Mastering the Dice: A Deep Dive into Too Many Bones

The minute you crack open the first box of Too Many Bones and notice the ornate storybook packaging, it’s clear that what you’re beginning isn’t so much a board game as it is a quest. You’re not just rolling dice, setting aside tokens, or shepherding a hero from point A to B: you’re embarking on an epic experience where these pieces feel like they fit into a larger whole. In the corner of the first card, you notice the tiny stencils — the crate numbers belonging to the skeleton crew — and it clicks. In this first of multiple chapters, you’re off to fight the Gargantuan. The journey is only getting started, and we’re along for the ride. Welcome to our epic review of Chip Theory Games’ marquee title: a game heavy on the dice but heavier still on the lore and storytelling, replayability, and expansion possibilities. Let’s roll the dice and hand ’em out.

Unveiling Too Many Bones: A Dice Builder RPG

Too Many Bones was released in 2017 as a ‘classic’ dice-roller RPG for the ‘old-school’ veterans and the ‘newbs’ alike. It boasts ‘tactical’ combat nature and fantasy setup – play one of Gearlocs from a world of Daelore, ‘build’ up your characters in a certain way, fight baddies, collect bones and, eventually, kill the everpresent Tyrant. The retail price for the base game is $159.95, which gets a player, or up to four players, everything they need to enter the world of dice-recessionary gaming. Character sheets (neoprene mats) not only allow players to track the stats of their Gearlocs, but they also tidily store the chimeric menagerie of dice within the mats, creating a fantastic illusion for game set-up and thematic immersion.

The Expansive World of Expansions

Undertow: The First Dive Beyond

Too Many Bones’ first standalone expansion gives you an ocean of new content, including new enemies, dice and event cards, priced at $109.95.

Unbreakable: The Climactic Conclusion

The standalone expansion Unbreakable (due out in 2023 for $107) concludes the epic with new Gearlocs, monsters and a battle mat for the contest to end all contests over Daelore’s destiny.

Enhancing the Adventure: Additional Expansions

• 40 Days in Daelore: Adds 40 new encounters for $33.95.
• Rage of Tyranny and 40 Waves in Daelore: new mechanics and encounters for $33.95 a pop.
• Age of Tyranny and Splice and Dice: These expansions expand strategic depth and lore immersion, further expanding the world of Too Many Bones.

Meet the Heroes: Additional Gearlocs

In Too Many Bones, that diversity comes in the form of extra Gearlocs. You can go wild with the game and add Dunny, the Ogre-like palooka who simplifies cards; or Skye, the dextrous archer who helps out with card placement; or DART, a dual nature who plays exactly the same as Skye but can also play as either Wild Charge or Chase; or Ghillie, the ranged hunter who, while not quite up to Dart’s agility, compensates for that with deadly accuracy; or even the hydro-mechanical Gasket, a crazy idea with a cool kid’s toy aesthetic; or even Nugget, who plays as a third Smash, only Mad Scientist-themed and able to search out treasure tokens for you. Each has things it’s better than other Gearlocs at, and, depending on what you’re trying to do in a game, there’s a good chance that the addition of a second or even third Gearloc can change your strategy for the better.

Elevating the Experience: Premium Game Pieces

And for those hobbyists with money to burn who want to elevate their play to the next level, premium accessories are available for Too Many Bones: there’s a pop-up dice tray that prevents dice from going missing; there are neoprene playmats that track your adventure; there are BrassMag figures and polished health chips that make each playthrough as beautiful as a trip to Daelore.

Beyond the Board: Other Treasures

You can up your Too Many Bones cosplay by adding chip coasters and Bones Coffee (both of which are available from the series’ Kickstarter stretch goals). Then you can take your thematic immersion up a notch by indulging in deliciously addictive caffeinated beverages while you shuffle.

The Essence of Too Many Bones

Too Many Bones is a testament to strategic depth and unparalleled narrative complexity and replayability in the RPG dice-builder space. And with a cantina of expansions, oddball Gearlocs and licensed add-ons, this game is perpetually open for a new adventure, a new tactical, logistical, tactile puzzlebox to provide moments of blissful and satisfying play. The cost to entry is high, but the gameplay hours, strategic depth and pure joy of rolling dice are inexhaustible.

About Dart

And the unpredictable Gearloc plays into the schizophrenic nature of the game and the nature of its scorekeeping: on the one side there is long-term strategy, and on the other there is improvisation and adaptation. Dart is that layer in our team, the one who can crowd-control and can flip back and forth between calm mode and rage mode depending on the circumstances, tactics and the whim of the moment. In this way, the game reflects the players’ natural strategic and improvsational styles, and magnifies them in a larger-than-life, colourful world. You could be a planner or an action nut. Dart is your lady.