Polterdice (2003)

About this game

Polterdice is set in a haunted mansion in which treasures have been stashed away by ghosts. Players move their men ("meeples", if you will) up sets of stairs hoping to be the first to reach the top of the staircase. Which staircases you can move up and how much you can move are determined by rolling 8 dice and combining them into pairs. When one of a player's men reaches the top of a staircase, he gets treasure as well as the option of challenging the Polterdice (ghosts of the former inhabitants of the mansion whom you must "capture" for additional treasure) for more money. If he loses the challenge, it goes to the next player on the staircase and so-on until someone wins or everyone loses. The key mechanic is deciding how to "spend" your dice rolls on which men in which part of the mansion. The designers note that the game is inspired by Can't Stop, and is therefore dedicated to Sid Sackson (who died during the production of the title).

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 5.
• Rules load. At 1.3/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.