Become Zorro in Zorro the Dice Game

The heroic but aging Zorro is looking for a worthy successor to pass the torch. Do you have what it takes to defeat scoundrels and villains in his stead?

Now’s your chance to find out!

You’ll have to prove your heroism and proficiency against the others vying for the role in Zorro the Dice Game.

Only after the final battle will the new Zorro be crowned!

Zorro The Dice Game has already met its funding goal on Kickstarter and has surpassed most of its stretch goals as well.

We get requests on a daily basis to preview Kickstarter games and pass on doing so because there are so, so many of them. Plus, we know you’re interested in games you can get now – rather than waiting for final production after a Kickstarter campaign.

However, every once and a while a game piques our interest enough that we simply must give it a try. Since I love Zorro, I couldn’t hold back from a chance to play Zorro the Dice Game.

And now that we’ve played the game, we’re ready to share our thoughts with you.

 

How to play Zorro the Dice Game

The main objective in Zorro the Dice Game is to be the player who defeats the Villain. Players attempt heroic feats, acquire equipment, and defeat scoundrels along the way. And they do so, as the name of the game implies, with dice!

Set Up

The Common Equipment cards are shuffled and 4 are placed face up in the center of the play area. Then the Heroic Feat cards are shuffled and 1 is placed face up on each of the revealed Common Equipment cards. The rest of both of these decks of cards are placed to the side face down.

The Premium Equipment cards are also shuffled and kept in a face down pile.

Lastly, the Scoundrels and Villains of each color are placed off to the side with their matching colored dice.

Players choose their color pawn and are ready to begin.

Playing the Game

On a player’s turn, they choose a Heroic Feat to attempt. They place their pawn on that Heroic Feat card and roll the 6 black dice (as well as any Heroic dice they may have acquired). In Yahtzee-fashion, they can roll up to 3 times, setting aside dice of their choosing after each roll.

If they’re able to match the dice results depicted on the Heroic Feat card, they’re successful. They claim the Heroic Feat card and can choose to either take the Common Equipment under that Heroic Feat card or to take the top card from the Common Equipment deck.

If they’re not able to match the dice depicted, they fail the attempt and their turn is over.

When attempting a Heroic Feat, players can also make use of any equipment in their possession that they’ve acquired in previous turns. Equipment grants special abilities such as certain dice results, re-rolls, wilds, and more.

Players also have the option to ask another player to join them in attempting a Heroic Feat. If they do, the active player may also use the equipment from their now partner. And the partner may attempt a 4^th roll. If they succeed, both players will gain a Common Equipment card.

Players continue taking turns in clockwise order until a player has acquired a second Heroic Feat card of a matching color. For example, a player gaining a second blue Heroic Feat card.

When that happens, the player permanently gains one Heroic die of that color and that color Scoundrel comes into play.

Starting with the next player in turn order, each player attempts to defeat that Scoundrel. In doing so, they may not ask a partner to join them and they must follow the limitations listed on the Scoundrel card. Fighting a Scoundrel is done exactly like attempting a Heroic Feat.

If a player successfully defeats a Scoundrel (by matching the dice results), they claim a card from the Premium Equipment deck. If they fail, they get nothing. In either case, the next player in turn order fights that same Scoundrel until all players have had a chance to fight the Scoundrel. Then play resumes with players attempting Heroic Feats.

Players can only keep a maximum of 3 equipment cards (and no more than 1 Premium Equipment card). They can acquire more but must always discard down to 3.

If a player gains a 3^rd Heroic Feat card of a particular color, they permanently gain a matching color die and the Villain of that color emerges for the Final Battle!

There’s a second way for a Final Battle to begin as well. If the last Heroic Feat card is drawn before a second colored die is taken, the Villain matching the color of that last Heroic Feat card emerges for the battle.

Like with Scoundrels, in the Final Battle each player gets 1 attempt at fighting the Villain. If they succeed, they place their pawn in the center of the table. If they fail, they tip their pawn over in defeat.

After everyone has had a chance to fight the Villain, if only one player defeated the Villain, that player wins and becomes the next Zorro!

If more than one player defeats the Villain (or all players lose to the Villain), they Duel each other!

Each player involved in the Duel takes a turn rolling the 6 black dice as well as any Hero dice they have. Like on other turns, they get 3 rolls and can use their equipment. This time however, they’re just looking for Dagger results. The player who gets the most Daggers wins!

