- Challenge the guardian of the Underworld in thrilling dice duels
- Build a deck of skulls, look for synergies and balance risk and reward
- Pre-registration is now available ahead of the expected 2025 launch
Dice of Kalma is an upcoming deck-building roguelike that sounds straightforward in concept, but when you realize you’re rolling the dice against death itself, your brain immediately starts spinning with all the possibilities.
Developed by Pepperbox Studios, we first saw Dice of Kalma at The Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki, where it stood out among a sea of experimental roguelikes and clever deck builders. Now it’s gearing up for launch with live pre-registration on both iOS and Android.
You play against Kalma, the grim guardian of the Underworld. Each roll is a battle of luck and strategy that determines your fate. Moving on means unlocking more skulls, which work to either turn the tide in your favor or condemn you to another round in the murky.
You can choose the cautious path, take a risk, or drop everything and hope that Death will look the other way. The real fun, however, comes in building the skull deck. Each skull has its own effect, influencing your strategy in subtle ways, perhaps rewarding risky re-rolls, or perhaps saving a bad hand.
Over time, your deck will become a strange reflection of how you choose to face Death. Precise and calculating or wild and desperate. It’s also a satisfying kind of roguelike loop where success feels earned and failure only makes the next round more tempting.
And maybe that’s the trick: the more Kalma beats you, the more you can’t wait for the next round. And if Dice of Kalma plays half as well as it did in Helsinki, you’ll probably find yourself coming back again and again for just one more shot.
Pre-registration for Dice of Kalma is now open on the App Store and Google Play, and is currently expected to launch on December 31st.
While you wait, take a look at our list of the best roguelike games on iOS now!
