Dice Miner Review

Two words; beer dice.

Dice Miner from Atlas Games has players attempting to draft the best dice from the mountain over 3 rounds. Players do this by simply plucking a die from the top of the mountain and adding it to their hoard. Sounds simple enough, right? It really is. You also have the option to roll one of your beer dice that you've drafted. This will let you take one from the sides of the mountain. Simply roll your beer die and pass it to an opponent. Then you get to take 2 from the mountain. There are several different types of dice that will all score differently. The simple white dice will need you to build a run starting at 1. The yellow dice are jewels that you want to have the most of. The black dice are hazards. Luckily you can mitigate this with the green dice with pickaxes and shields. Finally, the blue dice will let you re-roll a set amount of dice at the end of the round. The scores will multiply over the rounds but the player with the highest score after round 3 will win.

The Good: Dice Miner is such a nice looking game when it hits the table. From the mountain to the custom dice, it looks gorgeous when it's all together. The game is a really simple teach. Seriously, read the intro to this, that's really about it. I love the beer dice concept. It gives you an opportunity to benefit yourself while hindering your opponents.

The Okay: Having the term "Dice" in the title inherently means that the game is going to have some luck involved. Everything is random from the mountains to the re-rolls. The game does a decent job of limiting this by giving each player a special character but it is still absolutely there. As long as you know what to expect though, there is a lot of fun to be had here.

The Not So Good: I'm somewhat concerned that my mountain is going to fall apart at some point. It's made of pretty thick cardboard but when you have to take it apart each time you put the game away, it's going to wear. You can order replacements or a plastic mountain from Atlas but it's still a concern.

Final Thoughts: I first played Dice Miner at Origins this year on a whim. I liked it but I wasn't sure how much. After I played a few more times, I think it's a great game. It's easy to teach, plays quickly, and has a nice amount of player interaction to go with it. This is a game that I could see as a mainstay for a game night bag.

Thanks to Atlas Games for providing a review copy.