Annotated Games: Version 0.9, 1 player

This game was played during game testing of the solo version of Dyce.

The whisky barons are represented by pawns in the four colors, the shops are represented by colored spaces and the whiskies are represented by colored cubes within those spaces. Each round shows first the player actions and then the whisky baron actions.

Note that the black whisky baron moves before the orange whisky baron in this game. This was changed in later versions so that the orange whisky baron moves first.

Setup

Round 1

With cheap red and blue cubes available as well as a purple cube further on, White focuses on those colors first. She starts with a shop with a red cube between the purple and the orange whisky barons. The idea is to buy the red cube from the purple whisky baron and then use the same shop to buy a blue cube from an orange whisky baron. The black and the green whisky barons stand still and have their dice replaced.

Round 2

White places a shop with a blue cube, meaning that all colors that the whisky barons are looking for (red and blue) are in the city. This means that all of them move and that no dice are removed. White also gets a red cube for only 1 pound.

Round 3

Next, White places a shop with an orange cube five spaces away from the green whisky baron. The idea is to gain time to acquire a yellow cube before he gets there. In the solo version, it's very important to prevent or at least delay blended dice from being removed due to cubes not being available in the city.

With the red cube being bought the previous round, all whisky barons stand still and have their red dice removed except the black whisky baron, who continues to move towards the blue cube.

Round 4

White doesn't place anything this round, since she's not sure yet when she'll get a cubes necessary to blend and place a green cube. (An orange cube is placed already and a purple cube will be placed once the shop with the purple whisky baron is evacuated.)

The black whisky baron moves towards the blue cube but have to make a left turn around the castle. However, when the orange whisky baron moves he beats the black whisky baron to the blue cube and sells it for White's last pound. The green whisky baron moves towards the orange cube while the purple whisky baron stands still and removes his green die. With that, the game clock moves to 2.

Round 5

The fifth round is another waiting round, since White still doesn't want to place anything. The black whisky baron has her blue die removed and the orange whisky baron has her yellow die removed. The green and the purple whisky barons start their joint walk towards the orange cube.

Round 6

The time has finally come to place a purple cube. The black and orange whisky barons move towards it white the green and the purple whisky barons continues to move towards the orange cube. The purple whisky baron is sold for 6 pounds and the first objective attained!

Round 7

This is a critical phase of the game. White needs the yellow cube sold by the black whisky baron but that won't be available until two more blended dice have been removed, the purple and the black one, pushing the game clock to 4. Meanwhile, she plans to acquire red and blue dice from the orange whisky baron to blend black whisky later on. Thus, she places an empty shop next to the black whisky baron and a red cube in the empty shop next to the orange whisky baron.

The black whisky baron stands still, removing his purple die, while the orange whisky baron moves to the red cube. The green and the purple whisky barons are now two steps away from the orange cube.

Round 8

White proceeds with her plan and places a blue and a yellow cube.

The black whisky baron stands still again, removing his black die this time, while the orange whisky baron moves to the blue cube. The green and the purple whisky barons are now only one step away from the orange cube.

Round 9

The big moment has come when a yellow cube is acquired from the black whisky baron just in time to sell an orange cube to the green whisky baron. Unfortunately, this also means that purple whisky baron doesn't get any orange cube and that his die is removed, pushing the game clock to 5. (The orange whisky baron's green die is also removed but the game clock never moves more than 1 per round and this is why White doesn't bother preventing this.)

Before this happens, White has placed a shop with a black cube aimed for the green whisky baron. This is necessary to keep the last black die in play. It's three steps away from them, which gives her the time she needs to get another yellow cube from the black whisky baron.

Round 10

The task is nearly completed but White cannot rest yet. With the game clock at 5, no more blended dice must be removed from the game. Hence, White places a shop with a green cube five steps away from the purple cube to keep him moving until another blue and yellow cube can be acquired.

The black whisky baron stands still with his blue die removed, as does the orange whisky baron with his red die removed. The green whisky baron moves towards the black cube and the purple whisky baron moves towards the green cube.

Round 11

White plans to acquire the blue and yellow cubes necessary to sell a green cube from the whisky baron and starts by placing a blue cube next to him. He also places a purple cube far away from the orange whisky baron to have him engaged for the rest of the game.

The black baron moves and sells a blue cube while the other whisky barons move towards their targets.

Round 12

The game is nearly over now. White places a yellow cube to be able to buy it from the black whisky baron. The yellow cube can then be used together with the previously bought blue and red cubes to sell a black cube to the green whisky baron.

Round 13

White places another yellow cube to be able to buy it from the green whisky baron. The black whisky baron's red die is removed while the orange and the purple whisky barons are finally approaching their targets.

Round 14

The game is over. White places an orange cube to prevent the black whisky baron's orange die from being removed but this isn't necessary since she buys a yellow cube and sells a green cube in the same round. The game clock has reached its end but White has managed to sell 1 blended cube of each color and wins!

The test game showed the challenge of winning the solo game. It also showed how the strategy differs from the multi-player version, since White often had to place cubes far away from the whisky barons to keep them moving rather than close to them to get the cubes before the opponents. Overall a most successful test!

P&P

Dyce contains physical components only - no printing is necessary to play.

Annotated games

• v0.9, 1 player
• v0.9, 4 players
• v0.7, 4 players

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