Dice of Kalma beginner's guide: Our top six tips & tricks for cheating Death
Starting off with Dice of Kalma? Check out our beginner's guide for the top tricks to cheat death in this Balatro-like er...dice-builder?
- Dice of Kalma is the latest Balatro-like roguelike to hit mobile
- Take on Death itself in a deadly game of chance and dice rolls
- Use our top six starter tips to get in with a chance of cheating the reaper
The 'Balatro-like' has become something of a phenomenon on mobile as of late. Alongside roguelike deckbuilders, there's a good mix of the great, the good and the mediocre. And with that popularity, it takes a lot to stand out, but one which really caught our eye was the intriguing Dice of Kalma.
Playing against death is a common trope in stories going back millennia. And Dice of Kalma challenges you to do just that as you duke it out against the guardian of the underworld, Kalma, in order to reclaim your life. Pretty high stakes, all things considered.
Dice of Kalma beginner's guide
But what do you need to know before jumping in, and what kind of tips and tricks will help you beat death itself? Well, read on in our Dice of Kalma beginner's guide to find out how to dice with death (and, hopefully, come out on top)!
1
#1 - Think Balatro
Dice of Kalma wears the inspiration of Localthunk's roguelike deckbuilder on its sleeve. So if you have at least some experience of Balatro, you'll know what to expect, with the dice you roll arranged into 'hands' similar to poker (three of a kind, straight, etc.) Your Skulls (this version of Jokers) will offer similar effects, mainly based on what dice you roll, and you have the opportunity to reroll selected dice in order to gain a better hand.
2
#2 - DON'T think Balatro
Of course, with that comes the fact that Dice of Kalma also stands out from Balatro in other ways. For one, you won't have face cards or ways to replace or add to the pool of core dice. Instead, Skulls mainly focus on enhancing multipliers for certain types of dice, or in particular circumstances. For example, the Gambler increases your multiplier if you don't reroll. This can take some getting used to, so I recommend playing the tutorial to get a feel for all the differences.
3
#3 - Pick your Skulls
Given that the UI for Dice of Kalma is a little more obtuse, it's not unusual to lose track of what Skull modifiers you've acquired. And believe me, you'll be kicking yourself when you accidentally reroll that random two, which could have netted you an increased modifier thanks to the Opera Skull, so mentally keep a note of them and their effects. You can always check them by tapping the Skull icon on the UI.
4
#4 - Don't Fear the Reaper
One benefit of Dice of Kalma's more minimalist UI is that info is delivered in a bit more of a straightforward manner. For example, the Reaper that you're duking it out with will helpfully point out your hand each time it's rolled. It's a small thing, but worth checking each time as it saves you a moment to figure it out and lets you know whether or not to reroll. And speaking of rerolling…
5
#5 - It's all about chance (so upgrade your hand)
One of the big difficulties I had with Balatro, despite how fun it was, is that math is a necessary part of winning (just ask our editor-in-chief, Dann). Dice of Kalma, in contrast, is heavily tilted in favour of chance. So when you roll up a hand, you'll want to keep that in mind, and when you receive your hand upgrade at the end of each level, you'll want to aim for the most common hands, as getting a full house is much, much less likely. Two pairs, or a pair, are always good to upgrade. In short, upgrade the hands you're more likely to have, as you'll be relying on pure chance to get them (unless you're lucky with your rerolls).
6
#6 - All dice count in scoring
Finally, one key difference you'll miss if you're a Balatro fan is that rather than only counting the numbers for a played hand, Dice of Kalma takes all rolled dice into account when calculating your 'bones'. The purpose of hands is really to add to your multiplier (and to bones, too, if you have the right skulls). So with that in mind, you'll want to reroll any low dice if they don't already contribute to your total. Exceptions exist with 2's, of course, since some skulls will offer bonuses for those, but I highly recommend rerolling 1's, unless you manage to get a straight or other high-scoring hand.
And with that, those are all of our top tips we found while playing through Dice of Kalma! So, check it out, or hone your skills further with our list of the best roguelikes on iOS!
