Announcing: Magic: The Gathering: Dice Game

Posted on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 by paz
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Posted in mtg, ZEN contest entry

WIZARDS OF THE COAST PRESS RELEASE

October 24, 2009 -– Renton, Wash. — Wizards of the Coast today announced a new game product
just in time for the holidays — Magic: The Gathering: Dice Game.

“Wizards of the Coast is committed to supporting all sorts of gamers, not just those who play games with cards, or those who have friends with which to play,” said Scott Knoblich, VP of Sales for Wizards of the Coast. “The result of that commitment is this dice game.”

“Like the Catan dice game, the Magic: The Gathering: Dice Game will capture every ounce of the flavor, nuance and strategy of the original, but deliver it in a compact, elegant form,” he continued.

Players will be delighted to play Magic: The Gathering without the need for cards or even opponents! Game progress will be tracked on game sheets like the following, which is oddly included in this press release:



Magic: The Gathering: Dice Game will be easy to learn but tough to master. Strangely, this press release contains a copy of the rules:

1) YOUR MAGIC PERSONALITY

First, roll the MAGIC PERSONALITY DIE to find out what kind of player you are: a “Timmy,” a “Johnny” or a “Spike.”


2) BEST DECK

Roll the COLOR DIE repeatedly until you get a MaRo symbol. If you rolled each color, start this section over. Otherwise, note each color you did NOT roll by circling those colors in the “BEST DECK” section.


3) YOUR DECK

Roll the COLOR DIE repeatedly until you get a MaRo symbol. Note each color you DID roll by circling those colors in the “YOUR DECK” section.

  • If you are a Timmy, you may stop rolling after any Red roll, because all that matters is having some dragons in there.
  • If you are a Johnny, you may stop rolling after any roll that does NOT match a BEST DECK color, because as long as you’re different, you’re satisfied.
  • If you are a Spike, you may stop rolling after any roll that matches a BEST DECK color, because duh.

4) METASCORE

Subtract the number of colors that do NOT match between YOUR DECK and the BEST DECK from the number of colors that DO match. Write this result or zero, whichever is greater, in the METASCORE box.

5) PLAY!

Roll the PSYCHE OUT DIE until you get “YOU WIN!” Every time you are affected by a PSYCHE OUT EVENT, cross out a PSYCHE OUT BOX on your current round. If the round becomes filled with PSYCHE OUTS, mark the FROWNY FACE box instead of the HAPPY FACE box and move on to the next round.

Each round, you may reroll X times, where X is your METASCORE.


  • If you are a Timmy, you are not affected by HOT CHICK, because you have not reached adolescence, and not affected by ROGUE DECK, because your questionable deckmaking defies expectations.
  • If you are a Johnny, you are not affected by ROGUE DECK, because everyone knows that Johnnies share a bond of kinship with one another, and not affected by TOP TIER DECK, because you’re here to stick it to those conformist netdeckers!
  • If you are a Spike, you are not affected by TOP TIER DECK, because you’ve played against it like a billion times on MODO, and not affected by HOSTILE JERK, because everyone knows that jerkwads share a bond of kinship with one another.

After playing all of the rounds, mark the appropriate EVENT RESULT. Your result is a victory if you have max 1 FROWNY FACE. If you won, move on to the next event!

Magic: The Gathering: The Dice Game will be available at retailers November 20, 2009 for $19.99 (MSRP). The purchase includes a storage box and small piece of paper, on which will be written the URL of a page on MagictheGathering.com containing sheets and dice images to print out, and instructions for how to cut out, fold, and glue the dice images into usable dice.