Introduction

I think it’s safe to say that few positive things have emerged as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the world was thrown into a global state of lockdown, people found themselves separated from many of the social contexts they had previously taken for granted. Not being able to sit down to play a game in the company of family and friends proved to be a huge blow for many board gamers myself included. Just because I enjoy solitaire gaming doesn’t mean I thrive on living in solitude. But as the old saying goes, “life finds a way” and this most definitely applies to the collective ingenuity that is present amongst many board game designers and publishers. Originally created as an online solution to a problem characterized by distancing, Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games designed the roll-and-write game Rolling Realms as a way for people from all over the world to play and enjoy providing a way to band together amidst troubling times. Although not intended to be a physical publication, fans kept asking to the point that Jamey Stegmaier conceded. Thus, the physical version of Rolling Realms was born and in true solo fashion, the game features a dedicated solo mode courtesy of the fine folks at the Automa Factory.

Full disclosure: A review copy of Rolling Realms was kindly provided by publisher Stonemaier Games.

Components and artwork

One thing’s for certain: Rolling Realms features some of the chunkiest dice I’ve ever seen in a game! These blue and green marbled behemoths’ are as visually impressive as they are enjoyable to roll. Honestly, more board games should include comically oversized dice as rolling them makes me feel like a giant. In all seriousness though, seeing how dice are such an integral part of the roll-and-write genre from a component quality perspective it’s rather fitting to put the emphasis on making them the literal stars of the show. That’s not to say that the rest of the included components are subpar, quite the contrary. Rather than regular paper sheets, each and every card is laminated allowing you to write and erase to your heart’s content using the included dry-erase markers. It’s definitely not an aspect of component quality that I would expect every other roll-and-write publication to adopt but there’s no denying it adds a little bit of flair. Overall, I find Rolling Realms to be a lovely little box of delights with components to boot.

Gameplay

What if you took the Stonemaier Games’ catalog of previously published board games, distilled each and every one of them to their core in terms of defining mechanisms, and combined all of them into a roll-and-write? The result is Rolling Realms, a collection of you guessed it realms that mirror the sensation of playing the full-fledged predecessor. Similar to a lot of games that wear the Stonemaier Games logo, in Rolling Realms players are trying to collect the most number of stars in order to be declared the winner. Each realm card provides the player with different avenues to acquire said stars whilst simultaneously drawing inspiration from a key element that defined the game in question. For example, the Scythe realm features a double-row system where players can mark off a section of the top row to gain a resource and then spend a different resource to immediately take the corresponding reward from the bottom row. Anyone familiar with the two rows of actions on the individual player boards in Scythe will instantly recognize the origins of the realm card in Rolling Realms. As someone who has played the vast majority of Stonemaier Games published to date, I can confidently say that each and every realm card beautifully and cleverly mimics what makes its predecessor so enjoyable in the first place.

The game is played over three rounds, each following the same pattern in terms of gameplay. At the start of each round, one player shuffles their nine realm cards and reveals three at random. Each other player finds the same three cards from their own deck, meaning that all players have the same set of realm cards for that given round. Each round consists of nine turns with players taking their turns simultaneously from each other. At the start of each turn, the two dice are rolled with players marking the numerical values of each die on their scorecard. Based on the dice results, players then use each numerical value to activate their realm cards with each die only being used for a single realm meaning you cannot activate a realm card twice on a turn. As with any roll-and-write worthy of its salt, Rolling Realms provides the players with tools to mitigate the fickle nature of Lady Luck. Resources that have been marked off from realm cards can be spent to tip the scales in your favor. For example, spending two pumpkins by crossing them off your resource card allows you to adjust a single die by one plus or minus. While spending three hearts gains you an additional third die for that turn with the same value as either of the rolled die. This adds an additional layer of tactical consideration to Rolling Realms, as you are constantly weighing using the dice to satisfy the star conditions of the realm cards versus taking resources that might aid you further down the line. It’s the sort of decision that I enjoy in board games and one of the reasons that I’m so fond of Reiner Knizia game designs, games where you constantly want to do two things on your turn but can only choose a single course of action.

Roll-and-write games are often berated for being instances of “multiplayer solitaire” and rather than shying away from this stigma Rolling Realms instead wears it proudly with the inclusion of a dedicated solo mode designed by Morten Monrad Pedersen and Karel Titeca in collaboration with Lieve Teugels. Although it essentially boils down to a beat-your-own-score affair, the solo mode in Rolling Realms does present this challenge in a far more interesting manner than compared to a lot of its peers by having you play through a minigolf course! Consisting of 18 “holes”, each card of the solo course has its own unique challenges and requirements that you must fulfill in order to progress to the next hole. Rather than three rounds, the solo mode consists of one-round acts with each hole of the course having three distinct solo-specific rules. These override the rules present in the multiplayer experience and are the main reason that the solo mode in Rolling Realms is such an enjoyable experience. For example, hole #1 titled “Earlie Birdie” stipulates that you play with the Charterstone, Scythe, and Tapestry realms with only seven turns to reach the target points goal as opposed to the usual nine turns. As you progress through this solitaire minigolf course the difficulty escalates accordingly. However, the solo mode is designed in such a way that you are always able to progress to the next hole even if you fail to reach the target goal making for a tough but fair solitaire challenge.

Final thoughts

Rolling Realms is a solid piece of game design and a testament to how to make lemonade out of lemons. What really impressed me is the manner in which each of the nine realm cards truly captures the essence of playing the full-fledged brethren. For a game that consists of little more than a couple of dice, laminated cards, and dry-erase markers that’s no small feat at least in my book. Rolling Realms has proven to be a perfect lunch companion or during the evening when I’m in the mood to play a game but lack the mental dexterity for something more taxing. It’s quick, it’s cheerful and with additional promo realms being released there’s definitely more to explore beyond the core set included in the base game. If you enjoy roll-and-write games then you definitely owe it to yourself to take a closer look at Rolling Realms!