Tag Archives: dice

Matt Carlson: The Dice of Gen Con

As I mentioned previously, for many years Gen Con was a mecca for role-playing aficionados. As with any pastime, players grow fond of their tools and toys. Role-playing is no different and one can look no further than a player’s … Continue reading

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New Boardgame Bling – Pixels LED Dice

Deluxified versions of popular games continue to appear on Kickstarter, if there weren’t already deluxified versions in the original campaign.  In the wider web, gamers can pick up all sorts of accessories for their games like packing inserts, metal coins, … Continue reading

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BarBEARian Battlegrounds (Review by RJ Garrison)

Designer:  Walter Barber, Ian VanNest Publisher:  Greenbrier Games Players:  2-4 Playing time:  20 minutes Ages:  8+ MSRP:  $24.95 http://www.greenbriergames.com Review copy provided by Greenbrier Games The BarBEARians have woken from their long, winter hibernation and are on the rampage…?  Not … Continue reading

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Review of Dairyman

Roll Dice! Milk the Cow! Make Cheese & Ice Cream!

Dairyman is a push-your-luck dice-rolling game in which players compete as dairymen trying to collect fresh milk everyday, fulfilling orders, and making cheese and ice cream. Players take turns rolling, locking, and re-rolling dice to create sets of two or three dice with a total value of 10 to produce milk and then use it to claim milk tiles for points. Failure to produce milk may result in spoilage and the loss of a previously earned milk tile. There are opportunities to flip a tile to turn the milk into cheese for extra points or to freeze it into ice cream. This action provides an extra ability that can be used each turn. Flipping a milk tile also prevents it from being lost. The player with the most points on their milk, cheese, and ice cream tiles at the end of the game is the winner. Continue reading

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Review of Blend Off!

Blend Off! is a real time game in which all players are frantically rolling dice to collect fruit, blending smoothies, and filling orders to earn gold stars. Makes total sense, right? To best understand the theme and mechanisms of the game, it’s important to know the backstory. Here it is as told in the rules…

Blend it Like Becca — a small-town smoothie shop sensation! It’s been a slow night. Becca the shop owner, Kevin the runner boy, and the Master Mixers – including you! – have started closing up shop. One minute before close, the door swings open. Outside, you see parked school buses and a line of people all the way to the street corner! The high school girls’ volleyball tournament has just gotten out, and everyone is craving a smoothie for the ride home. Becca cuts a deal: whoever blends the most smoothies tonight gets free smoothies for a month! The Blend Off has begun, and only one can win. There’s just one problem: Kevin. Skittish at best on normal days, he flies into a frenzy, grabbing fruit for you from the fridge at random. Take the fruit Kevin brings, complete the orders Becca calls back, and blend your way to victory!

In the game, players represent the Master Mixers who are competing to blend the most smoothies. Each Master Mixer rolls a Fruit Die representing Kevin\ and the random fruits he retrieves from the refrigerator. The deck of Blender Cards represents Becca who is continuously calling out smoothie orders to be filled. Unlike many games, there are no individual turns. Players are all playing and taking actions simultaneously until the game ends (when Becca is out of orders). The player that earned the most gold stars from blending smoothies is the winner. Continue reading

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Review – Space Cadets: Dice Duel

Designer: Geoff & Sydney Englestein Publisher: Stronghold Games Players: 4-8 (officially – though I’ll argue that it works for 2-3 as well) Time: 30 minutes Ages: 14+ (officially – though my 8 year old does just fine with it) Times … Continue reading

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