Rolling Realms by Ryan Miller

I will never not be excited when I have the chance to see what new idea Jamey Stegmaier and Stone Maier Games has brought to the world of table top board gaming. Being no exception, Rolling Realms, the newest new had to have a place at my table surrounded by friends. The game style, an incredibly simple one, is referred to as a “Roll and Write” in which players roll dice and choose to spend the values in various ways by physically writing over your components. In this case: a miniature representation of pretty much everything Stone Maier has put out so far.

The game features six sets of eleven cards, one for each possible player, six dry erase markers, and two neat blue and green dice. Though the game supports six players physically straight out of the box, groups can combine components of other copies to support a playgroup of as many people as they want. If that weren’t enough, a solo play mode is included, as it is with pretty much every SM game.

The game itself seems simple enough. Roll two dice and track results, physically, on your cards. The game begins to reveal its depth with each realm card. Over the course of three rounds, players get dealt three realm cards at the beginning of each. Every realm card has its own set of rules and it’s up to you to manage how you track your score from the resulting dice rolls.

As mentioned before, each realm card is a representation of virtually all the various things SM Games has published so far. Whether its Between Two Castles, Wingspan, or even My Little Scythe, your favorite board game is probably represented here. Because of this, each realm card is sure to offer the nostalgia for those other games, and rightfully so.

As ever, SM Games not only delivers a fun experience, but a quality one as well. The components are gorgeous. Whether it’s the over-sized blue and green swirled dice or the heavy-duty glossy cardstock of the card, each piece is certainly worth the price of admission. The game even gives you six little dry eraser pads.

There really isn’t much more to say about this game. Every time SM Games puts out a product, I can’t wait to play it. At the end of it, I’m never disappointed.