SpellRogue

Rolling dice and manipulating them to cast spells is the basic idea behind SpellRogue - a deck-building roguelike with turn-based combat. The game comes from Guidelight Games and Ghost Ship Publishing, both based in Denmark, with the latter having big plans for this year.

SpellRogue is about using magic dice, also known as mana dice, to cast spells (represented as cards in a deck) to defeat the Voidwalkers and their corruption. It is also possible to modify the dice after rolling to change the result and create powerful synergies. The game is a deck-building roguelike with turn-based combat - and should appeal to fans of Slay the Spire, Dicey Dungeon and Monster Train.

Dice are rolled each turn, and since spells require a certain number of dice, or other things like 'odd' or 'even' eyes, players must be clever in deciding which spells can be cast with the current dice roll, and which spells are good counters to the enemy. For example, powerful spells require high dice rolls or multiple identical dice rolls. There are also spells that can be used to manipulate the dice, and the three mage characters can do some of this.

Azar the Cinder Conjurer can disassemble dice and feed fire spells with smaller dice to unleash flames. He can also sacrifice health to manipulate the roll. Hazel, the Earth Mage, can grow or wither Mana Dice and can move nature to help or hurt. Lapis, the Azure Seer, can re-roll dice and attack enemies with water or rain acid. The spells often have additional (stackable) effects and synergies.

In the series of battles (actually three acts), the goal is to defeat the opponents and bosses, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and sabotage - fiery elementals, for example, can set the spells on fire and hurt the player when used. Still, there could be a little more variety in these acts. The cards, however, offer more choice. There are over 200 spells that can be upgraded, as well as numerous artefacts and rituals that allow for powerful combinations.

SpellRogue is for all the dice lovers out there, and anyone who loves a roguelike with a big focus on a variety of intricate builds. If your brain lights up when you string together crazy combos, or when you get lucky with an unstoppable class build, you'll like this one! - Tim Skafte, Co-founder and Artist, Guidelight Games

SpellRogue is being developed by Guidelight Games in Copenhagen, Denmark. The indie studio was founded by Tim Skafte (co-founder and artist) and Thorbjørn Nielsen (co-founder and developer), who started working on the game in 2020. Both believe that the best way to create engaging experiences is to involve the community in an open development process from the very beginning - which is why the game was playtested extensively prior to Early Access.

The game will be published by Ghost Ship Publishing, the publishing division of Ghost Ship Games (known for Deep Rock Galactic), which is part of Coffee Stain Holding and thus part of the Embracer Group, or the unit with the working title "Coffee Stain & Friends", which will soon be listed separately when the company is split. The publishing division was announced in early 2023, with the intention of supporting the local Danish games industry with funding, development and marketing expertise, among other things. The first three games released under the label are SpellRogue, the top-down co-op shooter DarkSwarm from Bitfire Games and Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, the highly successful Survivor-like game from Funday Games. Northplay's Dinolords, a wild and promising mix of RTS à la Age of Empires with dinosaurs, fortress building and action RPG, which already has over 80,000 wishlists, is also part of the publishing portfolio, as is the recently announced Guntouchables from GameSwing, also a co-op shooter.

2025 is going to be a big year for Ghost Ship Games. SpellRogue and the fifth update for Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor will be released in the first quarter. The Early Access launch of Guntouchables will follow in Q2, as will the closed alpha playtest of Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core (co-op FPS roguelite), the current game in development at Ghost Ship Games. Dinolords is scheduled to enter Early Access in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter will see the planned Early Access launch of Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core. A release date for DarkSwarm has not yet been set, nor has the end of Early Access for Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. Keep in mind that Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is published by Ghost Ship Publishing and not Coffee Stain Publishing, who published Deep Rock Galactic (over eight million copies sold). Deep Rock Galactic Season 06 will have to wait until Rogue Core is released in Early Access.

Ghost Ship Games' support of the local gaming industry in Denmark is somewhat reminiscent of the strategy of Germany's Deck13 (Spotlight), which also specifically supports German indie studios such as Umami Tiger's Chained Echoes (Matthias Linda), Highrise City from Fourexo Entertainment, Drova - Forsaken Kin from Just2D, CrossCode from Radical Fish Games or Spindle from Wobble Ghost, to name but a few - with both Ghost Ship Publishing and Deck13 Spotlight also publishing games from small teams around the world.

SpellRogue was released on PC on 12 February 2024. It is scheduled to leave Early Access in the first quarter of 2025, with the addition of a fourth character focused on air spells (lightning and wind), a fourth act, and many other improvements.

Conclusion

Although there are already a number of deck-building roguelikes out there, SpellRogue stands out for its dice manipulation and many possible synergies.