Dev Diary #1: Dice Drama

Cosmo D here. One thing I’ve come to realize in my years of board and tabletop gaming is a simple truth:

I’m a big fan of dice drama.

I really like the physical tumble. That chaotic ritual of tossing a big handful of dice into the air and just seeing where they land. It’s a timeless ritual. Too many dice, visually speaking, are awesome. It’s maximalist, a visual overload of symbols tripping over one another. And it's ok if that's a little hard to parse in the moment - it's all part of that drama. As a designer, I'm drawn to the spatial constraint, too. Just six dice faces to work with, small squares. Not a lot of room for baroque iconography.

In both Betrayal at Club Low and Moves of the Diamond Hand, I’ve really dug into all of this. The dice are 100% simulated in the physics engine. Sure, that’s created some issues with jankiness—especially in Club Low —but I’ve worked to address those issues over time. The payoff, though, has been worth it. You’re watching the dice make your fate - it’s theater. Your listening, too. I still remember recording those dice hits on my felt dice tray back in 2020.

But the tactile chaos isn’t all I’m interested in.

The part I find just as compelling is the strategy: taking what you’ve rolled and trying to make the best of what you’ve got. In my system, you roll three times using modified Yahtzee rules. You keep what you like. It’s a classic foundation, but I’m always tweaking it to fit the situation. And that situation is constantly changing. Which means players need to think on their feet, they gotta improvise. But if you’re clever, gutsy or just feeling bold, rolling and re-rolling those dice should offer a path to triumph, relief, or a bit of both.

The above example, recorded from a Steam Deck work-in-progress build, shows how you can use certain dice to turn a bad situation into a good one. Note the explosion symbol - it lets you destroy your opponent's dice.

The above video features all-around dice shenanigans, using dice to manipulate the situation to the players' advantage. You'll notice a message that says "The Sandwich is Too Tasty, you must re-roll it." That's for special "Sandwich Dice" (this area takes place in the basement of a deli). Sandwich dice are powerful, but they have to be re-rolled - another strategic layer to consider.

When I design dice, I always aim for even-handedness.

Even the harmful dice usually have an upside. There’s always some slim chance you’ll roll the “least bad” option—or even something unexpectedly helpful. The tension comes from that mix. And then I throw in temptation. Do you roll again and go for something better? Or hold onto what you've got and play it safe?

The above video shows how the player narrowly escapes game-over using various dice powers.

When I’m deciding which faces should go on a die, I try to design around a basic three-tiered system.

• One or two sides that are just okay

• One or two where something good could happen

• One or two where something bad might go down

Then, I think about what that dice actually represents - what story can it tell within these three tiers, these six faces? For example, "Too Confident" is a condition you can get when you tie a roll. In my games, ties are successes, but the tied success come with a cost.

Certain sides are helpful, certain sides are harmful, certain sides are middle-of-the-road (including "blank" sides). This die is communicating that “you can roll well, but you might roll bad because you got too confident with your approach. A humbling moment is just around the corner if you’re not careful.”That way, no face is irrelevant. Even the risky dice make you think. Maybe you rolled something decent, but you’re eyeing that better outcome—and risking a worse one in the process. That’s the internal Dice Drama: the drama of decision-making. Coupled with the thematic storytelling, the whole system is really meant to draw players in and make every roll feel tense, strategic and tactical.

Then, when the dice start interacting with each other—when their quirks combine and escalate—that’s when the higher-level Dice Drama kicks in. I’ll talk more about that in the next post, but for now, I'll leave you with a clip of the player using dice to narrowly escape a game-over. Notice certain dice that let you choose faces of another die.

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