Epic Dice - unique push-your-luck dice game (24 dice) [use the online prototype to immediately review/play]

I'm going to give it a go soon - hopefully over the weekend. Will let you know.

I played 2 games solo, playing both sides. Both games were lopsided (106 to 40, 100 to 25). I'm a dice guy, so this game hits a sweet spot for me, however it's got a runaway leader issue.

I've got a few questions regarding gameplay:

1. If I choose to continue my adventure, how many dice do I draw from the bag? I'm assuming it's 2, but it's not clearly stated.

2. I roll a Sprite and a Wizard on my first roll. Do I decide which I want to do first? Can I immediately draw another die, roll it, then reroll it with my Wizard ability?

3. If I roll a Sprite or Wizard and something else that completes a set of 3 (thereby ending my turn), can I play the Sprite or Wizard first and use it's ability before playing the other die that ends my turn?

4. If I draw 2 Dragons right off the bat, is that it? My turn ends?

This was fun. I've rolled out a few rounds solo as well, and wouldn't you know it, I won every time.

I have some things I found myself questioning, as well as some things you might want to clarify the wording on.

1) When you reroll a die using the Wizard, do you take/retake that die's special ability? I.E. if I choose to reroll a Seer(1) to get a better score, do I also get to draw 3/keep two next turn?

2) Regarding the Seer, your wording says that you draw three and keep two to roll, and your "never heard from again" says that if you ever draw the complete set. Technically, you could draw the set w/o ever rolling the last die, and I got the impression that, even though it is an optional action, the advantage of the Seer was to...well, See. If you don't keep the last die of a set to roll, was it still drawn or do you get to adventure on?

3) Along these same lines, you told Sidekick that you roll a die no matter what, whether your turn is ending then or not, but the wording in the rules is that the turn is over when a die is drawn. I would definitely clarify that.

4) Also with the Seer, there is a situation you could get into where you draw 2 Seers. So if you continue, on your next turn, you would draw 6 and roll 4, however I think a note should be added that it MUST be executed as two separate draw 3/keep 2 actions, as one draw of three might have 2 dice that would end the player's turn and if they're all drawn as one, he/she would be able to eliminate them and continue. Does that make sense?

5) When are you producing the game/Can you take my money? I would recommend throwing a reference card or three in the box showing how many of each die are in the bag and what they do (like you've got on screen) and also maybe putting the faces of each die as a reference page in the rules.

If you need anything else, shout - but seriously, let me know when I can buy this...and any expansions.

-D

Maybe runaway leader was the wrong term. I feel that the game could use some balancing. In my first two games, the first player was able to get out to a solid lead. This was due to unlucky rolls by the second player. The dice were just not on his side and he "was never heard from again" multiple times. In both games the large lead by Player 1 allowed him to relax in his future rolls and cruise to a win. These unlucky rolls by Player 2 removed a lot of the tension that a "press your luck" game needs. Do you see what I'm getting at?

This makes me think of Mille Bournes, where one player or team can stop the other team from collecting mile cards by playing a "stop" card (flat tire, out of gas, etc), which that player can remove by playing the appropriate fix card (spare tire, fuel, etc) on a future turn. The only "stop" that you have in the game is the ghosts, and it's not really much of a hindrance at all when you think about it.

I've played a few more games and have some more questions/comments:

1. If I roll 3 ghosts, and this would put the other player into negative points, does he just stay at 0?

2. The rules state that a "turn" is the same as an "adventure". In the rules under Turn Sequence, you state "After all immediate abilities have been resolved the player decides whether to head back to report in or press on for more adventure and reputation!" This is a little confusing, as you are using the term adventure as if you were going to continue your turn. You might want to clarify by:

a. Stating that the player can end their adventure by reporting in, or press on for more encounters and reputation.

b. Either use the term "Adventure" or "Turn" in the rules, but not both.