Flash, Nada, and Botchee: A Review of 3 Quick Dice Games

Flash! (Blue Orange Games) – Flash!  is a competitive speed game for 2 to 6 players, ages 7 and up. Perhaps the best way to describe it is "simultaneous speed Yahtzee" — in the game, each player has his own set of 6 dice, which will be used to roll certain combos as quickly as possible. One player chooses a challenge from the scoring sheet, which consist of six-of-a-kind, 3 pairs, all even numbers, etc. All of the players then simultaneously try to roll for it, setting aside and re-rolling any dice they choose. Once a player achieves the challenge, he shouts "Flash!" and takes the highest scoring chip available. Once everyone has completed the challenge, points are scored and a new challenge is selected until the scoresheet is full. The player with the most points wins.

Flash! is a quick and simple speed game that anyone can pick up very easily. It has nice components that are stored in a portable travel pouch. We like the fact that in each round every player scores at least one point, keeping scores close and rewarding players even if they are not the first to complete a challenge. One side of each die is wild (represented by a lightning bolt), which helps to reduce the frustration of constant re-rolling when a specific number is needed.

Nada (Blue Orange Games) – Nada is a quick matching game for 2 to 4 players, ages 7 and up. The game consists of 36 custom dice featuring various symbols, from palm trees to ghosts. Half of the dice are orange and the other half are white. Players begin each round by rolling all of the dice, then quickly scan the dice for symbols that match between the orange and white dice. The first player to spot a match calls out the symbol, then collects all of the dice on the table that show that symbol. This continues until there are no matching symbols, in which case the first player to shout "Nada!" retrieves the rest of the dice. If a player ever makes the wrong call, the dice are rolled again and he must sit out until the next round begins. The player who has collected the most dice wins.

The most rewarding aspect of this game is rolling handfuls of dice at once. It also comes with a nice pouch for easy travel. However, we felt that this game was a bit lacking in terms of fun value for adults. In addition, we thought the symbols could use improvement (we found ourselves debating whether one of the symbols was a flower or a butterfly). Kids may enjoy this game, but for a better symbol-matching experience for all ages, we would instead go with Spot It! or Spot It! Party from the same publisher.

Botchee (Botchee Games) – Botchee is a Sudoku-like game for 1 to 6 players that uses dice to fill in spaces. Players can choose from several different styles of play, including Tic-tac-toe and one of many Sudoku variants. In addition, they can decide whether they want to rely on the luck of dice rolls or simply place the dice without rolling them. In the Sudoku versions of the game, players try to complete a full row, column, or corner of the grid by filling them with unique numbers. Since no duplicate numbers can be placed in the same area, a player can try to "botch" his opponent to prevent him from placing certain numbers on the board (hence the name of the game).

With the exception of the rulebook (which appears to have been printed using a home printer), Botchee has nice components. It comes with two separate dice grids that offer different levels of difficulty. The dice are a translucent and the clear plastic case the game comes in is great for travel. As far as game play is concerned, we really wanted to like it, but there were so many variations and choices in the rules that it quickly became confusing. You might say that the rules are "non-committal" — we wanted to know the accepted way to play, but instead had to more or less design a game for ourselves by picking and choosing a number of suggested rules. In this way, it might be considered more of a game system than a game. After trying out several play variations, however, we did end up finding a combination that we had some fun with. Perhaps with some rule clarifications and improvements there could be a decent game here.