Ruling (and Rolling) the Animal Kingdom with Roar and Write!
Appease animal council members by meeting specific dice conditions and filling the kingdoms in Roar and Write!
Not long ago, my husband and I came across an interesting roll-and-write, Roar and Write! The premise seemed like fun, with various council members calling for different dice combinations. Beautiful artwork drew me in… But you probably know me by now. Animals!!! I couldn’t resist the theme and finally brought this one to my solo table!
Game Overview
Game Name: Roar and Write!
Publication Year: 2022
Designer: Carla Kopp
Artists: A. Bereza, D. Devine, K. Grierson, and J. Merchant
Publisher: Galactic Raptor Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Over the course of 5 ages, dice provide opportunities to appease the different council members. Managing to fulfill all of their requirements is quite valuable, while a secondary track to fill in the kingdoms can be lucrative. It’s all about rolling, writing, and roaring away!
First Play
December 17, 2022
Complexity
2
Latest Play
June 9, 2023
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
10
Play Time
10 Minutes
High Score
102
Game Area
16" x 12"
Low Score
77
A Colorful World
This is certainly a beautiful game! I was only slightly disappointed to find out that there were only 6 unique animals, though… Lots of duplicate artwork.
I loved the dice, although in practice, they turned out to be a little difficult to read from far away or turned to the side.
My expectations were fairly reasonable, owing to the fact I hadn’t really seen this game mentioned anywhere. Time to explore a completely unknown, possible hidden gem!
The rules seemed a little complicated in some spots with the wording, yet I was ready to dive right in and play.
Scoring Tiers & Titles
Although this would be all about getting a high score, scoring titles provided a nice way to gauge the outcome.
The back of the rulebook also contains a few solo missions… But I wasn’t quite up to meeting those requirements right off the bat. I needed some practice!
Not to be too picky, yet this rulebook had a cut off section, text that didn’t match the scoresheets, and pixelated graphics. I figured out my questions quickly, though.
This felt like there was an intriguing game. I hadn’t done much with dice lately, so rolling was definitely exciting!
Kingdoms and Extras
The top of each scoresheet is identical, with 5 kingdoms that require specific requirements to score victory points.
Each age involves rolling the dice 3 times. Any number of dice can be used to appease the council, while a single die may be used in the kingdoms. Very helpful!
Additional kingdom dice may be chosen by crossing out spaces in the council spaces, likely earning less victory points for that age. But it can be a useful strategy at times.
I was happy with my first attempt, especially considering I was just shy of the top scoring tier. To the ocean for me!
Numbers Galore
This bottom section might look complicated, but it’s pretty easy to follow. During play, it’s all about simply filling in the council offerings space for the current age.
I was trying to match these dice values with the council members’ requiremens, like all 4s, five of a kind, or pairs.
I found it interesting to see that the personal goals listed in the bottom left were unique on every scoresheet. There was an unfortunate typo with the “1s” but I got it.
Seems like it would have made more sense to leave spaces to fill in values and have a single scoresheet, though.
When a Game Almost Comes Together
What struck me most about this session was how I thought I wasn’t having a good time… Yet wanted to keep playing! It all felt a little disjointed with the way the dice were utilized. The lack of any dice manipulation also felt like it was missing, particularly for a game where perfect dice rolls were needed for more victory points.
So, despite feeling like this missed the mark in general, I still found it to be pretty fun. This is one of those cases where my overall rating for a game is accurate, but doesn’t necessarily equate to how much I enjoy the game. I have some games I rate around 60-70% that I have a lot of fun with. Ratings are never perfect indicators, after all!
It’s only a bit disappointing that this one didn’t go through another round of development and updates. Seems like it could have been a nice incentive to fill in a kingdom and award an instant +/- reward to affect a single die. Regardless, though, I enjoyed trying to make the most of the dice and appease the animal council members. Must get to 95 points!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-4
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Outcome: 90, 84, 86, 77 (4 Losses)
Things played out pretty consistently. With no way to alter the rolls, I had to make do with the dice. There were some synergies, but not always. Not too shabby for my first session! It felt like there were some rough edges and missing elements, yet this was a little more enjoyable than I expected it would be. And I’m still sitting here wondering if I can reach the top scoring tier one of these days!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
7
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
4
Quality
Components & Rules
7
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
6
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
4
+ Pros (Positives)
- The gameplay flow is quick to learn and understand during the first play, and the steps move quickly.
- Interesting decisions often come up during a few of the ages, and focusing on completing kingdoms is helpful.
- Filling in the scoresheet is a lot of fun with the different scoring opportunities and clear spaces.
- Scoring well depends on luck, but solo missions also provide some other reasons to continue playing over time.
- Initial rolls often set the tone for the age in terms of how risky it will be to try to fill in the council offering.
- Scoresheets provide very colorful options that complement the handful of beautiful animal cards.
– Cons (Negatives)
- With no way to manipulate the dice, it very much comes down to relying on luck and a little bit of planning.
- The council members look like their requirements could synergize, but only 1 may be appeased per age.
- Personal goals add some nice scoring opportunities, yet these often go against what the council members want.
- Although the dice look beautiful, they’re not particularly functional with ornate features that are hard to read.
Victory Conditions
Score 95+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 90 points.
Score at least 95 points.
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the medium difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
Have you played Roar and Write!? That exclamation point is definitely necessary. Ha! What other roll-and-write games are you enjoying? I don’t expect this one to be a favorite game, but the fact that I want to play again is a great sign. Sometimes, a game doesn’t need to be perfect to offer up plenty of fun. Besides… Look at all of the awesome animals!
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