Pyradice

• Designer: Andre Silva
• Publisher: mebo
• Players: 2
• Age: 8+
• Time: 30 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher (mebo)

In Pyradice you are part of an ancient civilization whose main goal is to build pyramids. Each player will try to get the best stones from the quarry to create their pyramid and earn the most points at the end of the game. The quarry is made up of 47 dice placed on 3 floors. On their turn, the player takes a dice that has at least 3 free sides and places it at the base of the pyramid or on higher floors if it has 2 dice underneath it. On each floor of the pyramid that the dice are placed, the player gains a bonus that allows them to manipulate the dice that are already in the pyramid (turn 180°, roll again, etc). In this way, they try to have a pyramid with dice that corresponds to the public objectives of each card (having only even-value dice, having only increasing values, etc.). If you succeed, at the end of the game you win the points that could give you victory. 

To set up, place the dice in a pyramid on the quarry board (color and value determined randomly). Each player gets their own Pyramid board as well as a set of 5 blue skill tokens and 7 orange objective tokens. The skill tokens are placed on the 5 spaces to the left of the player’s board (the players can choose which side is in play for each token, but the players must have an identical set of 5 tokens on their board).  Do the same process for the orange objective tokens – the two unchosen tokens are put back in the box. 4 Objective cards are chosen and a disk of random color is placed on each.

On a turn, the active player goes through 3 phases: choosing a die, placing a die, using a skill.

First, the player takes an available die from the Quarry board – this means it does not have a die on top of it AND you it has at least 3 fully visible faces.

Second, without changing the face showing on top, place the die on the lowest level of your pyramid or in any free space on a higher level given that the 2 spaces beneath it are filled with dice.

Finally, you may use the skill that corresponds to the level that you have placed a die on (there is no skill associated with the lowest level).  You may never apply the skill you use to the dice just placed which triggered said action.

When the pyramids are complete (21 dice), the game ends. Now, the game is scored. First check the five objective tokens to the right of the player board – if the condition for the token is met by the dice on the corresponding level, score 5 points for each token.

Then, look at the 4 objective cards.  Each card scores based on the dice that match the color of the disc on the card.  Score each card individually.  Sum all the points, and the player with the most points wins. Ties broken in favor of the player who completed more Objective tokens.

My thoughts on the game

OK, for someone who historically doesn’t play a lot of 2-player only games, I’ve been really playing a lot of them this year!  Pyradice was one which hit my radar in part because I love games with lots of dice in them, and because I’m always interested to see what my Portuguese friends at mebo have up their sleeves….

In Pyradice, you’re in a duel of choosing and placing dice from the 3D tower in the center onto your 2D board.  Each game will play out differently based on the actions chosen for each level of your pyramid as well as the varied scoring options, both on your board as well as the objective cards.

Before the game starts, it will certainly be useful to survey the dice pyramid and the possible bonus actions on your board to try to come up with a good strategy. I tend to pick a few scoring areas to concentrate on, and let those decisions guide my choices.  Of course, you have to stay on your toes because if you run into a lot of competition for certain things, you might want to abort and change course to a new objective.

Once your pyramid gets built high enough, you’ll start to have more options when choosing your die.  Not only will you need to consider the color and number, but also whether or not you are going to trigger one of your special actions. 

I have found the game well balanced, and with each game playing out so differently due to the setup, I have not grown tired of it.  Each game feels fresh as a new plan has to be devised for each play. 

My copy was the international (non-English) version from Mebo – and we didn’t really have any problems with it thanks to Google Lens.  There is an English version coming out from Arcane Wonders, so I’d simply recommend that you pick up the version that includes the language that you can read!

While 2p games are definitely not in my usual wheelhouse, this one has a lot going for it, and it will certainly find a place in my (small) 2-player game collection.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Doug G – Shelley and I really enjoyed this one. MEBO was kind enough to loan us a copy on the first day of Spiel and so it was the first game from Essen 2025 that we played. We loved all of the dice, and the choices were fun. If you play 2-player games, it’s worth checking out.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

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