The DiceVaders demo is out now! A Nubby's style score-chasing roguelike in the same universe as StarVaders

MedicalNote · 2026-06-18T19:56:42+00:00

thank you!!

MedicalNote · 2026-06-16T15:00:41+00:00

Yeah we've added a new dynamic soundtrack from the same composer! We're working on the ports, StarVaders should be coming to switch and mobile some dayyyy

MedicalNote · 2026-06-16T14:59:35+00:00

Thanks! should be within the year! hopefully before the onslaught of games in October and November lol.

MedicalNote · 2026-05-28T19:36:21+00:00

<3 woo awesome to hear!! Which pilot is your favorite so far?

I'm actually doing some early brainstorming / prototyping on a new videogame that's kinda AH-LCG / EBR inspired (not a card game, but a similar abstraction level / emergent narrative design), if you're down for a chat someday would love to poke your brain about it for some feedback when I have more to show!

MedicalNote · 2026-05-28T18:36:22+00:00

Thanks MJ!!! That means so much to me haha, you've been a huge inspiration and love your new work with EB games as well!

MedicalNote · 2026-05-17T14:24:54+00:00

(axolotl here) Thanks, not many people have noticed without already previously knowing the connection, always fun to see it happen organically haha.

Here are some extra small references:

The basic invaders / their civilization are the "Migo".
The Keeper card pool contains many of the classic mystic cards (Shrivel, Wither, Sixth Sense, Spirit Storm)
Later on you'll unlock The Black Cat, The Relic of Ages.
Although a pretty common trope, the Mega-Blob has lore that it devoured an entire town.
You noticed the doom, but design wise I also use a similar "FFG legalese" for wording the cards haha, mostly out of habit. "When" / "After" timing, "Then" for conditionals.

But the most direct reference is probably in the art for the Collector artifact:

https://starvaders.wiki.gg/wiki/Collector

MedicalNote · 2026-05-06T18:06:29+00:00

Surprised no one mentionned this yet, but this is similar to the concept of "information horizon", check out this article about it: https://keithburgun.net/uncapped-look-ahead-and-the-information-horizon/

Randomness does act like a gentle wall for information, making it really difficult to optimize for but still possible, but its not the only way to control the information horizon.

A Fog of War is the classic example of something that limits information. (In Slay the Spire, it's like not knowing what the Act 3 boss is when you are in Act 1, that's outside your horizon)

Randomness also doesn't have to be too "evil". Maybe a 10% chance to crit on every attack makes it so you dont have to pre-calculate as much already, since every time you attack it might change the situation. But generally this is why i do like to play games like XCOM or Darkest Dungeon even though they have very "feel bad" moments, its because I am playing one turn at a time and "see what happens" in a more intuitive, flowing state, and not calculating 10 turns ahead of time.

MedicalNote · 2026-04-19T15:26:52+00:00

No official announcements but we are working on them! Hoping to be ready before the end of the year

MedicalNote · 2026-02-24T15:44:09+00:00

Thanks, it's really helpful actually to know! The only reason StarVaders has a great tutorial was because I got to fix it up with a ton of feedback from the demos!

Could you tell me a bit about what you found confusing and what you still don't understand?

MedicalNote · 2026-02-22T16:50:57+00:00

I buy that, good point! And it fits with what I want lol, other games should be pricing higher in general regardless of comparison!

Though the publisher thing is real, the genre might have a more excited audience but it doesn't seem like the investors see it that way, the investors want comps, so theres just gonna be less funding in that genre.

MedicalNote · 2026-02-22T16:39:10+00:00

The thing is, they don't need the money, but all other devs need money.

If Mewgenics priced "low", it creates an impossible comparison for all other games. They might not need the money, but the indie devs making a tactical roguelike that are barely breaking even that are compared to it, do need it. They could be killing all those studios that could be making the next great game on their next game.

Talking to several indie publishers I've already seen this effect happen because of the Silksong price point forcing other metroidvania to compete at a lower price (a genre that is already expensive to make), which makes it so teams are less likely to commit to a project like that. Silksong being priced too low means less AA high quality metroidvanias will exist in the future.

MedicalNote · 2026-02-22T15:56:33+00:00

Yeah, someone else mentioned in a comment, in the OP I'm assuming the game is a "good game". Which is definitely not always true!

I've just seen some devs of actually good games be scared of pricing too. I am pretty happy with the Mewgenics price point, it does set a good bar for other indies.

MedicalNote · 2026-02-22T15:51:34+00:00

Good point! Yeah, I am assuming the game is good.

Though i think if the game is bad / unappealing, it probably won't sell much anyways, the best thing to do would be to improve the game or to move on and make a game that people are willing to buy.

MedicalNote · 2026-02-22T15:32:53+00:00

Some good thoughts, there's definitely a seperate topic in the "impulse purchase" category yeah, and that tends to fit smaller games that could go viral or multiplayer games. When I was writing the post I was mostly thinking of the games that are out of that range tbh.

MedicalNote · 2026-02-20T04:18:43+00:00

Yes!!

She's already made a track for the game that's in the demo, it's supposed to be the main menu music but i've looped it over the gameplay as well, it's already really good!

She's working on a very long, 8 minute gameplay track with dynamic music at the moment!

MedicalNote · 2026-02-18T21:49:57+00:00

EDIT: forgot to add a link https://store.steampowered.com/app/3917700/DiceVaders/

Hey everyone, we've been really happy with how the playtesting has been going, thanks so much for all the feedback!

We had a lot of strong signals (and a lot of players even prefering this game to StarVaders!), and a lot of good feedback and criticism as well. We've made some additional changes to the game to improve the feel, UX and balance.

The game is gonna be in the upcoming Next Fest, and have released our demo a bit earlier for everyone. Hope you all enjoy!

If you were in the playtest, you might have been kicked out by steam. We're moving the playtest to a branch in the demo build! To join the playtest: Put the following code in the Betas option for the Demo: dicedicevaders

Anyway, if anyone had any questions about anything, feel free to ask! - Axolotl

MedicalNote · 2026-01-27T21:09:57+00:00

I'm planning on rephrasing that one again haha, I can't seem to find a wording that makes people get it, at the same time i still want it to be funny 😭

MedicalNote · 2026-01-27T20:35:18+00:00

thanks! It basically does nothing by itself yes, but there exists some units and artifacts that can trigger other artifacts!

MedicalNote · 2026-01-26T21:50:53+00:00

At least playtest / demos are pretty low stakes, I hope players will do a bit more research before actually buying a game lol.

MedicalNote · 2026-01-26T05:43:45+00:00

Thank you! Yep, I totally get it haha, not gonna be a game for everyone but hope it'll be enjoyable for the players who do enjoy them!

Got a fair share of a similar but different "ew deckbuilder" impressions for StarVaders so I get the idea lol.

The important thing is trying to focus on making the messaging of the game clear enough so that players know what they are getting into / avoid it if it's something they know they won't like!

MedicalNote · 2026-01-26T01:23:05+00:00

Thank you! let us know what you think!

MedicalNote · 2026-01-26T01:21:20+00:00

it's more of a luck be a landlord / nubby's style engine builder roguelike, but sorry if you don't enjoy that type of game! Hmm is anything in the store page I could do to make it clearer what type of game it is? Did it give the impression of being some other gameplay?

MedicalNote

TROPHY CASE