• Fire die: red/orange glow, ember particles
• Wind die: green glow, swirl particles
• Lightning die: purple glow, spark particles
• When a combo triggers: dramatic flash + combo name text + screen shake

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4. Dice Hands (Scoring)

Unchanged from v2. All 19 hand types remain:

Hand scoring is separate from elemental combos. A roll can produce both a strong hand AND a combo — that's the dream scenario.

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5. Permanent Skill Tree

Structure: PoE-Style Web

• Center: Starting node (all players begin here)
• 4 elemental branches: Ice (north), Fire (east), Wind (south), Lightning (west)
• 4 general branches: HP/Defense (NE), Damage/Chips (SE), Utility/Rerolls (SW), Economy/Gold (NW)
• Branches interconnect at edges — you can path from Fire through Damage to Lightning

Node Types

Small Nodes (1 point each) — incremental stat gains:

• +1% elemental dice chance per die
• +2 max HP
• +1 base chips to all hands
• +0.05 base mult
• +1 gold per combat
• +1% Burn damage
• +1% Freeze chance

Notable Nodes (3 points each) — meaningful boosts at branch intersections:

• +5% Fire dice chance
• "Burn lasts +1 turn"
• "+1 reroll per encounter"
• "Start each run with 10 extra gold"
• "+3 chips to all Pair-type hands"
• "Consumables have 15% chance to not be consumed"
• "+10% combo damage"

Keystones (5 points each) — build-defining, with tradeoffs:

Point Economy

• Base SP per run (floor-scaled, deeper = more):
  • Floors 1-7: 0 SP (early death = no base reward)
  • Floors 8-10: 0.2 SP/floor
  • Floors 11-14: 0.4 SP/floor
  • Floors 15-19: 0.5 SP/floor
  • Floors 20+: 0.6 SP/floor
  • +2 SP per boss killed
  • +1 per elemental combo (capped at 3)
• Achievement SP (one-time bonuses, ~55 total):
  • Progression: Clear Act 1 (+5), Act 2 (+5), First Victory (+8)
  • Archetypes: +3 each for completing a run (x7 = +21)
  • Skill: First combo (+2), Five-of-a-Kind (+3), Six-of-a-Kind (+5)
  • Challenge: Win 3 archetypes (+5), No relics (+5), Full HP (+5), 100+ dmg hand (+3), Sub-10min win (+3)
• Example runs:
  • Die floor 5, first run: 0 base + 3 achievement = 3 SP
  • Beat Act 1 boss, first time: ~3 base + 8 achievement = 11 SP
  • Full victory, first time: ~9 base + 21 achievement = 30 SP
  • Veteran full victory: ~9 base + 0 = 9 SP
• Lifetime cap: 100 SP — enforced across base + achievements
• Respec: Free (click nodes to toggle). No point cost.

Approximate Tree Size

• 146 nodes: ~80 small (1 SP), ~40 notable (3 SP), ~17 keystones (5 SP), 8 bridges (3 SP)
• Choice locks: allocating Path A locks Path B per branch. Max allocatable ~95 nodes (~172 SP)
• With 100 SP cap: can fill ~55-65 nodes. Enough for 1 deep specialization + some cross-branch picks
• A focused keystone build costs ~30-40 SP
• New players reach their first keystone after ~3-4 runs (achievements front-load progression)

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5b. Dice Archetypes (6 Playable Characters)

Each archetype starts with different stats, a unique signature relic (not in the shared pool), and an optional starting consumable. The same relic/consumable pool is available to all — build identity comes from starting conditions pushing toward certain strategies.

Archetype Table

Design Rationale

• No shared starting relics — signature relics are archetype-exclusive, can't be found in shops/rewards
• Trade-offs are stat-based: Gambler/Trickster trade HP for manipulation tools. Bruiser trades finesse for survivability. Strategist trades rerolls for an extra die.
• Build direction, not build lock: all archetypes share the same relic pool. The starting conditions make certain relics better for you, but any relic can still appear.

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6. Map System

3-Act Structure

The run spans 3 acts, each with 15 floors (45 floors total). Each act has a unique biome theme, monster pool, and boss. Difficulty escalates per act.

• Total: 24 basic, 12 elite, 6 boss = 42 unique monsters
• Each act's boss is fought at the final floor (F15, F30, F45)
• Between acts: full heal + bonus shop with rare relics
• Act 2/3 monsters are strictly harder — no Act 1 monsters reappear
• Difficulty scales through HP, damage, and more complex action patterns per act

Per-Act Structure

STS-style branching map per act. 5 columns x 15 floors. 4 paths with crossovers. Act boss at floor 15 of each act.

