Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
This review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.
If you liked the review please thumb the top of the article so others have a better chance of seeing it and I know you stopped by. If you thumb the bottom as well, I consider that a bonus. Thanks for reading.
Summary
Game Type – Dice Allocation\Manipulation Game
Play Time: 30–90 minutes (Approx. 25-30 minutes per player)
Number of Players: 1 – 4
Mechanics – Dice Rolling, Dice Allocation\Manipulation, Drafting, Set Collection, Variable Player Powers
Difficulty – Moderate (Takes a play or two to fully understand the moving parts and how to do well)
Components – Very Good
Release – 2016
Designer – <PERSON> -( Herbaceous, Skulk Hollow, Sunset Over Water)
Overview and Theme
Role-Playing Games all have pretty much one thing in common, the need to create your character before you :- embark on an epic quest, save the galaxy, go about bringing down an evil corporation or attempt to solve a murder, so on and so forth.
Roll Player (as well as being a clever play on words) is a game that takes this central premise and poses the question, 'Can you create the greatest fantasy hero of all time?, Can you earn the greatest reputation throughout the land?! And can you do it by rolling dice and allocating them to your Attributes in the best possible way?’
In keeping with the theme, Roll Player is a game of dice rolling, drafting, allocation and manipulation. These games are referred to as DRDAM Games...well actually they're not called that, I just wanted to create a new acronym and forever be known as Dr Dam!
Excuse me while I go out back and slap myself upside the head.
As the game unfolds, dice are allocated to 6 key Attributes for your character and in doing so you can manipulate those dice to help achieve the many goals set before you. Of course your hero will need weapons and armour and will have the chance to learn new skills and gain traits along the way.
Roll Player certainly makes use of an innovative idea and the fantasy theme has been chosen in no small part to pay homage (I am sure) to Dungeons & Dragons...the most famous Role-Playing game of them all. The Attributes are immediately recognisable and their powers can interplay with other mechanisms within the game.
Roll Player was fed by the umbilical cord that is Kickstarter and like , which I covered a few weeks ago, this one has survived the cutting of the cord to make the jump to the mainstream tabletop market, having a presence in many retail stores and already spinning off one expansion ( ) with another in the works for 2019 ( ). 470
That said it is still a toddler finding its feet, in regards to ownership, as it is still to hit 10K owners here on BGG.
This review will cover the base game only but I do look forward to covering the first expansion sooner rather than later.
But for now we must be off my good lass...where to I do not know, because in all honesty, I do not yet exist...I am a hero yet to be created!
[Insert 'I Need a Hero' audio track here...] If only I had the skills...
The Components
Roll Player is full of stuff...lots of stuff. Buckets full of dice, lots of cards of various orientations and sizes and some lovely big boards. It must have had quite the cost in regards to production. That may well explain the self-publishing route that the designer went down in creating this under the banner. 'Here' to all the entrepreneurs out there.
Player Boards – The player boards are really well done, consisting of just the right thickness to make the latticework of dice-sized spaces look and feel like quality. There are three silhouettes for Class, Backstory and Alignment Cards to be placed upon and a series of symbols and red ribbon identifiers help to highlight the 6 Attributes for each character and the powers that they can bestow.
A small artwork portrait gives a face to your character and in a really nice touch the boards are double-sided, which allows for a male and female character in each race. The artwork is a little hit and miss for me but it does the job well enough.
In the bottom right corner is a simple 6-step summary of the scoring process at the end of the game. This is a great feature as it makes checking the rulebook unnecessary after a play or two. All in all the boards receive top marks. 872