I’m part of the Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club and recently I was gifted the game ‘Dice Academy‘ in exchange for an honest review. In case you’re not aware, Asmodee UK is an established distributor of games, collectables and toys – both domestically and across Europe.
When the opportunity came about to be part of the Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club (organised by Playtime PR) I jumped at the chance! I was given the chance to select board games from a huge list they supplied me with and then fingers crossed I would get my choices sent to me. Guess what, I did! 
So far I have received ‘Hey, That’s My Fish!‘ (Click here to read the review) , Ticket to Ride – Europe (Click here to read the review) , Jungle Speed (Click here to read the review) and now Dice Academy. The other game I received which I will be reviewing next is Set.
The description for the Dice Academy game from the BlueOrange games website is as follows:
‘Be the first player to match each theme to a word which starts with the letters you’re given! Rolls of the dice will come thick and fast as players’ minds run riot and words fire out!’
The rules are really simple and the game is so easy to play! To be honest it is so refreshing that the game is so simple to get to grips with and once you have explained to your child how to play you will be all set for loads of fast talking fun!
In the images below you can see the rules but if you would like a closer look, or have purchased the game and lost the rules – click here to see the PDF copy of the rules.
Basically the idea of the game is that you first of all decide how many points you need to win the game. This dictates whether you are having a long or short game of Dice Academy (10 points equals a fast game, 20 points equals a small challenge and 30 points equals a normal competitive game).
Then you decide who will roll the dice and you take it in turns on each game. The chosen person then rolls all 10 coloured dice onto the table starting with the 5 theme dice. You then need to make sure you all know what the themed dice represent (using the rule booklet if needed) and once you’ve done that they then roll all 5 letter dice and the game starts.
Once game play has commenced, as quickly as possible, each player will now attempt to pair together as many dice as they can, by taking the ‘letter’ on one dice of a particular colour and pairing it with a ‘themes’ dice of a different colour. As soon as a player comes up with a word which starts with one of the rolled letters, and which also corresponds with one of the rolled themes of a different colour to the letter dice, they must declare it in a loud voice. They then take the two corresponding dice they have ‘used’ and place these in front of them.
If a player makes a mistake when calling a match (with the spelling, or if the dice are of the same colour), both dice are put back in the center of the table and that player will be excluded from the game until the next round. You then continue playing until there are no more possible pairs or no one is able to come up with a pair. For every pair found, a player gains 1 point. The round is then over and a new one can begin. If you one player has got to the ‘winning’ number of points then the game is over and they are declared the winner – but if not, the game continues.
So, as an example of game play – if you rolled the dice you may end up with the following…….
Letter K – Red
Letter B -Blue
Letter U – Green
Letter L – Pink
Letter L – Yellow
Theme dice 1 = Tree shape design showing on the top of the dice – Blue (This theme is tree or plant)
Theme dice 2 = Fruit designs showing on the top of the dice – Pink (This theme is fruit or vegetable)
Theme dice 3 = Music symbols showing on the top of the dice – Red (This theme is song or music)
Theme dice 4 = A rectangle design showing on the top of the dice – Green (This theme is something rectangular)
Theme dice 5 = The face of a lady showing on the top of the dice – Yellow (This theme is female first name)
So some examples of answers you could call out are as follows :-
Pink Letter Dice L with Blue Themed Tree or Plant Dice = Leylandi
Green Letter Dice U with Red Themed Music or Song Dice = Umbrella (by Rihanna)
Yellow Letter Dice L with Green Themed Something Rectangular Dice = Letterbox
Blue Letter Dice B with Yellow Themed Face Of A Lady Dice = Beatrice
Red Letter Dice K with Pink Themed Fruit or Vegetable Dice = Kiwi
It’s a really fun game to play and it really makes you think! I love that it packs away into a really small box as that makes it perfect for taking away with you on holidays etc. Plus, you could even play it in the car on a long journey if you just shuffle the dice around in the box – rather than rolling them properly.
My daughter has played this game with me and with her nanny and we have both enjoyed playing the game with her. It’s definitely worth its price tag of £8.79 from Magic Madhouse. (Order here >> www.magicmadhouse.co.uk/dice-academy-p302527/s487970. Please note the price does vary from retailer to retailer)
I would like to say a big thank you to Asmodee for kindly gifting us this copy of Dice Academy to review on my blog as part of their Asmodee UK Blogger Board Game Club.
