I’m surprised I actually didn’t know about Slice & Dice (Free) until I saw it pop up on our forum and Jared’s write up last month for our Game of the Week feature. The dice-based roguelike dungeon crawler from developer Tann was originally in early access on PC and Android for a while now, and it finally released on iOS alongside its big 3.0 update on all platforms. I’ve been playing it quite a bit since then, and I’m going to save you some time here. Stop reading and go download Slice & Dice. It is basically perfect, and delivers on almost everything I want not only from a quality mobile port, but also as a roguelike.
When I first tried Slice & Dice, it felt polished and slowly started getting its hooks into me like Square Enix’s Dungeon Encounters, but I soon started seeing how much depth it had. Even if Slice & Dice shipped with a single mode and no modifiers, I’d be satisfied with the asking price. It is that good. Before getting into the modes and modifiers, Slice & Dice is a dice-based roguelike dungeon crawler where you have dice that decide your actions, limited rerolls, and enemies that have their own dice for actions. You can see enemy action paths and the UI is superb at how well it gives you all the information you need without looking too busy.
After each turn, you try to take out the enemies to move forward, upgrade heroes, equip items, and work towards completing a full run with 20 battles. As you progress through the game run after run, you will unlock more of what Slice & Dice has to offer. You already have access to a plethora of content from the start, but the variety in builds and modes is crazy for a game like this. I don’t want to oversell Slice & Dice, but it really is underpriced right now, as long as the gameplay clicks for you of course. That’s why there being a free to try version is good.
The hero upgrades and items combined with the variety in foes and modifiers makes this feel too big and complex. Thankfully the tutorial is great at introducing the basics and then letting you start learning by experience. The animations and interactions are simple, but they perfectly fit the gameplay and aesthetic. I know Slice & Dice on iOS had the benefit of launching a few years and many updates later, but it really feels like one of the most polished and addictive roguelikes on mobile ever.
Slice & Dice also has a few useful interactions that help speed things up during gameplay. I already thought it was a great way to kill some time with a round or two in a run, but I didn’t expect to get obsessed with it on my phone this much. Slice & Dice being playable in portrait on iPhone is dangerous for productivity. If you’ve ever wanted a roguelike that doesn’t waste your time, Slice & Dice is all you need.
In addition to the classic mode you start with and the difficulties available, you can unlock custom modes, the ability to replay the demo12 fights, an instant random fight with no runs/history, custom modifiers in a custom mode, and loads more. I can see myself playing Slice & Dice for years to come at this rate, and not even being remotely bored.
Slice & Dice supports both portrait and landscape gameplay across iPhone and iPad. On iPad, it has small black bars though. On iPhone and iPad, the UI adjusts when you change your device orientation on the fly. Given how many touch targets and UI elements there are in Slice & Dice, the team clearly put a lot of effort into this release, and I’m glad to see it. While it looks better in landscape, Slice & Dice is the perfect game to play in portrait mode on your iPhone.
Visually, Slice & Dice has a striking aesthetic that is simple yet detailed in its art. The animations are simple, but Slice & Dice looks and feels great across all devices I tried it on outside of the small bars on the iPad version that isn’t fullscreen. The icons and pixel art for characters and enemies is all well done. The soundtrack featuring six different artists is also customizable in the in-game jukebox with loop and music selection modes and the ability to remove a song you dislike.
When I spent an hour with the free portion of Slice & Dice on iPhone, I bought the full game on both iOS and Steam. I wanted to play the PC version on Steam Deck, and I kind of regret the purchase since Slice & Dice has no controller support. It works fine with touch controls on Steam Deck simulating a mouse, but I would’ve liked full controller support. On iOS, Slice & Dice plays perfectly with touch controls. Right now, the iOS version is my favorite for sure, especially on my iPhone.
Right now, my only real complaint with Slice & Dice is the lack of iCloud saves. I couldn’t get my progress syncing across my devices at all. There’s no in-game option or iCloud Drive mentioned so I assume this hasn’t been implemented yet. Hopefully it can be considered for potential future updates. Aside from that, I did get annoyed at some of the enemies that summon more enemies for a single battle. I never enjoy those mechanics in these games.
Just like Balatro on PC and consoles, Slice & Dice includes an option to bypass unlocks. The difference here is that achievements are not affected, and you can still earn them. I like it when games include these options, but the way Slice & Dice handles it is very nice. The warning straight up tells you that the locked items are more complex and not more powerful. You even see an alert that the game will be more complex after doing this, and that you can undo it. After playing and slowly unlocking new modes and difficulty, I can see why this option has an undo available. I find these options useful for those who play on multiple devices since progress does not carry over.
Since Slice & Dice is a free to start game, I absolutely recommend downloading it and seeing how you find it before getting the full unlock. You get access to a good sample of the game for free before you need to decide if it is worth buying, but the asking price is more than justified given how much you get. The full version of Slice & Dice costs $8.99 on Steam and the one time in app purchase unlock on mobile is priced the same.
Slice & Dice isn’t just one of my favorite games of 2024, but one of my favorite roguelikes in many years already. I’m looking forward to playing it daily on iPhone, and think anyone with a remote interest in roguelikes should download the game and try it for free immediately.
