I dunk on Rolling Slimes

 I have made it a habit to learn at least one Roll and Write every month. So I try and keep a few quick and dirty R&Ws on deck for the months where it’s tough to find gaming time. And sometimes, that’s how you find a diamond in the rough. And sometimes you don’t.

Rolling Slimes is not one of the diamonds.

It’s yet another game where you roll shapes and draw them in the grid. And It’s a formula that can lead to some really fun games.

If you have at least two players, the active player rolls three dice. The highest one gets pulled (if it’s a tie, you just pull one of them) The active player chooses one of the remaining dice and everyone else uses the other. If you’re playing solitaire or with a huge group, you roll two dice and take the lower one.

You are drawing shapes that are the same number of squares as the die number. You have to follow Tetris rules, no floating shapes. However, as long as it’s the right number of squares in a legal spot, you have flexibility in making the shape.

So, here’s the clever bit. At the start of the game, you can only place shapes of the three squares. Fours and fives and sixes are treated as ones. But when you get two three-shapes next to each other, you draw a four shape and fours are unlocked. And you unlock fives and sixes the same way. 

You win by unlocking and placing a seven shape.

I am amused at how Rolling Slimes reminds me of the video game Suika Game, although the best part of that is the physics engine and Rolling Slimes doesn’t have that lol

Okay. I think the problem with Rolling Slimes is a very simple. In order to get a seven shape, you have to roll double sixes (or triple sixes in a multi-player game for a non-active player to win). More than that, it has to be in endgame. Boxcars at the start of the game are worthless. 

And not only does it take a long shot to achieve the winning conditions, you don’t have a way to mitigate the odds. The die rolls are the die rolls.

While you could measure Beat-Your-Own-Score by the efficiency of how you fill the grid, that isn’t inspiring when you have actual winning conditions. And in a multi-player game, I want to win, not just lose as bad.

Now, there are a bunch of expansion modules. However, most of them actually make the game more difficult to win. The Wizard’s Apprentice is the only one that gives players a boost and I’m not sure I enjoyed the base game enough to try it.

I can’t be too hard on a free download but I didn’t enjoy Rolling Slimes.