Being a bit of a board gamer, these instantly appealed to me funnily enough! I did have my reservations at first though. A friend of mine at school used to use a ‘random’ number generator on his calculator (quite cutting edge 30+ years ago!) for the games we played and I was never entirely convinced as to the actual randomness of it, especially as he never seemed to really suffer that badly in-game when using it…
However, with GoDice I’m actually rolling dice and all there is to complain about is the fickle fortune of fate! They feel surprisingly like real dice and make a good sound when they hit the table-top. I couldn’t see any bias in results either, suggesting the internal workings are equally distributed so you shouldn’t have any ‘weighted’ dice. The carry case is slim and fits easily in to your pocket and is battery powered but each dice only takes about 12 seconds to charge for about 2 hours-worth of use. There is a free app which currently comes with 14 free games for you to enjoy with your friends including Ludo, Backgammon and Yatzy! (I’m guessing no licence agreement with MB here!).
You also get a device stand in the box so you can all see the game you’re playing (as well as the dice results on-screen for those unable to see the actual dice themselves – no cheating!) and a nice little velvet bag for either mixing up dice or keeping your carry case safe from scratches and damage. My only real grumble is the lack of actual games so far. With only 14 to choose from, the novelty could wear off in a short period of time but, as this is a relatively new product, we can only hope the library expands some in the future. RRP £119.95
- Easier to transport than a gameboard
- ‘Cocked’ dice are a thing of the past, just accept the result on the screen!
- Potential to play games using real dice over vast distances
- Battery charge seems to be quite variable for each die
- Limited game library
