Dice Run
Dice Run Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Object
To gain the most points over four stages of a race.
Points are won by moving dice into the leading group and matching your Secret Target Card with those dice.
Components
- 30 dice in 5 different colours
- 110 cards (30 "Secret Target", 4 "stage", 76 "movement")
- A rules booklet
The Cards
Secret Target Cards
These 30 cards show a coloured die with a value. These cards are also used to keep track of the score.
Stage Cards
These 4 cards show a cup with a value (3, 4, 5 and 6) on the front. The back is very similar to the movement cards, but has a small checkered flag.
Movement Cards
The 76 Movement Cards are composed of nine different types. These types are described later in the rules.
Game Setup
- Roll the dice and place them all together on one side of the table.
- Take the 30 Secret Target Cards, shuffle them and deal 4 to each player. The remaining Secret Target Cards should be placed face down on the table. During the game these cards will be used to keep track of the points scored by players.
- Shuffle the 76 Movement Cards, deal 3 to each player, then cut the deck into 5 separate packs of similar, but not equal, size. Place the 3 points Stage Card on top of the second pack, the 4 points on the third, the 5 points on the fourth and the 6 points on the fifth as shown on the picture. Now take the first pack and place it on top of the second one. Then place this newly formed pack on top of the third one and so on in order to have a single deck of Movement Cards with four Stage Cards placed in between.
- To decide on the sequence of play, each player selects two dice from the group, rolls them and then places them back in the group. The player who rolled the highest total score begins the game. In case of a draw you must re-roll.
- Play then proceeds with each player taking turns in a clockwise order.
How to Play the Game
When the game begins, there is a single group of dice called the Start Group (see example Gentlemen, start your dice! on page 30). Over time, more groups will form ahead of this Start Group. The group that is furthest forward is known as the Leading Group.
The dice represent a group of "racers", each identified by a colour and a number. While the number of dice of a specific colour is always the same (6), the numbers are randomly determined at the beginning of the game. The numbers can also change during the game.
In most cases, playing a card will mean that some of the dice move. Dice normally move forwards but there are exceptions. Movement of dice is always started in the leading group and works backwards, tackling each group in order. If one or more dice move forward from a group, they join the next group ahead. If one or more dice leave the Leading Group, a new Leading Group is formed.
There is no significant distance between the groups so any group emptied completely causes the following group to close up in the race order.
The game is divided into 4 stages. A stage ends when a Stage Card is revealed from the Movement Card pack.
At the end of every stage, players score Stage Points, and the player with the most total Stage Points at the end of the fourth stage is the winner.
During his turn a player must:
- Play one card from his hand.
- Take an action (depending on the card played).
- Draw a replacement card from the Movement Card Deck (see the exception described later).
NB A player can play only one of his Secret Target Cards during any one stage.
Examples of Play
No. 1: The player laid a "move all the blue dice" card. All the blue dice move "forward", forming a new group that's now leading the race. In the game there is always a leading group, followed by a variable number of groups.
No. 2: The next player plays the "move all the 6s" card. The movement of the dice always start from the leading group so the player moves forward the single 6 in the leading group, then he moves all the 6s in the second (and in this case last) group. The race is now lead by a single blue 6 followed by two groups.
No. 3: the next player plays another "move all the 6's" card. The leading blue 6 can't move further, so the 6s in the second group join it.
No. 4: as said, there is no significant distance between the groups so any group emptied completely causes the following group to close up in the race order. This example clarifies the rule. The player in turn plays (again!) a "move all the 6s" card. There are no 6s in the leading group but the second group is composed only by 6s which move forward altogether reaching the leading group. In this way the group they moved from disappears and the 6s in what was the third group move forward reaching the leading group as well. To complete the turn, the only 6 in the last group can now advance to the second group.
The Movement Cards
There are 9 different types of Movement Cards. Each one allows the player to take a different action.
- Colour: all the dice matching the colour move forward.
- Number: all the dice matching the number move forward.
- Choice: the player can choose a number or a colour and then move all the relevant dice.
- Switch: switch the position of two entire neighbouring groups of dice but not the leading one.
- Sprint: choose any 3 dice in the leading group and move them forward to form a new leading group. You may not move fewer than 3 dice, so the leading group must contain at least 4 dice.
- Comeback: all the dice in the last group make a comeback, reaching second position in the race. Place all the dice in the rearmost group between the leading group and the second group.
- Flip: choose one group and a number. Flip all the dice in that group that match the number so that now they show the opposite value (e.g.: 6s become 1s). Don't forget: opposite numbers always total 7, so you can easily decide which is the best choice for you!
- Outdistance: place this card between any two groups of dice. It will stay in place as a virtual group until one or more dice are placed on the card, through movement, at which point the card is removed. The effect is to create greater distance between two groups.
- Accident: choose one single die in the leading group and move it back to the last group.
Special Moves
Secret Target Cards
In their turn, the player can choose to play one of their Secret Target Cards instead of a Movement Card. Playing a Secret Target Card allows moving all the dice matching the number and the colour shown on card.
Play of this card is the equivalent of two separate moves. The player can choose to perform them in the desired order (first the colour matching dice and then the number matching dice, or vice versa). The card is placed face up in front of the player who will end his turn without drawing a card from the deck (the maximum number of Movement Cards allowed in a hand is always 3). This card reveals the player's Secret Target for the current stage. A player can play only one Secret Target Card during any single stage.
Re-roll
During his turn, the player can choose to re-roll all the dice in a single group with the exception of the leading group. To perform this special move the player must play any Movement Card from his hand face down in front of him, then he can choose a group and re-roll ALL the dice, then returning them in their original position. The player then draws another card from the deck.
The card played face down in front of the player indicates which player was the last one to have chosen this special action.
A player can't choose to re-roll again until someone else uses this special action. When this happens, the card in front of the player who last used the rule is discarded (allowing them to use this special action again), while the player who just used the re-roll must keep his Movement Card face down in front of him.
End of a Stage
A stage ends when the stage card is revealed from the Movement Deck. This card is placed aside face up and the players now score Stage Points, before the race continues.
Scoring
At the end of any stage, all the players must choose one of their Secret Target Cards. All the chosen cards are revealed simultaneously.
If a player has previously played a Secret Target Card to use a special move, he may not choose a different Secret Target Card for this stage.
To determine the winner of the stage, the players count 1 point for every dice in the leading group matching the colour of their Secret Target Card and 1 point for every dice matching the number. A dice matching both the colour and the number is also worth 1 bonus point (so 3 points instead of just 2 - one for the colour and one for the number).
The player with most points takes the Stage Card and scores as many points as the number shown on the card (that is 3 points after the first stage, 4 after the second one and so on), the 2nd players score 2 points and the 3rd player scores 1 point. Note that the Stage Points for the 2nd and 3rd players are always the same, no matter the value of the stage).
In case of a tie, the tied players check the second group of dice to determine their position. If the tie persists, players check the third group, the fourth and so on until the tie is broken. In the extreme case where the tie can't be broken, the player closer (clockwise) to the player who drew the last card prevails.
To keep track of the Stage Points the players can use the unused or played Secret Target Cards. These cards show a 1 on their back.
The Race Goes On
After the end of a stage, the race goes on without changing the position of the dice groups. After the 4th stage, the game ends.
End of the Game
Players score the final Stage Points and the winner is the player with the highest total score in Stage Points. In case of a tie, the winner is the one with the highest value "stage" card.