Dice Wars

By: Derek Yu

On: December 4th, 2006

I’m not sure that I grasped all the finer strategical points to this game, but I was definitely having fun playing, probably due to the clean, colorful “boardgame-style” graphics and simple controls. And now I hear there’s a multiplayer version called KDice that lets you play against real people. Word.

(Source: Sensible Erection [NSFW])

Posted in Browser Games, Highly Recommended, Multiplayer, Strategy

Master Mark

What an amazing game.

An absolutely simple rule set, with a very large possibility space.

I will definitely play this again.
Pragma

This is such a fun, and simple game. It’s also a great example of how to use familiar gaming objects in a way that would otherwise be impractical in real life.

I’ve learned that the finesse of DiceWars is all about knowing the average roll for a given set of dice. Also knowing that the defender wins on a tie, skews the chances in their favor more for small scale matches than large ones.

For example, I find that I loose more 2d vs 2d matches thanks to a smaller set of possible outcomes, since there’s a higher chance of a tie. Also in the larger matches (7v7 and 8v8), an offset of one die (7v8) seems to have a lower risk than the smaller matches.
Derek

Nice! Any idea how dice acquisition works? i.e. how many dice you get per round and how they’re distributed?
http://www.joy90.co.uk Moschops

The number of dice you get back appears to be related in some way to the number or territories you occupy, but there’s something else to it I’ve not yet figured. As for where they go, I can’t spot a pattern except they only ever seem to go where you don’t need them .. ho hum.

I did manage to beat it. I may be a bad loser, but I’m sure the computer cheats on some of it’s dice rolls, it’s too lucky for it’s own good :p
Tim W.

At the end of each turn the number of new dice randomly distributed is based on the largest number connected territories for that player. Smaller territories do not contribute armies to this number.
ryan

this has suddenly turned into my new obsession. AND I FUCKING HATE THOSE DARK GREEN GUYS (oh god, whoops!)

My main improvement (minor, I know) is letting an enemy lurk behind in favor or going after them with a large stack of dice and getting trabbed in a territority with only one (blocked off) adjoining route. wheeee
steve

This game honestly doesn’t have that much strategic depth. By trying to keep my territories lumped together so they can’t be split and just attacking whatever looks takeable I won the first time I played.
http://www.totaldiplomacy.com Risk Strategies

Dice Wars is very similar to Risk. I am amazed how you can map the strategies used in Risk to Dice Wars and easily succeed in winning. I wish it had the ability for dice placement and movement (similar to fortification in Risk) so that you can play a bit more strategically.

Nevertheless, the game is certainly addictive. I have huge interest in Risk and its variations, so naturally I recommend this game to anyone. If you want to know more about the potential strategies you can use for this game, get hold of a book called Total Diplomacy: The Art of Winning Risk or check http://www.totaldiplomacy.com It has guides on risk strategies.

[Declaration: I am the author of the book and the website]