Long Shot: The Dice Game and the Thrill of Horse Racing
Head out for an exciting race day featuring all sorts of interesting horses to buy or bet on in Long Shot: The Dice Game.
Riders up! I’m not particularly interested in the real world of horse racing, although there was a time when I played some horse simulation games and nearly had myself a Triple Crown winner. Ha! With that in mind, I was excited to give Long Shot: The Dice Game its time to shine at my solo table. Load the horses and cue up the infamous racing song!
Game Overview
Game Name: Long Shot: The Dice Game
Publication Year: 2022
Designer: Chris Handy
Artist: Clau Souza
Publisher: Perplext
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
A field of 8 horses offers various abilities and odds. Dice help determine which horses move each round, while a handful of options allow for careful planning. The goal is to earn more money than the solo opponent, yet tricky plays can see horses move back right near the finish line!
First Play
May 31, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
May 31, 2023
Expansions
3
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
4
Play Time
20 Minutes
High Score
139
Game Area
28" x 16"
Low Score
95
Replacement Horses
The included horse tokens are excellent and work as intended. But sometime last year, I promised a slight upgrade if I ever picked up this game to try it out.
Here we are! I found my replacements with the beautiful wooden horses from Oltréé. Fantasy horse racing!
Although not required, I was able to match 7 of 8 horses up perfectly. The #6 horse was more of a grey or black instead of a blue, yet that was easy enough to remember.
I didn’t have any trouble remembering the numbers, so this really was a fun way to enhance the game just a bit!
Preparing Components
I didn’t enjoy the included dry erase markers, and would probably find a way to simply mark boxes in the future. Not the end of the world, yet not my favorite aspect.
To cut down on the constantly changing amount of coins, I pulled out a trusty abacus! This was arguably even more useful than the upgraded horses, and it looked great.
Honestly, this set of abaci from the upgraded components of Arcana Rising is the best thing I’ve found lately!
Not that the color mattered, yet I went with green to give me a little luck and generate some more money. Ha ha!
A Matrix of Actions
The solo opponent is relatively simple to run with a matrix to describe what happens with each roll of the dice.
However, the numbers going across the top from 3-2-1 threw me for a loop initially… Why go up in the rows and down in the columns? Just a slightly confusing choice.
I liked how simple this was, but I thought the decisions were much too random. A few rounds actually helped me out a lot more than they should have.
There were also plenty of edge cases that the solo rules didn’t cover. Not the worst, but oddly complicated.
Off to the Races!
To the starting line! These wooden horses lined up really well, despite being a little wider and of different shapes.
I found it hilarious that some of them were in clear galloping poses, while others looked like ponies content with taking their time in life. That’s how you race! Ha!
My excitement was palpable as I did impressions of trumpets and bugles with every roll of the dice.
The decisions were actually pretty intriguing, although I probably didn’t bet enough. Concessions, helmets, and silks seemed more interesting to me… Or even buying!
The Winners’ Circle
This first play may have been a little unusual, in that the solo opponent moved horses back continuously. My play time was about double that of my other plays.
I had a lot of fun, yet the fact that horses moved back just felt so counterintuitive. Were they running in circles suddenly? Why was I constantly punished?
My choices allowed me to move some horses back a couple of times, but the solo opponent did it at least 5 or 6 times.
Even with a pretty terrible initial outing, I made enough pairs of helmets and silks to pull off a narrow victory.
Final Race Results
All of the backwards movement led to more overall rounds, so I completed my concession matrix and added on as much as I could… Aside from huge bets, of course.
I bought 3 horses, though, which wasn’t the greatest for the final results, but still provided some special abilities.
Better Safe than Sorry was my new favorite… He was never going to win, but I ended up with some extra money for spreading my bets all over the place. Nicely done!
The horses were quite interesting, especially since there were multiple sets that could be swapped or mixed in.
Thinking About Random Actions in Solo Modes
I loved how simple it was to figure out which action the solo opponent would take, but in several cases, these didn’t feel intuitive. My owned horses were sometimes moved closer to the finish line purely because the solo opponent’s bet was slightly higher. But betting $4 or $5 when I was guaranteed $35 for owning the winner wasn’t a smart bet.
It almost felt like there needed to be a conditional check before performing an action. Like if the solo opponent had a ton of money, either invest that in buying horses or betting. And it made little sense for actions to indirectly benefit me to place me closer to a victory. Overall, the matrix didn’t feel wrong, yet there were times it was far too random.
On the flip side, perhaps that extra time to think about the solo opponent would slow down the game. Removing the ability to move horses back might be a compromise… Did I mention how much I disliked that mechanic? Ha! The end result is that this might just be a better game when enjoyed in a group setting with the way the solo mode works.
The Thrill of the Finish
Rounding that final turn was very exciting, especially since additional bets ended unless a horse already had its helmet marked on the player mat. Run!
The finish line was quite fun, especially when a bunch of horses came up to it at the same time. It was up to the dice to determine who might cross it first.
As expected, the odds favored the lower-numbered horses. Those long shots were very much long shots!
Still, the odd mechanics with the solo opponent gave me pause here and there. It just felt off by a little bit.
Repeat Victories
I reset and kept at it, trying some other strategies to find out if the solo opponent was random or cleverly smart. I lost this time, though… Maybe I wasn’t a racing expert!
It was interesting to see the #1 and #4 horses in the top spots again, only swapped. Not all that surprising since lower numbers typically do better, but still.
#4 appeared to do well due to actually being in a racing pose. Ha ha! The #2 and #3 horses barely lifted a hoof.
Although I liked elements of gameplay, some things just didn’t make enough sense for me to love the experience.
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-4
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 95-85, 96-117, 131-102, 139-115 (3 W & 1 L)
Take that! I managed to buy the 1st and 2nd place horses during this race, which was quite exciting. The slow and plucky pony won! Ha ha! There are plenty of interesting elements here, although I don’t know how likely I will be to play again. The solo opponent felt far too random and didn’t play logically. I simply can’t understand why horses can move back spaces. Yet all in all, this still offered some memorable moments for my replacement horses!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
6
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
6
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
8
+ Pros (Positives)
- There is a lot of fun as the horses move around the track, yet the winners are never locked in until the very end.
- Different horses provide new abilities, and using or mixing in other sets allows for interesting combinations.
- Play time is generally very quick with fast decisions based on the roll of the dice during the round.
- It’s very easy to operate the solo opponent most of the time from the matrix of available actions based on a roll.
- Multiple paths to victory are available since it isn’t always about owning the winning horses or betting high.
- Cash must be managed carefully to place bets and buy horses at the right times, which requires some thought.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Aside from the horses, the component quality is rather disappointing with an unusable insert that’s glued in.
- The solo opponent appears to react very randomly, which makes it difficult to play against competitively.
- Moving horses backward on the track feels like a very odd mechanic that can drag game time on and on.
- Despite there being a lot of action choices, there aren’t necessarily a lot of different strategies to try out.
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 67%
Goals and Milestones
Own the winning horse in at least 1 race.
Score at least 100 points.
Score at least 150 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you like about Long Shot: The Dice Game? I may not love it, yet there were definitely moments when the thrill of horse racing came through! Are there any mini-expansions you prefer? The ability to use these replacement horses definitely added to the fun, and despite some of my negatives, I think there’s a very fun solo game to find here!
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