Think Twice

Kinda like draw poker with dice, or Yahtzee - you roll a bunch of dice (six plus two - I'll talk about the two later), decide which you want to re-roll, and have a total of three turns to get the best possible score. The six dice are also like Yahtzee, because they're dice, but a bit unlike, because they're six and not five of them. But it's the two extra dice that make Think Twice a dice game unlike any other.

One of the extra dice is a Category Die. This determines what you're rolling for. You know, like in, forgive me, Yahtzee, how you have this sheet of categories - four of a kind, three of a kind, full house, etc.? In Think Twice the Category Die determines the, um, category. There are six categories: low, even, odd, same, different and high. And you can choose to re-roll the Category Die as well. The other extra die multiplies your score. It can double or triple your score. It can also turn it to zero. Since the objective of the game is to be the first player to score 1000, there is ample incentive for risky behavior.

Initially, scoring the game seems quite complex (Low, for example, means that the scoring dice must all be below four. The face value of the dice is added, along with ten more points, and then doubled.) It is all very consistent and logical, however, and you'll probably pick it up in less than ten minutes.

On the other hand, it does take a while to understand the strategic implications. Though a player may select any category, regardless of what category is showing on the Category Die, it just so happens that when all six dice are in the category showing on the Category Die, the score is doubled, twice. The decision whether to roll the category or scoring die again grows weightier with each roll.

Though it's clearly a game of luck, Think Twice gives you just enough of an illusion of control to make you want to keep playing and playing. Somehow, each roll manages to entice your engagement in yet another round of complex statistical analyses, while almost daring you to discover the value thereof.