So, most of us have guilty pleasures. It’s not something that we’re necessarily ashamed of or feel guilt for enjoying, but something we probably don’t advertise that we like the first time we meet someone. Yeah, I’m a 31 year old male, and I like to sit down with a spoon and a carton of ice cream. I used to hate pop/punk music of the early 2000s, but now I like Sum 41 and Good Charlotte and won’t turn them off if they come on the radio. While I do enjoy some anime, I usually tell people my favorites are FLCL, Gungrave, Trigun, or Samurai Pizza Cats… but rarely do I tell people how much I enjoy Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon was a major player in the popularization of anime in America in the early 90s. Yes, Speed Racer, G-Force, Robotech and many more came out earlier, and even had success here in America. However, Sailor Moon, along with Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing, really ushered in a new level of popularity and acceptance of anime as more than just cartoons for kids. The problem with being a 31 year old male saying he likes Sailor Moon is that you either get categorized as a weirdo who likes watching a show about teenage girls in short skirts, or you’re labeled as an anime fanatic loving any and all forms of anime. Neither of these are true for me. Sailor Moon has a strong backstory (though sometimes convoluted) that shows how the bonds we forge with those around us are stronger than anything life can throw at us. While Usagi (the titular Sailor Moon) is the leader, main character, and princess/queen, each member of the team has their own distinct personality, strengths, faults, and moment in the spotlight. All of this while featuring female protagonists in an action/adventure genre that is dominated by males. I enjoy Sailor Moon not only because I respect what it provided to the industry and its cultural impact, but also because it’s an entertaining show.
As those of you who have read some of my other articles have realized, I’m a big fan of games with themes. When I heard about Sailor Moon Crystal Dice Challenge from Dyskami, I had to learn more. Since my daughter is also a fan of Sailor Moon, I figured this would be a perfect game for us to play together. She was pretty excited to open it up when it came in the mail.
Title: Sailor Moon Crystal Dice Challenge
Publisher: Dyskami
Players: 2-8
Theme:
The first thing you need to know is that this is a direct reskin of the game Button Men from James Ernest and Cheapass Games. Yes, the same Button Men that won the 1999 Origins Award for Best Abstract Board Game. That should tell you right off the bat that this isn’t a game that’s just trying to skate by on theme alone. The fine folks at Dyskami took the Sailor Moon theme and the combat system and strategy of Button Men and gave us an absolutely fun game. Even if it is “just a reskin” or considered as unoriginal, it’s fun.
That said, this game wasn’t just spit out with little effort. It seems there’s a great attention to detail when it comes to giving each character their special abilities. The Sailor Scouts all have the same, somewhat generic, special ability. That’s fine. Those are the characters that people will likely be drawn to use first based on popularity and familiarity. Also, them all having the same special illustrates their teamwork and common goal. Tuxedo Mask rarely engages in direct combat. He often comes and goes from battle, showing up at just the right moment. So his special ability to change the target of your opponent’s attack fits very well with his character. There’s a glossary defining all special abilities in the rulebook, with very thorough explanations.
When the game starts, the player with the lowest single die value goes first. In this sense faster characters will have a die with a lower number of faces. Contrastly, since dice can capture opposing dice of equal or lesser value, high die values are coveted. Characters with more physical strength typically use dice with a higher number of faces, so they have the potential for those stronger attacks. Through this simple scale, so many of the characters are well defined. Sailor Jupiter, the powerhouse of the Sailor Scouts, is the member of the team with the highest possible number of die faces. Meanwhile the card for Luna & Artemis (the two talking cats that act as guides for the Sailor Scouts) have a d1 and d2 as 2 of their 4 dice. The d1 is just a token that represents the number 1. The d2 is simply a coin with values of 1 and 2. This means that when you check to see who has the lowest value to go first, L&A will ALWAYS have a 1. If both players tie for the lowest value, you look to their next lowest die. So even if your opponent rolls a 1, L&A uses a d2 to guarantee either a 1 or a 2 for the next lowest value. They are very fast and elusive.
The game comes with 24 character cards. Some of those are different versions of the same characters, but they are still unique cards with unique abilities. The game does a great job at really filling out the Sailor Moon universe, making sure characters from different seasons are represented. If you’re up to date with the latest series of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime, there’s characters you’ll recognize for sure. If you’re like me and just remember the original series from years ago, then you’re familiar with Queen Beryl and her various cronies. That said, knowledge of the characters isn’t required. It really just lets you appreciate the attention to detail taken in their dice and special abilities.
