Tag: Dice Rolling

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

Formula D

| OTSG Staff

Formula D is a high stakes Formula One type racing game where the players race simulated cars with the hope of crossing the finish line first. This is a re-release of Formula Dé with several changes from the original format. Whilst old tracks can be used with the updated Formula D rules, the new game features boards that have an F1 track and a Street Track on the other side. These street tracks each have a novel inclusion or two to add greater theme –

The game mechanisms are a simple race, get to the finish line first! However, players have to use a significant amount of planning, and rely on quite a bit of luck. Each player manages when to shift gears, with each gear providing a different speed. (For example, 4th gear is a die that rolls random numbers from 7 to 12 for spaces moved.) Each turn, players may move up one gear, stay in that gear, or move down gears. This forces players to match possible rolls with the optimum distance for that turn, and hopefully plan ahead. However, speed is not the only issue! Corners have a “stop” rule that requires players to stop once, twice, or three times on that corner in consecutive turns or face a penalty. This creates an effective speed limit to the corners.

Of course, things do not always go as planned! Players take penalties if they miss their roll, bump into another car, are blocked by other cars, have to brake heavily, or have to downshift several gears. These are taken off of a car’s attributes (Tire health, Brake wear, Transmission Gears, Body, engine, and Suspension). Losing the maximum in any of these categories will result in elimination, or a severe setback for that car. This requires that players manage their car’s health, plan for their best path, and have good luck on their rolls. This high amount of luck gives the game its family appeal, and lets weaker players have a chance at winning once in a while.

However, the fun does not end with a single race! The rules include the ability to customize your cars, use a pre-generated character, add Slipstreaming (Drafting) rules and road debris, and change tire types to modify your distance rolls. There are also variations for a single lap race, or multiple laps with pit stops to repair some of your damage points. In addition, numerous expansion tracks can be purchased to vary the demands on each driver and car. Each track may also have weather effects (rain) that change car handling and die rolls due to skidding on wet track. This opens up the game for rally rules giving championship points over a number of races.

Formula D adds a few items that are not in the original Formula De: There is the added excitement of illegal racing in the streets of big cities – anything goes! This adds custom cars, nitro acceleration, drifting in the curves, dirty tricks, gun battles, and trash on the road to add more variation. A basic change is the use of a “Dashboard” with movable pegs to manage your car’s attributes instead of the paper forms from Formula De. There are also two sets of pre-painted cars; a Formula 1 set and the Street Race set of stock cars. The street cars come with “Character” profiles to give a bit of role-playing to the game. Finally, the old category of “Fuel” for the car has been renamed Transmission Wear to give a better thematic fit to the effect of multiple downshifting.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 10 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.97

Flash Point: Fire Rescue

| OTSG Staff

The call comes in… “911, what is your emergency?” On the other end is a panicked response of “FIRE!” Moments later you don the protective suits that will keep you alive, gather your equipment and rush to the scene of a blazing inferno. The team has only seconds to assess the situation and devise a plan of attack – then you spring into action like the trained professionals that you are. You must face your fears, never give up, and above all else work as a team because the fire is raging, the building is threatening to collapse, and lives are in danger.

You must succeed. You are the brave men and women of fire rescue; people are depending on you. This is what you do every day.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue is a cooperative game of fire rescue.

There are two versions of game play in Flash Point, a basic game and expert game.
In both variants, players are attempting to rescue 7 of 10 victims from a raging building fire.
As the players attempt to rescue the victims, the fire spreads to other parts of the building, causing structural damage and possibly blocking off pathways through the building. Each turn a player may spend action points to try to extinguish fires, move through the building, move victims out of the building or perform various special actions such as moving emergency vehicles. If 4 victims perish in the blaze or the building collapses from taking too much structural damage, the players lose. Otherwise, the players win instantly when they rescue a 7th victim.

