Dice Upon a Time is a game published by Korona Games. The premise of the game is for players to take on the role of characters from Grimms' Tales, such as Rapunzel and Thumbling, which move around the board in an effort to fulfill quests worth adventure points. At the end of six chapters, or rounds, the player with the most adventure points wins.
This post is broken into the following 3 sections, feel free to jump directly to one:
- General summary - consisting of information about overall enjoyment, theme, replayability, and upgrades
- Complexity - consisting of information about the rulebook, setup, player turns, and overall learning curve
- Player turns - consisting of game type, game flow, rule you are likely to miss, and favorite aspect
General Summary
Number of players we had: 4
Our play time (not including setup): 1 hour 45 minutes
Overall enjoyment
Our group enjoyed playing this game. There are several elements that impact the game. Some of these happen in predictable increments, such as chapter events, while others, blocked paths and others, are far less predictable. The fairytale theme is cute and appropriate for any group of players. Dice Upon a Time is simple to learn, but has a surprising amount of strategy and a decent amount of luck involved. Also, this is a low scoring game so do not get frustrated if it takes several chapters to complete your first quest.
If we had to pick something that frustrated us it would be that getting around the board to complete quests can be very challenging. The path sockets fill up quickly and at times it feels like you will never have enough turns to finish quests. However, having a definitive ending to the game keeps players focused and wanting to play again.
Theme
The theme of this game is excellent. It carries across the box, the player board, the back of the player board, all the sets of cards, the custom dice and especially the miniatures included in the deluxe edition. The miniatures are detailed, sturdy and of a consequential size.
Below is an image of the back of the player board!
Replayability
There are many aspects about the game that increase its replayability including:
- There are 9 unique characters players can choose to play.
- Each game uses six of twelve randomly selected event cards. Event cards are revealed at the start of each chapter, impacting only the current chapter, and can greatly impact play.
- During any one game you will likely never use all the quest cards, story cards, or magic cards increasing the uniqueness of each game.
- There is a 2-player variant that lowers the number of dice per socket, meaning the difficulty level of the game remains relatively the same regardless of the number of players.
- Lastly, players simultaneously roll their set of dice at the start of each chapter. The result of their roll is what they have available for use during that chapter. As you can imagine, sometimes you are lucky and roll exactly what you need, while other times you will be scrambling to find plays as your roll was poor.
Upgrades
As mentioned above, the miniatures included in the deluxe version are definitely worth the additional cost. They are very detailed, sturdy and definitely heighten the fairytale theme. During our game we consistently stopped to admire the miniatures as they moved around the board.
Complexity
Rule book
The rule book is well thought out, easy to understand and follows a sequential pattern that is easy for players to learn. There are plenty of images next to explanations making it easy to become familiar with the symbols in the game.
One thing worth mentioning, at the time of printing, the rule book was missing an explanation of one rule. There are quest cards that show two different colored boots which is not explained. Luckily, this is answered on their website - it means two different players must be on the same space for a player to complete a quest of this type.
Setup
Dice Upon a Time is easy to setup and can be accomplished within 10-15 minutes. Each player gets a specific set of color-coded dice, a miniature and character card. There are a few tokens, but not too many, and if everyone helps the setup is accomplished in no time. We usually have people randomly draw two or three character cards and select the character they want to play with from those selected. This speeds up the character selection time while keeping it random.
Turns
Player turns have several steps, each of which goes quickly. On each turn players place a die on a socket to move along that path. Four out of the five player dice have one unique symbol swapped for the number six. When these special sides are rolled, they allow players to draw a magic item card, draw a story card, collect double of a token they are collecting, or prevent other players from taking the same path when played. Die effects are activated once they are played. Next players move their character and activate any location abilities before completing optional quests.
Overall learning curve
The learning curve for this game is fairly low. The rules are easy to understand and play is not overly complicated. However, winning can be much harder than you think. Characters move around the board from one field to another with each die played, except when using Steed fields which left you jump to one of the other Steed locations. This means players really need to be paying attention to where other players may move to be most effective.
Player Turns
Play type
Dice Upon a Time is mostly a symmetrical adventure game where players get to play as characters from Grimm's Tales. Each character has a unique ability or advantage. Some abilities can only be used once per chapter while others are active at all times. As an example, the Musicians of Bremen character allows a player to stack an additional dice in an already full socket - a handy ability indeed!
Game flow
Player turns go quickly and since characters can only move from one field to another each turn, barring other card abilities of course, players are typically freed up to plan their moves while others are taking their turns. Each turn players move their characters, gain applicable dice and field effects, and optionally fulfill quests.
Where players need to be careful is when their character is in close proximity to other characters. This is because die sockets fill up quickly and it is possible to be blocked from an intended path. Luckily, players can use their remaining die in the corner fields which will help them in the next chapter.
Rule you are likely to forget or miss
The quest card with two colored boots missing from the rulebook means players must be in a field with another player to complete their quest.
Also, it can be easy to plan out your moves for a chapter based on the dice you rolled all the while forgetting that other players may place dice with values higher than required by the socket. This can be intentional or by necessity, but either way it might block you from carrying out your original plan. This is why it is always good to have a backup goal in case where you originally planned to go gets blocked.
Favorite aspect
The theme of this game is really fun and we love the miniatures. While the game is easy to learn, a player's ability to get around the board to collect the resources necessary to fulfill quests takes time. Also, other players can greatly impact your game by going for similar resources which fills the die sockets faster. Doubling up on paths and the ability to block paths using the ban die means other players can change your game very quickly. This elevates Dice Upon a Time to a decently strategic game as players cannot plan too far ahead and must constantly reassess and find new ways to move their game forward.
Overall this game is a unique style game that can be lots of fun with the right crowd. While it might not appeal to every player group, it will definitely appeal to anyone looking to have a few laughs and change up their game night with something with a lighter theme that is still quite strategic.
