Dicey Bugs

This game completely took me by surprise, I downloaded the demo on a whim expecting a cute little bug game. While it certainly is that, it is also a game with an unreasonable amount of interesting team compositions and interactions that I find calling to me in the deep recesses of my mind like a cursed weapon that hungers for the blood of the unworthy. I have been trying out new builds quite often, and even still after actual days of playtime (demo, beta, and full release combined) I'm still thinking up new combinations of little guys. Just to address base game stuff, you run teams of three bugs that you collect with bottles from the wild bugs you fight. When you collect them you can use them right then and there and they can be put in your starting line-up whenever you want, so long as your whole team isn't defeated. In between encounters your bugs heal, but if you are defeated, you lose the bugs in that team and you need to collect them again. You throw three dice with faces representing different action, and your opponent throws 1 to 3 depending on how many are on the field. You may activate whichever of your dice you'd like, but all of the enemy's dice must be used (if the dice face in question would do something). Having full control of the order of the randomness of the die makes me forget the game is random sometimes, which is a huge plus. There are some fairly standard bugs: attack up bugs, healer bugs, *insert status* bugs. Though ordinary, there are several conditions that make these interesting. Bugs can apply their effect on either team's movement, attack, on using all dice and even on ally or self defeat. Using the standard healer, the caterpillar, for reference. It heals 25% of it's health to the ally with the lowest health, if it's not in the lead, and if you have used all your dice this turn. Both conditions must be met, but one of your three die is wholly dedicated to movement. So you may find yourself in a situation where the caterpillar cannot heal- that is if you don't customize your dice. You can change the die faces! Either from the store or going to dedicated locations. This allows for a surprising degree of control for a game that is about throwing dice to determine what your bugs do. There are faces for attacking (either the leader, choosing the target, choosing the attacker, or a clash between both leaders), applying every status, and moving in whichever way (including moving the opponents bugs). I tend to play teams with very strict placement, so I'll try to replace the movement faces as soon as I'm able, allowing the back two members of my team to work their magic. This does also mean that you can get some high output rounds if you manage your dice well, allowing for three attacks in a single turn if your dice are managed well. SHINY BUGS! Shiny bugs are the greatest lure to keep playing, and they keep me coming back to nab 'em. Of course, defeat in a team with a shiny bug holds the same consequence, so there's the constant threat of losing the bug, but you are also better off using shiny bugs, this is because they are stronger than their standard counterpart. Take the caterpillar for instance. It has the same health, same damage, but it doesn't retain the positional requirement to heal. This is a trend among most shinies, and only widens the possibilities of the already huge options. There are those that break the norm, but they often don't have a positional requirement to begin with. Some will apply their buff to more people, others will increase the potency. Some still will actually change the base requirement altogether, switching from being attacked to attacking for example. The creators of the game, given I have had the luxury of speaking with them, have been nothing but pleasant to speak with. They tend to be quite open to allowing stronger stuff, so long as it isn't detrimental to the health of the game's balance. They were glad to have me playtest in the beta and were even kind enough to give me a copy free of charge! Likely because I repeatedly broke the game, whoops. I think I've said everything I need to say without making this too much longer than I should, as I'd like this to be readable. If this review has been even a little bit compelling, download the demo! It's free! tl;dr Many fun bugs with great freedom in dice customization. Download the demo and give it a try, I can't recommend it enough!