2018 BGG rank #1016

Dice Throne

2–6 players 20–40 min Ages 8+ 2.1/5 complexity 6.7/10 rating

About this game

GAME SYSTEM This entry is to allow for discussion/rating of the game system as a whole. It is not for a specific product or release. Versions will appear on the individual item pages. Dice Throne is a fast-paced 2-6 player combat game, whether 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 2v2v2, or free-for-all. Select from a variety of heroes that play and feel completely distinct from one another. Attack opponents and activate abilities by rolling your hero's unique set of five dice. Accumulate combat points and spend them on cards that have a large range of effects, such as granting permanent hero upgrades, applying status effects, and manipulating dice directly whether yours, your teammate's, or even your opponent's. Each player needs their own hero to play Dice Throne, and all heroes are cross-compatible. The very first release, Season One, was a single box that contained components for six heroes and basic art and components. When Season Two was released, it overhauled the component and card design into what is now the standard, and following that, Season One - Rerolled was released to update and rebalance the original six heroes into the new standard format, as well as adding two additional heroes. These releases are available as 8 character "Battle Chests" or as two character "Battle Boxes". Dice Throne than released several major Marvel-themed sets (Marvel Dice Throne, Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men, and Deadpool), as well as smaller themed sets (Santa vs. Krampus, Outcasts, and Vanguard). In 2026, Dice Throne announced a pivot to offering single characters for sale, which will mostly replace the "Battle Chest" and "Battle Box" releases. The first stand-alone character in this new packaging is the Alchemist, but all non-Marvel characters are planned to be released in the single character format. Cooperative expansions have also been released. Dice Throne Adventures was the first, a dungeon crawl/boss battler campaign game for 1-4 heroes through 8 scenarios, allowing players to upgrade their decks throughout the campaign using loot cards. An expansion, Dice Throne Adventures: Unchained, offered a new boss and the ability to run "One-Shot Adventures" using the same loot card system but without the campaign element. Marvel Dice Throne: Missions was also released alongside the Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men set, allowing 1-4 players to battle villains from the Marvel universe in one-shot missions. Linked entries in the BGG database: Characters and Character Sets: Dice Throne: Season One Dice Throne: Season One ReRolled Dice Throne: Season One Rerolled – Battle 1: Barbarian v. Moon Elf Dice Throne: Season One ReRolled – Monk v. Paladin Dice Throne: Season One ReRolled – Pyromancer v. Shadow Thief Dice Throne: Season One ReRolled – Treant v. Ninja Dice Throne: Season Two – Battle Chest Dice Throne: Season Two – Seraph v. Vampire Lord Dice Throne: Season Two – Tactician v. Huntress Dice Throne: Season Two – Gunslinger v. Samurai Dice Throne: Season Two – Cursed Pirate v. Artificer Dice Throne: Santa v. Krampus Marvel Dice Throne Marvel Dice Throne: Black Widow v. Doctor Strange Marvel Dice Throne: Captain Marvel v. Black Panther Marvel Dice Throne: Scarlet Witch v. Thor v. Loki v. Spider-Man Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men – Cyclops v. Gambit v. Rogue v. Jean Grey Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men – Iceman v. Psylocke v. Storm v. Wolverine Marvel Dice Throne: Deadpool Dice Throne: Outcasts Dice Throne Vanguard Dice Throne: Alchemist Cooperative Expansions Dice Throne Adventures Dice Throne Adventures: Unchained Marvel Dice Throne Missions

What it feels like

Die Icon Resolution Variable Player Powers Re-rolling and Locking Dice Rolling Take That Card Game Fantasy Dice Fighting

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Game intelligence

Learn the game

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Setup

1. Choose a hero for the player and a hero for the AI opponent. 2. Set the player's Health to 50. 3. Set the AI opponent's Health to 60. 4. Assign each of the AI hero's offensive abilities a number starting at #1, numbered Top to Bottom, Left to Right, beginning with the left-hand player board panel. 5. If an ability has multiple options (indicated by a distinct border separation), number each option separately, top to bottom. 6. If an ability is upgraded and gains more options, re-number ALL abilities from scratch using the steps above. 7. Do NOT number Passive or Defensive abilities. 8. Optionally place extra dice on each ability space showing its assigned number for easy reference. 9. The player always goes first.

Turn flow

Each round proceeds through the following phases for both the player and the AI: 1. UPKEEP & INCOME PHASE – Both sides resolve upkeep normally. 2. MAIN PHASE – Cards are played before the offensive roll. 3. OFFENSIVE PHASE – The active side makes an attack roll. 4. DEFENSIVE PHASE – The defending side rolls defense dice. 5. MAIN PHASE 2 – A second window for card actions after combat. 6. DISCARD PHASE – Both sides discard down to hand limit. The player always takes their full turn using standard rules. The AI follows a scripted decision tree for each phase (see AI Turn Order rules).

Scoring and victory

Last hero standing — reduce the opponent's Health to 0 to win the encounter. In the Eldritch Echo campaign, the player must win 6 consecutive hero encounters and then defeat Loki. Target score: 0 Scoring sources: Dealing damage via Offensive Abilities, Additional damage from secondary ability effects (always considered met for the AI), Damage from card effects

Source: Rulebook

Rules to know

The most useful rules for getting a first game right.

General

Single encounter scenario: defeat the mind-controlled hero to free them from Mr. Sinister.

In the Sinister Thoughts single encounter, Mr. Sinister has used stolen alien technology to mind-control one of earth's heroes. The player's goal is to defeat that mind-controlled hero (run as an AI) to thwart Mr. Sinister's plan. The encounter ends when the AI hero's health reaches 0.

General

Campaign scenario: free 6 mind-controlled heroes then defeat Loki to win.

