Lil’ Demon is tired of his life in Big Dork City, and he wants to leave his life behind and start anew. Life, though, has other plans. And Lil’ Demon knows only one way to stand against the bummers that life throws at him: total destruction and chaos (he is a demon, after all!)
Indie studio Ao Norte announces its new game, Die or Die, coming to Steam Early Access soon – a top-down roguelite shooter with dice management elements. In Die or Die, luck is as important as skill. Before every level, you roll a bunch of dice, and you have to decide what to do with their results in the Planning Phase.
You can use them to get rid of Bummers – specific handicaps that make levels incrementally harder in a specific way, like bigger or stronger enemies, or particularly crazy things like inverted controls. So you can make your life easier by destroying Bummers such as friendly fire, explosive bullets, an invisible HUD, or meteor rains. Or enemies who sing off pitch at the top of their lungs. Or maybe the floor is lava now, or an overexcited fan is chasing you and attracting all monsters with her screams. Look, Big Dork City is a strange place, alright?
And then, after you’ve decided what to do with all your dice… you jump right into the fight – and you die. A lot. But every time you’ll unlock new weapons and abilities until you eventually clear your way to the coast through 5 different worlds full of enemies and hazards. Good luck out there, Lil’ Demon, you’re gonna need it… KEY FEATURES
- A unique twist to the roguelite genre: you choose the dangers you will face
- 5 worlds each with a different settings, with procedurally generated levels
- A mix of shooting and strategy: balance improving your build and getting rid of bummers
- Huge replayability: on top of having lots of bummers, skills, and weapons, luck makes every playthrough unique
- A colorful cartoonish art style with over-the-top crazy, absurd humor, inspired by cartoons from the 90s such as Ren & Stimpy or Cow and Chicken
ABOUT AO NORTE
Ao Norte was founded in 2022 by Rubén Calles and Diego Freire, after more than 8 years in the videogame industry. As a team of 5 persons, they are trying to create a game dev community in the north of Spain, a country with few game studios and little community. They released their first game, Tiny Garden, in 2025. They’re an LGTBQ+ friendly studio and love to spend time watching wrestling, growing tomatoes, and playing Gartic Phone.