Sandy Cheeks, the lovable Texan squirrel from Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, also happens to be a terrifying barbarian in the upcoming action RPG Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny, which GamesRadar+ can exclusively reveal. Given that Sandy is known for her intense, sudden anger and terrifying strength, it makes a certain amount of sense.
The tabletop-inspired game – which looks to share a lot of visual and frankly mechanical aspects with the Diablo franchise, though not the gore or grimdark narrative – sends up to four players on a quest through fantasy-tinged worlds (like Bikini Bottomshire) to solve puzzles, defeat bosses, and so on. Each character like Sandy, SpongeBob, and more, also represents a specific RPG character class like wizard or barbarian.
For Sandy, that means lots of leaping around, lassoing critters, and generally being a menace. She might look cute and cuddly, but you don't want to get on her bad side.
"The feeling of dragging hordes of enemies around the environment and the impact of your blows make Sandy super rewarding to play with," says Humberto Rodrigues, game director on Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny at developer Petit Fabrik.
"We had a lot of fun making the lasso and grouping creatures together before we could smash them again and again, probably thousands of times during the development process," continues Rodrigues.
Here's a breakdown of all Sandy's various abilities, direct from the developer:
- Big Acorn – Sandy eats a large acorn. It restores health over time, gradually healing Sandy for several seconds.
- Hammer Swing – A classic and simple double-hit hammer combo that deals damage and restores mana with each swing.
- Hibernation Mode – Sandy taps into her primal instincts and turns into hibernation Sandy, boosting her strength. While active, her ground-slamming attacks deal heavy damage in a wide radius.
- Hurricane Attack – Sandy spins continuously with a powerful 360-degree kick, striking all nearby enemies with rapid, circular force.
- Avalanche Strike – Sandy launches into the air and slams down with a devastating shockwave, damaging all enemies around her. While airborne, press the Skill button again to perform a mid-air stomp and end the attack early.
- Rodeo Lasso – Sandy throws her lasso to snare enemies, yanking anyone caught straight toward her. She can then follow up with any available attacks.
- Texas! – Fueled by rage, Sandy powers up and enters Rage Mode, greatly increasing her attack strength for a short time.
"As [a] barbarian player in most RPGs I play, making Sandy was a way of putting everything I feel is awesome about them in one of my favorite characters in the whole Nickelodeon universe," adds Luiz Henrique Monclar, game designer on Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny at developer Petit Fabrik.
Nicktoons & The Dice of Destiny is scheduled to release on September 30, 2025 for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam for $49.99.
If you can't wait for release, be sure to check out our ranking of the best RPG games.
