Game: Polterdice

Thread: Polterdice - a not so scary review

lordunborn — 2008-10-09T12:49:47+00:00

When I first started to buy games I tried to get games that my wife would play. Can’t Stop had not been reprinted yet and my wife likes dice games. So after doing a little research here on the geek I decided to give this game a try. The games description states that the designers were inspired by can’t stop and dedicated the game to Sid Sackson. So I thought to give it a try.

Components:

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The game comes in a sturdy box with a pretty useless insert. Yes most games do but the box really is a lot bigger then needed. I bought my copy Ding and Dent (this was my first ding and dent game) and it had a very small dent in one of the corners.

There are 16 Staircase tiles. Each staircase had a start space with a secret room at the top of the stairs. There is also the “Magic Number” at the bottom of the stairs. There is also a pile of coins printed at the top of the stairs.

There are 50 Meeples in 5 colors and these are the player markers. Standard colors really but I would have rather had Black then say the purple. Of course my wife likes purple and I bought the game to play with her, right?

There are 16 cardboard tiles that represent the Polterdice (more on them later).

You also get 8 white dice (real dice not those wooden ones that never roll right) and some silver and gold wooden “coins”

In all the components are a good quality and for the price I paid they are not bad.

Gameplay:

You set the game up by placing the 16 tiles up in squares in groups of 4. You place each tile so that the magic number and the secret room are facing the outside edge of the square. You then place a polterdice down at the entrance of the secret room. All of this is done randomly.

Each player then gets 10 Meeples of their color and in turn order each player will place 1 Meeple of their color on the bottom space of a staircase tile. You can’t place more then 1 meeple on a staircase. The Magic number is the number that you roll to advance your meeple up those stairs. Of course the object of the game is to gain 25 silver coins and you do that by reaching the top of the stairs and collecting the money there.

The magic number has a direct relation on the amount of coins at the top of the stairs. For instance the magic number 3 has 4 coins and the magic number 6 has 1 coin. This is of course due to the frequency that the number will be rolled on the 8 dice.

So once each player has set the meeples where they want to they each get 3 silver coins (the gold ones are worth 5 silver ones).

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Ok on your turn you will roll all 8 dice and you need to divide them into pairs of 2 and must have 3 unique numbers. You can not pair dice into a combination of 7. Also 2 and 12 are special. You then move a meeple on each of the tiles that match your 3 unique numbers. So on your turn you will move a maximum of 4 meeples.

You can move a meeple space for each magic number you rolled. You do not count occupied spaces on stairs so if the first space is free you will stop there but if there are meeples on the stairs in front of you will leap frog past them to the next available space.

If you reach the secret room you take the coins shown on the space and your turn immediately ends so you will want to move your other meeples first and you can never take the treasure on more then 1 staircase in your turn.

Once you get to the top of the stairs you release the polterdice. They will then run down the stairs challenging each player (except the person that released the polterdice so it is a catch up mechanism) on the way down You must be on the stairs and have coins to accept the challenge. If you accept the challenge you roll 8 dice and have to get double ones. If you do you keep the polterdice and take 2 coins. If you lose you lose a coin and it continues down the stairs till it reaches the bottom and then it leaves the game.

When you reach a secret room each polterdice you have in your possession will earn you 1 extra silver coin.

I mentioned the 2 and 12 special rolls. Well a 2 is considered bravery and is basically a wild. You can use it for any magic number. If you roll a 12 that is called a fear roll and you can move any players meeple back 1 space (remember occupied spaces don’t count) but you must have a meeple on that tile. The rule book says you must yell “FEEEEAAAAAR!!” when you move them back.

Once someone gets 25 coins the game ends and they win. Otherwise if three of the sections of 4 tiles are cleared the game ends and the person with the most coins wins and the tie breaker is number of polterdice captured.

Conclusion:

The game is not can’t stop and is rather boring. Like most other dice games that require you to roll specific things this has the fault of the fact that you can roll the dice and get nothing near the end of the game. Making your turns rather short and sucky. It wouldn’t be too bad if it was a bit shorter. I think that playing to 20 coins would make the game better. The polterdice are a nice touch but overall I think the game is too long for what it is.

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Mariana — 2006-03-23T04:17:49+00:00

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Mariana — 2006-03-23T04:17:31+00:00

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snicholson — 2005-08-22T15:05:00+00:00

Folks actually playing the game!

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Zonker Harris — 2004-07-19T22:03:39+00:00

Thread: User Review

TomVasel — 2003-12-06T15:40:40+00:00

More and more I am beginning to love the games that are coming out of Italy. There is something distinct about them – the fact that they want the game to be fun. Maybe the games aren’t as polished as other Eurogames, but the games do not have a “serious” bent at all, but are there so that all playing might have an enjoyable time. I just recently got a shipment from one such company – Kidult Games, and have found that true about every game in the shipment. One game I particularly enjoyed was Polterdice, (Kidult Games, 2003 – Spartaco Albertarelli). The name was certainly catchy, and when I opened the box to see the bits, I was appropriately wowed by them and eager to play the game.

And my thoughts concerning the game? I found that the game is a very fun, very light-hearted time, with a lot of luck and a bit of strategy having a part of the game. In a short, nice note in the game instructions, the author gives credit for part of the game to Sid Sackson, and his Can’t Stop game – from which the basic concept of the game has emerged.

