Dice Throne

Dice Throne is a competitive, tactical dice game published by Roxley Games and designed by Nate Chatellier and Manny Trembley. Its premise is direct: fantasy heroes, each with a distinctive player board and ability deck, fight one another in fast head-to-head battles. Rather than using a shared set of identical characters, Dice Throne gives every hero a different rule system, making the matchup itself central to play.

A turn begins with an upkeep phase, followed by a main phase, a roll phase, a second main phase, and a discard phase. In the roll phase, a player rolls five custom dice up to three times, usually keeping useful results between rolls. Symbols and combinations activate attacks or abilities shown on the board. Combat also uses defense dice, so the attacker’s result does not automatically determine the damage. Combat points pay for cards and certain effects, while status tokens such as Poison, Knockdown, or Smoke create temporary advantages and hazards.

Each hero’s deck is specialized rather than interchangeable. The Pyromancer can build Ignite and spend it for fiery effects; the Shadow Thief manipulates cards and benefits from evasive tricks; the Paladin uses faith and defensive tools; and the Monk relies on styles and combo-oriented attacks. The Barbarian hits hard with straightforward rolls while the Moon Elf combines ranged attacks with elusive defenses. These are not cosmetic themes: each board changes what counts as a good roll and which risks are worthwhile.

The game’s history is closely tied to Kickstarter. Dice Throne: Season One was launched as a major crowdfunding project, establishing the original four-hero lineup of Barbarian, Moon Elf, Pyromancer, and Shadow Thief. Later releases expanded the roster with heroes including the Monk, Paladin, and Tactician. Dice Throne: Season One ReRolled revisited that first set with upgraded components and revised content. Roxley subsequently offered larger battle chests grouping multiple heroes and their decks in one product.

Dice Throne also has a cooperative side called Dice Throne Adventures. Instead of fighting another player directly, heroes travel through encounters and face enemies controlled by the game system, while using the same hero asymmetry and dice-driven combat. This mode gives the character kits a different purpose: survival and coordination matter more than simply exploiting an opponent’s weakness. Its campaign structure helped position Dice Throne as more than a pure duel game.

Marvel Dice Throne later adapted several Marvel heroes into the same competitive system.