Matthew BaileyOne thing that regularly gets asked here on “Little Board Gamers” is to recommend games that can be taken to places such as restaurants or on public transport to keep kids occupied. Now, roll-and-write games are normally my go-to for this, as they usually scale really well and can be played with a wide range of players. Equally, they normally take up relatively little space. But some feel more appropriate for use in those kinds of environments than others, usually due to their simplicity and ease of play, even while managing kids and potentially coming back to them between courses.
“My Shelfie: The Dice Game” is a roll-and-write version of My Shelfie, the game I reviewed about two years ago and really enjoyed as a kind of modern “Connect 4”-type game.
“My Shelfie: The Dice Game” is actually quite different but captures the general feeling of the original game and comes in a really nice, small package, making it perfect for travel and playing in varied settings.
Every player starts with the same 5×5 Kallax-style shelves, organised in rows of different colours and point values ranging from 1 to 8.
There’s also a strong push-your-luck element, which is a mechanic I always find appealing. On your turn, you roll six dice that match the colours of the shelves (plus a wildcard). You can then re-roll as many dice as you want up to two more times to get your final result. Essentially, what you’re trying to do is match numbers of shelves. For example, if your final roll results in three greens, two yellows, and one red, you can then mark out the third green column, the second yellow column, and the first red column.
You can split these rolls up as you like, or even ignore some results entirely.
The catch is that if you cannot circle at least one Kallax shelf, you have to cross out and forfeit the rest of an entire row. Equally, if one player manages to circle all five spaces in a single row, all other players must cross out any unmarked spaces in the corresponding row on their own grid.
The final round begins once one player has two rows completely crossed out or filled in.
Scoring is calculated by adding up all the circled values, both vertically and horizontally. (which is a bit unusual, but whatever) This gives you your final score.
It’s a really simple game that we all thoroughly enjoyed. The reason it’s going to become one of my regular suggestions for travel games is how easy it is to teach. You could definitely teach this very quickly to a grandparent or someone who isn’t confident with contemporary board games.
I absolutely adore the artwork, and while the components are functional, they’re not quite as premium as I might have liked.
What I really enjoyed about this game was the potential for strategy. The risk-and-reward, push-your-luck mechanics are always popular in this house, and they work really well here. You constantly find yourself thinking, “Do I stick with what I’ve got, or do I push for one of those all-important fourth or fifth columns?” Equally, you want to mark as many spaces as possible without leaving yourself vulnerable to having to cross out an entire row due to bad luck.
If you’re looking for some new roll-and-write games with strong mechanics that are simple to teach and work well for travelling, “My Shelfie: The Dice Game” is a definite recommendation.
