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Tactical Dice Dexterity Game Prototype (Updated)

The objective of the game is to knock the point die off the board.
This will be a 2-4 player game (possible solo rules) and played in rounds.
Round consists of every player sliding 3-5 dice on the board to knock off the point die. The first person to knock the point die off 3 times wins.

The red dice in the picture will have a different setup.
The red arrows on Board V1.1 means the board can slide that direction.

Each player gets a hand of 5 cards and cards can be played only once a round by each player. These cards range from canceling an action to moving or removing dice on the board. The exact card count and abilities are still being worked on.

Card examples:

Move the ramp
Add a red blocking die
Skip a players turn
slide a die until it hits another die and remove the hit die.
slide a die until it hits another die and stop
cancel any action

This is an early prototype but sliding the dice on the board is enjoyable. Slide too hard and you fly over the board hitting nothing, too soft and it falls in the box.

Feel free to comment.

Comments

Skee Ball

This game is a lot like skee ball, isn't it? For a moment I thought the player was trying to knock the black die from the bottom of the ramp, and then realised the yellow die was actually the point die, and the player slides the black die.

A big question for me is: what fun is added to skee ball by using cards? Do you think that playing cards slows down the action?

Another question is: why dice? Why not use marbles or some other rolling object to remove a bowling pin object or something like that? Do the pips on the dice mean anything? Did you just choose to use dice because that's what you had laying around to play with?

I guess a cross between shuffleboard and skee ball.

I guess a cross between shuffleboard and skee ball.

The cards do not slow the game down right now, but if they do a simple rule on how long you have to play a card should fix that. They add a take that element to the game. For example, if you are the player who has an open shot at the point piece, I could play a card that moves point die behind another die making it harder to score, or a card could skip your turn. The cards make the board less static and add an element of strategy. Some cards add dice, some remove dice, other cards move the ramp making a shot harder. I am finding what is fun and works well together.

I used dice because the pips will mean different things and specifically because they don't roll. I have several ideas for the numbers on the dice. When throwing the dice the player rolls 3 dice, on a five or six they get an extra die to throw. The extra dice are a different color and get removed at the end of the round. This way the board does not become over crowded making knocking dice off the board easier.

I will again update later this week.

Ideology of a fun game part I

After doing a second round of playtesting several things were brought up about the card mechanic of the game. The most important thing being only one of the 4 card mechanics were fun to use. To delve into this further I am taking a systemic look at the rules of the game. IMHO a dexterity game should to have a few simple rules, and those few rules need to encompass the entirety of the game and have players engaged with each other even when it is not their turn.

Here were the base rules for this playtest.

The object of the round is to knock the point die off the board.

Players start with 3 colored team dice.

Each player gets to slide, not throw or roll, between 3 and 6 dice per turn. This is determined by rolling 3 d6 and on a roll of 5 or a 6 an extra die is added. The extra dice, neutral color, are slid first and are removed after at the end of the current players turn. This avoids a cluster of dice on the board.

Each player get a hand of 5 cards. The current player plays a card and does it action. Going clockwise until all players have played a card.

Cards:
Move a die. 8 cards in deck
Move point piece. 6 cards in deck
Move a die up, down right or left. 4 of each type for a total of 16
Add a blocking die. 6 cards.

I'm going to skip the play by play of the playtest to focus on the card mechanics.

To put it simply they were dull and the player interaction was virtually nil. The rolling and sliding the dice was fun. Moving the point piece was a good strategic element. Adding a blocking die was ok. The problem was when you were not the player sliding the dice there was a no vested interest in the outcome accept for loosing.

In order to fix the player interaction I revamped the card mechanic.

Cards:
5 victory point cards. If you play 3 VP cards you win the round.
6 move point die cards. 50 points
8 add a blocking die. 10 points
8 remove a player die. 10 points
8 blank cards 0 points
8 100 point cards
8 50 point cards
8 2 point cards

Now every card has a point value. It may seem like a small change but wait until you see how playing them changes the dynamic of the game.

Each player gets 3 cards in their hand
Every player plays a card face down every turn and starting with the current player reveal and resolve the card. Continue clockwise until all players have played a card. Fill the players hands back up at the start to the turn.

There are two ways to play a card. The first is to follow the action on the card, or you can cash 1/2 the value of the card in your personal bank. The other way to play a card is to add it to the prize pool for it's full value. This prize pool goes to the person who knocks off the point die. Now you can slowly accumulate points by personally banking them or use their action to mess with another player. The first person to score 1000 wins the round.

I still need to playtest this but cycling through the deck simulating turns there was better player interaction. Or at least a better game mechanic with cards.

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