Dice. Those multi-sided polyhedral that we all love to shake, rattle, roll, and sometimes banish to the “jail” container when they continuously roll poorly at those critical moments. Yeah, we’ve all been there. And like me, I’m sure you also have tons of dice hiding out around your house. Go check the couch cushions, I’m guessing you have one there right now. So you clearly don’t need any more… right? Ok, yeah, silly statement. There is always room for another d20 in your arsenal.
But frankly, I’ve had my fill of boring, opaque dice. Oooo, this one is a flat blue. /s If you are going to bug me to buy some new dice, you better at least be doing something different. So when the fine people at the Easy Roller Dice Company reached out and said they wanted to send over a few products for us to look at, I said sure! I mean, I’m way behind on a new Level Up My Game column, so good timing. And for the record, while they did send over a few random products to check out, no cash was sent over to sway my thoughts. Here is what I got to play with.
Stone Dice
I’ve only seen stone dice one time, and that’s the Dwarves Stones from Crystal Caste. I got my groomsmen each a set for my wedding. They were very nice, but I never liked how small they were. They were more showy than practical.
These stone dice are definitely a nicer size (about the size of a normal die you’d use). And I really liked the marbling on the stone. I’m not quite sure what kind of stone they used, but it looks pretty classy. What I didn’t like though was the elvenkind font. While it looked thematic, I found it harder to read than I’d like. I don’t enjoy rolling a die, and then having to pick up the die to check around to figure out what number I’m seeing. I supposed I’d get used to it in time, but meh. So if you opt for stone dice, I’d recommend getting a set with cleaner numbering. The other drawback of this set is that they will set you back a cool $79.95. For me, that puts them more in the “gift” territory for someone I like rather than something I’d buy for everyday use.
Dice Tray
Can you believe I’ve been gaming for a few decades now and still do not have a dice tray? I mean, I’ve seen them, but never got around to getting one. Yes, my dice occasionally roll off the table… and yes, I occasionally also have to pry them out of the mouth of my golden retriever… ok maybe I should have looked into this tray thing sooner. I’m pretty sure a d20 is not part of a balanced diet for Ronin.
Their dice tray has a leatherette (note to self, look up what leatherette is) lid—according to their website at least, I’m not a fabric expert—and a felt-lined surface for rolling. What I found interested was that there is what they called a “staging area” around the edges of the tray to store dice that you are not rolling. I thought this was pretty brilliant as it’s a great way to separate the dice you rolled vs what you didn’t. I may designate a specifiable area of the storage area to be “dice purgatory” for any dice that rolls poorly too often. It’s the only way they’ll learn. Overall this makes a nice system to roll dice and also store/transport them. The size was good and the rolling surface was also nice.
Self Standing Dice Bag
So this thing is pretty cool. It’s a very large dice bag that they say can hold over 200 dice. It’s reversible, made out of microfiber, and stands up on its own like a cup (or a Rory Calhoun). Other than that, it’s a dice bag. You’ve seen them and everyone needs one at some point (re: the Crown Royal company). But wait, there’s more!
While I think it works fine for a dice bag, you know what I realized it’s perfect for? Drawing tiles. Instead of grabbing a coffee cup to draw monsters for Eldritch Horror or tokens for the Arkham Horror Card Game, this thing is the perfect size for that. And since it stands on its own, I can just reach on down and take one quickly. This is definitely going to be my go to bag for any game that requires drawing something from a stack or blindly.
Hollow Metal Dice
And finally, I’ve saved the best for last. These are literally my new favorite dice. It’s a full set of RPG dice that’s made out of metal, but also hollow on the inside. Normally, I hate metal dice. They are heavy, roll very loudly, and I’m always afraid I’m going to damage the table when I roll them. Yet since these are hollow, they are much lighter weight. The numbers are also separated enough to be easy to read. But the best part about them? They have a very satisfying jingle when you roll a handful of them. I must have rolled them about 10 times in a row before my kids came over to try and swipe them. It reminds me of the sound from those Baoding balls that were all the rage years ago. My only disappointment is that they don’t sell a group of D6’s on their website. That’s probably my most commonly used die and I’d love to get a handful of d6s to roll.
Final Thoughts:
Before they reached out, I had never heard of the Easy Roller Dice Company. But I must say, they make some really good products. The Metal Dice are awesome and their standup dice bag is going to be getting a lot of use for any game that requires blindly drawing tiles or tokens.
And as you all know, we are entering the holiday shopping season and I definitely think their website is worth checking out if you are shopping for a gamer that has everything.
