Tag: Dice Rolling

Dice Rolling is a common mechanic in games where players roll one or more die to decide an outcome.

Lords of Vaala

Lords of Vaala

Lords of Vaala

A game of power based in the universe of Dragonbond.

Raid as a dragon or raise armies as a general, destroy your enemies, and cast mighty spells, all to collect power. The player who collects 10 Power tokens, wins.

During the game, a general and a dragon entering to the same region peacefully, have a chance of becoming Dragonbonded to unlock a unique ability that interacts with each other, and playing as a team for the rest of the game.

In the planning phase players secretly play action cards in a face-down pile to program their actions across the board until one player passes; in the resolution phase, actions are resolved in order. Through these actions, players move to different regions, attack, collect power or cast spells by spending the Power collected.

Combat has a wargame feel into it due to the dice-based resolution with critical hits, counterattacks and retreats. If Power is scarce on the board, you can steal a Power token from another player entering into combat and dealing more hits than they can take.

Dragons and generals play entirely different in strategy and actions. Generals raise armies and customize them in different regions around the board to control them and harvest Power. Dragons can gain Power by devouring units, they also have a health track and must rest and recover if they get wounded too much. All characters in the game have a unique Vaala deck of spells.

In a world without gods, only you may claim your destiny.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Programmed Movement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.33

The Legend of Drizzt

The Legend of Drizzt

The Legend of Drizzt

A cooperative game of adventure for 1-5 players set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

It is named after the book series by the same name recounting the adventures of the dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden and his friends.

Designed for 1-5 players, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, challenging quests, and cooperative game play. Players explore the game world, which is built during the game by laying out tiles, using ready-made player characters and encountering enemies with corresponding miniatures. Encounters are generated by drawing cards and resolved using a D20 die. All players win together, depending on the scenario, by escaping, saving others or overcoming a threat.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Grid Movement
  • Role Playing

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.59

Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game

Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game

Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game

Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game is a survival horror board game that pits small-town heroes head-to-head against a horde of zombies. A team of four heroes is chosen by one set of players, and the zombies are controlled by one or two players. Each hero has its own special abilities. The board is modular, which changes the layout of the town and start positions of each hero. The game comes with several scenarios, which include simple survival, rescue, or escape. Differing combinations of heroes, scenarios, and board configurations offer a lot of replayability.

A hero deck and a zombie deck deliver tactical bonuses to each side. Combat is resolved using six-sided dice, modified by the weapon cards with which heroes may be equipped. Many of the cards include zombie movie tropes to achieve a feel of playing out a horror movie. All the game art is photographic, enhancing the cinematic feel. The game also comes with a CD soundtrack of original thematic music.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.29

Kingsburg

Kingsburg

Kingsburg

In Kingsburg, players are Lords sent from the King to administer frontier territories.

The game takes place over five years, a total of 20 turns. In every year, there are 3 production seasons for collecting resources, building structures, and training troops. Every fourth turn is the winter, in which all the players must fight an invading army. Each player must face the invaders, so this is not a cooperative game.

The resources to build structures and train troops are collected by influencing the advisers in the King’s Council. Players place their influence dice on members of the Council. The player with the lowest influence dice sum will be the first one to choose where to spend his/her influence; this acts as a way of balancing poor dice rolling. Even with a very unlucky roll, a clever player can still come out from the Council with a good number of resources and/or soldiers.

Each adviser on the King’s Council will award different resources or allocate soldiers, victory points, and other advantages to the player who was able to influence him/her for the current turn.

At the end of five years, the player who best developed his assigned territory and most pleased the King through the Council is the winner.

Many alternate strategies are possible to win: will you go for the military way, disregarding economic and prestige buildings, or will you aim to complete the big Cathedral to please the King? Will you use the Merchant’s Guild to gain more influence in the Council, or will you go for balanced development?

Game Mechanics:

  • City Building
  • Dice Rolling
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.43

King’s Forge

King's Forge

King's Forge

The Chamberlain is searching the realm for a new “Craftmaster to the King” and sets a contest for all of the smiths and crafters in the land. The first one to forge four items from a list of the King’s favorite weapons and trinkets will be honored as First Among Crafters and Smiths. But watch out, because the other crafters and smiths will try to outdo you at every opportunity. Are you ready to forge your destiny?

In King’s Forge, players are craftsmen and craftswomen seeking to become the favorite of the King. A variety of dice represent the raw materials (metal, wood, gems, and enchantment) and those same dice can be used to gather new dice and purchase roll-modifiers, or saved and rolled in an attempt to meet the requirements to craft the items on the King’s list. An early lead is not a sure path to victory and other players will out-maneuver and out-build you whenever possible. Careful dice management, advance planning, fierce competition, and nail-biting luck will carry you to winner’s circle.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck Building
  • Dice Rolling
  • Pattern Building

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.28

King of Monster Island

King of Monster Island

King of Monster Island

A new King of Game rises: King of Monster Island

We have detected irregular movement on the Monster Island. The volcano is erupting like never before. Monsters from all around the world are gathering on the Island, what is happening? They don’t even fight each other anymore!
Because is a greater menace is lurking. Something big enough to threaten every monster and make them fight together against the same enemy…

Was this in the script? Wait… Is this a cooperative King of game?

