RPG Review - ‘Halloween Advent Dice Calendar’ By FanRoll Dice
Halloween is quickly approaching. Aside from being the best time of year for movies, candy, and decorating one’s home, Halloween has given way to a sub genre for the tabletop gaming industry. Now more than ever before, the amount of horror or Halloween options for games and accessories is beyond plentiful.
Fanroll Dice were kind enough to send us a sample of their new Halloween Advent Dice Calendar to take a look at. Dice and Halloween wrapped in a blind-bag style distribution mechanic?! Sign us up.
How does this product stack up, though? Is it going to be frightful delight in your collection or will it be a thing of nightmares for your wallet? Only one way to find out.
What the heck is it?
In case anyone isn’t familiar with the concept of an advent calendar, the premise is pretty simple. The calendar, usually themed after a holiday or celebration, features pockets behind each date that contains a special treat. These can be anything from little chocolates or high-end whiskey. In the case of this particular calendar, the set contains dice.
Specifically, the Halloween Advent Dice Calendar features:
Halloween-themed dice bag
Mini-dice set
Two (2) exclusive Halloween dice sets (14 dice total)
Two (2) assorted resin dice sets
Halloween-themed metal d20
This is the part of the review where things will slowly dip into spoiler territory.
If you DO NOT want the designs spoiled, turn back now or scroll quickly to the bottom for our verdict.
FINAL WARNING…
Still with us? Good.
What about the dice?
So what did we unearth in our advent calendar? Well, some good stuff for sure. Some we’re not exactly excited by. And then some that we have no clue what to think about.
Let’s start with the least excited by - the random resin dice sets.
I’m not completely sure how to express my disappointment in this section. I understand that they are randomly selected, but how random is too random?
The colors and designs are all over the place, from Christmas-themed colors to a single d6 that glows in the dark. A few of the dice, such as one of the d20’s, had little trinkets inside (like a snake).
I feel as though they went through their damaged sets or clearance/end-of-life dice sets to pick out the random assortment. Which is fine, honestly. They are able to clear out stock and offer them to players at a discount. However, the complete lack of association with the theme, at even the most basic level of color, make it feel like wasted potential.
That isn’t to say they were all a waste. I absolutely loved the glow in the dark d6. One of the d4 have what I assume is the asexual pride flag, which I adore. I appreciate and welcome any/all ways we can celebrate diversity in the tabletop hobby. Frankly, I’d love to have a complete set of dice with all of the flags.
Next up we have the two Halloween themed, exclusive dice sets. The sets feature transparent dice with orange numbering and a pumpkin in place of the high number (6, 8, 10, etc).
One of the sets feature a slew of Halloween inspired inclusions, including the likes of bats, witch’s hat, and ghosts. The second set all contain the same monster skull in each. I’m assuming that it is meant to be the creature on the front of the box, a sort of dinosaur/alligator looking kaiju skeleton. To be honest, if it weren’t for the pumpkin deco, I don’t think anyone would confuse these with being Halloween-themed at a glance.
That brings us to the items that I was most impressed by.
First we have a set mini-dice. They are a nice, solid orange color. The set could have benefited from some sort of emblem on the high numbers, similar to the transparent sets. The black lining against vivid orange would have looked stellar.
Next we have the solid metal d20. This little sucker has some heavy duty quality to it. Like the mini-dice set, the metal d20 has a rich orange color. The die also sports a pumpkin emblem in place of the 20 like the two Halloween exclusive sets. Metal dice like this tend to be reserved using a spin-down dials for games like Magic the Gathering because I worry about damaging the play space with such a heavy beast.
Finally, we have the exclusive dice bag. This is probably my favorite part of the entire calendar. It is made from quality material and features the traditional Halloween iconography one would expect, like ghosts, skulls, and black cats. The thing I like about it most is the choice of colors. The vibrant purple, with off-printed orange, gives the bag a trippy/psychedelic look that is phenomenal. The bag is large enough to store both sets of exclusive resin dice as well as the mini-dice set. I’ll more than likely throw it in as the dice bag for something like Don’t Look Back, a fantastic horror genre game from Black Site Studios.
Final Thoughts:
FanRoll Dice are without a doubt one of the finer manufacture of themed dice sets in the hobby today. Their website is full of so many amazing designs and their booth at conventions are a blast to visit. However, I wasn’t feeling any of that awe or amazement as we opened this advent calendar.
Pros:
The set really shines with the exclusive dice bag and metal d20.
The dice bag is high quality and fun.
The packaging looks fun and would make for a spooky addition to anyone’s Halloween decor.
The random assortment of resin dice did provide a few rather enjoyable results, including a glowing d6 and a pride flag d4.
Cons:
Only one of the Halloween exclusive sets scream Halloween, with the orange lining really faint against the translucent resin.
The random assortment seem rather too random.
Enjoying only a third of the experience make the retail price of $74.99 a stretch.
Verdict: 3/5 - Much like the bags of mixed Halloween candy, this is an enjoyable product with a few bits (flavors of candy) we could have done without.
Full disclosure: FanRoll Dice provided us with a copy of the Halloween Advent Dice Calendar. There was no discussion of exchange of product for a positive review or favorable recommendation.
