Stories of Monsters and Many, Many Minions in Roll Player
Create a unique character to battle minions and prepare for a final monster battle with a main expansion for Roll Player.
Reasonably confident in my skills with the base game of Roll Player, I quickly moved onto the first expansion content again! Not only was there more variety in the cards, but new mechanics offered a more complete story. Characters had more of a purpose in gathering information leading up to a finale… As expected, I was excited to return to playing!
Game Overview
Game Name: Roll Player
Publication Year: 2016
Designer: Keith Matejka
Artists: JJ Ariosa & Luis Francisco
Publisher: Thunderworks Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Choices of dice and cards craft a unique character, but the first expansion introduces enemies and a final battle. Not every turn involves buying cards or earning gold, as it might make more sense to take on a minion to learn valuable information about the final monster lurking at the end!
First Play
July 26, 2020
Complexity
3
Latest Play
June 18, 2025
Expansions
2
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
28
Play Time
35 Minutes
High Score
44
Game Area
26" x 20"
Low Score
0
Minion Mayhem
Although the base game is fantastic on its own for a bit, this expansion feels like it completes the experience. Building a character ends with a major battle, which can be very tough!
During play, a new choice opens up: Rather than buying a card from the market, a minion may be battled. Each one is unique, with ways to cycle to the next card, if desired.
Rewards are helpful, but my favorite part is flipping over the monster’s location, obstacle, and attack cards. Nice!
These provide the criteria for earning bonuses against the monster, and it’s often vital to uncover at least a couple.
The Bookish Shaman
My first play with the expansion content was only a little rocky as I got my bearings. The new boost dice were very helpful, as were the minion rewards. Yeah for combat dice!
This shaman had her sights focused on books from her backstory, which gave her some more personality.
I acted a little cautiously with the minions, choosing higher value dice in the hopes the random actions would cycle through to others I could use more dice against. It worked!
A lot more was going on with the strategies, yet I felt like there was much more to explore than the base game.
Chimera Finale
With a trio of defeated minions, I uncovered all of the hidden information well ahead of time. It helped me make better choices so that I maximized the final combat dice.
Extra experience helped with re-rolls, especially since they were expensive against the chimera, and honor tokens added to my final results. So close to the best tier!
The nice thing about each monster is that there are 3 unique cards per type, so the variety is excellent over many plays.
I ended up just shy of my victory threshold, so there was just one thing to do… Reset and build another character!
A Complex Character
Rather interestingly, this play resulted in the least number of cards I think I ever picked up! This tormented crusader was all about collecting gold and making cautious choices.
But more than that, I felt like she was a complicated sort of character. Tending towards narcissism, it seemed like she was trying to make amends in some ways.
I didn’t manage to maximize her alignment card, so even though she was honorable, she ended up chaotic evil.
Such an interesting time, though! Against the dragon, her horde of gold seemed to be even more thematic. Ha ha!
Letting Go of the Idea of Playing Everything
Despite using some negative words to describe how long it was since I last played this one, it’s more a case of comedic embarrassment for me. I’ve gotten to the point that I know I don’t have enough time to play all of my solo games. The idea of a regular rotation is also right out at this time… And that’s OK! What’s important is what happens at the table.
Leaving the same game set up for a long time is helpful, too, in that I don’t have to set aside that time. Rules are also completely known, so I only need to look up small rules questions for unusual situations. Easy! I still love the process of learning or re-learning board games. It’s just nice to not have to do that on an almost daily basis right now.
I still have pangs of guilt over some games that I meant to play years ago, but I know I’ll get there when the time is right. Often, it’s my mindset: I’m not actively avoiding any specific games! Yet there’s a difference between something I know plays in under 30 minutes and a campaign game known for offering 20-40 hours of content. Someday, I’ll enjoy it!
Session Overview
Play Number: 17 & 18
Main Expansion: Roll Player: Monsters & Minions
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 39 & 36 (2 Losses)
These were some nice scores for myself, and only just shy of what I would count as a victory. More importantly, though, it was lovely to incorporate this expansion again! I don’t think I’ll ever play without it, as the new elements add a lot to the theme and offer lots of new strategies to try out. Up next is an expansion I’ve never tried out, which should be exciting. Can’t stop playing right now, which is always a good sign!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
8
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
9
+ Pros (Positives)
- Lots of variety exists with the different sorts of characters, and creating little stories is usually very easy to do.
- Minions create new strategies in terms of choosing to buy or fight each turn, often with different kinds of rewards.
- Uncovering the monster cards is exciting and interesting, while also providing guidance on upcoming choices.
- Battling the monster feels like the perfect way to wrap up a character’s journey, especially since it’s very difficult.
- Although there is more going on, the additional expansion content doesn’t feel overwhelming or complicated.
- Not all of the focus is on the dice and cards, opening up new decision points and nuanced strategies to uncover.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Bad dice rolls happen and even though there are ways to mitigate them, sometimes the end result is simply a bad roll.
- Monster card bonuses are sometimes impossible to complete even when they get revealed fairly early on.
- Keeping track of experience and honor tokens on top of the base game elements can take a little time to get used to.
- The rules are separated between multiple rulebooks with the expansion, which requires flipping around a lot.
Victory Conditions
Score 40+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 67%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 35 points.
Score at least 40 points.
Score at least 45 points.
Continue the Conversation
Do you have a favorite expansion for Roll Player? What is the highest score you’ve achieved, or are you more interested in memorable character builds? This was another excellent time, particularly with the return of the minions. Absolutely lovely! There’s just one more big expansion to incorporate, but being entirely new, I don’t know what to expect. I’ll be back!
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