PolyDuel

PolyDuel

Two duelists. Four dice each. One last-chance D20.

PolyDuel is a fast dice duel of bluffing and timing. Both players secretly pick a die, reveal, and roll: attack higher than the defense and the difference is damage. Every die you use is spent until the round ends, so the real game is deciding when to throw your big dice and when to hold them back.

Play the computer, a friend on the same device, or anyone online. Then take on the campaign: eight voiced bosses, branching roads, relics, and a new daily run every day.

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 How to play

1. Roll for turn order. Each player rolls a D6. Highest goes first.

2. Roll for health. A percentile die plus a D10 sets starting health (30 to 60), and the defender picks which roll to use.

3. Pick in secret. Each exchange, the attacker and defender both choose a die at the same time. Neither sees the other's choice until the reveal.

4. Roll.If the attack beats the defense, the defender takes the difference.

5. Spend your dice. A die you use is exhausted until the round ends. Rounds alternate who leads.

6. Last chance. Once you're down to 20 health or less, your D20 unlocks for a single desperate roll.

7. Win by bringing your opponent to 0.

New here? The 2-minute tutorial against the Training Dummy teaches everything, and first-time tips explain each new feature as you meet it.

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Features

Duels

• Play the computer, pass and play on one device, or play online with a 5-character join code or a shareable invite link.

• 11 power-up cards to bend the rules: Feint, Lucky Roll, Recall, Overcharge, Shield, Riposte, Nullify, Drain, Adapt, Brace and Pressure.

• Optional rules: Momentum, Quick rounds, and the D20 every round.

• Odds hints show your chances before you commit (optional, and off by default against people).

Eight heroes

Each hero has their own dice and a signature power, and plays very differently.

| Hero | Power | How to unlock |

| Duelist | Second Wind: roll twice and keep the better result, once per fight | Starting hero |

| Brawler | Haymaker: your first hit of the fight deals 1 extra | Beat the Iron Warden |

| Tactician | Read the Room: see your opponent's locked-in die, once per fight | Beat the Fox Trickster |

| Wildcard | Jackpot: draw a card on a top-face attack, once per fight | Clear a run |

| Sentinel | Bulwark: your first clean block each round hits back | Beat the Mirror Knight |

| Stormborn | Overload: your first hit of the fight deals double | Beat the Storm Caller |

| Trickster | Sleight of Hand: five dice, and a last-second switch to your best one | Beat the Pickpocket |

| Revenant | Undying: survive a knockout blow at 1 health, once per fight | Clear a run on Hard |

Campaign

• Eight bosses, each with a voice, a personality and a power: the Gambler, the Iron Warden, the Fox Trickster, the Alchemist, the Storm Caller, the Mirror Knight, the Pickpocket, and the Lich of the Last Roll.

• Branching roads. Every run starts with the Gambler and ends with the Lich. In between, you choose your path: a **Campfire** to heal, **Treasure** to sharpen a die, or an **Elite** fight for double rewards.

• Relics, new cards and sharpened dice to collect as you go, plus random road events.

Easy, Normal and Hard. On Normal and Hard, bosses plan their whole round ahead.

• One life per run. Your health carries over from fight to fight.

Daily run and co-op

• Daily run: the same seeded run for everyone each day, with one scored attempt, a shared leaderboard, and streaks.

• Co-op campaign: two players take on the bosses together, on one device or online.

Ranked play

• Quick Match pairs you with another player looking for a game, with no code needed.

• Climb the ladder from Bronze through Silver, Gold and Platinum to Champion.

• Requires signing in with Google (see below).

Progress and style

• 17 achievements and a full run history.

• Dice skins and table styles unlocked by achievements. Online, your opponent sees your skin too.

• Hero mastery: level up each hero for titles, portrait frames and a dice skin of their own.

• Share result: turn any win or run into a picture to post or text.

Sound

• Fully voiced bosses, with three music themes and sound effects. Music, sound and voices each have their own controls.

Controls

• Mouse or touch: tap a die, optionally tap a card, then **Lock in**.

• Keyboard: 1–5 pick a die, Q W E pick a card, Enter confirms, Esc clears your choice.

• Auto-continue (optional) moves on from each result by itself, with a Hold button to pause.

Works on phones, tablets and computers, in light or dark mode. Screen readers announce each result.

 Accounts and saving

• No account needed to play. Your progress saves in your browser.

• Sign in with Google (optional) to keep your achievements, unlocks, mastery and history on every device, and to play ranked. Anything you've already earned comes with you when you sign in.

• If sign-in doesn't open, allow pop-ups for this page and try again.

Tips

• Full screen: use itch.io's full-screen button below the game.

• iPhone: if you can't hear anything, check that the ringer switch isn't on silent.

• Leaving mid-game: online games can be resumed for up to two weeks. If your opponent disconnects, you can finish against the computer.

Feedback

PolyDuel is still being playtested, and feedback is very welcome. Leave a comment below with anything that felt confusing, too easy, too hard or just fun.

Credits

• Game design and development: Eric Castro & Liz Hartmann-Dow

• Boss voices: AI-generated

• Music and sound effects: composed in the browser as you play