Gameplay:
I’ve never played Button Men, so I came in to this totally blind. There are a few nuances and special abilities, but the most basic way to explain gameplay is this:
-Both players roll all of their dice. (The player with the single lowest die value goes first.)
-You can use any single die to capture any opposing die of equal or lesser value.
-You can add multiple dice together to capture an opposing die, BUT it must equal the exact value.
-After you capture an opposing die, you reroll all dice you used to capture with. End of turn.
-You earn victory points based on the total number of faces on captured dice.
-At the end of each round, the player with the most victory points wins. The losing player selects a single die listed in their Reserve to add to their dice for the rest of the match.
I read over the rules, explained how the game works to my daughter, we picked our favorite characters. She picked Sailor Venus, and I picked Sailor Jupiter. I was like, “High die values win, so I want to use a character with dice that have higher number of faces.” Little did I realize that by doing that I gave my daughter more available victory points than she gave me. Dang. So there’s very real strategy deciding which character to use right out of the gate.
Then there’s the strategy of deciding which dice to use to capture with. For instance, after turns had gone back a forth a few times, if I had an 18 on my d20, and she only had a d6 and a d10 remaining, there was no mathematical way she could capture my d20. So I would probably want to use other dice to capture if possible, because capturing with my d20 would cause me to reroll it, potentially getting a value low enough for her to capture.
After just a few turns I was blown away by the amount of depth and strategy I had initially overlooked. There’s a definite luck factor with rolling dice. If you consistently roll nothing but 1s, you’re probably not going to win. That said, there are very real good and bad strategies when it comes to capturing dice. There are smart choices to be made, deciding which dice you need to reroll as soon as possible, and which dice you want to stay on the table.
Dyskami seems to be heavily promoting competitive play for Sailor Moon CDC. They have already been demoing the game at conventions and even include lanyards with the game, to carry cards in at conventions so players can quickly recognize one another as potential opponents. I like the lanyard idea. I think it shows they know their audience. Whether you’re a gamer going to board game conventions, or a Sailor Moon fan who may be more likely to go to anime conventions, giving a special lanyard could be a smart move. If nothing else, it’s a unique item and a strategy that not many other games are doing. I think it further shows that Dyskami is putting effort in to making Sailor Moon CDC as successful as possible.
For Parents:
Set-up time for this is a breeze. Seriously, 5 minutes or less. It only uses cards and dice. There are 24 different character cards to choose from. Each character (with few exceptions) start with 4 dice. The numbers on the card tell you the number of faces for each die. Just grab the corresponding dice with your character card and you’re ready to play. 4 different colors of dice come with the game, however the different dice colors are purely cosmetic. You can have all of your dice the same or differently colored. It does not make a difference during gameplay.
Speaking of the dice, I love games with custom dice. However, there’s something fun about a game like this using standard sets of role playing dice. Especially given the push for social gaming at conventions, it’s possible to get unique dice that represent your favorite character to use for competitive play. I’ve already looked in to getting cat themed dice for the Luna & Artemis card.
There are quite a few tokens with different symbols for keeping track of your special abilities. Like many games I review, it’s best to keep the dice and tokens away from small children that will try to eat them. That’s really the only age requirement.
The game uses basic math skills of addition and knowing which number is greater than or less than. I’m not going to write an essay about using boardgames as teaching tools. But being able to reinforce quick, basic, mental math with the kids here is great. The game can be played by children as young as 4 or 5 years old. As they get older, and strategy becomes more complex, this can easily be played between two adults in a mental showdown. Definitely a game that can grow with your kids.
Final Thoughts:
When I got Sailor Moon CDC, I honestly thought it would be a fun little game to play with my daughter, and not think twice about it. I figured we’d play it a bunch right after we got it, then dust it off once every 2 or 3 months and play simply because she likes Sailor Moon. After playing it, I really would not be opposed to playing this competitively at a convention for a few hours. It was a lot more fun than I expected and really scratched the itch for quick, tactical game play. Even though it’s a reskin of Button Men, it still finds a way to feel like it is set in the Sailor Moon universe with the special abilities, dice used, and the sheer number of characters available to play as.
If you have young children who are getting in to gaming, Sailor Moon Crystal Dice Challenge is an excellent game that can grow with them if they start craving a more competitive, strategic game experience.
And if Sailor Moon is your guilty pleasure, you get to enjoy it while also playing a fun game.