Node Types

Guaranteed Floors

• F0: Combat (tutorial)
• F4: Shop
• F6+: Temples can appear
• F8: Rest
• F9: Shop
• F13: Rest
• F14: Pre-boss (elite or shrine)
• F15: Boss

Constraints

• No elite before F5
• No elite → elite adjacent
• No rest → rest adjacent
• Temples not before F6
• At least 1 shrine per run (guaranteed by F7)
• Hidden rooms placed randomly, max 2 per run

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7. Reward & Economy System

Combat Rewards (after basic/elite fights)

Choose 1 of 3 options:

1. Relic — passive effect for the run
2. Consumable — one-time use manipulation item
3. Skip — gain bonus: 8-15 gold + random small gift (HP potion, common consumable, or +1% elemental chance per die for 3 combats)

Relic Rarity Tiers

• Basic combat: offers 1 Common relic (or consumable or skip)
• Elite combat: offers 1 Uncommon relic (or consumable or skip)
• Boss combat: offers 1 Rare relic (always — no skip option for bosses)
• Shops: mix of all rarities with prices: Common 30g, Uncommon 60g, Rare 100g

Gold Economy

Consumable Buffs (to make them competitive with relics)

Consumables should feel like tactical tools, not inferior relics:

• Set Die: Force any die to any value (1-6). Powerful for completing hands.
• Clone: Duplicate a die (add copy to pool for this turn). Enables bigger hands.
• Flip: Invert a die (1↔6, 2↔5, 3↔4). Cheap, versatile.
• Add Die: +1 temporary die this turn. More combo fuel.
• Reforge: Re-randomize all non-held dice AND give each 25% elemental chance (per-die check).
• Elemental Charge: Force 1 random die to become a specific element (player chooses).
• Shatter: Deal die value as direct damage (bypasses hand scoring). Emergency removal.

New consumables for v3:

• Prism: All elemental dice this turn count as every element (guarantees combo if 2+ elemental).
• Tempering: Upgrade all current elemental dice to the next combo tier (2 elementals → treated as 3).
• Purify: Remove all debuffs from your dice pool (clear burns, freezes, curses).

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8. Relics (Revised)

All existing relics from v2 remain, reorganized by rarity tier. New relics added to support elemental builds:

New Elemental Relics

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9. Status Effects (Complete List)

From Elemental Combos

From Stun Mechanic

From Enemy Interference

"Locked" (enemy effect on player dice) is distinct from "Freeze" (elemental status on enemies).

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10. Monster Encounter Design

Act 1: The Depths (Dungeon / Catacombs)

Basic (8): Skeleton Warrior, Dungeon Rat, Cave Spider, Slime, Zombie, Bat Swarm, Cultist, Mushroom Elite (4): Bone Knight, Mimic, Wraith, Dungeon Troll Boss (2): Necromancer (summons adds), Crypt Guardian (multi-phase)

Act 2: The Inferno (Volcanic / Infernal)

Basic (8): Fire Imp, Lava Hound, Ember Sprite, Ash Walker, Magma Crawler, Flame Cultist, Charred Skeleton, Smoke Phantom Elite (4): Infernal Knight, Lava Golem, Flame Witch, Hellhound Alpha Boss (2): Demon Lord (AoE fire attacks), Forge Master (buffs adds, crafts weapons)

Act 3: The Throne (Royal / Celestial)

Basic (8): Royal Guard, Crystal Golem, Arcane Sentinel, Shadow Assassin, Storm Eagle, Void Rift, Throne Warden, Cursed Noble Elite (4): Dragon Knight, High Sorcerer, Champion of the Throne, Abyssal Watcher Boss (2): Dragon King (all elements, 3 phases), The Void (Singularity-themed, consumes statuses)

Totals: 24 basic, 12 elite, 6 boss = 42 unique monsters

Elemental Resistance System

Removed — all monsters are neutral to all elements. Elemental strategy comes from combo selection and status effects, not type matchups. May revisit in v4+.

