Long Shot: The Dice Game

2nd May 2023

It's a Tuesday and we're at The Sovereigns with the Woking Gaming Club​ for a game of Long Shot: The Dice Game.

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What's in a game?

• Game board: This board sports an oval track in a sort of typical rural setting with 8 lanes. The inner lanes have less spaces than the other ones - this will be important later on.
  There is also a red 'no bet' line, more on this later.
  Off the side of track there are also 3 spaces (And associated prize money.) for the first 3 horses to finish the race.

Ready to race!

• Horse tokens: There are 8 horse tokens in 8 different colours.
  While these wooden tokens are not particularly horse shaped each one does feature a cartoony illustration of a racehorse. Additionally each horse token displays its 'number' both on the top and on the side.

Horse tokens as viewed from the side.

• Horse cards: There are 2 sets of horse cards,  both sets have 8 card numbered 1-8 with each card corresponding to a horse token.
  They contain information on their respective horse, including:
  Purchasing cost, in the top right corner.
  Special ability in the centre.
  Odds to win along the right edge of the card.
  'Secondary movement bar' along the bottom. This bar will have a spot for each of the other 7 horses and some of these spots will be filled in by default. What is the secondary movement bar? More on that later.

Nitro Nellie for the win, probably not according to those odds!

• Dice: Unsurprisingly for a game called Long Shot: The Dice Game, it comes with some dice, 2 to be precise.
  • Movement die: This is a six-sider but is numbered 1-3 twice instead of 1-6.
  • Horse die: This die is eight-sided and each side/colour corresponds to one of the eight horses.

Dice!

• Starting cards: A start card is given to every player and each one provides some asymmetrical starting setup, they are used in conjunction a player board. 

Example of a starting card.

• Player boards: One of these is given to each player. They look quite busy and display quite a lot of information.
  • Concessions: Shown along the left side the board is the 4x4 'concessions' grid, this means there are 16 'spot' on the grid with 2 matching each horse. During the game players will have the opportunity to cross spots off of this grid to gain one of the bonuses listed below the grid.
  • Horse info: In the central area there are 8 numbered and uniquely coloured lines, each line contains information pertinent to the relative horse. This includes whether the player has the helmet/jersey for that horse
    Bets: The other part of the horse info is concerned with betting and odds. 
    A space is used to track how much they have bet on that horse. Related to the betting and further along it shows the odds that pay out for it finishing in 1st to 3rd position. This matches what is shown for that horse its horse card.
    Thus the number 5 horse has 1st place odds of 7/1, 2nd place odds of 6/1 and 3rd place odds of 5/1.
  • Lucky horseshoe: Each player board has 3 horseshoes, these can be used to change the options available to a player during a turn, more on this later.
  • Cash in hand: On the right side of the board is a space actually showing cash in hand which is used to track how much cash the player has.
  • Score tracker: Finally, in the bottom right corner are some boxes to track player winnings at the game end.

A player board with setup from a starting card added.

Component quality throughout Long Shot: The Dice Game is good.
While not actually horse-shaped, the horse tokens are chunky, made of wood and feel satisfyingly weighty to handle.
The dice are plastic and not wooden (Which is always my preference.), they still feel solid and well made, additionally their icons are not printed and are shaped in relief.
Since this is a roll-and-write game, many of the components such as the player boards and horse cards can be written on. They are sturdy as you would expect. As is the race track board.

The game also makes good use of bright solid colour, everything is brash, colourful and eye catching. There's also a definite humorous element to the cartoony artwork and illustrations that matches the game's luck-driven light gameplay.

The game's iconography is a bit of a mixed bag.
The player board is a busy looking affair with lots of stuff presented to the player and definitely can feel a little intimidating. However, in practice, it's not that bad. Much of the information is conveyed through numbers/colours. There are a handful of icons but for the most part they are easily understood after a round or two.

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How's it play?
Setup

• ​Game board: Put out the game board into the central playing area.
  Horse tokens: Put out the horse tokens in their starting positions on the track.
  Horse cards: Select 1 of the 2 sets of horse cards or alternatively, cards can be chosen from both sets - provided only 1 of each number gets selected.
  Then put out the cards face-up into the central playing area.
• Players: Give each player a player board.
  Starting cards: Shuffle the starting cards into a face-down deck and randomly deal 1 to each player.
  Each player should then mark off their starting setup on their player board as dictated by the starting card. This will include marking off some spots on the concession bids and adding a couple of starting bets on their board.
  Finally, each player should note $12 in the allotted spot.
• First player: Determine a starting player.

On to play
Money counts in large amounts. Long Shot: The Dice Game is all about winning the most cash, this is done not just by players only betting on the winning horses but also 'manipulating' the outcome of the race.
Long Shot: The Dice Game sort of has a traditional turn order but since players get to act in all other players' turns, it's only relevant for rolling the dice which is done by the active player.
Each turn basically has 2 phases.

