I played Dice Throne for the first time at PAX Unplugged back in December. It just looked cool and as I walked past the crowded booth, I decided to sit down and give it a try. I controlled The Gunslinger, one of the characters from Season 2, and I was up against The Samurai. I was impressed with how quick it was to pick up and start playing and after our battle, it was immediately on the wishlist.
Last month, I treated myself to Season 1: Rerolled.
First of all, this game is just gorgeous to look at. The packaging is beautiful – each character has their own box and they fit inside it just so, looking out at you from the game board, their name emblazoned on the front. Each game tray has a specific spot for the cards, dice, health tracker and combat point tracker. It’s easy to just grab two from the box and put them in your bag but also very impressive to slide the box open and show off everything in its place.
So far, I have played as the Barbarian and the Wood Elf – both rated low complexity and good for a newbie. I also dabbled with The Ninja the other day, who is a high damage dealer but not so great and healing or defending (or, at least, my rolls were not).
The game has been described as “Battle Yahtzee” though the card element brings in feelings of card-based battle games, allowing you to attack and defend at opportune moments by spending combat points, as well as leveling up certain skills. The game is easy to pick up, the rules are very straight forward and clearly written out in the booklet, and each character and player board also explains actions and abilities. The back of each character sheet has an FAQ for any effects or combos that could cause confusion based on their power.
A lot of the game is based on your dice rolls, but the card abilities mitigate having bad luck, allowing you to modify and re-roll by spending combat points. There’s a push your luck element, as you can try to roll for the ULTIMATE power, that does undefendable damage, or just stick with your basic attack, which can hit hard but also has a chance to be defended against and sometimes even deflected back at you!
There is something SO satisfying about rolling those dice and seeing the image or number you need come up, completing the combo you want. And even more satisfying is having a card in your hand that thwarts that combo, causing your opponent to reroll or change a dice MWAHAHA!
I will say that though the Barbarian and Elf are low complexity and easy to learn, they made for a slower game as they don’t hit as hard and have good defense. Several of the games I played with them lasted about an hour. But the game with the Ninja versus the Pyromancer, both heavy hitters, I was able to play a game in 30 minutes as they both of powerful attacks. Which just shows how different each character is, with unique play styles and abilities that can really change things!
So far, I have only played 1v1 games but you can apparently play with up to six people, either as a team of 3v3 or each person attacking the person next to them, whittling down opponents to see who the last one standing is.
Have you tried Dice Throne? Who is your favorite character? If you haven’t played, which hero would you want to try? Let me know in the comments or link me to your post!
orangerful 