Martian Dice
2+
8+
10+
This game had a "soft-release" at Gen Con 2011, so we've opened it up to reviews and ratings. PLEASE DO NOT rate this game if you have not played it!
Your mission, Martians, is to swoop down on the pathetic denizens of the primitive planet “Earth”, and to scoop up as many of the inhabitants as you can manage. We are interested in samples of the Chicken, Cow, and Human populations, so that we can determine which of them is actually in charge. The Earthlings might manage to put up a feeble defense, but surely nothing that a small taste of your Death Rays can’t handle. Make Mars proud... be the first Martian to fill your abduction quota!
User Reviews (9)
Add a Review for "Martian Dice"
You must be logged in to add a review.
I picked this game up from the TMG booth. Great packaging, the bright purple attracted me. Cool graphics, ( as usual from TMG) and the are colored and great quality. I’m a sucker for quick filler dice games, and this is as billed… Quick family fun.
Roll dice to collect humans, chickens, and cows. Use your ship death rays to fend of the military tanks. An extra 3 points for a complete set of specimens. You only collect points if you have more rays then tanks and then you score your collection when you stop. First to 25 points win. We just played it last night camping and everyone liked it. My friend asked to buy my copy from since it’s not in stores yet and they were going away for a reunion, so now my copy if off to Oregon for labor day. (I loaned it)
I also own SJG Zombie Dice, and I can’t really say there is a huge feel/difference between the two(some rule differences and diffent dice) but I would pick Martian Dice over it based on theme and graphics. Love Josh Cappel artwork, I’m a big fan.
Highly recommend this if your looking for family friendly themed dice filler game. TMG is really creating a nice catalog this year, and this was one it didn’t expect (I had pre-ordered their other titles before the con), but glad I picked up, even it being loaned for a couple weekends to go the coast with my buddy. If there was any cons, the tube/dice cup has two plastic ends, and we got kinda into shaking it and ti was holding the top, but the bottom cap popped out and dice went flying all over the place. We have since hot glued the bottom cap in so that won’t happen again.
But really, this was the best $10 I spent at Gen Con. Cool graphics, good game, great price, and family fun.
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this game from TMG, and I can say that it exceeded my expectations.
As a family man trying to usher my brood to the world of gaming, you could not ask for more than the flashy Martian Dice container. And within? 13 very colorful high-quality dice. My only beef with the package is the frequent possibility of the container bottom or top flying off with vigorous, uncontrolled shaking. As you can imagine, thsi happens with 3 young kids.
The game itself was easy to learn, with very clear and concise instructions.
Where this game really shines for my family is in its compactness and quick play time. This game has really served when we are at a restaurnat waiting for the food to arrive after ordering. This is the perfect game to break out. Portability is great, and we can play a quick game where the kids would otherwise be getting bored and antsy.
I highly recommend this game for any family, and for anyone who enjoys dicing games.
You are a Martian sent to Earth to collect a sample of different earth species to see who is really running the place. Collect as many as you can before the puny Earthling defenses can stop you!
Components
A rulebook and 13 awesome looking six sided dice with the following sides:
1 Chicken
1 Cow
1 Human
1 Tank
2 Death Rays
The container the game comes in can also double as a dice rolling cup. I personally love grabbing a fist full of dice and chucking them across the table, but for those who have smaller hands like my 9 year old daughter, the cup works great.
Game Play
First choose a target number of points to play to. The game instructions suggest 25 and that seems to be a good number, making for a fairly quick game.
Players take turns grabbing all 13 dice and rolling them. Depending on what’s rolled you will:
1. Set all tanks aside.(the pesky human military sent to stop you)
2. Pick one group of Human, Cow, Chicken or Death Ray dice rolled and set those aside as well.
3. Roll any remaining dice you choose or stop rolling and record your score. In order to score, you must have set aside at least as many Death Rays as tanks.
One thing to note is that you can only collect a certain population once per turn. So once you load a herd of cows or chickens (a herd of chickens? That’s probably not right..) onto your spaceship, you cannot add anymore of that population on any subsequent rolls this turn.
