Dice Miner
Dice Miner Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
In Dice Miner, a sloped mountain board is filled with dice. Players take turns choosing dice from it. Each time the mountain is emptied, players score based on the faces showing on their dice.
The mountain is filled, mined, and scored three times. In each of these rounds, players keep the dice they chose in previous rounds, so each player's trove of dice grows over the course of the game, and their scoring potential increases.
After three mountains have been mined, the player with the most points wins.
Components
- 27 Tunnel Dice
- 10 Hazard Dice
- 7 Tool Dice
- 8 Treasure Dice
- 8 Magic Dice
- 6 Heroes
- Dice Bag
- Dice Cup — included in the Deluxe Edition only.
- Mountain — punchboard in the Standard Edition, molded plastic in the Deluxe Edition.
- Scoring Pad — download more sheets at atlas-games.com/diceminer.
- Rulebook — you're reading it!
- Solo Mode Rules — the rules for solitaire play.
Setup
- Choose the First Starting Player. Each player rolls a tunnel die. The highest roller will go first in the first round. (Count Beer as the best result! Reroll ties.)
- Choose Heroes. Starting with the player to the right of the first starting player and moving counterclockwise around the table, each player chooses a hero and takes its card. (So, the first starting player will choose their hero last.)
- Fill the Mountain. Put all of the dice in the dice bag. Shake it as loudly as you can! Scoop or pour dice onto the mountain, letting them slide into place until there are 20, as shown. Return any extra dice to the bag.
- Start Mining!
Solo Mode
This rulebook tells how to play Dice Miner as a multi-player game, from two to four players. To play the solitaire version, check out the separate solo mode rulesheet.
Gameplay
Dice Miner is played in three rounds. Each round has four phases.
- Excavation Phase
- Magic Phase
- Scoring Phase
- Replenish Phase
1. Excavation Phase
In the Excavation Phase, players take turns picking dice from the mountain.
The starting player goes first. Turns go clockwise around the table.
When it's your turn, choose one die from the mountain. The die you choose must be "on top," which means that no other dice are above it on the mountain (see the diagram).
When you choose a die, it joins your trove — the collection of dice you've chosen — on the table in front of you.
When you choose a die and add it to your trove, leave it on the same face as when you took it. That is, the side that was facing out when it was on the mountain stays the same when you add it to your trove.
The Excavation Phase continues until the mountain is empty.
Sharing Beer
When your turn comes in the Excavation Phase and you have any dice showing Beer in your trove, you have a special option: You may choose another player, roll one of your Beer dice, and give it to that player. While rolling the die, shout out "Cheers!" That player must add the die to their trove with the new result showing.
When you begin a turn by sharing Beer, you may pick two dice from the mountain, one at a time. What's more, each can be chosen from the "side" of the mountain. That is, you can choose a die that has dice stacked above it on one of its two top sides (see the diagram).
Obviously, when a die is picked from the side, the dice above it slide down to fill the hole.
You are not required to choose from the side after sharing Beer. You can also pick one or both of your dice from the top of the pile.
You may only share Beer once per turn.
2. Magic Phase
In the Magic Phase players take turns, clockwise around the table, using their magic dice. The player who would have picked a die next if the mountain had not run out goes first.
When it's your turn, you may pick one of the magic dice in your trove to spend. For each diamond-shaped magic symbol it shows, choose an unspent die in your trove. You may not choose hazard dice. Once you've chosen your dice, reroll them.
Then, repeat this process for each unspent magic die in your trove.
Once you've spent each of your magic dice, or chosen not to spend any more, the next player takes their turn. Once each player has taken their turn, move on to the Scoring Phase.
Important clarifications about magic dice include:
- If you choose to spend a given magic die, you must reroll all the dice it allows.
- You may not use magic dice to reroll other magic dice that you have already spent this round. You may, however, reroll unspent magic dice.
- Spent magic dice stay in your trove, and can be spent again in later rounds.
- Remember: you can never use magic dice to reroll hazard dice.
Heroes
Each hero shows a number of die faces. For example, the Dragon Slayer shows a tool die's shield face and a magic die's one-magic face.
A player uses and scores these hero die faces as though they were physical dice in their trove. The only exceptions are that they are not rerolled between rounds, and they cannot be rerolled with magic dice. So, for example, one-magic faces can be spent for rerolls in the Magic Phase, tunnel faces showing 1 can be scored as the first die in a multi-die sequence in the scoring phase, and so on.
