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Machi Koro
Machi Koro
2012 | Card Game, City Building, Dice Game
fun art and theme (0 more)
Entirely luck based. (0 more)
Good Luck based gateway game...
Here is some decisions to make, but everything depends on the dice. Roll well, win the game, roll poorly = lose.... unfortunately there is very little dice manipulation to change your luck if you don't like it. This game is super simple, and probably good for kids who want to feel a little more adult building a city. But this game could use a number of improvements before being a satisfying game for more gamers.
  
Firefly: Shiny Dice
Firefly: Shiny Dice
2015 | Dice Game, Science Fiction
One of the best parts of the board gaming experience is finding a fun group of people with whom to play! Sometimes, though, coordinating a game night is easier said than done. We all must occasionally forego the group experience and face the world as the Lonely Only. But fear not! The world of solo-play is a vast and exciting realm! What follows is a chronicle of my journey into the solo-playing world – notes on gameplay, mechanics, rules, difficulty, and overall experience with solo variations of commonly multiplayer games! I hope this will provide some insight as you continue to grow your collection, or explore your already owned games!

I really like Firefly. So when Travis told me he had Firefly: Shiny Dice, and was looking to get rid of it, I jumped on the chance to get my hands on something Firefly! I’d never played the game and had never even heard of it either. Having played it now, though, I can see why Travis wanted to off-load it on someone else.

In Firefly: Shiny Dice, over the course of three rounds, players are rolling dice to assemble a crew, complete missions, and defeat bad guys. All of the main characters of the show are represented by different die faces, each with a special power. Use those powers to help defeat bad guys and earn VPs on your turn each round! The player at the end of the game with the most points is the winner. Firefly: Shiny Dice is played the same way, regardless of player count – in solo play, you are still trying to amass the most points possible over three rounds.

At it’s core, Firefly: Shiny Dice is a dice-rolling game. And that’s where the simplicity ends. This game is bogged down an ambiguously confusing rulebook, complicated turn steps, and just way too much text overall. When I first got this game, I was psyched to play. I sat down, opened up the rulebook, read through it at least 3 times, and then put the game away. I was so confused by what I had read, I couldn’t even bring myself to try it at first. There is a lot of ambiguity in the rulebook that caused a lot of confusion and frustration for me. For example, the brown dice are Outlaw characters and the white dice are Passenger characters, but the rulebook and player aids use “Crew Dice” most of the time – so are they all Crew Dice, or just the Outlaws since, in the show, those are the characters who actually are the crew on Serenity? Are Passengers considered Crew? The same ambiguity goes for Mission Cards – if you draw one that you cannot complete, is it just discarded? Then what’s the point of the Mission Card? How about if you draw one and don’t want to complete it? Are you required to complete it if you can? Or can you choose to ignore it to negate the Mission Keyword? I felt like after I read the rulebook, I actually had more questions than before I started.

Regarding turn order, there is just way too much going on for me. There are 4 steps each turn, and some steps have several ‘phases.’ First you roll your dice, and then depending on what you rolled maybe you can re-roll some, and then you have to check to see if you got any bonuses/penalties after your re-roll, but then you stop and draw a Mission Card and possibly resolve it (?), and now you go and deal 1 damage to a foe but only if the current Mission says ‘Shiny,’ and then the foe dice resolve their effects, and now you can use your dice and character powers to fight the foes, and then depending on how many dice you have left/the Mission Keyword from your card this turn, you can decide to push your luck and take another turn immediately or just end your turn now. Whew. There are just way too many unnecessary steps, in my opinion. All you should need to do is to roll/re-roll your dice, resolve foe effects, and fight the foes. The Missions and die bonuses/penalties feel extraneous to me, and result in clunky gameplay.

In theory, this should be a cool game. In reality, it’s just frustrating. To me it feels like every single small idea made it into the end-game, but they were not executed well enough to justify including them. This game is way too wordy and ambiguous to make sense, and even though I keep the rulebook on hand every time I play, I feel like it doesn’t really help me at all. I think a more pared down/edited version of this game could be a hit.

As a fan of Firefly, I want to like this game. I really do. But I don’t. I think it is too complicated and far too confusing for what it is supposed to be, which is a relatively light dice-rolling game. Firefly: Shiny Dice is not on my short-list of games to play, nor is it on my long-list (is that a thing?). It’s kind of just in my collection at this point, though I don’t know if it’ll stay here for long.

https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/solo-chronicles-firefly-shiny-dice/
  
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Jay (0 KP) rated Yahtzee in Tabletop Games

Apr 5, 2018  
Yahtzee
Yahtzee
1956 | Dice Game
Simple, yet complex......
Roll the dice up to three times and use strategy on your rolls to gain the most points. With your intelligence (and maybe a little luck) on your side, you can dominate the competition!
  
Roll Player
Roll Player
2016 | Dice Game, Fantasy
Build Your Own Hero
Roll Player- is a excellent board game, i love the theme, the gameplay, the replayablity, everything about i love.

