Spellsided is a strategy RPG where you play a hyper-customisable dice, and your challenges are 'a puzzle of your own design'

You know what? We neglect the humble six-sided die. Dungeons and Dragons has worked its way into our heads so much that, at this point, when I think of a die I picture a D20. A moment of silence, please, for the neglected cubes my child self used to play Mouse Trap with.

Or maybe not, because the D6 is back, baby. Specifically, it's back in Spellsided, the upcoming "dice-builder" strategy RPG that just showed itself off at the PC Gaming Show. You're a D6, each of your sides holds customisable spells, and it's on you to roll your way about the world in a manner that deploys the right spell(s) at the right moment.

The devs at Mass Transfer call it "a puzzle of your own design." Which sounds like they're saying it's gonna be my fault when I inevitably roll badly and absolutely eat it. You'll roll your way through shifting levels that all require their own builds and approaches, and participate in fortnightly challenge runs against other dice sickos, too.

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I rather like the look of the game, but confess the rolling mechanic is giving me traumatic flashbacks to evenings spent staring at unsolvable Stephen's Sausage Roll puzzles. Still, I think I can push past it. It might actually be kind of… relaxing?

After all, Spellsided isn't just a process of slapping spells on each face of your die and rolling into battle—you can stack them up, upgrade them, and sequence them in different ways too, customising your die to match whatever level it's up against. It's a whole lot to think about, is what I'm saying, and I suspect you could pour a great deal of time into doing so.

The occasion for the trailer is—well, it's the PC Gaming Show, but also Spellsided's demo is out literally right now, if you found yourself charmed by its dicey trailer. You can check it out over on the Spellsided Steam page.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.