I’m hooked on this solo-dev-made dice roller on PC Game Pass: easy to learn and hard to master

Bite-sized indie games built on simple, classic game premises have crashed onto the gaming scene and made an impact in recent years.

Titles like Vampire Survivors and Balatro have challenged the idea that a game needs to be complicated to offer deep gameplay mechanics.

These two breakout indies have also been developed by solo developers who saw a way to build upon classic game genres and grow them into something unique.

And yet, the concept has proven that it is not just lightning in a bottle as solo developer countlessnights — with the help of the publisher 2 Left Thumbs — has now taken the mechanics of dice rolling and turned it into a full-fledged roguelike, complete with a compelling story and addictive gameplay loop in Dice a Million.

The idea is undeniably simple: You have a bag of dice from which you can select tokens to roll. When the dice land on the table after a roll, their value is tabulated for your score. Each round has a debt that must be paid, and any additional score after that is yours to keep or trade for goodies from the post-round shop.

Alright — game explained! We’re done here!

Well, not so fast.

This viral dice game will be your new PC Game Pass addiction - YouTube

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There’s actually a lot more under the surface of Dice a Million than just throwing some dice at the table. While the basics are accurate, there are a few key elements that are at play, as well. One is the hand color. Similar to Balatro’s method of introducing gameplay modifiers by letting players select different deck colors, Dice a Million players can also modify the game's basic ruleset by selecting from colorful hands that throw the dice.

Some hands allow the player to sacrifice the number of dice they can throw in exchange for a discount in the shop, while others offer different starting bonuses, like an increased chance of finding rare rings.

Speaking of rings, those also add an extra gameplay layer to Dice a Million. Similar to Balatro’s jokers, Dice a Million’s rings can offer added boosts to your dice’s tally. Some rings may provide a buff to only even-numbered dice, while others prefer odd. Some can increase the potential for enchantments or allow the player to draw a card when a certain event occurs.

Cards also boost gameplay potential, giving players the chance to draw extra dice, add extra rolls, and even create potential synergies that further boost the player’s score.

Dice a Million has over 120 unique dice that players can purchase, unlock, and otherwise collect to fill out their dice bag for each run. Runs are broken down into Faces, with each face having a progressive path of challenges that increase in difficulty by requiring the player to hit higher score goals.

Faces also give players the chance to roll their dice bag to match certain combinations in hopes of acquiring extra rewards when completing a round. Halfway through each face, players are rewarded with a new ring.

When players reach the end of a face, they are challenged with a unique boss battle. Any score previously accrued that was not spent in the shop is lost, and the player starts the boss challenge on 0. They must then roll their dice and accumulate enough score to beat the boss, but there is another twist here.

The boss die have specific challenges attributed to them, and they are randomized with each run. In some instances, odd or even numbered dice rolls may be nullified. In others, rings may be disabled or certain synergies can result in no score at all.

Building up your dice bag to topple the final die for each face can be a struggle, but if you’re lucky enough to actually reach the end of a run and beat the final boss, you just might find yourself unlocking some of Dice a Million’s creative story. It’s a slow, steady drip of lore that changes the rules in unexpected ways and leaves you saying “just one more roll.”

Dice a Million is currently available on PC Game Pass, though the developer has committed to an Xbox release at a later, currently undisclosed, date.

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Dice a Million: was $12.99 now $11.69 at xbox.com

You're stuck in a dice rolling factory and your only way out is to roll a million. Collect brings, cards, and more than 120 unique dice to increase your chances at victory.

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