Golden Record Retriever

Golden Record Retriever is a roguelike dice-building game about River, a golden retriever sent to retrieve golden records from planets across the universe. On Earth, River lived with Paul, an inventor fascinated by space and aliens. Paul spent his life savings building a spaceship and sent it into space loaded with golden records containing friendly greetings. After Paul falls ill and dies, visitors tell River that the records have caused trouble throughout the universe and that he must retrieve them. River sets out on the mission, though life in space is a puzzle for a dog who has only known Earth.

Solve each situation

Each mission sends River to a new destination, where he faces a series of situations that work more like puzzles than typical combat. You build a team and place colored orbs called auras on the board, then use Action Cards to resolve each situation. Teammates create auras, so positioning them well is central to finding a solution.

Almost every teammate can create auras, but their skills are represented by dice sides and abilities, so their results are not always predictable. For example, a die with blue on three of its six sides and red on the other three has a 50% chance of producing a blue aura. You can adjust the odds by upgrading teammates, changing their dice-side composition or improving their effects and abilities so they produce more auras or act more reliably.

Build your team

You can equip each teammate with one piece of gear. Gear comes from shops, rewards for resolving situations and planet scouting. Antiques, equivalent to relics in traditional deck-building games, provide additional effects when their requirements are met, such as generating bonus auras or healing teammates' injuries.

Your choice of teammates and items shapes the team, but it still needs to suit the mission. Each mission sets the run's theme, so the team you build should change according to its destination and goals.

Choices across the universe

Missions use a roguelike format, but your choices and actions affect the universe. When resolving a situation on a planet, you can choose an easy, quick option or consider alternatives that may earn the planet's favor. A planet that remembers your kindness may repay you later.

The planets you help and those you leave unaided can face different fates in the great vortex created by the universe's factions. As more planets decay, your mission may become harder to complete.

Teammates and destinations

• More than 80 characteristic teammates
• 3 destinations
• More than 200 visitable planets and countless routes
• More than 120 gear items
• Antiques (Relics) and story cards