World of Dice
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| World of Dice

For a device that has little relation to skill and is almost entirely down to mere luck, fate, or whatever deity you happen to believe in, we put a fair whack of faith in the common set of dice.

Blowing them, kissing them, even praying to them - most of us have a little routine or two that we entertain in a vain attempt to instil that extra bit of good fortune into the pre-throw dice .

But, despite their importance in your average boardgame, dice are very rarely the focus of play itself, usually taking on the role of a means to an end. A tool. A part of the process.

In World of Dice, our humble cubed chums become the stars of the show.

HandyGames's effort comes with four different games that rely almost wholly on a combination of your faith in the roll of the dice, the amount you're willing to risk on that faith and, of course, the dice themselves.

But while the result is often out of your hands, the games are so accessible and beautifully presented that addiction soon takes hold. Win or lose, it's incredibly hard not to give those dice just one more throw.

All four games have this same appeal (even throwing the dice themselves is an experience, each one being tossed around the table by mashing the number keys) and can be customised to suit your own standard, with the number of dice and ability of contestants, among other options, all at your disposal at the start.

That said, even if you're initially foxed for some reason, the games couldn't be simpler to pick up.

The most straightforward of all – Up or Down - has much in common with Brucie's quiz classic Play your Cards Right, with the aim being to guess whether the next throw of the dice will be higher or lower than the last.

Correct predictions earn a point, whereas wrong answers result in a life – of which there are three – being lost. Things are complicated a little by matching the previous score (known as 'deuce'), which awards a point as well as taking a life from the previous player.

It's a factor that can bring someone back from the brink or take an early leader down a peg or two, but even this added twist doesn't muddy what is a refreshingly simple set of rules, enhanced by some beautifully animated characters that give World of Dice a real sense of charm.

This is a theme that runs throughout, with the second game on offer helping to bring what can be a fairly intimidating game – poker – down to a layman's level.

Using dice instead of cards, much remains the same as standard poker, with the aim being to come up with the best set of numbers from five dice – pairs, combos or runs, for instance.

Like taking cards from the pack, you get to choose your dice from more than one throw, picking as many as you like from the initial five on offer with the intention of getting the best possible hand you can to win the round.

Poker Dice's advantage is, by keeping to the numbers 1-6, you've a greater chance of getting a good hand, making it poker for the green among us.

It's fair to say that neither of the other two games get especially deep, either. Game number four, Bad Number, is all about avoiding a predetermined number, rolling the dice as many times as you dare to build up as big a high score as possible, while 'Match or Loss' is about trying to match one or more of the die thrown by your competitors.

None of this is especially complex or radical, but it's World of Dice's light touch that makes it so moreish. It's akin to being handed an empty 2 litre bottle of coke and trying not to play Mallet's Mallet on a passer by - this is an itch you just have to scratch.

And while each of the games on offer is effectively over within minutes, it's this instantaneous appeal that makes World of Dice the kind of title you can dip in and out of for months.

As the developers would attest to, that's a trait that has very little to do with luck.

World of Dice

World of Dice is a light bite that puts luck in the spotlight and tests your nerve to the limit, making you bet on the numbers falling your way. You're just as likely to lose as you are win, but defeat never hurts – it just ups your thirst for more, with a rematch literally one tempting tap-of-a-button away
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Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.