In the Eldritch Echo campaign, Loki has placed 6 heroes under mind control. The player must defeat each of these 6 AI-controlled heroes in succession and then finally defeat Loki himself to win the campaign. Each hero encounter uses the standard AI turn order rules.

Setup

The player's hero starts with 50 Health.

At the start of any encounter using these AI rules, the human-controlled player's hero begins with 50 Health points, regardless of the hero's standard starting health printed on their board.

Setup

The AI opponent's hero starts with 60 Health.

At the start of any encounter using these AI rules, the AI-controlled hero begins with 60 Health points, regardless of the hero's standard starting health printed on their board. This 10-point advantage compensates for AI decision limitations.

Turn structure

The human player always takes the first turn.

In all AI variant encounters, the human player always goes first. There is no initiative roll or alternate first-player determination. This is a fixed rule of the AI mod.

Setup

Number each AI hero's offensive abilities sequentially for the AI's d12 roll.

Before play begins, assign a unique number to each of the AI hero's offensive abilities, starting at #1. Number them Top to Bottom, Left to Right, beginning with the left-hand panel of the player board. If an ability has multiple options separated by a distinct border, number each option individually, top to bottom. Do NOT number Passive or Defensive abilities. These numbers are used to resolve the AI's Offensive Phase d12 roll.

Special

Re-number all AI offensive abilities from scratch whenever an upgrade adds new ability options.

If an AI hero ability is upgraded and the upgrade introduces additional options to that ability (expanding the number of numbered options), all offensive abilities on the board must be re-numbered from #1 using the standard numbering procedure (Top to Bottom, Left to Right, left panel first, each distinct option separately). Passive and Defensive abilities are still never numbered.

Setup

Optionally use extra dice placed on ability spaces to track assigned numbers.

As an optional organizational aid, players may place additional physical dice on each of the AI hero's offensive ability spaces showing the number assigned to that ability. This makes it easier to cross-reference the AI's d12 Offensive Roll result with the correct ability.

Strategy briefing

Ability Numbering and d12 Probability

With a d12 and a hero that has, say, 8 offensive abilities, the AI has an 8/12 (~67%) chance of landing an attack on the first roll, plus a reroll on a fail — giving it roughly an 89% effective attack rate per turn. Heroes with more than 8 abilities lose the reroll but if they have 12 abilities they have a 100% hit rate. Understanding this helps predict AI threat levels.

Selling Dice Modifier Cards

The AI sells all dice modifier cards during Main Phase 2. This means the AI consistently generates extra CP from selling those cards, which it then reinvests into upgrades. Players should expect the AI to upgrade quickly and re-number abilities frequently as a result.

Maximizing Ability Count vs. Reroll Safety

If an AI hero's ability upgrades push it above 8 numbered abilities, it loses the safety net second Offensive Roll. Players should be aware that after a key upgrade triggers a re-number above 8 abilities, the AI becomes slightly less reliable on failed rolls but gains more covered d12 numbers.

AI Always Gets Maximum Damage

The AI never rolls for multi-tier ability outcomes — it always takes the highest damage tier and all secondary bonus effects automatically. Players should treat every AI ability activation as if the AI rolled a perfect result, and prioritize building defenses that mitigate large single hits.

Health Differential Management

The AI starts with 10 more Health than the player (60 vs 50). Players need to deal more total damage than they can absorb. Prioritizing offensive upgrades and abilities that bypass or reduce the effectiveness of the AI's defense roll is important given this asymmetry.

Common questions and edge cases

The AI hero upgrades an ability mid-game, and that upgrade adds a new option to that ability. Do the ability numbers change?

Yes. Whenever an upgrade adds new options to any ability, ALL offensive abilities on the AI's board must be completely re-numbered from #1 using the standard Top-to-Bottom, Left-to-Right procedure. This may shift the numbers of abilities the player has memorized.

The AI hero has exactly 9 numbered offensive abilities and rolls a 10 on the d12 (a failed roll). Does the AI get a second roll?

No. The second Offensive Roll on a failed first roll is only available when the AI has 8 or fewer numbered abilities. With 9 or more abilities, a failed roll means the AI's attack fails entirely with no reroll.

The AI rolls and hits an ability that has options for 3-of-a-kind, 4-of-a-kind, and 5-of-a-kind. Which result does the AI use?

The AI always selects the result that deals the most damage — so it uses the 5-of-a-kind result (highest tier). This applies regardless of what roll result would normally be needed to achieve it.

The AI executes an ability that has a base damage and a bonus effect (like Captain Marvel's Cosmic Flare) that would normally require extra roll attempts. Does the AI get the bonus?

Yes. Any additional damage or effects from an Offensive Ability that could only normally be achieved by spending roll attempts are ALWAYS automatically considered met when the AI uses that ability. The AI gets both the base and bonus effects.

The AI draws a card that modifies dice. Can it ever use that card?

No. The AI never plays dice modifier cards. During Main Phase it skips them, and during Main Phase 2 it sells them all for CP. They are converted to currency and never activated.

The AI plays a defense card that requires a dice roll. Which dice are used?

The AI uses its hero's own normal hero dice to resolve any dice roll called for by a played card, both during Main Phase and the Defensive Phase.

The player attacks the AI. Does the AI's passive ability trigger?

Yes. AI passive abilities are triggered and executed whenever possible — this includes triggers that occur during the player's offensive turn, not just the AI's own turn.

Why does the AI start with more Health than the player?

The AI starts with 60 Health while the player starts with 50 Health. This 10-point asymmetry is built into the AI mod to compensate for the AI's mechanical limitations (e.g., it never uses dice modifier cards, makes scripted rather than optimal decisions). It balances the encounter without changing core rules.