ROLLING REALMS (2021)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
1-6	30 mins	Jamey Stegmaier	Stonemaier Games

In ROLLING REALMS, players will be using the results of two dice to mark off certain spots across their Realms.

So far, so Roll ‘n’ Write.

What sets this game apart from others in the genre is the fact that you may never play the same game twice.

The game consists of three rounds, each utilising three realms, but these realms are chosen at random each time you play.

That gives great replayability to the game because the match ups you have and the order they all come in will be different each and every time.

And what of the Realms? Well, before the expansions came out, each Realms was based on an existing Stonemaier game. So you have a Viticulture Realm, a Wingspan Realm and so on.

And each Realm has a mechanic to it that, if you know the game it relates to, kinda makes sense.

The expansions since have opened up to other companies games which is just great that they are able to do that.

The components for the game are great. Wet wipe cards for the Realms is all that’s needed, but we can’t not mention the absolutely gorgeous dice that come with the game.

Most Roll ‘n’ Writes come with a handful of D6’s, sometimes coloured. But Stonemaier Games spent a bit of effort on these, with a larger size, a nice marble effect, and Hex pips.

Unnecessary, but oh so welcome.

The only flaws with ROLLING REALMS are that on a few occasions, especially since we’ve added all the expansions in, we find that some Realms don’t gel well with others.

And when seeing a Realm for the first time, it has taken us a moment of minor head scratching to understand the rules for it. I think this is due to the limitation of rules having to fit on the card, but BGG normally helps with clarity.

Overall, ROLLING REALMS is a great addition to the Roll ‘n’ Write genre, one that offers variety and replayability like no other.