The Rat King is dead, long live the Fool King. In this medieval roguelite autobattler, you must murder a skeleton monarch with dice. You will do this not by loading bags of D20s into a culverin and shooting the Fool King point blank, though yes, that sounds like an amazing lategame unlock. Instead, you will be rolling the dice to determine how many knights, peasants, wizards and crossbowmen you can summon to each battlefield. I’ve been playing the prototype, and while roguelites are thick as wheat these days, this is a promising contender. Here’s a trailer.
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Let me walk you through it. First, you pick three dice corresponding to a unit type. Then, you roll them to decide how many of each unit you can conjure. You get to re-roll selected dice exactly once before committing. Then, you line them all up facing the enemy army using drop-and-drag controls. Then, you bellow CHARGE at your computer (while pressing the “fight” button) and look on indolently as they sword, fireball and arrow each other to bits. This was exactly how Richard the Lionheart did it during the siege of Castillon-sur-Agen, except he had to imagine the fireballs.
Whether you win or lose, you’ll earn coin from the engagement with which to customise your units. Maybe a passive for your knights that electrifies attackers? Maybe some poison for your crossbows? You can also add pips to your die faces, and buy new dice to increase the number of formations in play. The basic roguelite tuggowar here is whether to enhance the units you have, or increase your army’s headcount so that you aren’t outflanked and surrounded.
The autobattling bits seem rudimentary by the standards of, say, Mechabellum, but it’s early days for the Fool King, with no release date in sight. Possibly the neatest feature is the asynchronous multiplayer. As developers Loot Donkey explain on the Itch.io page (where you’ll find the downloadable prototype), “your ghost data and choices are recorded so that you will be facing real player decisions and may even have to battle your past self in a future run.” My past self? I farking hate that guy. Fetch me my culverin and don’t spare the D20s.