In Roll Player, you will compete to create the greatest fantasy adventurer who has ever lived, preparing your character to embark on an epic quest. Roll and draft dice to build up your character’s attributes. Purchase weapons and armor to outfit your hero. Train to gain skills and discover your hero’s traits to prepare them for their journey. Earn Reputation Stars by constructing the perfect character.

The player with the greatest Reputation wins the game and will surely triumph over whatever nefarious plot lies ahead!

Gameplay:

In Roll Player, a game round is divided into 4 phases. The Roll Phase, the Dice Phase, the Market Phase and the Cleanup Phase.

ROLL PHASE - The Start Player draws dice out of a bag, rolls them, and places them in numerical order on Initiative cards in the center of the table.

DICE PHASE - Players take turns selecting an Initiative card, placing their die on their Character Sheet and taking Attribute Actions associated with the Attribute the die was placed in.

MARKET PHASE - Players purchase cards from the market that represent Traits, Skills, Weapons, and Armor.

CLEAN UP PHASE - Return remaining dice to the bag. Return Initiative cards to the center of the table. Refresh 1 Skill card. Pass the Dice Bag to the player on the left.

The game ends at the completion of the round in which all players have filled all Attribute Rows on their Character Sheets.
Players then calculate their Final Scores to determine the winner!

Its a fun, entertaining, excellent game and i highly recordmend buying it.
  
Astroforce: The Dice Game
Astroforce: The Dice Game
2021 | Dice Game, Science Fiction
"Astroforce: The Dice Game is a reimplementation of Carl White's award winning print and play game: Star Trek: The Dice Game."

But it is much more than just that. The rules are simple, the gameplay is diverse, and it is actually challenging! As with many Dice roller games, there is an element of luck, but there is also a huge element of strategy - do you want to tie a Die up for a few turns to unlock a special ability, or will that one die make or break your next turn?

You decide your difficulty level, whether its a 3 or 5 year mission, and head to the stars. Your FtL fuel is preset by the mission/ease, and if you fail to complete the mission in that many turns, you fail! Failure is bad, but it is a learning curve.

My only minor issue is that the markers for completing the missions' tasks are slightly too large for the text (or the text is slightly too small). It would also have been awesome to have 2/3 layer card ships (to prevent Dice running away), but its not critical.
  
Dice Town
Dice Town
2009 | American West, Dice Game
Good 5 player game (2 more)
Roll, select, roll what’s left, select mechanic is nice
Bad luck has choices
Can get screwed early and often. Just like in life (1 more)
Almost nothing stays yours.
Good light dice game. Best with more.
This was a cute game. Feels like an auction game as players are simultaneously selecting a dice and going after a certain outcome. But if more than one person is going for it. It will probably cost more. Is it worth it? I enjoyed my play. I’d play again but I’m not sprinting to play again.
  
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The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) Nov 15, 2018


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The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) Nov 15, 2018


Dice Throne
Dice Throne
2018 | Card Game, Dice Game, Fantasy, Fighting
Simple (2 more)
Fun
Easy to learn
Not satisfying for board games lovers (2 more)
Pure luck
No strategy or any type of thinking
A great game to pass time and dont need thinking just roll the dice and enjoy
It is agreat game for family or groups to play against each other and have some suspense and fun but if you are a person who loves to think and build a strategy and be more intellectual this game will not be your best choice it is just about dice and having a goid luck
  
Monopoly
Monopoly
1935 | Business / Industrial, Economic
The Game (0 more)
Ruins families and friendships without fun
Roll the dice. Move. Completely luck based and it’s not even fun. Why dear god is this the game everyone owns. It’s like if speed 2 was the movie everyone watched. Ugh.
  
BANG! The Dice Game: Undead or Alive
BANG! The Dice Game: Undead or Alive
2019 | American West, Bluff, Deduction, Dice Game, Fighting
In the expansion review series, we take a look at a game expansion to discuss whether it is a necessary purchase/addition to one’s collection.

This breakdown is for the push-your-luck dice game BANG! The Dice Game‘s modular expansion Undead or Alive.

The Undead or Alive expansion offers several modules that can be added or left out at the players’ discretion. Module 1 is entitled “Look Me in the Eyes” and cannot be used unless Module 2 is also included. This module replaces two normal white dice for the new black Duel dice. On the Duel dice is a new icon of crossed pistols signifying a duel. The player who rolled this symbol chooses another player and they engage in a roll-off using the Duel die. Whichever player loses will need to take a random Wound Token found in this expansion. Module 2 is “Two Bullets Are Enough” and references the new Rage cards included. Every time a player suffers two or more lost hit points they must draw a Rage card to be used at the start of their next turn. Module 3 is “A New Posse in Town” and simply add in the new character cards to the base game characters. The catch is that some characters have special abilities that only trigger if the appropriate expansion module is being used, so character choices may need to be adjusted.

If you have been wondering why it is called Undead or Alive because no undead anything has yet to be mentioned, you are now in luck. Module 4 is “Undead or Alive?” and can only be used when playing with four or more players. This module has players revealing Boneyard cards when eliminated from the game. Once the number of zombie hands depicted on revealed Boneyard cards equals the number of players a zombie outbreak is initiated. At this point all eliminated characters now become zombies and are tasked with a new goal: eliminate all living characters. Zombies only use three white dice during their turns and do not gain life from beers or other effects. The survivors now switch focus to eliminating all zombies and their Zombie Master (I will let you discover this on your own).


