Garry Rice
United States
Perkasie
Pennsylvania
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As you can read in the header, I absolutely enjoy the expansion for Dice Town and have little desire to return to just the base game (I love having more choices!). What else do I like about the expansion?
(1) It adds a 6th player - always nice when you grow up in a large family or to give you more options on game night!
(2) Did I mention it gives you more choices?
(3) It hasn't added to the game length (in my experience), or at least too much so. It still feels like it fits perfectly in its time slot.
So what does the expansion add to the base game?
(1) It adds a second action on each location, so now the top two players in each spot get an action...this also means more potential tie-breaking options for the sheriff in multiple ways (just how much do you want that first choice of actions ). I'll be listing them below.
(2) It adds the Indian die expansion (which I enjoy), which was not made readily available to many when it came out. Yes, it feels a little print and playish, but that's okay...I like the game play! At least they gave us an indented die which should protect the face.
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So what are these extra actions you ask? Glad you asked...here they are in order:
 Gold mine - you now have the option to "pan" for gold in the nearby river by drawing the top card off of the River card deck (a deck of 12 cards). Most of them give you from 2 to 5 nuggets, but there are also cards that immediately make you the sheriff, give you $2 or $3, give you 0 nuggets , or allow you to take one General Store card from the discard pile. There is also one card that allows you to draw 3 River cards, keep 1, then put the other 2 back in the order of your choice.
What I like about this option: This is a wonderful option if you win this with just 1 or 2 dice...I will almost always choose the pan for gold action if I win this with so few dice.
Example card (in French sorry...) - photo courtesy of Giovanni Messina
 Bank - you now have the options to rob the stagecoach (which is where people put the money they use to buy additional dice). You may take as many dollars as you have 10's.
What I like about this option: Well, to be honest, this one doesn't generally thrill me, but it is nice to have a second way to get some money, since money is often critical in this game. This is generally not one I try for, but if I get it, well hey, its money!
 General Store - you now have option to take a Doc Badluck action based on what you've rolled. I should also note that 12 additional General Store cards have been added. These are welcome additions and add additional ways to score points or to "break" the rules of the game. Some of these cards include the following:
a. 6 and 7 point victory cards
b. a card that awards points based on the number of General Store cards in your hand
c. a card that awards points based on the number of outlaws you've captured
d. a card that allows you to draw a card of the same type that was stolen (general store or land).
e. a card that forces everyone to pay you $2.
f. a card that allows you to steal a ranch card from another player
g. a couple of card that allow you to break the rules with regards to the outlaws.
What I like about this option:
(1) I'm thrilled that there are more victory point cards in the General store with high points...that 8 point pony could really swing a game and I didn't much care for that.
(2) I love having the doc badluck option available in a new way - the battle for this can be fierce (interesting choice to place it directly before the Saloon!), and can often be more valuable than the standard option of drawing cards.
(3) I really like the new scoring cards based on how many you have of something.
 Saloon - you now have the option to recruit an outlaw. This is a new mechanic, which allows you to take the outlaw on the top of the outlaw deck. The outlaw allows you to put one or two of your dice on the card set to the face shown on the card (for free). Once you've done so, the outlaw is moved over to above the sheriff's office and he can be captured.
What I like about this option - This is a great way to set up for future rolls. You don't need to use them immediately, so you can save it for when you REALLY need your dice to come out to the number shown on the card. It can be a bit confusing at first though as far as determining when dice rolling is complete - if a player uses an outlaw to finish out his dice, the other players will get 2 more turns of dice rolling (unless someone else finished out this turn). I'm not sure this was necessary - why not have outlaws shorten the number of times you can roll the dice? I'm sure outlaws on the loose would certainly cause problems, so thematically, I think you could have done away with that extra rule.
Example of an outlaw card (courtesy of Giovanni Messina)
 Sheriff - this gives you the option to chase outlaws. To chase outlaws, you pick up all the K's you rolled and reroll them. You capture every outlaw above the sheriff's office that you can place one of the rerolled dice on (e.g. if there's 2 outlaws above the sheriff's office and one has a Q and another a K, and you roll a K, you capture the outlaw with the K. If you roll a K and a Q, you capture them both). At the end of the game, you add in the monetary reward for that outlaw to your cash to get points (essentially, they're worth half of the value of the reward).
What I like about this option: another way to earn more points - I like it...although its considerably more chancy since you need to roll well enough. However, they can accumulate above the sheriff's office, so it can be a very valuable option.
Example of the back side of an outlaw's card (courtesy of Giovanni Messina)
 Town Hall - this gives the option to take the top card off of the property card deck. The expansion also introduces a new type of property card - Ranch Cards. These cannot be stolen by the saloon action (they are immediately placed face up in front of you), however, there is one new General Store card that allows you to steal a ranch card. These ranch cards give you points based on the number of ranches you own.
What I like about this option - Well, it's yet a new way to earn points...and I like that these generally cannot be stolen...on the other hand, they're not worth much until you've accumulated a fair number of them.
Example of a ranch card (courtesy of Giovanni Messina)
 Doc Badluck - yes, this is still available if by some twist of fate you actually didn't win an action during the round. I haven't seen this happen yet, but I assume it can
 Indian Expansion - This is optional, but I like to play with it. It allows the player who takes the original action on the Town Hall to trade in a property card that he took that turn to roll the Indian die. This can result in the following happening:
a. Shaman's Blessing - Put one of your dice on a side of your choice
b. Ambush - Force one opponent to reroll a die of your choice
c. Bodyguard - Prevents anything from being stolen from you the upcoming turn
d. Warpath - Place the Indian die on a location. That location is NOT available the upcoming turn.
What I like about this expansion - I like having the option of trading in a 1 or 2 point property card for the die roll (unless you want to dilute your holdings to make it more difficult to have your high point cards stolen) to roll the Indian die and take the action shown. Granted, some of them are more desirable than others, but it gives the game a fun twist...
I know a review was written recently that mentioned they felt that the expansion made the game more difficult for newbies, but I haven't had that experience. I feel all the options are pretty straightforward. In my experience, the hardest part for new players is manipulating/using the General Store cards...the rest is pretty obvious...but that's been my experience so far. As mentioned, I have no desire to play the game without the expansion in the future - I think it makes a good game even better and think its well worth the additional $25 for the additional game play. Your mileage may vary.
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Andy Andersen
United States
Newark
Delaware
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Excellent review. My only quibble with the expansion is the new dice that do not match the original game.
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Garry Rice
United States
Perkasie
Pennsylvania
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Orangemoose wrote: Excellent review. My only quibble with the expansion is the new dice that do not match the original game.
I reckon that depends on which version of the base game you purchased. It matches perfectly with my base copy, but I do know that is an issue.
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