Scoring
You will score a point for each Human, Chicken, or Cow you abduct. If you are able to abduct at least one of each type, you score an additional bonus 3 points for all your hard work.
Summary
In addition to being just another press your luck type dice game on the market, Martian Dice also has an additional set collection decision you must make each roll which really adds to the game. Plus how many games do you own where you are shouting “Come on! Gimme some chickens!” before you roll?
A simple, fun filler and currently my favorite dice game. For 10 to 15 bucks, this is a game everyone should have on their shelf.
Hello my little green minions,
Today we are going to talk about a game called Martian Dice. Martian Dice is a game for 2 to {{fill in number sitting at the table here}} players. There are 13 custom dice, a cup, and some instructions. Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
How to Play…
Martian Dice is extremely easy to pick up. You roll the dice, set aside the ones you want to keep, roll the dice again, and so on… until you can’t roll anymore. The rule are simple:
1) You must have as much or more spaceships (death rays) as tanks in order to score at the end. You can set aside as many death rays as you want, but you MUST set aside any tanks you roll.
2) There are three sets of dice you can set aside and earn points with… chicken, cow, and human. You can only set aside one type on each roll (choose wisely). These are worth 1 point each at the end of your turn.
3) If you manage to collect some of each (chicken, cow, human) by the end of the turn and still have more or equal death rays than tanks… you get 3 BONUS points.
You keep track of the score by using a piece of paper and a writing implement of your choice. Something probe-shaped would be appropriate. The last round is triggered by the first to reach 25 points… which can happen quickly.
I find some amount of “ack ack” and “take me to your leader” talk is inevitable. My group has several Marvin the Martians. Your group may be more mature than my group. I hope not.
My Conclusion…
Is this game much different from Zombie Dice? Nope. Do you need both? Nope. Should you get both and support game designers everywhere? Of course.
I like dice games for their portability, durability, and flexibility. You can take this game to the family reunion or the pub. You can play with your 5 year old nephew and your boss. It’s not brain surgery, but it gets the job done.
I find the little nudges in rules and a theme have given this an edge over Zombie Dice for now. As a side note to developers… the urge to create Vampire Dice may be great, but please… let’s refrain. I feel we’ve covered the mechanic quite well.
TTFN!
Martian Dice is a simple push-you-luck dice-rolling game for 2 or more players that takes 20-30 minutes to play. The game comes with a dice tube and 13 dice that show a human, chicken, cow, tank, and death rays x2 on their sides. Each turn, a player rolls all 13 dice, sets aside all tanks, then puts aside one other symbol type. They may then score their roll or continue rolling. Each “earthling” type (human, cow, chicken) can only be set aside once and is worth 1 point apiece, with a 3 point bonus if you collect all 3 types. Death rays can be set aside multiple times, and the player must have at least as many death rays as tanks to score anything. Players continue rolling and scoring until one player has at least 25 points.
The game play is quick and light, and the rulebook has moments of humor in it. An enjoyable filler.
13 dice. 1 cup. 5 icons on the dice. Push your luck game. Some surface similarities-cup, 13 dice to Zombie Dice but it is a totally different game. If you like Can’t Stop and other dice games of that type you will like this one. Humorous(or cute) theme of Martians grabbing humans, cows and ?chickens??? while the military bravely
attempts to fight them off. Enjoy.
Martian Dice may look like a rethemed Zombie Dice; however, it offers more strategy for the players. Granted, not very deep strategy but the choices made do have consequences. Rather than a simple “push your luck before you loose everything” approach, the player must decide which Earthling to capture while guarding against the military forces out to blow them from the sky. Each type of native can be captured only once so select carefully!
My girlfriend and I gave this a whirl last night and had fun. Easy to learn, but the variations in scoring make for some interesting possibile strategies. Dice are nice and seem to be well made. A good game for when you don’t want to have to think too hard.
New favorite dice game, easily beating out the likes of zombie dice. Well worth the money as a filler. I’ve already had several memorable games within the short time since buying it at GenCon. Dice quality is great, and the packaging does its job.