The expert variant included in the game adds thematic elements such as flash over, combustible materials, random setup, and variations on game difficulty from novice to heroic. The game includes a double sided board with two different building plans and several expansion maps are available.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.20

Escape the Dark Sector

| OTSG Staff

The second game in the Escape the Dark series, Escape the Dark Sector is a simple, sci-fi adventure game with a focus on atmosphere, storytelling and player cooperation – perfect for newcomers to tabletop gaming. It takes about 2 minutes to set up, lasts around 45 minutes, and no two games are ever the same.

Playing as the beleaguered crew of an impounded starship, players find themselves confined to the detention block of a vast space station. Using a variety of advanced gear and weaponry, they will embark on a desperate mission to find their ship and blast their way home.

Along the way, the crew will have to overcome a variety of dangers, traps, and terrors. From cyborg guards and faulty replicators to killer alien organisms, each challenge is represented by a large, beautifully illustrated chapter card.

As these immersive chapter cards are revealed one by one, the game takes on the form of a shared storybook experience, with the players making decisions about what to do each chapter before using a combination of dice and item cards to complete the task before them.

The goal of the game is to complete every chapter, and then defeat the final boss. To win, you must keep each member of the crew alive; if any player is killed, the game ends immediately!

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 20 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.10

The Dwarves: Big Box

| OTSG Staff
The Dwarves: Big Box

The Dwarves: Big Box

The Dwarves face the dark threat of Orcs, Trolls and Älfar. To defeat evil they have to join forces and coordinate their actions. Based on the series of novels by Markus Heitz, the cooperative game for 2 to 6 players aged 10 and up throws players into various scenarios, in which they have to spend their action points wisely each turn, to gather equipment, fulfill missions, use their special abilities, travel the country and fight back the ever-advancing menace before their land succumbs to darkness.

The Dwarves Big Box combines 2012’s award-winning base game, the large Saga Expansion, the New Heroes Expansion, the story expansions Combined Might and The Triumph of the Dwarves as well as the Älfar Expansion in one appealing, highly re-playable package.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Wargame

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Dungeons, Dice & Danger

| OTSG Staff

Gather your courage, pack your sword, and roll the dice as you journey through the realm in search of treasure and glory. In the roll-and-write game Dungeons, Dice, & Danger, you explore deep, dark dungeons filled with treasure — and infested with monsters! Do you have what it takes to be a hero of legend?

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.88

Dragonlance

| OTSG Staff

In the Dragonlance Boardgame, each player commands an army of dragons in search of the fabled Dragonlance. The first player to snatch the Dragonlance from the top of the central tower and successfully deliver it back home wins! But be careful! Your opponents will attack your dragons, trying to make them crash-or even steal the Dragonlance and use it against you. The game comes with a large hex mapboard, 30 dragons figures in six different colors, two sets of rules (Basic and Advanced), Cards, dice, altitude markers and more.

Game Mechanics:

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.82

Dice Throne: Season Two – Battle Chest

| OTSG Staff

The Battle Chest contains all 4 sets from Season Two.

Dice Throne is a game of intriguing dice, tactical card play, powerful heroes, and unique abilities.

It’s a fast-paced 2-6 player combat game (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 2v2v2, or free-for-all). Select from a variety of heroes that play and feel completely distinct from one another. Attack opponents and activate abilities by rolling your hero’s unique set of five dice. Accumulate combat points and spend them on cards that have a large range of effects, such as granting permanent hero upgrades, applying status effects, and manipulating dice directly (yours, your teammate’s, or even your opponent’s).

Dice Throne: Season Two introduces a roster of new heroes and intriguing new matchups.

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Take That
  • Team-Based Game
  • Variable Player Powers

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.16

Dice Throne: Season One

| OTSG Staff

Dice Throne is a game of intriguing dice, tactical card play, powerful heroes, and unique abilities.

It’s a fast-paced 2-6 player combat game (1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 2v2v2, or free-for-all). Select from a variety of heroes that play and feel completely distinct from one another. Attack opponents and activate abilities by rolling your hero’s unique set of five dice. Accumulate combat points and spend them on cards that have a large range of effects, such as granting permanent hero upgrades, applying status effects, and manipulating dice directly (yours, your teammate’s, or even your opponent’s).

