SNAP Review – Popcorn Dice

Let’s shake up some popcorn!

This is a SNAP review for Popcorn Dice.

Game

Popcorn Dice is a simple press-your-luck dice game for 2-6 players designed by A.J. Porfirio. It’s published by Van Ryder Games.

Art

There’s not much art here, but what there is, is well done. There are 14 buttery-colored dice pour and a miniature popcorn bucket. Each die has 3 sides showing an unpopped kernel, and 1 side each for Pop, Double Pop, and Burnt.

It’s always satisfying to roll a big group of dice on the table. (Just make sure they stay on the table!)

There is a lovely attention to detail in the packaging. When you store the game, a clear cover sits down inside the top of the bucket. There’s one corner of the bucket that doesn’t have ridges to hold the cover in place, with an arrow labeled “push here!” If you’ve ever struggled to open the box of a game, you’ll know this is a nice touch.

Mechanics

How do you play Popcorn Dice?

At the beginning of your turn, put all the dice in the popcorn bucket, and you roll them. If you end up with any unpopped kernels, put them back in the bucket.

Next, you check – do you have 4 or more burnt popcorn? If so, your turn immediately ends with ZERO points. Pass the dice to the next player.

Otherwise, set aside all your Pops, Double Pops, and Burnt(s), and decide whether you’d like to roll again.

Before you re-roll, you can use a Double Pop to cancel out a Burnt die. Throw them both back in the bucket. You can do this as many times as you like, as long as they are all dice rolled this time.

You can keep rolling until you either get all unpopped kernels, Burn out, or decide you don’t want to press your luck anymore. Record your points and pass the bucket of dice to the next player.

When a player has at least 30 points, finish the round so everyone gets the same number of turns. Then the highest score wins!

There is one other way to win: a “perfect pop”. If you roll all Pops and Double Pops on the first roll of your turn (no kernels or Burnt), you automatically win the game. Congratulations!

Expectations

After a quick read through of the rules, Popcorn Dice seemed very much like Zombie Dice (a Family Gamers favorite). This is a little different, since you’re rolling all the dice and putting some back, rather than Zombie Dice where you roll 3 dice at a time. It also looked like a kids’ game from a few years back, Chef Pop de Pop, in which a number of popcorn dice are permanently contained in a clear shaker.

The rules are on a tiny folded pamphlet inside the bucket, and showed us that Popcorn Dice wouldn’t be complicated.

I mean, it’s 14 dice in a bucket, it can’t be that complicated.

Surprises

The first thing that surprised us about Popcorn Dice was just how loud it is when you shake it all up in the bucket.

But we love that there’s a way to win if you’re really behind. It’s unlikely that you’ll get a “perfect pop”, but it does happen that you roll all 14 dice perfectly!

You could play with even more players, but the more players you have, the longer you’re waiting for your turn to come around again. Since there’s not much to do when it’s not your turn, so the game becomes less engaging as the player count increases.

Recommended?

We recommend Popcorn Dice for light family fun. Basically anybody can play – with a very young kid, you can help them count up their points, but most can at least count to 4 and figure out if they have to stop (Burn Out).

This game looks adorable sitting on the counter. It’s the kind of game you can keep around for family that don’t usually play games. Just break it out and play it at the dinner table.

Popcorn Dice is very simple, but does exactly what it sets out to do. Anyone can play it. Any size group can play it, and it only takes 10-15 minutes.

We rate Popcorn Dice 3 out of 5 popcorn buckets.

Find Popcorn Dice at your local toys & games store or buy it from Van Ryder Games.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of Popcorn Dice from Van Ryder Games for this review.

SNAP review music is Avalanche, provided courtesy of You Bred Raptors?