My Shelfie: The Dice Game

A shelfie is a photo of a shelf, often a bookshelf, showcasing books, art, or other favorite items.

For many gamers, their library is a point of pride. We love displaying our boxes of joy, letting others admire their cardboard glory. In the hobby world, many of us store games on cube-like Kallax shelves (from Ikea) or traditional bookshelves. Some gamers meticulously organize their shelves by color, genre, or designer, while others cram in as many games as possible to maximize space.

My Shelfie: The Dice Game embraces this theme with a light yet challenging puzzle experience. Designed by Simone Luciani, with art by Sara Valentino and published by Cranio Creations (brought to the US by Lucky Duck Games), it plays 2-4 players, ages 8+, in under 25 minutes.

Setup

Each player takes a board and marker. Select a first player to put a mark on their game board. Then hand them the dice to begin.

Gameplay

My Shelfie: The Dice Game plays out over multiple rounds, with players rolling dice and circling up to three items per turn. The goal is to score the most points from circled items by the end of the game—but more on that later.

Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, each turn consists of two steps: rolling dice and marking items.

Rolling Dice

The active player rolls six dice and may re-roll up to two more times. After each re-roll, they can keep or re-roll as many dice as they like. No dice are locked, giving players full flexibility in their choices.

Mark Items

The gameboard is a 5×5 bookshelf (grid), with each cubby containing an item that could be circled. Icons on the left show the required die face, while dots above indicate the number of dice needed. The number in each cubby space represents its value.

To mark an item circle, the active player forms up to three dice combinations. Each die can only be used in a single combination.

The joker die can replace any icon, but cannot be used alone. Only one joker die is allowed per combination. But if the final roll results in all jokers, circle any single unmarked item on the bookshelf.

Completing a Shelf or Column

When a player circles all items on a shelf or column, they announce it to the group. Everyone else must then cross out any unmarked items in that row or column, making them unavailable for scoring.

Failed Result

Whenever the active player cannot circle at least one item, because they already marked or crossed off all the items connected to every possible combination of the final dice result, they must X out all unmarked items on a shelf (not column) of their choice. The shelf must have at least one item not yet marked.

Game End and Final Scoring

Game-end triggers when a player has two shelves with no available items, on any player’s turn. Then play continues until the player to the right of the start player finishes their turn, ensuring everyone gets an equal number of turns.

Final Scoring

• For each shelf with at least three marked items, total their point values and record the sum to the right of the shelf.
• For each column with at least three marked items, total their point values and record the sum to the bottom of the column.

Add up the scores from shelves and columns, then record the final total in the bottom right section. The player with the best shelfie (highest score) wins!

Impressions

My Shelfie: The Dice Game is a spin-off from My Shelfie, a puzzly set collection and pattern-building game where players drop tiles into a bookshelf to score points from patterns and personal goals.

While the theme remains the same, The Dice Game features static player boards, with players scoring points by circling multiple items on the same shelf.

In My Shelfie: The Dice Game, this set collection comes from dice rolls. The ability to re-roll freely adds flexibility when the dice don’t land as expected. Grouping dice strategically lets you score five-point and eight-point items. While eight-point items require five dice to achieve, they are well worth the effort to maximize your score. Lower-scoring items are a good way to use a die or two, but too many will eliminate your options when you cannot circle anything and must cross off an entire row. But a joker die can be a game-changer in a pinch, and it’s very common to roll multiples per turn.

There’s a sense of urgency in this game as well. You’ll need to watch what others are scoring, because when any player completes a row or column, no one else can circle those items any more. If you don’t have at least three circled, you won’t score them at all!

Even with that urgency, My Shelfie: The Dice Game has a cozy vibe and feels relaxing to play. Its aesthetic contributes to this feel with its cute cats, but if you’re like me, you’ll probably also spend downtime trying figure out what board games are in the yellow meeple row.

Fun for Families?

My Shelfie: The Dice Game is quick to teach and easy to play, making it great for travel or a quick game while waiting for dinner. During a lunch break at a fast-food joint, my kids and I played three games—though I highly recommend bringing a dice tray! I love the fact that the game uses easy-to-clean dry erase boards, so we never worry about running out of paper.

The 8+ age range feels right, but younger kids can play with help, and non-gamers can easily join in on the fun. The only player interaction comes from being the first to finish off a row or column, forcing others to cross out items and lose points. There’s no take-that element to frustrate players, and grandparents can pick it up easily too.

Ready to roll and claim all the glory for the best shelfie around? Pickup My Shelfie: The Dice Game from Lucky Duck Games, Amazon, or your friendly local game store.

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The Family Gamers received a copy of My Shelfie: The Dice Game from Lucky Duck Games for this review.

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