I’ve created a page dedicated to promoting Viking Dice! I will hopefully build on it as more information becomes available. In the meanwhile, let’s talk a little about the game and how the prototype is going…
 |
| Viking Dice Box Cover |
What is Viking Dice?
Viking Dice is a push-you-luck dice rolling game. You will be trying to gather as much old as possible over the course of 3 pillaging journeys. The player with the most loot after the 3 journeys is the winner. Pretty simple, right?
I am actually awaiting the second prototype. The first prototype looked great, but had a fatal flaw: the pieces didn’t fit in the box! Viking Dice uses a lot of chits (thick cardboard tokens). Unfortunately, those chits come unpunched on cards. The cards alone filled the whole box. With the chits punched and bagged, they just fit in the box with some nudging.
It really killed me to have to redesign most of the components to make them fit in the game box. I loved the chits! But, for now, this is the way it has to be. The second prototype used thinner tokens for some the chits, and I used tiny cards to replace the rest. I’m hoping it still has the same feel (or with luck, even looks better). It’s just hard to let go!
I had a prototype of the game made through Gamecrafters. (I would, at least for now, highly recommend Gamecrafters for those trying to design their own boardgames).
 |
| Black “Seafarer” and Red “Voyage” dice |
How does Viking Dice play?
Here are the rules. However, the short answer is that you roll 5 dice on your turn and deal with the various outcomes. You might gain gold (to put on your ship), try to upgrade your ship (to gain better control over your dice rolls), draw a card (with special outcomes), take a Pillage card (a warning of things to come), or go on a further Voyage (with the chance for greater riches – at a cost!) When you end your turn the next player goes, etc, etc.
A journey can end in one of two ways:
- You decide to come home and drop off your loot for safe keeping; or…
- You fail (by losing all of your viking crew) and gain no gold.
As I mentioned before, the player with the most gold at home after 3 journeys (successful or not) is the winner.
 |
| Watch out for Sea Beasts! |
What’s the Next Step?
When the second prototype arrives, I will put it through some more play-testing. I already have a few ideas. I will also probably readjust some of the artwork. I will also try rewriting the rules yet again to make them clearer. The game is simple to explain in person, but for some reason I have a hard time simplifying it into words.
I’m really thinking about trying to kickstart this game. Using a print-on-demand service (like gamecrafter) can lead to pretty high price-per-unit costs. One way to reduce those costs is to order in bulk. If you buy 100 copies in one order, its possible to knock about a 1/4 to1/3 of the price off. This puts the market price about where I want it to be. Of course I can always look at other producers, but you have to factor warehousing and extra shipping charges into your budget. All things to consider for sure!
Marple Press 