Issue 5: February

We have some updates

Dear Dice Riot Cafe and Gamery community,

Quarantine Survival:

• 2020 was our kick-off year. We started offering pick up and delivering games to help us get thru Quarantine. In fact, for a while that's the only way we saw people

• I kept in touch with other people by making game play videos on Facebook. Everyone rooted for Alice. I also did a few painting and tabletop craft videos when I was bored.

• Summer looked promising as quarantine and numbers were expected to ease. We had some game sessions outside and were thrilled to see other people again!

School Started and things pretended to go back to normal, but the last half of 2020 was anything but.

But, we will stick with games. I started writing the newsletter in September and really enjoyed the process. The older newsletters can now be found on our website, DiceRiot.com

2021 may be the year when we move into a brick and mortar building. We will have to just wait and see!

Thank you so much for sticking with us. We look forward to continuing to introduce you into new games. So belly up to the table and lets begin!

New Games for 2021

Ashes Reborn: Rise of the Phoenix Born

If you're on our Facebook, you know i'm hyped about this game.

Ashes was released in 2015 was a (mainly) 2 player card battling game similar to things like Pokemon, Yugioh!, and Magic the Gathering.

There are a few major changes in this game system that makes Ashes stand out for me.

1. There is a base set. The base set contains all the cards and dice needed to get one started. The base set comes with 40 dice and 6 different phoenixborns and their cards.

2. There are no blind packs. When you buy a pack you know what you are getting. Now this is less profitable for the game developers who pump out useless cards in $5 packs and people buy hundreds, but from a consumer perspective, I don't want to pay hundreds to get a few decent cards. Ashes complete expansion packs allows you to purchase the cards you want.

3. Dice. Who doesn't love dice? The dice is the magic in this game that allows you to play your cards.

4. Paper, Rock, Scissors, Lizard, Spock. With everyone having access to the same cards AND enough variety in the cards its hard to create something that is unstoppable. Everything has a counter.

5. The Artwork in this game is top notch.

One of my favorite games of my childhood is Hero Quest. In the Satanic Panic of the 1980's DND was off limits for me (most the time) but HeroQuest was made by Milton Bradley, so I could play that game. And Play I did! I created Charts, Graphs, Maps, spells, monsters, and NPC's, most of which I still have today! Unfortunately, my original box has gone missing. But due to an awesome wife, I got a copy for my birthday!

A few months later I found this gem at goodwill. It had never been opened!

But now you have an opportunity to jump into this classic game for a hefty price. It has updated materials, plastic instead of cardboard pieces, but leaning heavily on the nostalgic love to boost its sales.

The reboot of these two games are just a sample of the strength of the board game community!

This worker placement game is a sequel to the hit game Dinosaur Island. You divide up workers to run your park, clone new dinos, and keep the visitors safe. Sound familiar? Also releasing this year is Dinosaur Island Rwar and write.

Darwin's Journey is a worker placement Eurogame (less random luck) where a player will recall Darwin's memories through the Galapagos Islands. Players will take actions to explore, gather, and correspond with others to contribute to the human knowledge of biology.

During the game you will recruit and manage employees and expand your business. The goal of the game is to build the most prestigious company, and perhaps you will even become an illustrious benefactor who contributes to the greatness of his country through deeds and generosity.

Set in 1970's you and your competitors will develop the regions you see fit for the best coffee beans while keeping an eye on the market. Will your plantations fail or will you become the world's greatest coffee trader?

Puzzles

We started carrying puzzles! We currently have about 20 puzzles in stock!

Game Mechanics: Action Points

In previous articles I explained game mechanics like Worker Placement and Cooperative Games. Today I'm going to explain:

Action Points

Action points are actions you can do on your turn. Forget games like Monopoly where is roll and move is your only action. Newer games will provide players with more than one option on their turn. Often, they can repeat the same action, like move, move, move. Action Points give greater strategic options to the player. Games that use Action Points:

Game of the Month

Ashes Reborn

PreOrder Ashes Reborn by Feb 5th and get 75% off one Phoenix born expansion pack! (Not the dice expansions