PLAYED FOR YOU

Rattlebones

customize your dice!

In Rattlebones you move your markers to change the sides of your dice and score points with those sides. You add seven out of twelve randomly chosen board cards to the board and begin the game with one grey, white and black die, each featuring one Rattlebones symbol and the numbers 2 to 6. Rattlebones begins on case 65 of the scoring track and monkey markers of all players at the start.

In your turn you choose one of your dice and can spend one gold each for using a second and third die. Then you roll those dice and resolve their results. For a number you move one of your monkey markers as many steps and can replace one side of your die (not the Rattlebones symbol) by a symbol of the case you reached and then implement the corresponding action when you roll that symbol later. Actions are, for instance, take gold, roll again, score points for positions on the scoring track, take markers to score points for them in certain situations, for instance when all markers of a kind have been taken, or score points for the current position of the train on its track. If you score points you advance them on the scoring track. For Rattlebones you move his marker one step backwards on the scoring track. Then you can move any of your monkeys by one step and, if possible, change one side of the die. But should Rattlebones encounter the scoring marker of another player, the game ends instantly and the winner is whoever is in first position on the scoring track.

Cute, very nice and something quite different, this well-working implementation of the rarely used mechanism of variable dice icons; the end-of-game condition, too, is a thrilling idea!

Players: 2-4

Age: 14+

Time: 30+

Designer: Stephen Glenn

Artist: Claus Stephan, Martin Hoffmann, Mirko Suzuki

Price: ca. 50 Euro

Publisher: Rio Grande Games 2014

Web: www.riograndegames.com

Genre: Variable dice

Users: With friends

Version: en

Rules: en

In-game text: no

Comments:

Cute game idea

Unusual end-of-game condition

Very nice design without providing a topic

Compares to:

All Lego games using variable dice

Other editions:

Currently none

Chance (pink): 3

Tactic (turquoise): 3

Strategy (blue): 0

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 0

Interaction (brown): 1

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0