The roll-and-write genre has exploded in popularity recently. This accessible style of gameplay, reminiscent of classic Yahtzee, involves rolling dice or flipping cards, then using the results to fill in a personal score sheet. While simple in concept, roll-and-write games offer surprisingly sophisticated gameplay and endless possibilities for strategic depth.
Their appeal lies in their straightforward rules and immediate gratification. Players enjoy the creative freedom of personalizing their sheets, while the underlying mechanics remain easy to grasp. This winning combination makes them accessible to a broad range of players, regardless of experience. The following selection showcases some of the best this genre has to offer.
TL;DR: The Best Roll & 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
Available on Amazon. Rolling Realms' unique charm lies in its realms—each inspired by a different board game and featuring a card where you assign die roll results to play mini-games reflecting their source material. Players share three realms, roll nine times, then draw three new realms from twelve, repeating twice for a full game. The realms themselves are cleverly designed microcosms, offering engaging, family-friendly mini-puzzles. For a more challenging experience, consider the standalone sequel, Rolling Realms Redux, featuring even more intricate realms that can be played solo or combined with the base game.
Marabunta
Available on Amazon. Renowned game designer Reiner Knizia brings his strategic expertise to this two-player roll-and-write game. Depicting a struggle between two ant tribes, Marabunta uses dice to expand influence across color-coded hexes, earning bonuses to maximize your final score. It's a fascinating blend of spatial and mathematical strategy, a hallmark of Knizia's design.
The Fox Experiment
Available on Amazon. Inspired by a real-life Russian fox domestication experiment, this roll-and-write game, designed by Elizabeth Hargrave (of Wingspan fame), uses dice to represent genetic heredity. Players breed foxes, selecting traits to meet their end-game goals across multiple rounds of selection, creating a delightful and engaging experience.
Twilight Inscription
Available on Amazon. A unique entry, Twilight Inscription adapts the sprawling 4X strategy of Twilight Imperium into a roll-and-write format. This condensed experience, lasting around 90 minutes, allows players to build space empires through exploration, exploitation, expansion, and extermination. Each aspect uses a separate sheet, creating a series of strategic trade-offs and diverse approaches. Its scope feels more like a full-fledged strategic board game than a typical roll-and-write.
Super Skill Pinball: Ramp It Up
Available on Amazon. Unlike most roll-and-writes, Super Skill Pinball cleverly recreates the pinball experience. Players choose a table, then use dice rolls to navigate their ball, hitting bumpers and targets. The catch? You can't reuse a box twice, adding a strategic layer to maximizing your score. Several themed sets are available, with Ramp It Up standing out, even including a cooperative mode.
Welcome To... Your Perfect Home
Available on Amazon. A "flip-and-write" game (using cards instead of dice), Welcome To challenges players to plan a suburban town by selecting house numbers and building effect cards. The goal is to arrange houses in numerical order while maximizing bonuses from pools, parks, and city plans, offering a surprisingly strategic and satisfying experience.
My City: Roll & Build
Available on Amazon. Based on Reiner Knizia's popular board game, this dice game features a rewarding campaign structure. Play unfolds across multiple episodes, each adding new rules and complexity gradually. The game is flexible enough to play individual episodes as standalone sessions, making it a versatile and entertaining choice.
Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition
Available on Amazon and Target. Instead of filling a score sheet, Railroad Ink requires players to draw transport networks on a grid using custom dice. The challenge lies in connecting exits while minimizing dead ends, combining risk, reward, and spatial reasoning. The Deep Blue edition adds rivers and lakes, enhancing the strategic depth.
Next Station: London
Available on Amazon. A flip-and-write game, Next Station: London uses colored pencils to draw train networks, starting at designated stations. Players aim to cross districts, visit tourist sites, and connect lines, but cannot cross lines except at stations, creating a surprisingly nuanced puzzle.
Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write
Available on Amazon. This game introduces more complexity to the roll-and-write genre. Players build a dinosaur theme park, managing resources, attractions, staff, and security, then scoring points by designing efficient tour routes. The multiple aspects to balance create a rich and challenging experience.
Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale
Available on Amazon and Target. Cartographers adds player interaction to the roll-and-write formula. Players map a fantasy kingdom, fulfilling scoring challenges, but periodically receive monster cards, passing their maps to neighbors who strategically place negative icons. This adds a personal and engaging element to the world-building aspect.
Long Shot: The Dice Game
Available at Barnes & Noble. This horse racing roll-and-write features a track board where horses race based on dice rolls. Players bet on horses, but can also buy horses for special abilities, creating strategic dependencies between players as the race unfolds.
Three Sisters
Available on Amazon. Three Sisters emphasizes combo creation. Players cultivate a garden, growing crops and flowers, and purchasing tools based on dice rolls. The game encourages action chaining, leading to intense strategic planning.
Fleet: The Dice Game
Available on Amazon. In Fleet, players manage a fishing fleet, using dice to buy licenses and launch boats. The interconnected options and benefits create a fast-paced and engaging experience.
Sagrada Artisans
Available on Amazon. This roll-and-write version of Sagrada lets players color in their stained-glass windows as they build. It's a campaign game with ten sessions, each adding new challenges while maintaining the original's calming atmosphere.
Motor City
Available on Amazon. From the creators of Three Sisters and Fleet, Motor City simulates car production lines. Players use dice drafting and a blueprint board to coordinate design, engineering, testing, production, and sales, creating a joined-up strategic challenge.