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Re-rolling and Locking
  • Take That
  • Team-Based Game
  • Variable Player Powers

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.07

Dice Throne: Marvel

| OTSG Staff

In Marvel Dice Throne , you become one of eight of Marvel’s most famous heroes, including Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Loki, Thor, Doctor Strange, and Miles Morales Spider-man! Every Marvel Dice Throne hero was painstakingly designed and balanced to provide the most thematic experience possible, allowing you to truly embody your favorite heroes like no other game. Featuring all-new mechanisms and asymmetrical designs, these are our most innovative and exciting heroes yet.

Marvel Dice Throne is a heart-pumping, fast-playing game of skilled card play and dice manipulation supporting multiple modes of play, including 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 2v2v2, or free-for-all.

Attack your opponents and activate abilities by rolling your hero’s unique set of five dice. Accumulate combat points and spend them on cards that have a large range of effects, such as granting permanent hero upgrades, applying status effects, and manipulating dice directly (yours, your teammate’s, or even your opponent’s).

All 8 heroes are compatible with the entire Dice Throne ecosystem
Use upgrade cards to improve your hero abilities as the game progresses
Play action cards strategically to manipulate dice and surprise your foe
Features a deluxe, highly functional, Battle Chest storage system
Each hero in the Battle Chest has their own beautiful set of custom swirl dice

Game Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Take That
  • Team-Based Game
  • Variable Player Powers

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • 20 – 40 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.15

Dice Realms

| OTSG Staff

In Dice Realms, players vie to improve and expand their Medieval realms, while contending with Fate. Realms are represented by customizable dice with faces that can be popped out and upgraded for better ones.

Each game is different as during setup, players draw five tiles (from a bag of 35) to determine which extra die faces will be available beyond the five standard lines of faces: lands (victory points), farming (grain), commerce (coins), settlements (defense), and progress (upgrades). Each player begins with two identical dice and can gain more dice during play, in addition to upgrading their starting dice.

Play is mostly simultaneous. To begin, players roll their dice, with one player rolling the Fate die, which affects all players.

If Winter appears on the Fate die, players must pay 1 grain for each die they own or take a -2 point “misery” chip for each grain they lack. Players may then re-roll one die for free and use any re-roll or “set-a-die” tokens (that allow you to choose the die face result) that they have previously invested in for further control.

Players then resolve any attacks showing, starting with the Fate die and then clockwise, with each player’s attack affecting all their rivals. Each shield showing on your dice lets you ignore one attack. Successful attacks can cost players grain, the use of a die for a turn, or even the loss of a die face (which can be later rebuilt).

Players collect any victory points (VPs), grain, and coins shown on their die faces. Coins are used to acquire upgrades, purchase re-roll and set-a-die tokens, repair destroyed die faces, or buy a new die — which also costs 2 grain — expanding their realm. At most 1 coin can be saved in your treasury from round to round.

Upgrades are the heart of the game. Players receive upgrades from upgrade symbols showing or by spending coins. Die faces have 1, 2, or 4 dots on them. To change from a 1 to a 4 in the same color — such as from a yellow face collecting 2 grain to the 4-dot version that collects 4 grain and 2 coins — costs three upgrades, whereas changing from one face to a different color face at the same level costs just one upgrade.

Using upgrades, crossgrades, and the “free reroll” each turn, players can craft their dice to specialize them and dramatically “tilt” the probability that a desired face is rolled. Of course, players will want different things at different times: upgrades to get going; coins to expand their realms; food if a string of harsh winters are rolled; defense against that pesky Robber on the Fate die; VP chips to race for victory; or whatever die face is the key to winning a particular setup.

If during a round any player needs to use a 10 VP token, a -10 misery token, or a 10 grain token (because all of the smaller value tokens have been used), then the game ends after finishing that round; otherwise, the player with the Fate die passes it clockwise to the next player and a new round begins.

When the game ends, players tally their points earned, both from VP chips and improved die faces, with 2-dot faces being worth 1 VP and 4-dot faces being worth 2 VP. Whoever has the most VPs wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Deck, Bag, and Pool Building
  • Dice Rolling
  • Re-rolling and Locking
  • Variable Set-up

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.40