# Woohoo! Dice Wars Goes Multiplayer!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 2, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593 "2006-12-02T17:11:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/1 "2006-12-02T17:11:28Z")

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I know there’ve been a few threads about the webcrack that is [Dice Wars](http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/dice/dice.html). Now, someone has taken it a step further and created an online multiplayer version. Join me over at [kdice](http://www.kdice.com/), won’t you?

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**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/2 "2006-12-02T23:21:01Z")

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This game relies wayyyyy too much on luck.

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**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/3 "2006-12-02T23:30:12Z")

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[QUOTE=Hal Briston]  
I know there’ve been a few threads about the webcrack that is [Dice Wars](http://www.gamedesign.jp/flash/dice/dice.html).  
[/QUOTE]

Well, that was interesting. I clicked it, it sort of jiggled and jumbled around some, then it quit on the 5th level.

?

This is fun, how?

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**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/4 "2006-12-03T00:03:02Z")

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I cannot win this thing. I’ve played about 5 games and inevitably get smashed every time.

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**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/5 "2006-12-03T01:01:03Z")

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It gets easier the more players you add. 2 players is really hard, because the computer, which goes first just destroys all your bases on the first turn, and I just can’t recover. But with more players, the computer attacks itself a lot, and a more conservative strategy works well

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**Author:** ![Taran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Taran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taran)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/6 "2006-12-03T01:19:46Z")

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Funny, my winning strategy is exactly the opposite: always attack when you have even or better chances with four or fewer dice, always attack with larger stacks when you have an advantage of at least one die, try to end each turn with the largest possible territory regardless of how spread out that leaves you.

But I’m with **treis**. The random starting placement plus the random allocation of new dice plus the winner-take-all nature of the random battles leads to a game that’s mostly decided by the end of the second turn. Then you have to spend another twenty turns cementing your victory.

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**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/7 "2006-12-03T07:48:09Z")

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Cool, I’m 2 for 2. My first game was a 7-player game and my second game was a 2-player game. It reminds me a bit of Othello – how fortunes switch wildly back and forth with each move. Not being able to move dice seems fundamental to the strategy. Maybe it is obvious, but it seems like the best defense is to keep weak neighbors. It doesn’t matter how many dice your opponent has stacked if he can’t use them on you.

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**Author:** ![Capa84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8edcca/32.png) [@Capa84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capa84)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/8 "2006-12-03T16:45:36Z")

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If you can avoid it, do not leave one die stacks next to enemy territory. I’ve had success just slowing down, and not attacking willy nilly every turn. If you take a territory with a 5 stack, leaving behind a protected 1 stack, and then can move to another enemy space WITHOUT leaving a vulnerable 1 stack do it. Otherwise, stand pat with that stack so there is no easy target.

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**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/9 "2006-12-03T18:23:05Z")

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[QUOTE=Capa84]  
If you can avoid it, do not leave one die stacks next to enemy territory. I’ve had success just slowing down, and not attacking willy nilly every turn. If you take a territory with a 5 stack, leaving behind a protected 1 stack, and then can move to another enemy space WITHOUT leaving a vulnerable 1 stack do it. Otherwise, stand pat with that stack so there is no easy target.  
[/QUOTE]  
Good point.

Since you can’t move your dice, it is easy to end up with a few stacks in the back of your territory. One weird strategy is to allow a few 1 stack territories to let an enemy walk in. Then use your stacks in the back to recapture the territories and effectively move a few dice to the edge. This is useful in mid-game before every territory has an 8-stack.

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/10 "2006-12-03T18:51:57Z")

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[QUOTE=CaveMike]  
Good point.

Since you can’t move your dice, it is easy to end up with a few stacks in the back of your territory. One weird strategy is to allow a few 1 stack territories to let an enemy walk in. Then use your stacks in the back to recapture the territories and effectively move a few dice to the edge. This is useful in mid-game before every territory has an 8-stack.  
[/QUOTE]

Indeed. Some of the strategies seem to be:

1. Leave a buffer of enemy territories that have small stacks.
2. Get territories that have fewer bounding enemy territories.
3. Open holes in your own territories to draw out the enemy.
4. Waste a single stack to attack a bunch of territories of the winning enemy in a long line so that another opponent can come in and take the space, evening things out.

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**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woohoo-dice-wars-goes-multiplayer/382593/11 "2006-12-03T19:06:40Z")

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This is awesome! I was hoping Dice Wars would go multiplayer. Thanks! Y’all can take your “skill” and “not just random chance” and shove it. 😉
