Introduction

There is only so much that you can say about dice.  Are they geometrically exact?  Do they look cool?  Are they well made?  Do they roll well?  Okay all but the last item are quantifiable in regards to a review.  A manufacturer can hardly be blamed for the luck (or lack there of) in a die, much less the die roller who could very well be cursed!  So I am going to look at my personal favorite dice manufacturer: Gamescience. 

The Goods

Some folks new to gaming are likely asking, “Who the heck is Gamescience and why are their dice so cool?”  A good question.  What about Chessex?  Chessex makes many fine dice but they are not my favorite and not the subject of this review.

What made Gamescience dice so cool?  Gamescience dice were the first dice sets I ever bought.  Mind you not the first dice I ever owned.  At the time I had the same lousy dice that came with the basic blue box basic D&D set: white 20 sided, blue 12 sided, green 8 sided, orange 6 sided and yellow 4 sided.  Mind you the 20 sided was not marked 1-20 but rather 0-9.  So you had to mark the 11-20 sides and use it as a d10 to boot.  Also these dice quickly had their edge worn to a nub in little time.  In other words they sucked.  Gamescience were one of the first very serious manufacturers of dice, some could say too serious.  A big thanks to my dad for buying my first set: a cool smoky six piece gem set.

Dice produced by Gamescience come in a myriad of colors in both opaque and gem.  The color consistency in both opaque and gem are very good and I have rarely caught any sort or coloring inconsistency, outside of the hundred or so factory reject dice I purchased (note those dice were geometrically correct, just really off in their coloring).  The gem dice (standard and laser) are all eye catching and look fabulous.  The laser sets seem slightly clearer and are slightly lighter colored than a comparative color in a regular gem set.  So much so that they are virtually always the dice I reach for when gaming.  A few of my friends still have their Gamescience dice and are oft the dice of choice for them. 

The plastics are of high quality and show virtually no flaws in any of the sets I have acquired then or over the years.  The plastic is typically very lightweight and feel almost like a high impact formula.  The dice do not go flying off the table when rolled as they have slightly less momentum due to their lighter weight..  The gem sets feel lighterthan the opqaue, but not having a sensitive enough scale I have not verified this beyond my perceptions.  Additionally some sets came inked for a couple dollars more, though doing yourself can yield good results and not drive up the dice price by 30% (which is a bit steep)..

Dice made by Gamescience are sturdy.  I have used many over the course of campaigns and even ones that have suffered the tender and frequent dice rolling of Rolemaster lack any serious wear and continue to look sharp (after washing since dice hygiene is important and gaming environments are largely grease laden).  This is after a decade of regular use in some cases.

The only two complaints I have ever had with Gamescience dice is that on some of the dice there in a but of a mark where the mould was and the price for inked sets (as above).  While buffing each mark might be impossible due to the fact that the dice have crisp edges, it is a slight detraction from the overall presentation.  Some die types are more vulnerable to the mould mark than others.  So far as I have seen Gamescience dice with mould marks do not seem t roll any different than ones with a minimal or no mark.

Dice Details

Here is a quick rundown of the basic dice and my comments for each die in a standard 7 piece set:

D4:  A standard 4 sided die, but rather than the points jutting out as the edges are crisp rather they are flattened (or beveled) out into very small triangular areas.  No dice rolling to date has ever yielded on of these sides coming up on a roll.  The mark from the mould is usually minimal.

D6: The d6 is the Gamescience die I like the least.  It is proportionally smaller than the rest of the dice and its sides look slightly concave in the middle of each side and the mould mark is usually quite prevalent.  Of course there are only so many things you can do with a square but apparently Gamescience found a way to make a boring die look worse.

D8:  Unlike the d4 the d8 has rather sharp points and is unpleasant to step on.  This die has the most obvious mould mark, but otherwise looks okay.

D10:  My second favorite Gamescience die.  The two top points are very crisp and the sides where faces meet are beveled to create a line of oblong triangles that encircle the middle.  Again like the beveling on the d4 it is impossible to roll a result that would land on this edge for the area is too small.  With more facets and interesting beveling this is a nice die to showcase the casting and coloring of Gamescience dice.  Included in later sets is a percentile die, which other than having 10-00 is identical to a d10.

D12:  Sometimes the red headed stepchild of dice, but it is a nicely molded and very clear die.  Nothing spectacular for looks, but usually well made.

D20:  My personal favorite of the Gamescience line.  The edges are crisp and they create some neat optics through the die.  The only gripe is sometimes the mould mark can be very obvious, though it does not seem to effect dice rolling.

Miscellany

Gamescience is now somewhat in hiatus according to my research.  Apparently someone bought the company, the defaulted.  Allegedly the dice rights have fallen back to Lou Zocci, but little details are available.  Regardless it has been a number of years since any Gamescience die have been produced.  Gamescience dice can be found on eBay occasionally and even in more rare instances live in the dusty bins of retailers and e-tailers.  They are well worth the effort of tracking down.  But I will not reveal my sources!  You can’t make me…well that’s not true I certainly have a price.

Summary

In review I think Gamescience not only pioneered dice design and manufacturing they probably made the nicest gem and opaque dice to date.  Too bad they are not around anymore to relish in this fact.