FTW Staff Picks - Blueprints

We've featured our fair share of dice-rolling games on our FTW Staff Picks. This week we take a look at a game that has a more inventive use of dice. In Blueprints, the dice serve as construction material for buildings. Players take turns selecting from a common pool of available dice, each colour/material scoring in its own way, in order to complete their own blueprint. You're rolling dice, drafting dice and positioning dice - all without everything feeling too gimmicky.

Players will construct their buildings behind cardboard shields, constantly masking their production. This layer of secrecy adds a much needed strategic element when it comes to claiming prizes and awards. Being unable to see what other players are building, may seem unfair at first, but it just requires players to be more attentive when their opponents are drafting. Based of off the rules of placement, players can usually accurately decipher how others are building.

The goal isn't to build the highest scoring building, but to score the most awards and prizes as those are the only points that will matter at the end of three rounds. So for one round you might want to attempt a structure that is 5+ dice high, and another round you may attempt to build a straight (1-2-3-4-5-6) through dice selection. 

Blueprints comes in a small package, similar to games like Bohnanza, Bang!, and The Bloody Inn. It plays relatively quickly and simply, while offering a fresh experience that isn't just another card game. It's an excellent filler game that can be used to get the braincells moving, before bringing out the main event.