You Can’t Escape Charity in Charidice!

Being generous isn’t just encouraged in Charidice, it’s downright mandatory. In this dice game, you have to give a little something to your neighbors. Think of it as a “pay-it-forward” mechanic, except instead of coffee or a smile, you’re dishing out dice rolls (sometimes grudgingly). Whether you’re a natural giver or more of a strategic Scrooge, Charidice will have you weighing every point as if your gaming reputation depends on it, because it just might.

👥 2-4 players, age: 8+
⌛ Playing time: 20 minutes
📝 Designer: Jürgen Adams
🎨 Artwork: Oliver & Sandra Freudenreich

🏢 Publisher: Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag (review copy provided)

Gameplay Overview

Here’s how it works: Over seven rounds, your mission is simple. Collect as many points as possible while reluctantly sharing some with your neighbor. On your turn, you’ll roll the dice up to three times, keeping the results you like and re-rolling the rest. Once you’re satisfied, or simply out of patience, you can score your dice.

Points are tallied based on either all dice of the same color or all dice with different colors. There’s extra glory, and points, for bonus combos like straights or matching sets of the same color. But here’s the twist: whatever dice you don’t use to score will be scored by your left-hand neighbor.

And it doesn’t end there. Dice showing 5s and 6s are scored double for your neighbor. Oh, and just when you thought you had a strategy nailed, they can call for a “great gift” once per game. This doubles the score of all the dice you leave behind. Cue the internal screaming.

But generosity pays off, literally. At the end of the game, the player who gave away the most points earns a sweet bonus. This could be 20 points for generosity, or 30 points if you’ve handed over more than 60 points. Is it enough to soothe the sting of giving away your precious rolls? Only time will tell.

Our Thoughts

Here’s the genius of Charidice: each dice combination is completely unique, with six colors and six numbers mixing things up. The result is endless decisions to agonize over. Should you lock in points for yourself or take a smaller score to prevent your neighbor from cashing in? Sometimes, the real victory is watching someone else try to contain their frustration as they give away the perfect dice.

This game shines brightest in groups where generosity isn’t exactly second nature. It’s hilarious to watch your friends squirm and strategize, trying to give you the smallest crumbs possible. (Pro tip: bring snacks so no one leaves hangry.)

At its core, Charidice is a light, interactive dice game that thrives on its mix of strategy and forced altruism. If you’ve ever wanted to see how far your gaming group will go to “give a little,” this is the perfect test. Spoiler: the answer is usually “as little as humanly possible.”

📝 We received a copy of the game from the publisher, Nürnberger-Spielkarten-Verlag. Our opinions, however, remain entirely our own, just like our dice rolls, unless we’re forced to share them with our neighbors.

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