The game begins by shuffling sixteen tiles and placing them on the table in groups of four. Each tile has a number on it (3,4,5,6,8,9,10, or 11), a staircase of ten steps, and an amount of coins in the “treasure room” (last step) that corresponds with the probability of the number on that tile being rolled on two dice (for example the 3 tile has four coins, while the 6 tile only has one). Sixteen small “polterdice” tiles are shuffled, and placed on the table – one next to each room tile. Each player is given 10 meeples of their color, along with three silver coins. Each player rolls the eight six-sided dice, and the player with the highest roll goes first, with play proceeding clockwise around the table.

On a turn, a player rolls the eight dice, and splits them up into four pairs – obtaining four “magic numbers”. After this, a player may then move up to four of their meeples, using these numbers. For example, if a player got a three, they could move one of their men one step up the staircase of one of the “3” room tiles. A meeple could be moved up more than one step on a staircase, as long as multiple magic numbers are used. If the meeple needs to move to the next step, and another meeple of another color is there, they can “jump” all these blocking meeples, going to the next free space. This allows a player to move farther rather quickly, if there are enough players in front of them.
A magic number of “7” is never possible, and the numbers “2” and “12” allow special moves. A “2” – “bravery” - is basically a wild, allowing a meeple to move up one step on any tile. A “12” is called “fear”, and allows you to “scare” an opponent’s meeple, moving them one step backwards on a tile (of course, if other meeples are directly behind them, they may move even farther backwards!). Once a meeple reaches the final stair, that tile is finished (explored); and the player who reached the room gets all the treasure that was there.
They also, however, release the polterdice of that room! It moves down the stairs slowly, challenging each other player on that staircase. Each player challenged must roll the eight dice and get one magic number “2” – bravery. If so, they get two silver coins, and can keep the polterdice tile. If they don’t, they must pay one silver coin (in an optional rule – this silver coin goes to a secret room that has a polterdice with the same colored background of the attacking polterdice, and the polterdice moves to the next player on the stairs. If a player beats a polterdice that has the same colored background as one they already own, they get additional silver coins.
When one player gets 25 silver coins (20 in a two player game), the game is over, and that player wins. If nobody gets this amount, and three sections of the house are completely explored, the game is over, and the player with the most coins is the winner. Ties are broken by whoever has the most polterdice.

Some comments on the game….

1). Components: I was extremely impressed by the bits that came in this box – a box, I might add, that held all the components well – and is one of the few boxes where I don’t bag everything up meticulously. The artwork, on the box, the tiles, and the Polterdice themselves, is very strange, but has a lighthearted feel about it – one that I much more appreciate than the darker art that the theme could have invoked. The tiles are nice and thick, and easy to handle. The wooden coins – always one of my favorite ways to count points, are nice, and there are gold coins included (worth 5 silver coins.) The meeples are larger than your average little fellows in games, and a cursory glance at them made me think of small clothespins. Still, they’re easy to handle,

2). Rules: The rules, which come in five languages – are only two pages, complete with colored illustrations and several examples. There were a few translation errors and ambiguities, but I was easily able to decipher what the correct solution was. (For example, the rules said to roll eight dice and get 3 “magic numbers”, and that didn’t make sense mathematically – but when I looked at the other languages, they all had the number “4” before magic numbers, so it was just a typo, I assume). The rules are really easy to teach, and learn, and once a player learns how to split the eight dice up into 4 numbers, the game really flows smoothly.

3). Website: www.kidultgames.com is a really nice website. Many game companies have good websites, but Kidultgames has really pushed the envelope here. There are beautiful downloads – both of alternate rules for the game, as well as a whole new board game – Castle Dice, which is a similar but very different game that is fairly enjoyable. The designers also discuss how they came up with the game, and overall – the website is a really nice addition – providing a lot of support for the game.

4). Players: The game plays fairly well with two players, but the polterdice are not used – and it’s just not as fun as with 3,4, or 5 players. Also, the more players who play, the higher a jump up the stairs can be – adding to the strategy and/or chaos – it depends how you look at it.

5). Time: If players take a long time to divide up their numbers into four “magic numbers”, the game could go longer. But most players can do it quickly, and so the game moves rather fast then. The box says 60-90 minutes, but I rarely find that it takes that long – it goes much faster – which is a good thing for a game this light.

6). Strategy, luck, and the Fun Factor: Any game that has players rolling eight dice per turn is going to have a ton of luck, and this game is no exception to that rule. That may turn a lot of people off, who are looking for a serious game, one where they can prove their superiority in strategy and tactics. However, strategy is not lacking in this game, as knowing how to divide your dice up, and which pieces to move forward when will help you win! Should you be the first up the stairs, getting the money, but losing the chance to catch the polterdice? And as the polterdice comes down the stairs, it’s a lot of fun as players try to roll those two “1”’s. A lot of laughter occurs when playing this game, and that is a plus in my book. People have FUN as they try to go up the stairs, and not be moved back down them, and everyone likes rolling dice and moving meeples.

It’s obvious, as I read back over this review, that I like this game a lot – and I certainly do. It’s fun, fast, and everyone who plays has a blast! I do caution that serious gamers go elsewhere, as the massive amount of luck may turn them off. I’ve found that this game is a big hit with my game club – as they like the rolling of dice a lot. But my wife and I also found it a pleasant diversion as a two player game, and it also translates nicely for a fun party-type game whenever we have folks over at our home. I highly recommend this game if you don’t mind a bit of luck and want to have a lot of fun!

Tom Vasel

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butch — 2003-04-28T21:51:00+00:00