Game review 86: Dice Flick
A brilliantly brainless tabletop game if you’ve finished work and want to find a way to while away 20 minutes with the kids
We return to a well-worn theme at The Generations Games: flicking.
You read that right. The higher echelon of the charts at tabletop cyber-bible Board Game Geek are littered with Eurogames denser than the black hole at the centre of Messier 87, with nary a dexterity plaything in sight. Indeed, the ancient Crokinole is first to appear at number 46, and is the only one seen for miles at the top of those charts.
Which is strange as the family market is littered with uber-playable, sometimes innovative titles that deserve critical exposure. How to explain why the format is so overlooked by hobbyists? Are we out of touch, or is it the kids who are right?
Well, perhaps the type of people best able to input masses of data into BGG’s vaults are not best represented via stressed-out parents building all the energy for the school run in between swift, short-burst, easy-to-explain analogue games in an attempt to keep the kids off the screens for approximately 3.745 seconds. And that’s a shame if that sphere is being neglected, because there’s fun in the lightweight arena to be had across all ability groups.
But that’s literally not how we roll here. Seriously, put down Twilight Imperium from the table for a moment – you aren’t going to finish that game session you started with Baz and Strange Phil in 2022. Maybe you can instead go back to eating your dinner off that surface again after having a good go on Dice Flick.
That’s a game name that – albeit when spotted out of the corner of an eye looks potentially rather rude written on the box – holds few surprises for its contents. Points are accrued by players via skill in the preciseness of the player’s flick to form dice clusters of the same colour (the minimum is three) in adjacent slots; tactics in knowing when to play pink ‘blaster’ dice that always score six and obliterates entire rows, leaving your opponents’ opportunities in ruins; and sheer dumb luck in what number the upturned side falls on.
Players always have three dice in their hand at the start of their round to flick from one of four ledges placed on each side of the box, but can only play two.
Special spots on the board include the centrepiece, landing on which counts double, and a +1 space, which means you get to pick another dice out of the bag to play. This goes on until all players have played ten rounds, with the most points scored the winner.
The downsides and upsides of Dice Flick largely depend on who’s playing: the elevated position of the flicking surface can create frustration - you can spend a long time sizing a shot up only for the hand to spasm at the critical moment due to being in an unnatural position, causing the dice to shoot halfway across the surface. But some people may see that as an added skill to master. Due to having to build up groups, a few rounds may go scoreless. Again, frustrating to some, but it’s also a good way to build patience, particularly with kids, who may be able to capitalise on a grown-up’s mistake, having strategically built up a potential scoring combination over several rounds, only to mess up, allowing the next player a go at finishing their hard-earned connection and collecting the ensuing points instead.
It may not require much in the way of thinking, but we have a blast playing this. Games can be tight due to the luck factor, it’s easy to always feel like you’re ‘in’ the game with a chance of winning, even for beginners, we have personal best scores to attempt to beat, playthroughs are quick, the board is compact, and there’s a real sense of earned satisfaction in skilfully achieving a score, no matter if it doesn’t score highly.
It’s simplicity also appears to be an easy sell: we’ve managed to rope in several non-gamers to have a go, who have enjoyed it probably more so than any other title in our collection.
Game facts and stats
Ages
6+
Year published
2021
Publisher
Pegasus Spiele
Designer
Rami Gaber
Game art
Christian Fiore
Player count
2–4
E’s review
What do you like best about the game?
“I really like. It’s a really ingenious idea. I do like that the game is the box so it doesn’t waste space.”
Is it tricky?
“If it was a percentage it would be about 40% tricky.”
9/10
My review
Set-up time
A couple of minutes
Cost
Retails for £20, look to get a copy for between £10–£16 on sale though. As the box is incorporated, ensure it’s in good nick if you get second hand.
Practicality
Comes straight out of the box and has its own pad and paper so no need to forage for those before play.
Fun for parents?
Brilliant, brainless fun if you’ve finished work and want to find a way to while away 20 minutes with the kids. You’ll even be helping them improve their hand-eye co-ordination. It’s a game we’ve played again and again, and will continue to do so.
