Your mission, Martians, is to swoop down on the pathetic denizens of the primitive planet Earth and scoop up as many of the inhabitants as you can manage. We are interested in samples of the Chicken, Cow, and Human populations so that we can determine which of them is actually in charge. The Earthlings might manage to put up a feeble defense, but surely nothing that a small taste of your Death Rays can't handle. Make Mars proud – be the first Martian to fill your abduction quota!
In Martian Dice you will roll 13 custom dice in an effort to set aside ("abduct") Humans, Chickens, and Cows. With each roll you must first set aside any Tanks, representing the human military coming to fend off your alien invasion. Then you may choose one type of die to set aside as well - one of the earthlings to abduct, or Death Rays to combat the military. At the end of your turn, if you have at least as many Death Rays as Tanks, then you may abduct the earthlings you've been setting aside. You can't pick any type of Earthling twice in one turn, but if you manage to abduct at least one of each you'll score a bonus!
With each roll you will ask yourself, do you feel lucky?
- Fast pace
- Fun, thematic dice mechanic
- Good crowd-pleaser
- High randomness
- Push-your-luck dice game with aliens vs humans
- Mars; Martians trying to beam up humans and animals
- Lighthearted sci-fi chaos
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice_rolling — Roll dice and decide which dice to keep
- risk_management — Choose to keep more humans/cows or risk busts
- set_collection — Points awarded per set collected
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- The show starts now.
- The tiles are nice. They look like acrylic; the scoring is modular.
- From the couch to the table and back again.
- Beasts is a new game from Panosaurus. The tiles are nice. The gameplay is different enough each time.
- Two to five players. We are putting groups of penguins together and trying to make the biggest waddle.
- This is a trick taking game; there can be two colors of suit in this trick.
References (from this video)
- ridiculous, fast filler with apealing theme
- easy to teach and play in short sessions
- reliance on luck may be a turnoff for some
- alien capture with quirky sci-fi humor
- Earth invaded by aliens; you are Martians trying to collect Earth subjects
- light, silly
- King of Tokyo
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice-based combat and capture — dice faces represent cows, humans, chickens, etc., used to score captures
- light strategy, heavy luck — luck drives most outcomes but player choices influence risk management
- Quick Play — short rounds, fast setup and closing play
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's such a cute package.
- the bunnies hopped around a moon are so cute.
- I would play this every year during Mid-Autumn Festival.
- Roly is a game that is very, very simple on the surface.
- it's push your luck game though.
- the higher you can go, the more dice you can place, the more rewards you can get.
- If you like Skull King, this is almost exactly that, but more random.
- it's a ridiculous super quick filler game.
References (from this video)
- Classic filler with quick rounds
- Easy to teach and learn
- Great for crowds
- Luck-driven; may not appeal to strategy-focused players
- Aliens plotting to capture humans, chickens, and cows
- Space/alien invasion theme
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Chaotic, light conflict — Fast rounds with escalating tension around rolls and outcomes
- dice pool — Roll a handful of dice; some outcomes score points; tanks and other results affect scoring
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "It's so simple, but it's really clever."
- "This is a two-player head-to-head card combat game."
- "We are the aliens."
- "Bot or Not has me laughing a lot more."
- "Gen Con party game of the show, Bot or Not, unanimous."
- "Flip Tunes is my Gen Con game of the year."
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- unknown — Not discussed in transcript.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's still such a great game
- solo is such a good game
- dungeon there will be a video quite soon