14 DAY TRIAL // 
One of my dice is incomplete, which feels very weird and has already adversely affected one of my battles. I got a wound, which is a very bad thing in a run-based game where taking five of them means death because I rolled a face that had no action attached to it. I know, I should have saved at least one re-roll for such occasions, but I needed them to get past a boss and a nasty pack of insects.
Thankfully, I stopped at a campfire and that healed me. The problem is that my detective is now facing a sequence that features exactly five consecutive battles before he gets to a shop and then has to face one of the nasty bosses. It’s highly unlikely I will make it through alive but let’s hope I get some Garmonbozia before I die.
My first set of opponents includes three rats, one of which is riding on a mutated cockroach that’s helping it wield a shotgun. I managed to hold my own for quite a few rounds, eliminating two of them. Unfortunately, chance does not favor me, and I do not get the big combos I was hoping for. This run is done, and I don’t think I have enough resources to upgrade my Lodge before heading back out.
Tamarak Trail is developed by Yarrow Games and published by Versus Evil. I played the PC version on Steam. The game is also on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and S, and older devices from Microsoft and Sony. The title blends dice-driven combat with rogue-lite ideas.
The gamer’s universe is corrupted by a powerful dark force that lurks at the end of the map. It has turned the normally peaceful creatures of the forest into monsters and apparently gave them access to firearms. Players need to set out from their Lodge, battle these twisted creatures, deal with a variety of encounters, and, hopefully, reach the source of the evil.
The story is pretty classic, as is the title’s structure. As players make progress, they will get extra lore but it’s hard to become immersed in this largely derivative world. Initially, gamers can only play as the Detective, and they need to find and invest resources to unlock the Magician and the Tracker. The same rare Garmonbozia is also needed to develop a home base, unlocking upgrades that improve player abilities.
Tamarak Trail has a unique set of combat mechanics. As expected, it is turn-based and does not involve any movement from the player’s character or enemies. But dice will roll across a small surface, either thrown manually by gamers or automatically by pressing an interface button. Once they settle, players will drag them toward enemies to activate them (there’s also the option to double-click).
All actions are powered by Resolve, some of which regenerates automatically at turn’s end. The resource also acts as health. Gamers can also activate shields to mitigate or eliminate incoming damage, although they are erased at the end of the turn. It quickly becomes clear each battle involves balancing actions that will destroy monsters with the need to preserve Resolve. When it’s depleted, characters get a wound and five wounds mean the run ends.
Opponents always clearly signal their future actions. This simplifies combat planning. But Tamarak Trail isn’t aiming for streamlined and adds factors that add variety and tension to each engagement. Dice can knock into each other, which increases their Resolve cost but also powers certain special effects. After each battle, players get a new action they can place on a dice face. The idea is to build combos, centered around turning dice and even re-rolling them, that will inflict negative status effects on enemies and protect the player’s avatar.
When dice aren’t rolling, players move through map nodes. Some are campfires, which boost resolve and heal. Treasure chests offer a choice of talismans, which are embedded into dice and enhance their powers. There are stores where spending gold gives players access to actions and other boosts. Some encounters ask players to make choices.
The campaign in Tamarak Trail is randomly generated for every run. The only fixed points are the boss battles. They involve enemies with powerful attacks and special abilities that require players to tweak their die and their tactics. These enemy leaders also bring in reinforcements. On the upside, defeating them means players get a new die to cast.
As interesting as the customization concept is, the game can become repetitive. This is mainly because it’s hard to get enough premium resources to upgrade the Lodge and get an upgrade that improves player survival chances.
Tamarak Trail has the already traditional presentation of a rogue-lite built around encounters and battles. The map is sprawling, player characters have some personality while the enemy selection has some weird touches but is mostly generic. Players can hover and click to get more information about abilities and dice effects. Icons above opponents’ heads show exactly what they will do next turn.
There’s no voice acting in the game, which isn’t a big loss given the limited narrative. Combat effects are decent but the sound of the dice rolling and the unlocking of a new face after each combat become annoying after a few runs. The game’s soundtrack is a little melancholic and dark and represents a good fit for this fictional universe.
The Good
- Dice-driven combat and customization
- Some cool character designs
- Boss battles
The Bad
- Limited encounters
- Some sounds become annoying
- Stingy with its currency
Conclusion
As engaging as combat can be, the rest of the experience is too close to the genre’s standards to be compelling, especially the node structure. The game might also want to be somewhat more generous with its currency. Tamarak Trail does offer something new to veterans of the combat rogue-lite mix but for me, it became too repetitive too quickly.
Review key provided by the publisher.