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11. Difficulty & Balance Targets

Per-Floor Power Curve (3 Acts)

Win Rate Target

• First run (no tree): ~5% win rate (learn mechanics)
• After 5 runs (~30 tree points): ~20% win rate
• After 15 runs (~80 tree points): ~40% win rate
• Optimized build: ~60-70% win rate

Balance Levers

• Monster HP/damage per floor
• Elemental dice base chance (currently 5%)
• Combo damage percentages
• Skill tree point costs
• Relic drop rates per rarity
• Shop prices
• Healing amounts at rest nodes

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12. Visual & Audio Direction

Elemental Dice Visuals

• Normal: White/grey die, black pips
• Ice: Blue glow, frost particles on edges, cool shimmer
• Fire: Red/orange glow, ember particles, heat distortion
• Wind: Green glow, swirl particles, gentle wobble
• Lightning: Purple glow, spark particles, electric crackle

Combo Trigger VFX

• 2-element: Quick flash + combo name text overlay (0.5s)
• 3-element: Screen shake + larger flash + combo name + effect particles (1s)
• 4-element (Singularity): Full screen flash, dramatic pause, particles everywhere, unique sound (1.5s)

Skill Tree UI

• Dark parchment background
• Nodes as glowing orbs connected by lines
• Allocated nodes glow brightly, available nodes pulse softly
• Keystones are larger, diamond-shaped, with unique icons
• Element branches color-coded to match dice colors

Asset Sources

• Backgrounds: Generated via tools/generate_backgrounds.py (FLUX.1-schnell via HF API + post-processing). 4 themes: dungeon, catacombs, infernal, throne.
• Icons: Kenney 1-bit pack at ~/Downloads/Game Dev Assets/1-bit_Pixel_Icons/Sprites/ — covers relics, consumables, UI elements, map nodes.
• Monster sprites: Existing pixel art in assets/art/enemies/. New monsters need new sprites (commission, generate, or adapt from asset packs).
• Elemental VFX: CPUParticles2D (no GPU particles). Shaders for die glow and status effects.

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13. Implementation Priority

Phase 1: Combat Rework (foundation)

1. Replace 3-lives with HP system (80 base)
2. Implement alternating turns (player → enemies)
3. Add multi-monster encounters with targeting
4. Enemy intent system: damage OR interference
5. Stun mechanic (>30% max HP threshold)
6. Rebalance all monster stats for HP-based combat

Phase 2: Elemental Dice

1. Elemental dice roll chance system
2. Element assignment on roll (color-tinted visuals)
3. Hold preserves element
4. Combo detection (best-only, priority-ordered)
5. Combo effect execution (damage %, AoE, status)
6. Status effect system (Burn, Freeze, Vulnerable)
7. Early game guarantee (floors 1-3)

Phase 3: Map & Economy

1. New node types (Trap, Temple, Hidden Room, Shrine)
2. Relic rarity tiers
3. Skip reward bonus
4. New consumables (Prism, Tempering, Purify)
5. New elemental relics
6. Rebalanced gold economy

Phase 4: Skill Tree

1. Tree data structure and node definitions
2. Point earn system (post-run)
3. Tree UI (web layout, allocation, respec)
4. Small/Notable/Keystone node effects wired into gameplay
5. Keystone tradeoff enforcement

Phase 5: Polish & Balance

1. Elemental dice VFX (shaders, particles)
2. Combo trigger animations
3. Balance pass: 10+ test runs
4. Victory/Game Over screens with run stats
5. Skill tree integration with run stats display

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14. Resolved Design Questions

15. Relic Catalog

All relics in the game. Relics are passive effects that last the entire run.

Scoring Relics

Dice Pool Relics

Rule-Breaking Relics

Turn Economy Relics

Scaling Relics

Utility Relics

Joker Relics (Mult Multipliers)

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16. Future Considerations (v4+)

Designed (GDD complete, ready to implement)

• Shop Combat & Karma — design/gdd/shop-combat-system.md — Rob the merchant, karma persistence, bodyguards, redemption
• Player-Echo Boss ("The Curse") — design/gdd/player-echo-boss.md — Act 3 boss IS a previous player build, rolls dice against you
• 2.5D Map Scene — design/gdd/map-scene-overhaul.md — Adventurer figure, backpack/scroll, scene objects per node type
• Blind Effect — design/gdd/blind-effect.md — Status hiding enemy intent, counterplay relics, visual treatment
• Enemy Intent Display — design/gdd/enemy-intent-display.md — STS-style icons above enemy heads
• Endless Mode — design/gdd/endless-mode.md — Post-victory cycles with scaling difficulty, modifiers, leaderboard

Not yet designed

• Daily challenge mode with fixed seed + leaderboard
• Co-op multiplayer (shared dice pool? separate pools with combo synergy?)
• Dice archetypes (d4, d8, d12 — currently disabled)
• Act 4+ expansion with new biomes and monster pools