Image from ThinkFun.com
No, not super-hero powers, but exponents. ThinkFun is always one of my favorite booths at the NYC Toy Fair. Mostly because the people in the booth are the very people who put their heart and soul into making a cool game company. ThinkFun CEO, Bill Ritchie and his wife, Andrea, always take the time to chat about their games, what’s new for the year, and where they think the future is.
This year the coolest addition to their lineup was an updated Math Dice. Like last year’s game, this one starts out with two D12s, but instead of multiplying the D12s, we take the blue die to the power of the red die. To keep the numbers in reasonable ranges neither d12 has a 1, and the red one is only 2′s and 3′s. Playing for 12^4 might get difficult.
Once the target is determined, someone rolls 3d6 and everyone works out equations in their head, calling out their closest answer as they go. The person with the closest answer then reveals the equation. First one to four points wins.
To keep the game interesting and the numbers in a reasonable range the exponent die is only 2′s and 3′s. The d6 are also modified to make 1′s rare. Trying to get anywhere near 12^3 with 1, 1, and 1 would be impossible. I’m also glad that 12^4 isn’t possible because I’d be lost without a calculator.
It wouldn’t be difficult to work up some rounding rules for unmodified gaming dice, but at under $8 on amazon, the Math Dice Powers are a pretty good deal.
