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Ra: The Dice Game |
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Availability:
In stock
List Price:
$29.95
Our Price:
$20.95
You Save:
$9.00 (30%)
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Description:
The game spans 1500 years of Egyptian history. Over many dynasties you seek to expand your power and fame by influencing Pharaohs, building monuments, farming on the Nile, and advancing your civilization. All this for the glory of the Sun God Ra!Enjoy the same fun as with Ra, but with dice instead of tiles.
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 | | Ra: The Dice Game Images: | | | | | | | | |  | | Our Rating:
Our Review:
If you are looking for a light but delightful game with a great theme and fun interaction to fill 30 to 45 minutes, then Ra: The Dice Game is a perfect match. Two to four players take turns trying their luck in the domain of Ra, the Egyptian sun god. The rules are simple enough that players ages 10 and up should have no trouble learning it. Game play is fast-paced. Each player in Ra: The Dice Game must decide what to do after each roll of the dice, so analysis paralysis is virtually non-existent, allowing for an interactive and fun atmosphere.
The Egyptian-themed artwork in Ra: The Dice Game is delightful, including five colorful, custom dice with hieroglyphic symbols on them rather than numbers. There are symbols representing the sun (Ra), monuments, civilization, the Nile, Pharaoh, and the Ankh, which acts like a wild. Players take turns rolling five dice, then trying to accumulate enough of one type (including ankhs) to place markers on the game board that will earn points at the end of each “epoch.” If one or two suns are rolled, the piece representing Ra moves towards the end of its track; when it reaches the end, the epoch ends. Some of the markers remain in their positions after each epoch, giving a cumulative scoring effect throughout the game, and some are removed after each epoch. The game ends after three epochs, after which all points are tallied and the winner is declared.
Ra: The Dice Game has a similar flavor to the classic game Yahtzee: each turn consists of rolling a set of dice up to three times, keeping the dice you want, and re-rolling the rest. It has a light, fast-paced flow. But the similarity ends there. Ra: The Dice Game is a much deeper, more interesting game with multiple paths to victory, whereas in Yahtzee, after you zero in your first item on your score sheet, you might as well give up the whole game as a loss.
Our only complaint with Ra: The Dice Game is that the English translation of the rules could have been a little clearer. Specifically, there were two issues that took us a while to resolve. The clarified rules are described in detail below (these will only make sense after you have read the rest of the rules, so feel free to use this page as a reference).
We give Ra: The Dice Game our highest recommendation. It is a sure winner as a fast-paced, light game with interesting strategy. You will find yourself coming back to play it again and again.
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Here is an explanation of the rules we felt could use clarification:
(1) When a players rolls 4 or 5 suns, it is our belief that the player not only gets to call a "disaster," but also earns 3 points on the scoring track. This was not clear in the rules.
(2) For some reason, the rules about the Nile track were very hard for us to understand in the way they were written. Here is what we finally deciphered after playing the game:
(a) Each player will have markers on one and only one square of the Nile track.
(b) Each player starts with one marker, and may add a second on the same square as the first when he "floods" the Nile. From that point, both markers move together.
(c) Each square on the Nile track has a number on it, indicating how many points are scored at the end of an epoch, for the players that have two markers (flooded) on that square.
(d) At the end of each epoch, every players' second (flooded) markers are removed, but the other marker stays in its same position. Thus, progress along the Nile is cumulative, but flooding must occur during each epoch in order to score any points.
(e) If a "Nile disaster" occurs, then all players (except the player whose turn it is) who have two markers (because they previously flooded during that turn) on the Nile track remove their second marker. They are no longer flooded. If they were not flooded, then their single marker moves backwards two spaces along the Nile track instead.
Aside from these few points of confusion in the rules, Ra: The Dice Game is a rare masterpiece of a game that fits its audience very well. We highly recommend it!
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User Reviews:
| Great Review!
On the strength of this review, I ordered the game and it came in last week. Now to figure out the game and test it on my wife. The clarification here is printed out in anticipation of reading the rules tonight!
Ra, Ra, Ra!
by Sabryin (May 31 2011)
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Rate Ra: The Dice Game by Rio Grande Games:
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