Kingdom of Dice Review: A Fun and Simple Dice Game for the Whole Family

Kingdom of Dice

Designer: Reiner Knizia
Publisher: mandoo games
Players: 1-4
Age: 8+
Time: 30 minutes
Played with review copy provided by publisher

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was the Kingdom of Dice. The King was getting old and had no children to take his place. He decided to hold a big contest to find a new ruler. People from all over came to the kingdom to show they were worthy. Their job was to win the favor of the most important people in the kingdom in just three days.

You want to become the new ruler. Each day, you try to get as close to the castle as you can. Doing this will help you win over the most powerful people in the Kingdom of Dice!

Players roll dice to get a good result. If they are successful, they place one of their markers on the game board. At the end of each round, players look at where their markers are. This lets them meet important people from the kingdom who give them points. After the third round, the player with the most points wins the game.

To get the game ready, set aside the three special characters: the chancellor, the queen, and the king. Shuffle the rest of the cards. Deal out 6 cards from the deck and place them next to the board. Add the special character with the lowest value to this group. This creates a market of 7 cards. Arrange these cards in order from highest value to lowest value.

The player who goes first takes the six dice and rolls them. The dice have faces showing the numbers 1 through 5, plus a crown symbol. After you roll, you must set at least one die aside. You can then choose to roll the rest of the dice again if you want.

When you have no dice left to roll, or if you decide to stop rolling, you check to see if you have a valid combination. A combination is valid only if it follows all of these rules:

You must have at least one Crown
You must have at least one number (but there are special rules for numbers):

I love it!
I like it. Dale, Ben B.
Neutral.
Not for me…

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

Ben B: I really enjoy a good push-your-luck game. One where everyone is rooting against you, and you still roll the dice you need. This game is like a quick snack where your turns are fast. You roll the dice, and most of the time the choices are quick and fun. This is a great little family game. It will not overstay its welcome. The game does not take up much table space, and it helps with basic math while everyone is having fun. My family has played it five times now, and it is a hit.

This game would not get a lot of play with my regular game group. However, it found a home right away with a family I know. Their teenage boys will most likely love this game. It is a quick dice-rolling game with rules that are easy to learn after just a few turns.

Yeah, it is not a super complex decision, but it is also not obvious what the best play is. For my group, push-your-luck games are all about taking the risk. So, I would probably roll for it on a 50-50 chance!

Also, because you have to freeze a die with every roll, you have to make choices about whether to keep going or stop. For example, say you have frozen two crowns, two 2s, and a 5. That would be 18 points (which is 2 times 9). Do you roll that last die again? You have a 50% chance of still having a valid combination. A 1, 2, or crown would work. Is it worth risking your guaranteed 18 points for a chance at more?

On most turns, my plan was decided by my first roll. Usually, this set me on a path to collect 2s, 3s, or 4s for that turn. Of course, you also need the crowns to get high scores. So, you might not freeze all of your scoring dice if you are still trying to get your crowns.

Sometimes, I look forward to a new game because I am interested in new ways to play or a fresh theme. Other times, I just want something comfortable and easy to understand. Kingdom of Dice is mostly the second type of game. It is a classic dice-rolling game. However, the way you score points and the special rules for the numbers add a little bit of strategy. It is not a very complicated game, but it does make you think a bit.

Play two more rounds. Each round, you will use 6 random cards from the deck and one special character. At the end of the third round, players add up the values on all their character cards. The player with the highest total score wins. If there is a tie, the player with the highest single card wins.

The round ends when there are 7 crown markers on the board. Players now collect character cards, starting with the player who rolled the highest value. They take the most valuable card that is still available. Once collected, players keep these cards face down.

If your combination is valid, you calculate your score. The score is the sum of all the numbers you used, multiplied by the number of crowns you have. Then, you place one of your player markers on the board space that matches your score. If that space already has a marker on it, you place your marker on the first open space with a lower value. If you do not like your result, you can always choose not to place your marker. If you do not have a valid combination, your turn ends, and you do not get to place a marker.

Remember, you do not have to use all of your dice to make your combination.