Dice Words

• Designer: Tim Phillips
• Publisher: Thames & Kosmos
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 8+
• Time: 30 min
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4mN6gbM
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

In Dice Words, each player begins by choosing a set of seven letter dice that each represent a different iced beverage. When the timer starts counting down, players attempt to form the longest and most valuable word possible.

Don’t have the letters you need? Don’t worry! You can re-roll any of your dice up to two times before the round ends — but in addition to your individual letter dice, you must also try to incorporate the most “target letters”, that is, the letters revealed on four ice cube-shaped letter dice that are revealed at the beginning of each round. The colder your drink thanks to the incorporation of ice, the higher your score!

Each player gets a player board and the seven dice of matching color.  A starting player is chosen.

In each round, the starting player rolls the four ice cube dice and places them into the tray – these are the target letters for the round. All players get a chance to look at the letters and then the timer is flipped over.  

Players now roll their own set of dice, trying to make a word that scores well. The ? can be used for any letter.  In general, a word scores the value of the letters used in the word multiplied by the number of target letters used. If the ? is used to match a target die, it still counts towards the multiplier.  (Thus, if you use no target letters, your score is always zero).  Bonus points are scored for words of 5+ letters.

During the turn, players may reroll twice, choosing which dice to re-roll each time.  The player must finish all rolls and word building before the timer runs out.  Each player then calculates their score and adds them to the score sheet.

Play the pre-determined number of rounds and the player with the highest point total wins.

My thoughts on the game

So, interestingly (at least for me) – this appears to be published by the US arm of Kosmos (and not by the parent company in Germany).   Dice Words is a fun and accessible word game that I first had a chance to play at Gen Con 2025.

I have always enjoyed word games, and this was no exception.  I do enjoy the challenge of trying to come up with a high scoring word each round; though you’re sometimes at the mercy of the dice.  

I often try to come up with a word I want to spell from the initial look at the target letters, and I might spend my first re-roll trying to make that word happen.  However, if it doesn’t, then you have to pivot and then make the best of what you’ve got.

The turns move quickly – there’s only about 2 minutes on the sand timer – so you have to think quickly – but there is also enough time that you usually don’t feel rushed to make decisions.  Also, if all players have finished making their word (we usually signify this by placing our cup upside down on the table), the round obviously ends at that point.

While the game is rated 8+, earlier readers will definitely be at a disadvantage.  This is the sort of game that clearly rewards larger vocabularies as well as advanced anagramming skills.  I’d definitely recommend playing the game with players of similar reading experience.  For casual play, it works great, and we’ve had fun with this after adult dinner parties this summer.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it. Dale Y
• Neutral.
• Not for me…

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4mN6gbM