One of the great things about having multiple friends and friend groups who like board games is getting to play different board games. One of these games is Dice Monsters Missing Mythics, which I’ll just refer to Dice Monsters going forward. But this is a dice collecting game as you build up your pool of dice to defeat a mythic monster at the end.

How To Play Dice Monsters Missing Mythics?

The game is quite simple. You fight monsters, you defeat them and you get a reward. If you lose, they run away and you don’t get a reward. All of this is done by rolling dice. You start with small monsters then can work your way up to large and eventually fight mythic monsters. The first person to defeat a mythic monster is the winner.

You start out with three black dice, all the die are normal D6’s in the game, but the black dice are the most basic. You keep them and roll them, if you want, against any monster you fight. Then there are dice that have powers. Blue lets you reroll half your blues rounded down. Red lets you combine totals. And with green dice you get a white die if you roll a one. White dice are temporary dice, if you roll them. But two white dice can be traded in for a black. And a black and white die can be traded for a colored die.

So you build up your dice pool as you fight monsters. There are some take that cards which can trip up someone. Such as, ambushing a monster onto them. Or stealing dice. But for the most part there isn’t too much in a lower player count game. And you can bet on if someone will win or not. If there’s not a monster you like, you can bet dice if I’ll win or lose as a way to get more dice. But like I said, first to kill a mythic monster wins.

The Details

New section I want to start doing, how does it compare to what it says on the box?

Player Count

Dice Monsters says that it is a 3-6 player game. I would disagree with out of the box. At six players, which I’ve played at, it’s long. It actually breaks the next thing, the time, that I’ll talk about. It tries to help with some parts of the game being simultaneous but it’s still long.

Also it breaks the game a little bit because of how slowly it comes around for first player. You want to go first because that means you get the best selection of monsters. If you get the first monster or a good selection you are more apt to defeat it. And at six player, that is less often.

Plus with being first less often it means that you need to or end up betting more often. If you bet and lose, you lose that die. That also slows down the progression of getting dice. So for me this is probably 3-4 player game, not 3-6.

Time

The game says that it is 30-40 minutes. And this I think is probably true at the lower player counts. And I don’t think it’s a massive increase at higher player counts. But with more take that showing up consistently and more betting and failing happening, the game slows down. Especially early game goes at a snails pace. So you’re probably looking at 90 minutes about at 6 players, and that is too long for this game.

Age

Dice Monsters is for 8+. The 8 is probably because of the small dice, but in terms of ease of play, you can play younger. You won’t get all the strategy and you’ll need some cards read to you, but it’s not bad. The core of the mechanics, get dice, trade dice for other dice, and roll dice is easy enough.

What Doesn’t Work?

I already touched on one heavily, but scaling is off in this game. I’m going to praise the designer for some game mechanics they used in this game, but call miss on others. This is a miss, you start with 3 dice at 3 players or at 6 players. And as I said the take that element of the game and luck of betting on someone else messes with the flow of the game much more so at 6 players. It’s easy to lose dice at a higher count. In a lot of games, now, I’d expect to see it scale the number of starting dice, which would balance this. 3 dice for 3 and 4 players and 5 for 5-6 would make the game work better.

The betting is hit or miss for me. If it works out, it really works out for you. But it’s very iffy to start. In fact, you get a white die by fighting a monster you can’t defeat. And there is no penalty if you don’t defeat that monster. But if you bet on someone, you can double what you bet, so a green die becomes two green dice. Or you lose it. So the penalty is harsh, unless the person is set-up to easily defeat the monster.

This game also has a first to the finish problem as well. When someone goes after a mythic monster you play out your ambush monster(s) on that person to keep them from winning. That means it’s harder for them to win. Which is annoying because now that card is gone so next person or next turn when someone is doing that, they don’t get hit by an ambush monster and have a better shot.

What Works?

Simultaneous Play

I like the round structure in the game. You go around with everyone picking monsters or placing a bet. The first player always has to pick a monster, but then everyone else has a choice. Then everyone rolls for their monsters. So you either are rolling or paying attention to one person to see if they succeed or not. That part of the game is quick and feels modern because there isn’t much downtime for players.

Combat Penalties

And I think it works that you don’t lose dice if a monster runs away. You can lose dice if a monster has the ability to poison, but not generally. And you know if the monster is poisonous when you take it. With the exception of there being a take that card that can make everything poisonous for that round. But it helps someone build back into the game if they get down early You can stop betting and build slowly through taking monsters.

More Dice vs Power

Another thing is the monsters when you defeat them. They might have a bounty, some dice, you can trade them in for. But they also have a power. So now you need to decide if you use the power or you trade them in for dice. Most of the time I would say dice, but some are good powers so I’d be tempted to hold onto them. Especially the ones that are take that. Or that make it so you won’t lose dice to poison. However, this is the main decision point in the game.

End Game

Finally, I like the end game for this type of game. I don’t want to count up points when it is done. Whomever kills a mythic monster first wins. Along with the tie breaker I like as well. If two players (or more) kill a mythic monster they go into a sudden death. You face off against small monsters allocating dice from your dice pool that you lose, so a shrinking pool of dice, until one person fails and are out. If both fail, I think it’s a tie, but that’s okay in that case.

Who Is It For?

This is a game that works well with families or really casual groups that are getting into board games. It’s light and fun and doesn’t require much strategy. I think if you like Munchkin you’ll like this. And I think if you like the core of Munchkin but think there are too many moving pieces, Dice Monsters is better.

And now, you also know who this game isn’t for. Dice Monsters does curtail the take that which you find in a game like Munchkin, but it doesn’t remove it. And there is a heavy amount of luck in the game. So if you really dislike Munchkin, this is not a game for you.

Final Thoughts on Dice Monsters Missing Mythics

I’ve experienced it at 6 and I wouldn’t again without a house rule. Like I said the balance and game play times are off with that. Dice Monsters is a game that should last 30 minutes, hence being a much better Munchkin, as it won’t overstay it’s welcome. But at 6 players it really does.

That said, I don’t hate the game. I think it’s a fine light game which I can see people enjoying. When I think about it, it’s one that I’d play again. It is also one that I’d never have in my collection. Why, because I wouldn’t ever ask to play it or pull it off the shelf to play it. But I would also probably be fine playing it whenever someone asks for it. Again with the caveat that at higher player counts tweak what you start with. Because, if you don’t this is a 3-4 player game.

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

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