Lost in Random: The Eternal Die stuck its hooks in me after just a few rooms. Dashing between enemy projectile attacks and then slicing those enemies up, I quickly got into a rhythm with the roguelike’s combat, which reminded me of Hades in all the best ways. It also has enough fresh gameplay ideas to set it apart as a unique and invigorating addition to a crowded genre.
The Eternal Die spins off from Zoink’s 2021 action-adventure game Lost in Random, which I quite enjoyed thanks to its unique aesthetic and gripping storytelling. It featured a world (the titular Random) divided between six realms (one for each side of a cubic die) and ruled by random chance; each character’s fate was determined by the roll of a die.
I enjoyed The Eternal Die just as much, and new players don’t need to fret — you can fight through The Eternal Die on its own without having played the first one. While the IP has shifted hands and is the first game released from new studio Stormteller Games, the charm, the weird world, and the quirky designs from the original game carry over to The Eternal Die, even as the series shifts genres into a roguelike.
Image: Stormteller Games/Thunderful Publishing
You play as Queen Aleksandra, the ruler of Random. She used The Black Die, an ancient power, to rule the kingdom, but its corruptive powers broke out, dividing the lands. In the process, Aleksandra lost her sister. Now on a path of vengeance, the Queen is trapped by and must fight her way out of The Black Die via pulse-pounding, isometric roguelike runs. Inside, she also contends with characters who’ve suffered from her reign, giving the narrative an air of atonement alongside Aleksandra’s quest for revenge.
Aleks starts with a sword and can acquire a hammer, a bow, and a lance as well. The weapons are somewhat basic at first and play how you’d expect — the hammer is slow but does a good amount of damage, while the lance is the opposite. You’ll be able to upgrade and augment them between runs to fit your preferred playstyle. An early favorite of mine was Aleksandra’s bow as I found success changing its charged attack to an exploding shot that could deal heavy damage to any enemy who happened to be in the wrong place.
Image: Stormteller Games/Thunderful Publishing
While mixing regular and charged attacks is fun on its own, The Eternal Die’s combat is really supported by all the different ways you can use Fortune — a sentient die who aids you in battle and loves terrible jokes — and card attacks in combat. You throw Fortune at enemies to dole out significant damage, giving you the ability to attack from a distance when you find yourself in a bind. Fortune won’t run to your side in a fight, however; his attacks are balanced by the fact you have to retrieve him, meaning you can’t spam your way to victory.
After clearing rooms, you’ll receive various rewards, one being a relic coffer that presents options for passives and augments for Aleks and Fortune. Some of them can make your little die buddy not just more powerful, but more versatile too. Sometimes I’d get a relic that let Fortune rain down volcanic stones on enemies when he was thrown. Others would trigger an effect depending on what number Fortune rolls, like increasing the damage of Aleks’ next charged attack. With the right combination, Aleks will be more than ready for the tough enemies found deep into runs.
Image: Stormteller Games/Thunderful Publishing
Card attacks also add nice variety to combat. There are 15 in the game, and each of the four levels in a run will typically have an encounter room with a new card attack for you to swap for or leave behind. They range from poison daggers to a swirling vortex of ice to a wave of sand that freezes enemies in time. Like Fortune’s throw attack, card attacks can be enhanced by relics as well.
My favorite room to find, one I would explicitly seek out even after finding the exit to the boss’s arena, was a Candyland-like game room. You’ll step right up and roll Fortune to move a game piece around a board. Smaller rolls are better, allowing you to reap more rewards like coins and relic coffers. I attribute a good part of my first successful run to rolling well in one of Rollins’ games; I was able to not just increase Aleksandra’s max health a couple of times, but also top it off in addition to securing some shiny gold coins to purchase items at the shop found on each level.
Image: Stormteller Games/Thunderful Publishing
Luck is a part of every roguelike, with Lost in Random: The Eternal Die, “random” is right there in the name. Sometimes, runs will be aided by the luck of the draw, gracing you with a build playing to your strengths. But during other runs, you may get nothing you deem worthwhile. It’s part of the challenge (and part of the fun) of a roguelike, and winning a run even with a less-than-stellar build is all the more satisfying.
That first successful run felt like a confluence of everything that makes a great roguelite so much fun to play — mastering a weapon, lucking out with some great bonuses, and having as big of a health pool as possible. Typically I close the book on a game after seeing its ending, even if there are additional endings to seek out. However, that’s not the case with Lost in Random: The Eternal Die. Its gameplay is too much fun to simply abandon, and I’m looking forward to what I’ll find over the course of more random runs.
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die is out June 17 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on PS5 using a prerelease download code provided by Thunderful Publishing.
