Die For The Lich first impressions: Gambling for your life

If you’ve been looking through the lists of the best roguelikes to pick up on Steam, chances are that you’ve stumbled across a lot of dice roguelikes and dice-builders. One of the most unique titles out of the bunch is Die For The Lich.

I dipped into Die For The Lich’s demo to get a feel for the blend of dice-rolling, zombie-stabbing, and map-exploring gameplay. You’ll find The Escapist’s first impressions of the Die For The Lich demo below, looking at everything from the gameplay to the aesthetic.

The Escapist recaps

• Die For The Lich was released in full on November 10, 2025, developed by Monovoid and published by 2 Left Thumbs. A free demo is still available on Steam, offering players a glimpse of what the full game entails.
• Die For The Lich is a roguelike dice-builder with elements of fantasy RPGs. You pick a character to play as, then tear through a branching map that features battles, strange vendors, and gear modification options. 
• Combat is based around dice-rolling; you need to roll below or exactly on the target number to use an item like a sword or a shield. Anything above this will result in a failed roll, meaning you can’t use that item. There are items to help cut your score. 
• Each playable hero has their own starting dice and items, and you’ll pick up new items as you progress through the game, adding plenty of replay value. 

Dungeons and dice trays

In Die For The Lich, you’ll need to pick a hero to storm through a map with, choosing based on their stats, abilities, and starting equipment. In the demo, there are two characters to choose from, with the Undertaker being immediately available. 

The maps in Die For The Lich are branching, presenting players with multiple routes to choose from as they progress. You can choose to skip an elite mob and head into a dice upgrade segment instead, but you might end up locked into a path with two fights straight after that, for example.

The gameplay loop in the Die For The Lich demo was fun and comprehensive, although the notion of rolling to hit a specific number instead of rolling to get the highest possible score did take me by surprise initially. I’ve played a lot of dice-builders, and they tend to opt for score-based gameplay. 

It’s a unique spin on the classic dice roguelike format, which added a new level of challenge to the overall experience.

Exploring the map in the Die For The Lich demo felt rewarding; every time I pressed onwards, there’d be a new type of battle, vendor, or sequence to dig into. There were various vendors and mystical stores to visit, along with regular battles and elites to tangle with. 

Engrossing, dice-rolling goodness

Despite being the demo iteration of the game, I spent a good amount of time with Die For The Lich while working on this article.

Roguelikes are usually a blast to try out in demo form as the genre lends itself to replayability, particularly those in the dice, card, or gambling niches, and Die For The Lich was no exception. Each time I died, I felt motivated to try out a new strategy and have another go.

In terms of difficulty, Die For The Lich felt reasonably balanced, with each battle getting increasingly trickier as the game progressed. It wasn’t brutally unfair, but there were some spots that felt challenging and prompted me to rethink my strategy.

Visually, Die For The Lich was a delight. It felt reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon somewhat, which can only be a positive; that game is inarguably a treasure, with a whimsical yet dark style that made each battle feel unique.

In terms of performance, the game ran smoothly and didn’t encounter any major issues, quirks, or glitches during my time with the demo. 

The Die For The Lich demo was generous, offering plenty of content to explore. The artwork was stylish, and the game ran well, with no notable performance issues or visual quirks. Fans of dice roguelikes and dice-builders looking to try something new should find lots to love with this demo.

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