• Roll the dice: The active player rolls both dice at the same time. This will determine which horse moves and how many spaces it moves.
  ​Move horse: Take the horse token that matches the colour/number that was rolled on the horse, then move it a number of spaces forward that is indicated on the movement die (Which will be 1-3 spaces.).
  Secondary movement: Now check for secondary movement.
  Look at the horse card that matches the horse that was just moved and check which other horses have been marked off on the secondary movement bar: All marked off horses should be moved forward 1 space.
  Finishing: After a horse has crossed the finish line, it should be moved to it's finishing position on the side of the board.
  Finish line: If any horse that has to be moved is already past the finish line, do not move it.
• Actions: This is where the bulk of the game occurs and each player can perform exactly 1 action from a choice of 5. This is done in turn order with the active playing acting first.
  • Bet: A player may place a bet on the horse indicated on the horse die, this can be for $1-3.
    Finish line: A horse past the finish line cannot be bet on.
    No bet line: As the name suggests, once a horse passes the no bet line it cannot be bet on unless the betting player has acquired that horse's helmet.
    Free bets: during the game, players may acquire free bets, these follow the same rules as usual bets.
  • Buy: A player may buy a the horse that matches the result on the horse die provided it has not already been bought by another player.
    Finish line: Once a horse has crossed the finish line, it cannot be bought.
  • Concession: A player may mark off a spot on their concession grid which matches the result on the horse die.
    When a row or column is completed, the player crosses off one of the bonus boxes below the concession grid and gains its benefit. This may include extra money, a free bet, marking off a helmet or jersey and moving a horse forward or backward. It should be noted that a horse cannot be moved across the finish line this way or in fact moved backwards across it either.
  • Helmet: The player may mark off the helmet for the horse that matches the result on the horse die.
    As mentioned above, this allows the player to still place bets on a horse past the no be line.
  • Jersey: A player may mark off the jersey on a horse that matches the result on the horse die.
    When a horse's jersey is marked off, the player may also mark off another horse on that horse's secondary movement bar. This means there will be more secondary movement when that horse is moved again.
    Additionally; when both the helmet and jersey for a horse has been marked off, the player gains extra cash at the game end.
• Additional rules: There are some additional rules that can apply during the game.
  • Horse ability: Each horse has a special ability which can be applied during the game. However, only the owner of a horse has access to this ability and choose when and whether to trigger it - although some abilities will have specific timing.
  • Horseshoes: If at any time a player cannot take an action because of the result on the horse die (Because they've taken all the available options for that horse I guess.), then they can cross off a horseshoe to use it as a wild result. This allows them to mark off something for any other horse.
    If all 3 horseshoes are marked off when the player cannot take an action, then they spend their action to clear a mark off of one of their horseshoes.
• End of round: Once all players have taken their action in turn order, the round is over.
  The die are passed to the player on the left of the current first player who now becomes the new first play. They begin a new round by rolling the die.

Endgame
Once the third horse has crossed the finishing line and been placed on it's finishing spot, the end game is triggered, the current round is completed and the game then goes to scoring or winnings. There are numerous ways to accumulate cash.

• Finishing place: The owner of a horse earns cash according to its finishing position. This of course only applies to horses that finished 1st-3rd and will earn $15-$35 accordingly.
• Bets: Players now calculate their winnings from bets from each horse they bet on, this will depend on where the horse finished and how much was bet on it.
  1st - 3rd place: Multiply the bet placed on a horse by its finishing odds.
  E.g., if a horse came in 2nd place and had 2nd place odds of 4/1 and the player had placed a bet of $6, then that horse pays out 4x6; $24.
  No bet line: If a horse has crossed the no bet line but not the finish line, it pays out at 1/1, i.e., the player gets back what they bet.
  Other horses: If a horse has not crossed the no bet line, then the player has lost their bet.
• Sets: Each matching set of helmet and jersey for a horse that a player has will earn them $5.
• Cash: Any unspent cash is counted.
• Abilities: Some horse abilities may also money.

Cash is tallied, highest value wins.

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Overall
With it's colourful presentation, Long Shot: The Dice Game fits its theme well. Players will be putting bets on horses, then watching and hoping those horses win.

While there are various ways to accumulate cash (Buying horse that win! Getting sets and completing concession lines.). Probably the single biggest method for gaining money is betting. 
There's more to it of course, since players will also have the opportunity to influence the outcome at least to some degree. This means they need to balance their actions between betting and other options.

The game provides various avenues to achieving this. Chief amongst these I think, is the secondary movement bar. A player can pick a horse bet on early and heavily, then spend actions marking its number off other horses' secondary bars. This means that the picked horse will move more often when other horses do so.
Players can also cross off lines on their concession grid to move horses (Or gain other benefits.).
Using helmets in conjunction with the no bet line can provide an alternative way to score big wins on bets. Players can spread their bets and hope to get bets several top 3 finishing horses. and getting helmets for horses is useful here. It allows players to bid on horses right up until their on the finish line and the finishing order is more apparent.
One last thing to mention is the odds, the lower numbered horses on the inside of the track have to move less to pass the finish line, this is reflected in the odds, which are shorter for these horses.
The number 8 horse (The titular ling shot.) pays out more or less twice as much as the number 1 horse for finishing in the top 3.
The provides some asymmetrical opportunities for players and real risk-and-reward mechanics to choose from.

While actions other than betting will probably pay out less, it's unwise to ignore them. They are still a source of money, useful benefits and influence over the game.

There's also a higher level of play going on; all information is open and it's possible to try and anticipate what other players are trying to achieve. If it seems like another player is betting heavily on a horse for example, other players may also bet on that horse to 'piggy-back' off its success.

Long Shot: The Dice Game is a fairly light game that is easily understood and accessible with a theme most people will find relatable. Although, it has to be said that luck and dice rolls can play a big part here; which to be fair, feel appropriate for a game about betting on horse racing.
I'm sure that the gambling theme and luck driven gameplay wont appeal to everyone but treat the game as just some fun and not to be taken too seriously (Much like actual gambling I would suppose.), then you'll probably have a good time.

I found it to be a lightweight but enjoyable experience.