Unpub 3View: Rollaway

As we approach Unpub 3 we’re featuring many of the games being presented at the big event. Today we're going to take a deeper look at Rollaway designed by Gary Dahl of Sugar Pill Studios.

Rollaway is an abstract dice game about picking the right time to play whatever actions you roll. Six simple actions provide hours of enjoyment in this lightly strategic game. Players will choose to win, lose, skip, double, give, and take to earn the most points each turn. A die that normally scores one point could earn you four, or could be taken away. You might use a skip-die to prevent the next player from giving you a burdensome lose-die, or you might take the lose-die so you can pass it on to someone else.

Let's hear about the development of Rollaway by designer Gary Dahl...

What was your inpiration for Rollaway? My first play-though of a Programming game (versus myself) proved the concept was completely busted. But I soon found a much more fun way to play with only slight modifications to that game's custom stickered dice. The result is now known as Rollaway.

What is your favorite part of Rollaway? Watching others play it. I especially enjoy watching people uncover new strategic considerations.

To your knowledge, What do other people find most interesting about Rollaway?  I think they enjoy the depth of strategy that is hidden within this admittedly light strategy game. I think the amount of interaction among players also makes Rollaway more enjoyable.

What has been the most challenging part of designing Rollaway?  To be honest, I feel lucky to have hit on the actions in Rollaway so quickly. Several attempts at developing expansions have helped me learn just how lucky I was with those original six.

What advice would you give to players attempting Rollaway for the first time? "TAKE" dice are precious, use them wisely.

What has surprised you most in play-tests of Rollaway? Some games have taken much longer than others. I have some fixes for this, but am still working out whether more consistent length games are better.

People who like______will like Rollaway. Why?  Programming games like RoboRally. There's definitely a lot of looking ahead to plan the perfect order to play your dice in.

What do you hope to accomplish at  Unpub 3? I can't wait to see how people react to my game designs: Rollaway and Station Fall. I'm also very new table top game design and am hoping to learn more about the industry in general.

Tell us anything else you want to say about Rollaway that I haven't asked or you haven't said already. Although it's much more fun against humans, you can play Rollaway against a couple of AI online  

Check out the Rollaway page on Unpub.net!

See Rollaway on The Game Crafter !

Find out more about the 64 other games coming to Unpub 3!