Wow!  Disney’s turn around on these mobile games lately has been fantastic.  Within weeks of first inviting players to sign up for Disney Magical Dice, the game is already released.  Magical Dice is, plain and simple, a board game.  In fact, it’s not just any board game.  It borrows heavily from Monopoly and is unapologetic about it.  From collecting coins when you pass Start to going to jail every so often, this game will probably feel very VERY familiar to many of you.  But that’s not to say that it is bad.  In fact, quite the opposite.  Disney Magical Dice is a fun filled, free to play game of the board type that manages to defy the confines and time consumption of Monopoly to be more accessible and more fun for the whole family.

Two dice to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.

You’ll start off your time in Disney Magical Dice with a tutorial presented to you by Felix Fortune, a sly little wizard fellow who wants to welcome you to the board gaming world.  I’ll admit that while I think the tutorial was pretty straight forward, it definitely as the nature of many mobile games where it feels a bit like you are clicking through at a break neck pace and if you aren’t careful, you might miss something entirely.  And while I think the tutorial does a fine job of explaining the game, I didn’t fully grasp what I was doing until I actually started playing against other players.  In fact, I’m still fumbling around with what is actually going on in a given play session, but actually, that is part of the fun.

At its core, Magical Dice is essentially Monopoly.  You go around a board, buying up property in the hopes that your opponents will land on said property and have to pay you.  Your opponents actually have the chance to steal property from you unless you have built a landmark which basically gives you ownership for life.  Simple enough.  The really interesting part is that the game has multiple win conditions.

As you’re all buying and paying, eventually, certain players are going to run out of cash, and here in lies the first mode of victory.  If you are The Last Player with Money you win.  This essentially means that you have starved out your opponent.

You can also win by Line Completion which means you have bought up all the property on colored spaces in a given side of the square.

Finally, you can win by Triple Color Completion, which means you own three completed colors worth of property.

Making the game winable by different means makes the game much faster than a round of Monopoly and also means that everyone can play what works for them.  In fact, I often found that my strategy would be determined by my early rolls and I would start to sort out just what type of victory I wanted to go for.  It adds a bit of strategy to a game that would otherwise depend on random dice rolls.

As you win, you’ll gain bonuses and rewards and increase in rank.

That’s a big part of Magical Dice because outside of the game there is quite a bit going on.  First off, there is plenty to unlock.  You’ll be trying to open up new characters that you can play as, and this need is increased by the fact that characters have special stats which increase their odds on luck based scenarios that occur in the game.  You’ll also be attempting to complete daily, weekly and monthly challenges in order to get more money, characters and hearts, which are the free to play mechanic that allow you to play.

There is also a nice little friend system which allows you to add folks you just played with and also send hearts to your friends.  It makes the whole game feel quite communal even though you can’t actually speak to these people.

There are also multiple boards with different themes to unlock as well as many different costumes and all of this is sure to make completionists come back for more gaming fun.  It is helped by the fact that each game I’ve played so far lasts around 5 – 10 minutes, so it’s easy to pick up and play a round while waiting in line or sitting on the bus on the way to work.

OMG, the Woody costume is so adorable! I CAN’T!!!

I’ll be honest.  When I say Magical Dice, I didn’t think much of it.  It looked like a throw away game but the more I play it, the more I WANT to play it.  I found myself saying “Just one more,” over and over.  The whole package has the cute appearance and the aspect of unlocking new costumes and levels makes me want to keep going, trying to achieve the next level to see what new things are in store.  The game is easy to pick up and quick to play and can easily be played by 4 players.  This means, the whole family can jump in!!  If you are a Disney fan or a board game fan or a doing fun things on digital devices with your family fan, I most certainly recommend giving Disney Magical Dice a chance.

Head on over to their official site to download the game! 

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