In King of Monster Island, players will play as giant monsters who must work together to defeat a titan-like Boss before it finishes building an interdimensional portal. Each turn, players will roll dice to damage minions & boss, heal themselves, gain energy and buy cards, move around the island, activate human support, and increase fame. For the Boss’ actions, they are controlled entirely by the game itself. Using the results of the dice rolled into the volcano, the Boss will move, activate their minions, and attack nearby monsters.
Their goal: allow their minions to set up the pylons needed to construct the portal. To win, the players must defeat the Boss before they manage to activate the portal or defeat even a single Monster.

Otherwise Earth will be demolished!

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Open Drafting
  • Push Your Luck

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.17

Kero

Kero

Kero

June 2471, and kerosene – KERO – is scarce. Two clans are struggling to survive, exploring New Territories in their tanker trucks. Running out of fuel is a risk each time they leave camp! Fortunately, a local tribe of Tuareks can lend a helping hand…

Kero is a two-player game set in a future unfriendly world, where players will be clan leaders – managing a camp, a tanker truck and 7 Explorers – competing for the same lands. Their ability to win the game will be based on how much kerosene (Jerrycans) they can find and how they use it wisely… Collect as many resources as possible while using as little as possible of the KERO in your tanker-truck to upgrade your camp and claim New Territories! Score the more points (by adding up the points on cards and territories) and become the 2471 Badassest Clan!

The game is played in 3 rounds (ending when a Claim card is revealed), each comprising several turns. Making snap decisions and mistakes under time pressure is part of the game!

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Dice Rolling
  • Move Through Deck
  • Push Your Luck
  • Set Collection
  • Take That
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.97

Jamaica The Crew

Jamaica The Crew

Jamaica The Crew

Jamaica: The Crew is a set of twenty characters, each with a special power, that add flavor to the game without any big changes in the rules. The characters may be hired when you’re able to pay for the fee of a harbor, and they are “loaded” like any other resource, following the same rules.

You might find it enticing to add several characters to your boat — especially since most of them earn you additional gold at the end of the game — but with fewer holds dedicated to the regular resources, navigation becomes more dicey. All in all, more challenge, more silly fun, more Jamaica.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Hand Management
  • Racing

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 30 – 75 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.89

Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul

There’s hustle and bustle at Istanbul’s grand bazaar as merchants and their assistants rush through the narrow alleys in their attempt to be more successful than their competitors. Everything must be well organized: wheelbarrows must be filled with goods at the warehouses, then swiftly transported by the assistants to various destinations. Your goal? Be the first merchant to collect a certain number of rubies.

In Istanbul, you lead a group of one merchant and four assistants through 16 locations in the bazaar. At each such location, you can carry out a specific action. The challenge, though, is that to take an action, you must move your merchant and an assistant there, then leave the assistant behind (to handle all the details while you focus on larger matters). If you want to use that assistant again later, your merchant must return to that location to pick him up. Thus, you must plan ahead carefully to avoid being left with no assistants and thus unable to do anything…

In more detail, on a turn you move your merchant and his retinue of assistants one or two steps through the bazaar, either leave an assistant at that location or collect an assistant left earlier, then perform the action. If you meet other merchants or certain individuals at the location, you might be able to take a small extra action. Possible actions include:

  • Paying to increase your wheelbarrow capacity, which starts the game with a capacity of only two for each good.
  • Filling your wheelbarrow with a specified good to its limit.
  • Acquiring a special ability, and the earlier you come, the easier they are to collect.
  • Buying rubies or trading goods for rubies.
  • Selling special combinations of goods to make the money you need to do everything else.

When a merchant has collected five rubies in his wheelbarrow, players complete that round, then the game ends. If this player is the only one who’s reached this goal, he wins immediately; otherwise ties are broken by money in hand.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Economic
  • Grid Movement
  • Network Building
  • Pick-Up and Deliver
  • Racing
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 40 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.59

Island Siege

Island Siege

Island Siege

Island Siege is a fast-playing game of fort-building and colonization in the Caribbean Sea. Players build shoreside forts to defend their colonists from attack and to score points. Forts allow you to put colonists in play, which in turn can safely build ships and buildings which provide abilities and points. Attacking allows you to chip away at your opponent’s fort while gaining cubes which are used to build forts of your own. Your goal is to score 20 coins or get all of your colonists in play!

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Open Drafting

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 12 – 48 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.33