Tumblin' Dice (2017 Edition) Review

Back when I ran a brick-and-mortar game shop, we did Friday Night Magic and usually had anywhere from 30-50 people for it. One Friday night, while the Magic games were in full swing, I thought I'd pull out this Tumblin' Dice game that Atlanta gaming legend Frank Branham had left in the store the night before. Within 30 minutes, Magic games were abandoned and I had an actual queue of people wanting to take a shot at the game. Folks were getting dice out of our random dice jar on the counter, standing in line. The game was a smash sensation, and Friday Night Magic wound up more or less postponed so everyone could play this ridiculous thing.

It's a large, wooden game that consists of a small platform with larger stepped platforms descending from it, some scoring marks on each level, and three target areas at the bottom bracketed by some bumpers. The idea is that you throw, roll, flick or slide a standard six-sided die from that platform and watch it bump, roll, and of course tumble down the tiers to see where it lands. You get points equal to the die's face up value multiplied by where it is on the board. The further down you make it, the higher the multiplier. However, points aren't counted until everyone playing shoots four dice.

So this means, naturally, that other players may target your dice. If you've got a six on the x3 tier or you've managed to make it to one of the small and harder to get x4 levels, you can expect every other player to be gunning for your 18 or 24 pointer. They may manage to knock it to a lower value or off the board completely- that's a legitimate play. One all four dice from every player is on the board (or off, as the case may be), you total it all up. Maybe play best of three rounds since it's a short game? Or even best of five?

Tumblin' Dice is one of the best dexterity games I have ever played; there is purity in its concept and design that make it feel like a timeless classic. It's immensely satisfying, tactile, and full of hilarious moments and stunning upsets. It doesn't muck things up with any kind of gamer-ly nonsense like cards or special abilities or anything like that- there is no attempt to apply a strategic or thematic layer to the game outside of hit the guy in the lead. It's profoundly silly, capricious and it may be the single best example of a game where technically you roll dice and the highest roll wins.

It's a big wooden board on to which you throw dice. This is a good thing.

That said, this is clearly not a game for the odds calculators and min-maxers. It is one hundred percent a fun first parlor game, not a hobby board game. It is imminently accessible and will appeal to quite literally anyone young or old, male or female, and at any level of experience with games. It's almost hard to believe that the game isn't a household name and available for play in any given pub, and I think in fact that if it had been published in the 1960s or 1970s under the auspices of Parker Brothers or another major manufacturer then it would be regarded as a mainstream classic.

But if that were the case, the game would probably be made out of plastic and so far, Tumblin' Dice has been a wooden game. Eagle-Gryphon's 2017 edition is unfortunately not the best example of the game I have seen to date. It is made from a laminated MDF and comes unassembled- you've got to put the tiers together and some legs onto it. It isn't hard to put together and there aren't any defects or issues (at least with my set), but it also more or less requires that you superglue it together or figure out some other way to keep it permanently together and stable. It doesn't fit back into the box and if you live in a household like mine were games are not accepted as pieces of furniture or room decor then this could be a problem. It is also stultifying ugly, the wood laminated in a couple of shades of soft, hospital-like blue and terrible fonts.

Past versions of the game have featured natural wood grain finishes, integrated scoreboards, and boxes big enough to hold the assembled board. Sadly, these perks are not part of this release which is also quite expensive for what it is. Enterprising enthusiasts might do well to use this version as a template to build their own or paint it so that it doesn't look so dreary and un-fun. Tumblin' Dice is definitely an expensive game and the pricetag and production may give some potential buyers pause, but as far as big dexterity games go it's among the very best and if you are looking for a game with huge appeal for friends, families and strangers then you can't go wrong with it regardless of its production shortcomings.