The roll and write genre has seen a remarkable surge in popularity in recent years, evolving from the roots of classic games like Yahtzee. These games involve rolling dice or flipping cards and marking results on a personal score sheet, offering a blend of simplicity and sophisticated gameplay that invites exploration and creativity. Their straightforward mechanics and immediate rewards make them highly appealing, allowing players to personalize their experience within a structured framework. This winning formula has led to widespread success, attracting a diverse range of players due to the genre's low entry barriers. Below, we highlight some of the best roll and write games available today.
TL;DR: The Best Roll and Write Games
Rolling Realms
Marabunta
The Fox Experiment
Twilight Inscription
Super Skill Pinball: Ramp It Up
Welcome To... Your Perfect Home
My City: Roll & Build
Railroad Ink
Next Station: London
Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write
Cartographers
Long Shot: The Dice Game
Three Sisters
Fleet: The Dice Game
Sagrada Artisans
Motor City
Rolling Realms
Rolling Realms
0See it at Amazon
Rolling Realms offers a unique experience where each realm is inspired by another board game. Players assign die roll results to play mini-games that reflect their inspirations. Over nine rolls, players engage with the same three realms before drawing new ones from a set of twelve, repeating this cycle twice for a complete game. The realms themselves are delightful microcosms of their source games, providing family-friendly puzzles to master. For those seeking more challenge, Rolling Realms Redux offers additional realms that can be played standalone or mixed with the original set.
Marabunta
Marabunta
0See it at Amazon
Designed by the acclaimed Reiner Knizia, Marabunta is a two-player roll and write game centered around the competition between ant tribes over hexes of territory. The dice mechanics allow players to spread their influence or earn bonuses, blending spatial strategy with mathematical challenges in a way that showcases Knizia's design prowess.
The Fox Experiment
The Fox Experiment
0See it at Amazon
Inspired by a real-life experiment on fox domestication, The Fox Experiment by Elizabeth Hargrave delves into genetic heredity. Players use dice to represent traits passed from parent foxes to offspring, aiming to breed the friendliest foxes to meet their research goals. This game offers a deeper strategic experience, rewarding the effort with its engaging theme and mechanics.
Twilight Inscription
Twilight Inscription
1See it at Amazon
Twilight Inscription uniquely adapts the expansive universe of Twilight Imperium into a roll and write format. Players manage space empires through exploration, exploitation, expansion, and extermination, all within about 90 minutes. The game uses separate sheets for different aspects, each offering a distinct sub-game to master, making it feel more like a strategic board game than a typical roll and write.
Super Skill Pinball: Ramp It Up
Super Skill Pinball: Ramp It Up
2See it at Amazon
Super Skill Pinball: Ramp It Up transforms a pinball experience into a roll and write game. Players choose from four tables, navigating their ball through bumpers and targets based on dice rolls. The challenge lies in maximizing scores while avoiding repeated use of boxes, creating a thrilling puzzle. The Ramp It Up set stands out, even featuring a cooperative table option.
The Best Board Game Deals
Welcome To...
Welcome To... Your Perfect Home
3See it at Amazon
Welcome To... uses a flip and write mechanism, offering more options than traditional roll and writes. Players plan suburban streets by choosing house numbers and building effects, balancing various bonuses to achieve high scores. For added complexity, players can explore its sci-fi counterpart, Welcome To The Moon.
My City: Roll & Build
My City: Roll & Build
1See it at Amazon
Based on Reiner Knizia's My City, this roll and write game introduces a campaign structure that gradually increases in complexity. Each 30-minute episode adds new rules, making it both accessible and rewarding. The game's flexibility allows episodes to be played individually, offering varied experiences.
Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition
Railroad Ink
9See it at Amazon
Also at Target
Railroad Ink challenges players to create a transport network on a grid using custom dice. The goal is to link as many exits as possible, balancing the need to avoid dead ends with the potential for future connections. The Deep Blue edition adds rivers and lakes, enhancing strategic depth and variety.
Next Station: London
Next Station: London
1See it at Amazon
Next Station: London introduces a colorful twist to the flip and write format. Players start from different stations on their map, drawing networks based on drawn cards. The challenge is to cross districts, visit tourist sites, and connect lines without crossing existing ones, creating engaging puzzles and vibrant maps.
Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'N Write
Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write
4See it at Amazon
Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'N Write elevates the genre by using dice rolls to manage resources for building a dinosaur theme park. Players plan attractions and concessions, manage staff and security, and simulate tour routes to score points. This game offers a complex challenge with thematic depth.
Cartographers
Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale
6See it at Amazon
Also at Target
Cartographers introduces player interaction to the genre through a flip and write mechanism. Players map a fantasy kingdom, facing variable scoring challenges and occasional monster cards that require them to pass their map to a neighbor for strategic sabotage. This adds a personal touch and a sense of world-building to the gameplay.
Long Shot: The Dice Game
Long Shot: The Dice Game
0See it at Barnes and Noble
Long Shot: The Dice Game transforms horse racing into a roll and write experience. Players bet on horses moving around a track based on dice rolls, with the option to buy horses for special powers and bonuses. The game's interactive nature and thematic excitement set it apart from typical roll and writes.
Three Sisters
Three Sisters
3See it at Amazon
Three Sisters takes the concept of action chaining to new heights. Players grow crops and flowers in a garden, using dice rolls to trigger a series of bonus actions. This strategic depth and tactical planning make it a standout in the genre.
Fleet: The Dice Game
Fleet: The Dice Game
0See it at Amazon
Fleet: The Dice Game challenges players to manage a fishing fleet, deciding between buying licenses or launching boats to catch seafood. The game rewards players for progressing through interconnected options, offering fast-paced fun with thematic dice.
Sagrada Artisans
Sagrada Artisans
0See it at Amazon
Sagrada Artisans builds on the original Sagrada, adding a coloring element to the roll and write experience. As a campaign game, players complete stained-glass windows over ten sessions, introducing new tools and challenges while maintaining a relaxed pace.
Motor City
Motor City
0See it at Amazon
Motor City, from the designers of Three Sisters and Fleet, mirrors car production lines in a roll and write format. Players use dice drafting and a blueprint board to manage aspects of vehicle design, engineering, testing, production, and sales. This game offers a strategic challenge distinct from its predecessors, showcasing innovation in the genre.
For more ideas, be sure to check out our list of the best board games of all time and the best puzzle tables featuring a great multi-purpose table (by Bits and Pieces) for playing cards and board games on, too.
