Designers: Nick Shaw (Cerebria: The Inside World, Welcome to Dino World), David Turczi (Anachrony, Cerebria: The Inside World, Kitchen Rush)

Artist: Kalissa Fitzgerald

Publisher: PSC Games (The Great War, Quartermaster General: 1914, Quartermaster General: Victory or Death – The Peloponnesian War)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, line drawing, miniatures, paper-and-pencil, roll & write, variable player powers

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Rome and Roll is already fully-funded.  In fact, pledges currently total more than 4x the initial funding goal with 11 days left to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About:  A crunchy roll & write game set in Ancient Rome with enough diverse variable player abilities to really distinguish itself from the pack.

How It Works: “During the game, [playersl attempt to score the most points during the reconstruction of the city and the re-establishment of the Empire’s firm hand across its colonies. Points are scored for constructing buildings, trading resources, conquering unruly colonies, and renovating the Roman road network linking these colonies to the Eternal City. When a player meets their personal target in one of these four scoring avenues, the Emperor Nero will reward them for their work. When all his rewards are given out, the game will end. Listen to your advisors, use their unique skills well, draft the dice to your needs: roll, draw, and win! Imperii Gloria!”

Rome & Roll is played in rounds, with each round consisting of two phases: Dice Draft & Action. During the Dice Draft Phase the Pro-Consul player (starting player at the beginning of the game) rolls the dice and forms a dice pool. Then starting with the Pro-Consul player and proceeding clockwise, each player selects a die from the dice pool. If a player uses 1 Senator to activate a Double-Draft, they’ll immediately take a second die. Once all players have claimed at least 1 die, players then each select a second die, starting with the player to the right of the Pro-Consul player and proceeding counter-clockwise in snake-draft fashion. There will normally be one die left over & unclaimed.

During the Action Phase, starting with the Pro-Consul player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes a turn by discarding one of their dice, performing 1 main action, and any number of free actions. The process repeats itself and each player then performs a 2nd main action and any number of free actions. There are 6 main actions for players to choose from: Construct, Raise Legions, Conquer, Expand, Tax, and Trade. Free Actions include: Store and Bribe Advisor. A player can take a Construct action if they have a die face with a Builder or Architect icon. The player may move their Overseer to one adjacent building (but isn’t required to), and then as many additional adjacent buildings as they wish, paying 1 Fish for each movement beyond the first. They can then build a Building, paying the required resources. With a Builder icon, the player can only build using an available Blueprint. With an Architect icon, the player can build using an available Blueprint for one resource less, or has the option to instead build using an unavailable Blueprint. If the player has a Legionary icon on their die face, they can take the Raise Legions action, choosing up to 3 different Army buildings and gaining their abilities. For any buildings owned by another player, that player receives 1 coin. Any die face can be discarded to take a Conquer action, if the player has enough non-Garrisoned Soldiers and Auxiliaries to meet or exceed the costs of all targeted settlements. The player receives Glory according to the banners in the conquered settlements. Expanding requires a Builder die face, and allows the player to renovate one or more roads leading to conquered settlements. Taxing, like Conquering, can be taken by discarding any die face. The player selects one region, and receives the resources generated by all settlements connected to Rome via renovated roads in that region. But if the player uses a die face with a Merchant icon, they’ll receive resources for all settlements connected to Rome via renovated roads across ALL regions. The Trade action can also be taken by discarding any die face; players spend 3 identical resources in exchange for 3 coins, and then choose one of their buildings to Produce. Storing, a Free Action, involves placing all resources not used for the player’s main action in the Storage Yard. And Bribing an Advisor, the other Free Action, can be taken using a Fish, Jewelry, or Basket icon from the player’s die face or with resources gained from buildings, settlements, and other Advisors, but not using resources from the player’s Storage Yard.

When a player draws a line under a blue box on a track on their Character sheet, they’ll also take the top Nero card and place it in from of them. It will score points at the end of the game. When the final Nero card is taken, end game is triggered. Players complete the round, play one final round, and then proceed to final scoring. During final scoring, players will score points for the following: points equal to the highest-valued underlined box on each of their Coins, Buildings, Legacy, and Glory tracks; points shown on any Advisors with 5 loyalty boxes marked; points for each constructed building according to the associated Blueprint cards; points from Nero cards; points equal to half the number of their Soldiers, rounded up; and points equal to half the number of their Senators, rounded up. The player with the most points wins, and becomes the right hand of Nero.

Comparisons:  Some of the most popular recent roll & writes include Railroad Ink, That’s Pretty Clever, and Welcome To…. But keep in mind that Rome & Roll is co-designed by David Turczi, co-designer of Anachrony and Cerebria (and one of Mindclash’s main go-to designers), as well as a designer for many games’ solo modes. Rome & Roll is positioning itself to be one of the heaviest roll & writes created to-date.

What Should I Pledge?:
$38 Standard Pledge (English): a copy of the game, the KS-exclusive Pro-Consul mini, and all unlocked stretch goals.

Add-Ons:
$5 Branded Faux-Leather Dice Tray
$6 Branded Faux-Leather Dice Cup
$6 Branded Dice Bag
$16 Bundle with all three

KS Exclusives:
The Pro-Consul miniature.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S. you’re looking at $38 for Standard Pledge plus $16 in shipping for a total of $54. If you want the Branded Add-Ons, then your total is $70.

Rome & Roll completes its Kickstarter on Monday, November 4th and tentatively ships in May 2020.