Dev Diary 1: Unlikely Allies 🧪

Before I get into the game, let me acknowledge the goblin in the room. Yes, the prototype has a pretty familiar fantasy theme: warriors, goblins, armor, a Goblin King. I know. It’s not exactly groundbreaking.

But the theme is just a tool for now, a simple way to communicate core ideas like health, damage, armor and progression. It helps early testers grasp the rules quickly. Down the road, those same mechanics could easily be expressed through a different theme altogether.

How it started

I’m not totally sure where the idea came from. Like most things, it’s probably a mix of other games and a little time alone with my thoughts.

I’d just been to a board game event and playtested another designer’s game. It was sort of like Yatzy on steroids, not a co-op game, but a dice game with a lot of mechanics (and sorry if that description does the original game a disservice). Anyway, that game stuck in my brain.

At the same time, I’d been playing The Grizzled and other “against-the-game” co-ops and I really wanted to make something in that space. Then, to top it off, I got sick and spent two days straight in bed with a cold – which, as it turns out, is a pretty good recipe for inventing games.

What is it?

Unlikely Allies (which is the working name of the game) is a 2-player cooperative dice game where every die is a “warrior.” You and your partner face “enemy cards,” trying to survive long enough to defeat the final boss.

But here’s the twist: you don’t see each other’s dice rolls.

Each round, players roll a few of their warriors in secret behind a screen, then take turns placing them onto enemy cards. The puzzle lies in how you deploy them, interpreting what your partner might have rolled, reacting to their choices and adapting to the battle as it unfolds.

It’s about trust, timing and tactical guessing.

How it works

• Each player has 10–15 dice and manages four zones:
  • Armory – Ready warriors
  • Travel – Secret rolled dice
  • Tavern – Resting after victory
  • Hospital – Wounded after defeat
• Each round:
  1. Agree on how many goblins to face
  2. Decide how many total warriors to send (split evenly – the leader sends one extra if odd)
  3. Roll secretly in the Travel section
  4. Take turns placing dice to deal damage to goblins
     (Some goblins have special armor – e.g., only odd-numbered dice deal full damage)
  5. If you win, warriors rest in the Tavern. If not, they go to the Hospital.

To keep going, you’ll need to recover warriors using items or morale boosts that let you move dice between zones.

Look and feel

If you’ve seen my other games, you know I like to use unusual components and Unlikely Allies is no different. I’m currently imagining cards made of craft paper, paired with a vintage, inky art style (maybe something inspired by old cartoons). I also have an idea to let the dice shape the character design: picture stubby little cube-warriors, each die a character in its own right.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned, stay hungry, stay healthy, stay home if you’re sick.

– Anton, Babard Games