Sometimes board games offer you a lot of depth and strategy to how you play and that makes it a good time. Some board games are very easy and offer you a lot of laughs and excitement. Strike is in the latter category. I believe that games can be great in both of them, so let’s talk about if Strike is a good one in the latter category or not?

How to Play Strike

Strike is a very simple game, where you are rolling dice and trying to get matches. But the numbers on the dice go from 2 through 6. The 1 is a strike, if you roll that, the die is gone forever from the game. If you are the last person standing with dice, you win the game.

The first person in the game, or if anyone rolls dice and clears out the dice tray, has to roll all of their dice. Otherwise you can push your luck by rolling any number of dice at a time to see if you get matches. If you do, you take the matches. If you don’t, you can either stop, leaving the dice you rolled in the tray or you can push your luck and roll in more dice trying to get a match. And that is the game, very simple and fast.

What Doesn’t Work?

Now, I say that the game is fast, and having played it a handful of times now, it consistently is. Because you can roll and strike and lose dice means that the pool is always dwindling of total number of dice. It is possible that it’d take a while to play because you are just rolling a die, getting a match, and no one is really building up a big dice pool.

It is also possible that your very first roll of the game that you are out. In a five player game you have five dice, there is no guarantee you get a pair. Even in a two player game with a lot more dice, there is no guarantee. You get enough strikes you are just out of the game.

What Works?

Now, I said that the game could go on for a while or you could just be out of the game, both are true. But the game works well and counters both of those, generally, by having great speed to the game. Turns are fast, you are invested in each roll of the dice, and it works that way. So through a handful of games I have yet to see the game take too long

It also reminds me of Icecool or PitchCar where you get excited when someone has a crazy roll. So it is a good group game that way where it’s less about winning and losing than it is about the fun of the game. Especially in something that is luck heavy you want to have people excited during the game.

Who Is It For?

I think this is a good filler game for a game group that is okay with randomness. Strike is just randomness as you play it. You roll your dice, you can knock into other dice and change their faces and you hope to get a match. There is no dice mitigation or anything like that. So if you want strategy or control, Strike will not be for you. If you are fine with some random dice chucking and a quick fun time, Strike works well.

I also think on the luck side that even if you don’t have deep strategy players it might not work. There are some people who will get frustrated by the fact it is random. So when the dice are rolled it feels like, because it is, that the game is deciding for them. The question with Strike is if you can handle losing because of a bad die roll or not?

Final Thoughts on Strike

I really enjoy when I play Strike. It gives some good laughs when someone rolls a handful of dice and it fails. It also gives great moments when someone rolls 3 dice and manages to clear the dice tray. Or when you bump a die and now the die you rolled and the die match.

And even the moments where you roll 6 dice and you come out with one match or no matches, those are fun. Because you know it is just random as you go. At the same time, and I talk about this in the who it is for, it does limit the game. Sore losers or people who want so much strategy, it won’t work for them. But if you can embrace the absurd it is a fun time.

My Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: C-
Casual Grade: B+

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here