The final module is Module 5 “Wild West Legacy.” This module is only used when playing multiple games of BANG! The Dice Game in succession. This module introduces a method of determining which player will become the next Sheriff in the next game and rules for changing characters between games.
Is it necessary to include the Undead or Alive expansion to enjoy BANG! The Dice Game? Absolutely not. It adds a lot of new content and ways to play the original game, but is not an absolute need.

Official recommendation: I categorize this as an expansion that I am super glad I have now in my collection because I know exactly the gamers with whom I want to play it. I don’t think I will use it every time I play BANG! The Dice Game, but I certainly think it is something that regular players of the base game should pick up. Being able to re-enter the game and gang up on those that were playing without you is a huge step up from typical player elimination style games. I hate being eliminated right away and waiting a long time to get back into a game. Luckily, BANG! The Dice Game is short to begin with, but coming back as a zombie is mega sweet.
  
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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Dice Town in Tabletop Games

Aug 13, 2019 (Updated Jun 24, 2021)  
Dice Town
Dice Town
2009 | American West, Dice Game
Hoo doggie! That’s definitely what we say in the 1800s Wild West! Yeuuuup, it’s time to take over this here town and call it ours. What are you waitin’ fer? If you ain’t helpin’ me, then you ken giiiiiiit out. This here’s mine now, just gotta… convince the people. *whistles at a horse to giddyup*


Dice Town is a rootin’-tootin’ dice chuckin’ game relying heavily on poker and card majority. Each player is trying to gain the most money, gold nuggets, and property cards to beef up their VP totals once the game ends to become the baddest dude in the West.
To setup, place the town board in the middle of the table and populate its different areas with their components: the Gold Mine receives all the gold nuggets, the Bank receives $3 initially, the General Store receives all the cards of its deck with three property cards will be displayed next to Town Hall, and Doc Badluck will receive its deck with two cards displayed. Each player will receive a dice cup, five dice, and $8 to start. The youngest player received the Sheriff badge card and the game may begin!

Turns are taken simultaneously among all players. Players will roll their dice using the dice cup and choose one result to keep. They may keep more dice by paying $1 for each die kept, or they may pay $1 to keep zero dice and try again. Players are attempting to roll the best poker hand during these turns to set themselves up for the next phase of the game – actions.

Once all players are finished keeping dice and building poker hands, they move to the actions phase. Beginning with the Gold Mine and moving left to right, each area of town will be resolved based on the players’ results. The player with the most 9s rolled will take nuggets from the Gold Mine equal to the number of 9s rolled. The player with the most 10s will take the money at the bank. Most Jacks will draw General Store cards (that can mess with other players or help the holder) equal to the number of Jacks rolled and choose one card to keep. The most Queens will summon a lady at the Saloon to help steal any General Store or property card from another player. Most Kings will be the new Sheriff in town and will break all ties (and also can be bribed). Whomever was able to build the best poker hand will be able to claim the property card at the bottom of the display and one additional property for each Ace rolled. Finally, if a player was not able to win anything up to this point, they will be able to claim a card from Doc Badluck which can be very powerful.


Play continues in this fashion until either the supply of gold nuggets has run dry or all of the property cards have been doled out. Players will score VPs for nuggets, certain General Store cards, one VP per $2 cash, $5 from being Sheriff at the game end, and VP printed on property cards owned. Once the winner is determined, that player must now challenge the losing players to a duel at high noon. Or just gloat a lot.
Components. As you can see in the photos, the component quality is excellent, as with most Matagot titles. The dice cups are sturdy plastic, the embossed poker dice are awesome, the gold nuggets are great as well! I like the quirky cartoony art style. What I do not like about Dice Town components are the cards. They are super glossy, and that’s heck for taking photos and I just don’t enjoy the feel of them as much as the nice linen-finishes. It doesn’t break the game for me or make me enjoy playing it less, I just prefer other types of finishes on cards.

I really like Dice Town. I have always had a great time when playing, and I have even acquired it twice now. I sold my first edition copy via a BGG auction (I was addicted to auctions several years back) and missed it, so I was able to grab a second edition copy last year. I haven’t regretted reacquiring it and though I rated it a 4 I don’t see this ever leaving my collection again. I love the American West theme, and I love the way the dice cups feel and sound as players are slamming them on the table. But also I hate the way the dice cups sound as players are slamming them on the table when my children are trying to sleep or without some type of buffer material between the cups and a hard table top.

The second edition printing is definitely the way to go when deciding whether to purchase Dice Town. Everything is upgraded, and the rules have been tweaked a bit for the better. I don’t really know why I like American West in my board games so much because I can’t stand Western style movies or books, but I can’t get enough of them in my games. If you and I share preferences on games and themes and components, try to grab a copy of Dice Town. You will certain like it quite a bit. We do. Purple Phoenix Games give this one a 12 / 18. While that doesn’t seem like a great score, we would rather have access to it than not. And with so many games out there, earning a place on my shelf is a big deal for a game. So enjoy!