Swipe It, Swipe It Good

Day 61 - Swipe
Designed by Garrett J. Donner, Wendy L. Harris, and Michael S. Steer

This little dice game is made for 2 to 6 players although it really doesn't play as well with 2 (probably the best with 5 or 6 players). The game is nice because it all comes nicely packaged in the little blue parallelogram as seen in the picture (great for travel; take and play anywhere). The components (10 dice and 50 chips) are nice enough for the price and game. The play of the game is completely determined by what a player rolls with his dice (and he can't change any of his dice) and doesn't really leave any skill left to the game. Actions include taking chip(s) or dice from the middle or from other players. The winner is the one with the most chips after the chips from the center have been exhausted. The game just doesn't have any substance to it. It could be a nice mindless game to play with friends while doing something else (like chatting or playing a different game). Not the greatest dice game on the market (but you do get to roll dice and get chips) and that is How Lou Sees It.

Its getting a bit dicey, set phase-rs to kill!

Day 21 - Phase 10 Dice
Designed by Garrett J. Donner and Michael S. Steer

Two days of Phase 10 back to back. I am borrowing the Phase 10 games, and would like to return them this weekend, and I thought it would be nice to review these games close together for comparison purposes. I love dice. I have a little collection of them, and I love dice games. There is something about rolling these little cubes that brings joy to the soul. Phase 10 Dice is not a bad dice game, but I personally like the card game better. I feel that the dice game has a bit of a flaw with regards to its scoring system, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Phase 10 Dice comes with 10 dice (surprise surprise), a scoring pad, and instructions. Basically Phase 10 Dice is similar to a sequential Yahtzee in a lot of ways. You can roll the dice three times, choosing to keep certain dice out of the roll (bringing them back in if you desire the next roll) trying to complete the phase you are currently one. There are 6 dice with numbers 5,6,7,8,9,and 10 on them, and the other 4 dice have 1,2,3,4, and W (wild). I feel that this is where the dice game has one of its flaws as well. It just doesn't carry over as well from the card game because you are limited on the numbers available to you. This does give the game a different perspective in its own right, because you have to plan ahead with what dice you are given. Each player scores points with the dice that make up the required phase (example; playing 2 sets of 3, you would only score 6 die). Points are equal to the number with wilds being zero points. So, wilds can help you progress to the next phase, but will lower your score. Again, I don't particularly like the scoring with the limited dice, but the game is a fun quick dice game.

The Wife successfully won tonight's Phase 10 game as well. Looks like I have some catching up to do on the scoreboard. And as a friend so nicely pointed out, it looks like Sauron is the only one with a winning record. Hopefully we can change that soon enough and that is How Lou Sees It.