Preview: Asteroid Dice

The first d20 that whizzed past you really got you thinking. What game are we playing? Is that D8 going to hit me right in the chest next time? Snapping out of you you reach down grab the D20 and launch it right back at your opponent. I want to mention right now that these are foam dice that are part of Asteroid Dice by Camden Games. Right now you can get in on their Kickstarter for less than 20 GBP or around 25 USD.

What is Asteroid Dice? Well its not quite a dexterity game and its not quite a card game but it is a lot of fun. This is a 2-5 player game where players each have a deck of 7 cards with a picture of each of the 5 different dice on them. Players will recognize them as the base roll playing dice D20, D12, D10, D8, and the wholesome D6. There are also 2 other card that player will have in their decks. All the player decks are exactly the same.

To setup Asteroid Dice players put the 5 foam dice in the middle of the board and each player takes a deck of 7 cards. Now as long as all the players are within arms reach of the dice the game is set to be played. Each player chooses a card from the 7 to play and places it face down in front of them. When all players are ready the cards are flipped over simultaneously. If a players card does NOT match another card that was flipped then they can take the corresponding die.

When a players card matched one or more other players cards then its time to brawl. Players race to grab the die that was on the card and then throw it at the other players who matched. Now these are foam dice but please be safe and don't throw them at faces or any other objects, pets, babies or nearby bystanders. The last player that didn't get hit is the winner of the brawl. Now that player gets the cards from the other players that brawled and adds it to their score pile. They also get to hold on to that die.

...be safe and don't throw them at faces or any other objects, pets, babies or nearby bystanders.

After all the excitement of brawling is over then players will choose their dice in the following order players that were unmatched cards and brawl winners, Special cards, and then the brawl losers. Players will then roll the dice in order of die with the most sides(d20) to the die with the least(Wholesome D6). When a player rolls a die they are encouraged to knock the other players dice to lower their scores if they can. If you knock dice onto the floor play it where it lies. The winner gets all the cards (except the ones that got scored during the brawl)

Losteroid is the most fearsome card in the galaxy.

There are 2 cards in each deck that we haven't explained yet. There is the "Losteroid" an the "I Can't Decide" cards in each deck. The I Can't decide cards are wild cards basically. After each unmatched player and brawl winner chooses a die then the player who played Ican't Decide gets to choose from whats left. At the very end of the dice rolling phase if a player played the I Can't Decide card then they can take a free re-roll. The next card Losteroid is the most fearsome card in the galaxy. At the beginning of dice rolling phase a player who played Losteroid will call out a number and if that number is rolled (at any time even if it happens when a die gets knocked) then all the cards in play are discarded and the round is over but then the player who played the losteroid card puts that card into another players score pile.

Scoring to win is easy, players just add up all the points in their score pile. However, if a player has a losteroid then it cancles out the highest value card. If a player is impressive enough to have gotten more than one they take the next highest point off and so on until the player has no more losteroids.

Asteroid Dice is a fun fast game where you get to throw foam dice at each other. You can also take these large foam dice to your next RPG session (this way no one gets hurt). Asteroid Dice reminded me of playing spoons when I was young but with a lot less injuries. Camden Games is running its Kickstarter right now so check it out. I also received some of the lava edition dice (the black ones) these are available in the Kickstarter edition not the lower level Arcade edition. The dice are fun to throw and they will be bouncing all over your game room soon!

Players: 2-5

Year Published: 2023

Recommended Ages: 8+

Time to Play: 15-30 minutes

A pre-production copy of Asteroid Dice was provided to Bert's Tabletop Games for review purposes by Camden Games. The game may change from what is depicted here.