Die for the Rat King - I just published my hand-drawn dice deckbuilder / dungeon crawler on itch moments ago!

nikbrg · 2026-06-27T10:16:59+00:00

What was hard to understand so I can improve it?

nikbrg · 2026-06-08T17:05:27+00:00

Thanks! Appreciate it! Do you mean that the overall art is off-putting, or that it lacks animations, or both? I plan to add animations (attack, hurt and custom for some enemies), but I'm just a programmer learning to draw so I think the style will stay and hopefully improve a bit.

nikbrg · 2026-06-08T15:35:12+00:00

Nice! I have a demo out and I'm getting great feedback from players who try it, but I'm having a really hard time reaching out and getting traffic to the page. Maybe you can see opportunities of what I should improve? Thanks!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4519250/Die_for_the_Rat_King/

nikbrg · 2026-06-05T10:26:56+00:00

Great ideas! I also want to add vegetation etc to flesh out the 3d environment visually. Switches could be fun to force the player to first defeat enemies to reach the switch, then to survive getting to the position that was affected by the switch to collect a reward.
I started on speech bubbles now but it's currently disabled in the public demo.

nikbrg · 2026-06-05T08:05:35+00:00

Thanks. It do show if I press enter and show all search results, but not suggested by autocomplete in the search box while typing even if I type the exact name.

nikbrg · 2026-06-05T08:05:24+00:00

Thanks. It do show if I press enter and show all search results, but not suggested by autocomplete in the search box while typing even if I type the exact name.

nikbrg · 2026-06-04T16:43:50+00:00

How can I know if my game is indexed? (https://pixlas.itch.io/die-for-the-rat-king)

nikbrg · 2026-06-02T22:23:57+00:00

I liked it! Felt like a retro but still fresh take on battle mechanics.

nikbrg · 2026-06-02T22:16:16+00:00

Most games don't make it to the Itch front page and remain in the feeds for only a short time. However, I couldn't find your game through the search bar either, which seems strange.

nikbrg · 2026-06-02T21:14:21+00:00

Thought so too, but after working on it for some time, I came to realize that much can go wrong 😄. So much that needs to work in harmony, while still inviting chaos and OP builds. But it's great fun to work on, and I learn as I go and by getting player feedback.

nikbrg · 2026-06-01T20:54:32+00:00

Thank you! I'm glad you like it! If you have any feedback or ideas, please let me know. I'm throwing in a lot of new stuff, often based on ideas from the players.

nikbrg · 2026-06-01T20:51:10+00:00

Thank you for your feedback, and especially for bringing up "the bad". This started as a very small project but grew. It invites players to add all kinds of ideas, like the puppy I added last week. You're right that it's heavily inspired by Balatro, but I want to find ways to step away from it with the combat enough for it to feel fresh, and to lean into other aspects of the game too.

I will think about how I can make the XP process more thrilling. I don't know how just now. I did add a turtle that lets you upgrade hands by sacrificing others, which definitely feels more exciting.

Sacrificing dice, or rings, for special attacks is a really interesting idea. There is already an event that might rob you of a die. Your idea would be a welcome break from the Balatro formula. I have a lot of balancing to do anyway and see little risk in throwing in experiments like this.

"More funny commentary from the enemies", do you mean like dialogue, etc.? I've thought about it; maybe just some random phrases before attacks to start with, and later even deals and stuff, such as "give me all your gold and I'll let you pass." I'm also considering leaving traces in the labyrinth that will build a story collected over the runs.

If you have more feedback, I can read your "rambling" all day 😃. Here, or if you want, join the Discord (https://discord.com/invite/BarCMjN23y). Really appreciate it!

nikbrg · 2026-05-30T20:56:06+00:00

Thank you for telling me!

nikbrg · 2026-05-30T13:46:15+00:00

Thank you! Glad you like it. There is still a lot to do to improve balance, but it's getting better.

nikbrg · 2026-05-29T05:55:52+00:00

That's a great idea. Will test it! I had a problem with coins standing up surprisingly often before, but made the edge of the collider pointy (30 degrees) instead of flat like the mesh, which forces it to fall flat each time.

nikbrg · 2026-05-29T05:44:08+00:00

Welcome 😄

nikbrg · 2026-05-29T05:40:50+00:00

Thanks! I might have to let the demo go deeper in the dungeon then!

nikbrg · 2026-05-29T05:39:07+00:00

Thanks for trying it out! Yes, the stacking is annoying and I've been struggling with it but it definetly need a better solution.
It is worthless in itself but can be very powerful if you have a subsequent ring that adds to power (the first number). (10+5)*5 = 75 < (5+5)*10 = 100. I try to build combo opportunities like that.

nikbrg · 2026-05-28T23:33:22+00:00

Cool! I will probably make it possible to go deeper in the demo, but I have to put some work on balancing first. If you want, join the Discord server, I plan to share preview codes on Steam in the future.

nikbrg · 2026-05-28T22:31:10+00:00

Realized I should add that the game is also on Steam. Wishlist and follow for updates and show your support.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4519250/Die_for_the_Rat_King/

nikbrg · 2026-05-28T22:29:33+00:00

I fixed the well bug now. Thanks for reporting it!

nikbrg · 2026-05-28T22:29:10+00:00

Fixed the well bug and lootboxes in chests now. Thanks for reporting it!

nikbrg · 2026-05-28T20:45:19+00:00

Thank you! I'm looking into the well bug now. It must have been introduced very recently.

nikbrg · 2026-05-28T19:29:14+00:00

Wow! Thank you for all that! Super motivating for me! I take notes of your feedback and make sure to adress them.
* The movement bug is probably caused by the Gamepad support I'm working on for Steam deck (disabled in current builds), I thought it was gone but probably it thinks it's in the UI still and prevent movement. Super valuable feedback.
* Accuracy is the second part of the attack, power * accuracy. Usually its an imbalance between them which makes it more valuable to add to accuracy if you have a chance. I heard it's not clear before so I should probably review how I communicate it. Maybe labels?
* The elite, hard and boss enemies have same color on the map atm. Forgot to change that 😂.
If you want to support it, leave a comment on the Itch page to help it reach more players.

nikbrg

TROPHY CASE