Perplext | Long Shot: The Dice Game | Board Game | Ages 14+ | 1-8 Players | 25+ Minutes Playing Time

Product Information

This action allows the player to mark the Helmet space that matches the Horse die value. The player can bet on horses with an “X.” This includes horses that have already crossed the “No Bet” line on the game board. After the third horse crosses the finish line and is placed in the appropriate spot in the winner’s circle, the race is over. No other horses are moved, but the round is completed, allowing each player to take their final action. A fast, fun game of racing, betting and doing everything in your power to swing the action in your favour. So good, you’ll enjoy it even if you don’t like horse racing. As it happens there’s a lot more to this. Upping your bet is only one of a number of actions that can be taken against the horse you rolled. Most extravagant of all is buying the horse, allowing you to take the card and use its special ability, such as gaining two dollars if a two comes up on the dice. More importantly if a horse you own places in the top three it will earn you a hefty bonus to your winnings. Long Shot is played in rounds and turns with no set number of rounds per game. A round is divided into four sequential phases, which are summarized here.

Long Shot: The Dice Game, despite having a really annoying name to type, is great. It got a load of buzz earlier in the year when Shut Up & Sit Down featured it, and with good reason. In truth, I bought into the hype too, and I’m glad I did. The wooden horse markers are really chunky and satisfying, and so much less creepy than the plastic ones from the original game. I really like the wooden horses Long Shot: The Dice Game has its foot in two camps, racing games on one hand and roll and write on the other. So it makes sense to make one suggestion from each. This action allows the player to mark a single space in the Concession grid found on their Player board. When the player completes a row or column in the grid, they earn a Concession bonus immediately marked and resolved. If players are crafty, they will complete a row and column simultaneously, allowing them to resolve two bonuses! The available bonuses include: Horse tokens can only pass the finish line using movement from the Horse and Movement dice or secondary movement. The super-clever, super-interesting twist comes in the form of horse cards. Each horse in the race has its own card, and each card serves two purposes. Firstly, they’re up for sale. That’s right, you too can become the proud owner of a race horse! Owning a horse is a good thing, as they have abilities which are activated whenever that horse is chosen by the dice of destiny. The other upside to horse ownership is a payday if your nag is in the top three places at the end of the race. After this, horses 2, 4, and 6 will all move when 8 doesOnce all the relevant horses have moved everyone gets to take one action using the number rolled on the D8 - the same number of the horse that moved. You can opt to use any number by crossing off a wild die box, but once you have done this three times you must use an entire action to wipe the boxes clean for future use. Your player board has a big grid on it that has a row for each horse with their multiplier for placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd or beyond the ‘no bet’ line, a helmet and a jersey for each horse and a space to record your winnings. Third, select a set of eight Horse cards with the number value range from “1” to “8”. There is a recommended set of “starting cards” for those learning how to play the game. The Horse cards allow players to customize or randomize the horses in play. However, they have also been designed to play in specific sets, providing a good balance. It’s up to the players, and there is no wrong way to go about it.

The Gamer Geeks also found a good deal they enjoyed. As one Gamer Geek put it, “A thoughtful mix of random outcomes to methodical thinking. In real horseracing, you can hedge your bets by thinking things through and reduce your risk as a result. I found the same here. Add in the racing element that reduces the time you have to course-correct poor decisions, and you have a game that kept me interested from start to finish.” Another Gamer Geek said, “Good gameplay that is set at a comfortable pace. I enjoyed it a great deal and found each part of the game meaningful and empowering to the player who really wants to compete. I good game.” Long Shot stood proud in the winner’s circle after the last race, with the Gamer Geeks applauding with enthusiasm. The Child Geek did struggle a bit with Long Shot. While the betting element is not difficult, we observed the difficulty the Child Geeks faced regarding when to bet. Never on what horse, as it was obvious that the lead horse was doing the best. What did trip the Child Geeks up was the continuous shifting of the positioning of the horses. Like a true horse race, the pieces shifted position each round with a clear winner never really obvious until it was almost too late to bet on them. Even then, there was still enough race for the lead horses to upset the other’s position. This frustrated some of the Child Geeks and left others simply not caring to bet at all. The good news here is that betting is not an essential element of gameplay. It’s there for those who want to, but not a mandatory decision a player is forced to make.The Parent Geeks, on the other hand, had a wonderful time. According to one Parent Geek, “A fast and fun game with lots to consider, but never to a point where I felt like I didn’t know what my best options were. I really liked that you could buy a horse and bet on your opponents always to come out ahead.” According to another Parent Geek, “A game that mixed random outcomes perfectly with tactical and strategic decision making. I found the game to be light in its direction, but the roads I had to travel were exciting and always made me think and smile. I really enjoyed this and would gladly play it again.” When all the bets were collected, Long Shot was a big winner with the Parent Geek crowd.