Summary
Players: 2-6
Ages: 8+
Game Time: 30 minutes +
Greetings fellow geeks, this review has been on the back burner now for a while, I have several reasons for this, the main one being we weren't officially requested to do this review, and when I expressed interest in doing this review, we were disregarded by Roxley and the media team in charge of sending out review kits for Dice Throne & Marvel Dice Throne. Now I am not calling out Roxley for this, as loads of content creators have reviewed and created content for this game, and of course our little blog would have no effect on the Kickstarter campaign for Dice Thrown as it still had $2,123,351 pledged of their $100,000 goal with over 20,000 backers, which is an amazing feat (I was one of them). The other reason for the delay was I have been waiting for my copy from the Kickstarter, because I love #Marvel and #Spiderman I had to back this. I have never played any of the Dice Throne games, so it was a total gamble on my part... I mean I like dice games, so it was a pretty sure bet I would at least enjoy the game. Finally, the last reason for the delay with the article is TIME, we are all part-time with doing reviews at #DOALG. I have a young 21-month-old daughter, which makes it extra tricky to fit in reviews I want to do amongst REQUESTED reviews that take priority. So that's why it's taken me so long... so apologies.
What makes Dice Throne so popular?
I have asked this question on our Discord community and social media platforms and the response was surprising. No one else in our community has even played the game, and why is this? Have I fallen foul of the #Marvel junkie and #Kickstarter trend, or is the game just not that appealing in comparison to other board game titles?
Gameplay
The overall gameplay for Dice Throne is amazingly simple to be honest, which is probably one of the reasons for its mass appeal from the Kickstarter. I mean, it's basically Yahtzee with a Marvel skin and some special abilities (cards), and involves simple combat.
Each player starts with 50 hit points and two combat points (CP) and the aim is to reduce your opponents' health dials down to zero before they can do it to you. You attack using your dice rolls, in a Yahtzee-style system. Each hero has five unique dice and their own special attacks on their player board. Normally, the required rolls are fairly similar but the range of attacks and the upgrade cards available to each character are different. Each character also has an "Ultimate" attack that does some serious damage and some other effects too. These are hard to roll naturally, requiring five sixes (Yahtzee) but some of the cards you can get sometimes help you to achieve this.
There are eight Marvel characters in the battle box: Thor, Loki, Scarlett Witch, Spider-Man (Miles Morales), Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Doctor Strange and Black Widow. To me, the choice of characters means there are opportunities for future expansions, and I say this because some fan favourites are not in here. No Hulk, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Captain America, Ironman, etc...
Now the components in Marvel Dice Throne are also pretty awesome; each hero comes in their own individual tray and takes 20/30 seconds to get out and set up on the table. Each tray contains the hero player board, their five dice, their deck of cards, their HP (Hit Points) dial, their combat point counter (CP) and any unique played chips/pieces. With having the Kickstarter set, my favourite component it the metal hammer that Thor has but, sadly for most this is a Kickstarter exclusive.
Production
The art in Marvel Dice Throne is pretty amazing to say the least and is done in the classic Manny Trembley style (https://mannytrembley-blog.tumblr.com/) that you will have seen on the original Dice Throne games. Luckily Marvel gave permission to Roxley Games for their amazing artist to do his own take on these iconic characters and his style here is absolutely amazing. Each character looks fresh and vibrant. There has also been art in this game by Damien Mammoliti (www.artstation.com/damie_m) and throughout the whole game the graphic design and art is flawless. Some of the best you will see in any game. This art really adds a lot to the theme and feeling of the game for me, which is one of the original impacts that drew me into the Kickstarter in the first place!
So, what do you get in the box?
8 × Folding Hero Boards
8 x Game Trayz
40 × Premium Acrylic Swirl Dice
1 × Rulebook
268 × Hero Cards
8 × Hero Leaflets
8 × Hero Health Dials
3 × Tile Sheets
8 × Combat Point (CP) Dials
Conclusion
Let's break it down for you in our key areas:
Replayability
Highly replay able, each match up is different, and I am excited to see what expansions they will release for this!
Production Value
The production is up there with one of the best I have seen. Out of publishers, Roxley are up there with Steamforged Games. They are for sure a leader. The artwork for this is top notch. I do have one gripe and it is with the promo card set, since they are FOIL and have the linen finish in certain light, they are IMPOSSIBLE to read, To be honest, I am not a massive fan of the linen finish and would have much preferred the finish on the Radlands cards throughout Marvel Dice Throne!
Theme
Love it! Marvel along with Star Wars and Star Trek are my jam. Man if they got the IP for Star Trek / Star Wars for Dice Throne I would be all over it... Roxley JUST TAKE MY money NOW!
Complexity
Not overly complex, anyone who can read and understand the basics of Yahtzee should be able to play this.
Rules
Not the best written rule book, but still easy enough to get through and start playing.
Uniqueness
In this instance it's not very unique, since Marvel Dice Throne uses the same mechanics and instance of the Dice Throne system, which in itself uses the Yahtzee system, but STILL highly enjoyable.
Value
It is not the most amazing value to BUY right now. Still worth it BUT you have missed out on the amazing Kickstarter price. However, do NOT let this put you off, still worth buying if you like dice games.
Despite my minor issue with the linen card foil issue on the promo cards, this is still one of the best Marvel games around and it has made me start looking to buy other Dice Throne sets, since it will all intermingle. Not for sure why Spider-Man would fight a druid, but you can apparently. If you love Marvel and want a fun easy to set up game, then this is for you. The main reason for ease of setup has to be the game trays by Game Trayz (https://gametrayz.com/), they are so awesome, and the cards even fit in the tray sleeved. OMG ... so happy!
Fingers crossed my faves Iron Man and Captain America make it into future expansions!
Roxley please take heed!
If you're interested and wish to buy the game, you can still order the battle box from Roxley here (https://shop.dicethrone.com/collections/marvel) apart from Europe (SOLD OUT) which explains why I have seen these going of upwards of £120+ on online auction sites. Normal retail versions, which include a couple of characters are also available from the OP (https://theop.games/collections/dice-throne).
Your friendly DoaLG Founder
Mr Chris
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