We are several leagues under the sea. Nothing can be seen with the naked eye, but fortunately we still have our sonar up and running. We’ve managed to take or avoid a few torpedo hits, but a few more and our systems will fail. Time to strike back and fire everything at our opponent. Fire everything! In Torpedo Dice, you will use dice as torpedoes to destroy your opponent’s submarine. Will your opponent’s submarine end up at the bottom of the ocean or will you sleep with the fishes?
During the game, the active player rolls the available dice. The dice do not indicate values, but a number of shots on a 3 by 3 grid. You may mark these shots on your laminated scoreboard which, in addition to your own cockpit, displays your opponent’s submarine. Each eye on the die is a shot on the grid that you will draw as the impact of your torpedos on the scoreboard to sink your opponent’s submarine forever. Be careful though, only a few circles on the scoreboard count as a hit shot. You must draw all available points and a miss will effectively result in a penalty point, requiring you to use an extra torpedo. If your reserve runs out, you lose the game.
However, you can use special systems of your submarine to manipulate the throw. These systems can also be disabled. If your opponent manages to hit all critical points of a particular system, this system is disabled. If a player has disabled all of his or her opponent’s critical systems, then that player wins the game.
Torpedo Dice is a simple roll & write. The game element of not using the value of the dice, but the position of the dice’s eyes feels unique, but at the same time, especially at the beginning, confusing. After all, you always have to think in the 3 by 3 grid and as a result, sometimes a little more time goes into this. The use of the systems provides a way for players to mitigate luck. Torpedo Dice is otherwise a very simple game with little fuss, but therefore perhaps less replayability. For frequent players it may be less interesting, but it is a fun way oor younger players to encourage the development of spatial understanding.
