Dice games are nothing new - I still have a couple of Dragon Dice knocking around from ten years or so ago. They were popular for a while, on the back of the collectible card games, but they didn't last. So I was intrigued by Diceland, a new paper dice game from James Ernest Games. Diceland is part dice game, part wargame. The pieces are eight-sided dice that have attack and defence values (along with any special powers) printed on the faces of the die. Once the die is thrown onto the table it can do one of three things: shoot at other dice, move by tipping over one face, or use a special power if it has one. Each die has a point value and the winner is the first person to destroy 50 points of their opponent's dice.
Diceland Space consists of two packs, each containing 25 dice, although you only need one pack to play as each pack contains three races. The dice are printed onto glossy full-colour card and are die-cut, making them easy to punch out. Each die comes in two parts (basically two pyramids) with clearly labeled tabs and slots to allow you to assemble them quickly. I found them easy to assemble - so easy in fact that my 11 year old son was able to assemble some of the dice too. My only real gripe is that, once assembled, the dice are bulky and (given that they are only card) fairly fragile, making them difficult to transport. It is possible, with some difficulty, to break the dice down into flat card again, but it's not something you would want to do too often.
The game is best played on a flat table with a cloth surface (to stop the dice skidding off the table) - we found that the dining room table was ideal. Each player stands behind their edge of the table and throws their dice from at least a foot above and behind the table edge. You can hit other dice if you want (and if your aim is good), but this is a tactic best used cautiously because knocking dice off the table gives the points to your opponent.
Each die has a sighting or aiming arrow that allows it to shoot at your opponent's dice. There are three kinds of arrows: short range, long range and all ranges. Combat is simple - if your die's attack value is greater than your opponent's die's block (defence) value you kill his die, otherwise it takes damage by rolling over onto a lower-numbered face. Once a die is killed it spends a turn off the table and then is returned to it's player's hand to be thrown onto the table again (simulating reinforcements).
Diceland Space comes as two separate sets - each with different races (teams). You don't need both sets to play as each pack contains enough dice to make up three teams, although you can combine the sets for larger games. If you can cope with the concept of people fighting against starships, you can even combine Diceland Space and Diceland Deep White Sea because the rules are the same.
The games are typically very quick, as you'd expect if you'd played any other James Ernest or Cheapass games, but still contain an element of strategy to keep you coming back. My son and his friends enjoyed simply slugging it out, while I found it interesting to experiment with different combinations of ships and tactics.
There’s no solo play option and no obvious way to automate one side, but it doesn’t matter very much if you are only playing one-off games. There are usually only a small number of dice on the table at a time and it is usually pretty clear what an individual unit will do at any time. Of course, you do need to use either side of the table when deploying (throwing) your dice, otherwise they all wind up facing in the same direction, which would complicate matters somewhat.
If you're looking for something quick and fun to play but a little out of the ordinary, you could do worse than checking this out.
Cardboard Dice Game
Set 1 - Terrans, Urluquai, and Zorg
Set 2 - Muktians, Garthans and Urluquai
James Ernest Games £10.99 each
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