Space Cadets: Dice Duel review

Stronghold Games | Co-op dice | £39.99 | 4-8 players | 30 minutes | www.strongholdgames.com 

Imagine in Star Trek if Picard couldn’t shoot the Klingons because Warf wasn’t able to roll the right dice to shoot the photon torpedoes or perhaps Picard’s desperately pleading with Data to move towards the enemy but Geordie La Forge keeps fluffing his rolls. Well, imagine no longer because Space Cadets: Dice Duel is exactly that game and it’s a blast that involves shouting, more shouting and then a little bit of shouting on top.

The players are split into teams with each taking control of a starship and then they’re all assigned roles within that ship (very similar to the original Space Cadets). One player will be the captain trying to control the madness, while others work in engineering (needed to power other stations), helm (movement), weapons, sensors (used to jam the enemy or target their ship), shields and tractor beams (grab the other ships, mines and crystals). Crystals are important because they give your ship special powers.

Each player is then given a set of dice specific to their role and then it’s pretty much a race to roll the right amount of dice to perform one of the functions listed above. For example, as the enemy ship approaches the missiles may be locked and ready to fire but the person rolling the sensors just can’t get that final roll. Meanwhile the enemy has just got their sensors sorted but is waiting for the missiles.

Every time you take damage you lose an engineering die and, because engineering is used to power the other parts of the ship, it becomes more difficult to get the dice you need. Generally though it’s a ridiculously frantic game because everything takes place in real-time with each team furiously rolling their dice. The only time the action pauses is when someone shouts ‘fire’, which adds a dramatic halt to proceedings to see if it hits. 

Towards the end of the game that shout of ‘fire’ can be a crushing blow… particularly if you were about to fire instead. Space Cadets: Dice Duel is mayhem in a box that’s great as an ice breaker… just don’t play while the kids are in bed. ‘FIRE!’

Buy your copy here.

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