Thank you to the developers for the curator copy.
This is nonetheless an impartial review.

2026 is shaping up nicely for hidden indie gems, and this one fits right into that category. It mixes tabletop roguelike vibes with dice-based scoring that will remind you of Balatro, wrapped in a darker, slightly unsettling atmosphere that wouldn’t feel out of place next to Inscryption. Early runs feel forgiving, then the systems start stacking and the thinking ramps up. You have a surprising amount of control over your fate: dice types and materials, booster cards, permanent items, and even which events you’ll face (to a point). The whole thing becomes a constant push-and-pull between planning ahead and tempting fate, hoping to reach always higher scores.

PROS
The mechanics are easy to grasp but hard to fully master and the visual presentation is nailing it: the menus are all pirate-themed, there's a stylish opening sequence, and the moody tone fits the ambiance perfectly. There’s a good variety of events and environments, a balanced difficulty curve overall (even if the Abyss has a personal vendetta against me), and a ridiculous amount of possible combinations to experiment with. I really liked how movement on the map becomes its own resource-management puzzle, letting you gamble with random advancement or spend limited tools to choose your path. Add well-designed achievements, a challenge mode unlocked later on, and a solid save system that drops you back into your last event if you quit mid-run, and you obtain a game I still don't know how many hours I'll sink into, but it'll definitely reach the 3-digits numbers.

CONS
But it can still use some polish. Repetition can show up across multiple runs, with some events repeating exactly the same way, which is kind of inevitable for the genre but still noticeable. Story mode also isn’t as relaxed as it first appears, especially if you’re chasing specific achievements at the same time, and challenge mode is blocked behind it. A few quality-of-life tweaks would also help a lot, like selecting or deselecting all dice at once, or skipping dialogue during repeat runs.

TIPS & TRICKS
A few things worth knowing before the dice betray you: sail buttons that move you a fixed number of spaces carry over between maps in the same run, so burning them early can come back to bite you later. Some dice can be saved for future runs, and that small advantage can really snowball. Not every stop on the map is optional, so don’t dump resources right before a forced event. Coins disappear quickly too, since rerolls, ship upgrades, and strong items spike in price rapidly, making short, efficient plays to grab a maximum of coins key to staying alive.

Overall, between smart mechanics, the strong atmosphere, and that constant tempting pull to play just a bit more, this one has officially taken over my casual Balatro runs. Less eye strain, immaculate vibes, and always plenty more to uncover.

For more reviews like this one, please check out Ele's Little Recommendation Corner!

For reviews covering all types of indies, recent and old, don't hesitate to drop by IndieGems!

I really love your game. Would you consider adding a UI scaling option? Playing on steamdeck, some UI details are pretty hard to read. It would be awesome if this could be added.

A very unique and innovative dice game, very challenging, I really like it.