Like friends, RAM, and money, one simply cannot have too many dice. (In my humble opinion, at least.) Dice are affordable, nicely portable, provide a wonderfully satisfying tactile feel in the hands, and, perhaps most importantly, are useful for any number of roleplaying, board, and other tabletop games.
At this time of year, though, I’m also reminded that dice make a great gift. Whether for your comrades in the local gaming group or as a perfectly stocking-sized surprise for your kids, the holiday season is dice season.
My favorite new find this year is Mystery Dice Goblins, a UK-based specialty retailer that ships internationally and also sells through Etsy. While they offer an expansive selection of gaming-related products, the focus is, obviously, mystery dice sets.
These come in myriad forms including single dice, fancy metal sets, and even dice embedded in bars of soap. As a gamer of a certain age, however, I was more than happy to check out three packs of their basic mystery dice. Each package contained an entire set of seven matching plastic dice—the kind so many of us grew up on.
That said, my lifelong love of RPGs combined with the anticipation of not knowing what I’d get until I tore open each individual package made for a most delightful evening.
Out of the gate, I found a gorgeous set of dark glittering dice with smart gold numbers, all nicely weighted and properly inked. Set two was a simple white-on-yellow with gold glitter inside, and my final mystery pack contained a clear set of dice with red glitter—which my daughter and girlfriend both immediately began vying for.
Each set consisted of the standard seven-die array—1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 2d10, 1d12, and 1d20—and I was pleasantly surprised to see that, instead of receiving two identical ten-sided dice, each boasted one single digit and one double-digit d10. Yes, I know that this is now the standard, but back in my day…
Currently, these full-set mystery dice packages cost approximately $9 (both via the Mystery Dice Goblins site and the Etsy storefront), which, especially after factoring in the packaging and the fun of blind-box-style opening, is a fair price. My only caution would be that those relying on international shipping—like gamers here in the States—order early to beat the holiday rush and consider purchasing multiple items to take advantage of the free US shipping option for orders over $35 available via Etsy.
Review materials provided by Mystery Dice Goblins.
