There is something intense about the sound of dice rattling in a cup. I believe that Parcheesi and Yahtzee have survived though the ages because of the anticipation and release that comes from rolling the dice from a resonant vessel. Ligretto Dice exploits and amplifies this primal emotion to great effect and, I believe, establishes itself among the aforementioned giants of the game world.
As its name indicates Ligretto Dice is a card game. Just testing. It’s a dice game. And a speed game. It is also a loud game. Imagine Yahtzee played by four people simultaneously, and everyone is racing to be done first.
There are 24 dice, 6 of each color (red, yellow, blue, green). These are evenly drawn from a cloth bag by the players (in a four player game, each player draws six). The object is to be the first to place all of your dice onto a game board that has 24 spaces, each space corresponding to the color and number of each face of the dice. For example: if you roll a green one, then you may place your die on that space. Spaces on each color must be filled sequentially so the green one must be filled by some player before another player can put a die on green two.
And it’s a game of speed so first come, first served. Someone took your spot? Try one of your other dice. Too slow again? Ohhhhh. So sorry. Better get rolling!!
If a player has nothing to play, the player must roll the remaining dice. If the player rolls any of the remaining dice the player must roll ALL of the remaining dice. No saving high numbers for later! The round ends when one player has placed all dice on the board. Each player starts the game with 100 points and points are deducted for each die left over at the end of the round. One point lost for each die. The round winner GAINS one point for each die that was not played.
Ligretto Dice is thunderous with four people. Dice crashing. Tumblers rumbling. Dice skittering across the table. Hands slapping. Hoots of triumph and growls of frustration. Lots of laughter. If there is silence it means someone just broke the bowl of chips in all the excitement. Maybe messy and loud, but always Major Fun.
Ligretto Dice game design by Inka and Markus Brand. © 2010 by Playroom Entertainment.
William Bain, Games Taster