 

Can the whole family enjoy Zorro the Dice Game?

If your family likes rolling dice, Zorro the Dice Game will be right up your alley!

While some of the cards have text players need to read, the game centers around matching dice results on Heroic Feat, Scoundrel, and Villain cards. Which means players of most ages will be able to join in the fun.

Like many dice games, Zorro the Dice Game is a light game devoid of deep strategies. But even though the game revolves around dice-rolling luck, there are ways to mitigate and improve your odds around the luck.

The Equipment cards are the most notable way to work around the luck of the dice rolls. The Common Equipment deck is full of cards that give you extra die results. For example, if you have Boots, you get an automatic Leap result. And if you have a Hat, you get an automatic Charm result. There are also cards that let you re-roll certain die results. For example, with the Saddle you are able to re-roll all Dash results if you’d like.

And as you’d expect, Premium Equipment cards are even better. For example, the Trap lets you set aside a die with any result you want. The Sword lets you use any Dagger results as Wild. Zorro’s horse Tornado lets you roll a 4^th time. And those are just a few examples of nice equipment abilities.

So, there is some benefit to planning which Heroic Feats you want to attempt based on the Equipment you either have or want to gain.

In addition, choosing another player to bring along with you to attempt a Heroic Feat can be very helpful. The only downside is that if you’re successful, they’ll also get to enjoy the spoils by getting more equipment themselves. But if it improves your odds it may be worth it.

We also found that having this option in the game is a great way to keep other players involved when it isn’t their turn.

We also like that each Scoundrel and Villain brings their own twist to the confrontations. For example, when facing the Band of Bandidos, players may only save 1 die on their first roll. And when facing the Eagle Feather Brotherhood, players can’t use Common Equipment. Such are the difficulties you’ll face along the way.

Knowing which difficulties may come also helps players choose which equipment cards they may want to keep. After all, defeating the Villain in the Final Battle is what it all comes down to. Too bad we can’t always foresee which Villain that will be. But that guessing is part of the fun.

Even though each Heroic Feat card has a Title, we typically didn’t notice them very much. Instead, the part of the card we focus on is the dice requirements to complete it. That being said, when we did pay attention to the Titles, we had a lot more fun in table talk while players rolled the dice. We’d chatter about Saving the Farmer’s Daughter, Recovering the Stolen Jewels, Stopping a Runaway Stagecoach, or Unmasking an Imposter. And we love the artwork on all the cards too.

Another plus for Zorro the Dice Game is the player count. We love that 6 players can join in the fun, but that the game also plays well with just 2. With more players, it’s usually the case that the Final Battle will occur when the last Heroic Feat card is drawn. And with less players, it’s more likely that one player will trigger the end of the game by gaining a 3^rd Heroic Feat of a color. In either case, the game doesn’t overstay it’s welcome – which is what we like in a dice game. Players get in enough turns to acquire great equipment and everyone gets their chance to defeat all the Scoundrels and Villains that emerge.

The only downside we see is the limited variety in the game. With 6 players, we get through all the cards in all the decks before the game ends. We’d love there to be more. Of course, if we’re hoping for more, then it must be a good game to begin with. Otherwise, we’d just shelve it and move on.

The cool thing is that the Kickstarter campaign shows various game packages that include expansion items. And we’re happy to see that the stretch goal to include custom meeples for the characters has almost been reached!

You may not think game components impact the fun of a game, but we beg to differ. The little plastic pawns that we have in the prototype version detract from the immersion in the theme. The card art is great. And the icons on the dice are fantastic. The game totally needs player character meeples. So, we’re happy to see they’ll be a reality.

If you’re looking for a light, dice-rolling game with a fun theme for your family, Zorro the Dice Game is a solid game to snag.

 

How does Zorro the Dice Game score on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter?

Since we enjoy the theme and the game, Zorro the Dice Game is definitely getting a permanent home in our game closet. It’s an easy choice when looking for a light dice-rolling game.

The only thing keeping it from scoring higher on our “let’s play again” meter is the limited variety in the cards. A wider variety of Heroic Feats, Equipment, Scoundrels, and Villains would result in more draws to play the game again and again.

Check out the Zorro the Dice Game by Pull The Pin Games on Kickstarter.

We’d like to thank Pull The Pin Games for a preview copy of Zorro the Dice Game.