Dungeon Dice Crawler

What happens if you throw a cube into a dungeon and say, "You are now the hero"? That's exactly what we discussed in the Game Development course at THM Gießen, and in two weeks, we built the answer in only two weeks.

Our four-person team developed Dungeon Dice Crawler in the Godot game engine: a puzzle game where you’re literally a cube. I was mainly responsible for the artistic design of all 3D objects and environments. But I also contributed some code and textures. Most of the levels are also made by me, so if the game ever goes public, you welcome, feel free to hate me.

The mechanic: rotation is everything

Three of the six sides of the die have special abilities:

• Key side: if it's facing down, you can pick up keys.
• Shield side: with it, can turn on the spot.
• Hook-hand side: with it, you grab other items.

At first glance, that sounds manageable, but it quickly turns into real head-scratching. You have to rotate the cube so that at the right moment the correct side is on the bottom. Find keys, clear obstacles, activate an elevator or a flight platform, and then keep going.

Speed is worth it

Solving levels is enough, but to play really well means: as few steps as possible. At the end of each level, you earn one of four medals depending on how efficient you were: bonze, silver, gold, or the authors' medal.

The authors' medal is the toughest nut to crack. It corresponds to the number of steps we, as developers, consider achievable, a quiet contest with the people who built the level. If you want to reach it, suddenly you start thinking about every cube rotation twice.

Two biomes, one cut

We implemented two worlds: a gloomy cave and an enchanted garden. A third biome was planned, but it was simply cut for lack of time, classic game-dev fate. Better two polished worlds than three half-finished ones.

The boss that (not yet) is one

There's a boss fight. Well, almost. The actual fight didn't make it into the prototype, but it's still palpable: camera shakes and particle effects suggest something big is lurking there. A teaser meant to make you want more. Hopefully.

What happens next

Whether the prototype will ever be released, and whether Dungeon Dice Crawler will eventually become a complete game, remains to be seen. The idea definitely has potential. And two weeks were clearly not enough to fully explore it.

Development Videos

The clips below were captured during production. The screenshots at the top of this article show the current build.

Destructible Boulders

Boulders were already fully destructible early on. Long before the player model was finalized, or items could be visually carried on the body.

WIP Player Model Demo

After swapping the placeholder cube (see first video) for a work-in-progress version of the final player model.

Picking Up Items

Once we started building the player model, we added the ability to see carried items on the character.

Exiting a Level

For a long time, level exits were simply empty shafts and the player would fly into the air. This demo shows the first elevator we added. The gears even turn as it rises.