For clarity's sake, each face shown on a hero is used or scored in each of the game's three rounds.
3. Scoring Phase
In the Scoring Phase, write down each player's score for this round.
Each type of die scores differently, with two exceptions: Dice showing Beer don't score. Beer is great in the Excavation phase, but is no help with points. Magic dice don't score either. They help with rerolls in the Magic Phase, but don't give points directly.
Once all players' scores have been recorded, move on to the Replenish Phase.
Tunnel Dice
Tunnel dice score when they form sequences that start with 1. Sequences are worth points equal to the sum of their faces. For example, a player with 1, 2, 3 scores six points (1 + 2 + 3).
Tunnel dice that aren't part of a sequence don't score. For example, a player with 1, 2, 4 scores three points (1 + 2). The 4 scores nothing because it isn't in a sequence.
Sequences that don't start with 1 don't score. For example, a player with 2, 3, 4 scores nothing for those dice. Although they form a sequence, it doesn't start with 1.
A player can score multiple sequences. A player with 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 scores nine points ([1 + 2 + 3] + [1 + 2]).
A single 1 is considered a sequence even though it's only one die. A single 1 is worth one point. A player with 1, 1, 1 scores three points for those dice.
Sequences can't "fork." Say a player has 1, 2, 2, 3. That's worth six points. The 1 can only be part of a single sequence, which means that the second 2 isn't part of a sequence that starts with 1, and so can't score.
Treasure Dice
Treasure dice score one point per gem they show, but the player with the most gems showing doubles their points from treasure. If there's a tie, no one scores double.
For example, if one player has three gems showing and a second player has four, the first player scores three points and the second player scores eight.
Hazard Dice & Tool Dice
Hazard dice generally score one negative point for each cave-in or dragon they show. For example, a player who has two hazard dice, showing one cave-in and four dragons respectively, loses five points.
However, the pickaxe and shield faces on tool dice reverse the scores of particular hazards, making them positive instead of negative. Pickaxes make cave-ins positive and shields make dragons positive.
There are two important rules about how tools counteract hazards:
- A single pickaxe turns all cave-ins in the same trove positive, and a single shield turns all dragons in the same trove positive.
- Multiple pickaxes and/or multiple shields in the same trove have a multiplying effect on the hazards they counteract. For example, a player with two pickaxes and four cave-ins scores eight points (2 × 4).
It's possible for one type of hazard to be counteracted while hazards of the other type in the same trove remain negative. A trove containing two pickaxes, three cave-ins, no shields, and four dragons scores two points overall ([2 × 3] + [–4]).
The chests on tool dice don't score points. They're used in the Replenish Phase to cache dice results.
4. Replenish Phase
The Replenish Phase prepares things for the next round. Do these steps:
- Cache Dice. Each player with tool dice showing chest symbols counts the chests and may choose up to that many dice to cache for the next round.
- Reroll Dice. Each player rerolls all the un-cached dice in their trove.
- Identify a New Starting Player. The player with the fewest total points so far is the new starting player. Break ties randomly.
- Fill the Mountain. Using only the remaining dice (i.e., those still in the bag), scoop or pour dice onto the mountain until it's filled the same way as during setup.
In the third round, the Replenish Phase is skipped.
Victory!
The game ends after the third round's Scoring Phase. The player with the most total points wins!
If there's a tie, the tied players reroll their entire troves, conduct an additional Magic Phase, and add it all up in an additional Scoring Phase to break the tie. Only rerolling players' treasure dice are compared to determine who doubles their gem score in the tiebreaker.
If the game is still tied, the still-tied players continue rerolling their troves until someone wins.
Credits
Game Design: Joshua DeBonis & Nikola Risteski Producer & Developer: Jeff Tidball Cover and Hero Art: Grzegorz Pedrycz Mountain Art: Lil Chan Graphic Design: Brigette Indelicato Mountain Engineering & Production Consulting: Jason Beaudoin Proofreading: Jenae Pedersen Additional Concept Art: Lil Chan and David Szabo Publishers: John & Michelle Nephew
© 2019 Trident, Inc., d/b/a Atlas Games. All rights reserved. Dice Miner is a trademark of Trident, Inc., d/b/a Atlas Games.