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Review: Troyes – Tons of Dice, But Little Left to Luck

Troyes is the hard-to-pronounce game (allegedly Trwa) which came to my attention last year. This game oozes with euro appeal. It is largely worker placement, has an admittedly dry theme about an old French town, and is based on accumulating victory points. But this game also includes dice by the truckload. There are massive rolls each turn, and higher rolls result in more and better actions. So how is this not a two hour luck-fest? Because those rolls can be acquired by any player, making good rolls not necessarily good for the individual who rolled them.

The Basics. Troyes is worker placement, but it also belongs to the new movement of dice-placement games. Players can place their workers in the Palace for Red Dice (used mostly in combat), in the Bishopric for White Dice (used for religious disputes and conversions), or in City Hall for Yellow Dice (money, money, money). The more meeples you have in each place, the more dice you will get to roll.

Then, every player (including a “neutral player” not controlled by anyone) takes their dice and rolls them. That roll then gets put in their District. As a penalty for going first, the first player must also use some of their dice to combat the barbarian hordes attacking Troyes. Then the players may use their dice to complete actions.

Unlike most worker placement games, the actions are not static from game to game. Each time there will be level one, two, and three action for each color. But the game comes with three cards for each level in each color. You randomly select what the actions will be. And, in fact, you don’t reveal what the chosen level two or level three actions are until the second and third turns of the game. So your initial plays are done without knowledge of what may be available later on.

To take an action, you take three dice and plop them on the action card or event. Each one will say dice divided by a number, usually three or four. You then do some simple math and find out how many times you do the action that turn. But, while you can take your own dice for free, you are allowed to take other players’ dice as well… if you pay them. And the pay increases based on how many dice you are using.

Players are also dealt cards at the beginning of the game, which give bonus points for obtaining various extras throughout play. Even though the card is given secretly to one player, the points will be given to all players who meet the criteria on the card. The catch, though, is that there are six possible cards and only four possible players, so some number of cards will be absent. Thus, the players aren’t sure which bonuses will count and which will not. There is a deduction element as you watch the other players to see what card they may have and where you should likewise focus.

The Feel. I played Troyes for the first time at Strategicon and just loved it. Even though the game is essentially based around die rolls, it manages to be immensely strategic. Unless you are the first player, a bad roll doesn’t necessarily mean anything. You can always buy the good dice from other players. In fact, your good rolls are often simply converted into money as your opponents snag them from you. The game really comes down more to when and what dice to buy, how much to pay, and who to take them from.

The other nice thing about Troyes is that there is (almost) always at least some action to take that will be beneficial. Even if you are left with lower dice, you can add to the cathedral or place new meeples in the main buildings to get dice later. Troyes is really about optimizing each play.

The game is about making the most of the dice on the board. In fact, if you limit yourself to your own roll you will do quite poorly in Troyes. The buying mechanic means that rolls really don’t belong to the player who rolled them. A good or a poor roll will not generally make much of a difference in the long term game. The fact that the start player must combat the barbarians also means that he or she will generally have fewer dice to use, so even though they get first dibs on dice, they will often be purchasing from other players rather than using their own.

Troyes is worker placement through and through. You will constantly be looking to take actions and to take as many as possible for as much benefit as you can. The dice placement mechanic feels interesting and innovative. Despite the high number of dice, there is very little in the game that comes down to luck. The most chance for luck to enter the game is if you have a particularly good roll on your turn – or a poor one as you fight barbarians. As the first actor, you can use those good dice before they have a chance to be purchased from under you. But, other than that, all the players are on a very even playing field.

Components: 4 of 5. The pieces in this game are high quality. All of the dice are a good size and solidly constructed. The board is thick and has the standard euro, medieval city style artwork. The cards are large and functional. My particular copy ended up with a Franken-die; it was stamped in the middle on every side making the two look like a three, the four look like a five, and my six was a seven. I used a red pen to color it in, so it isn’t so bad. The one thing that annoys me is that the rulebook tends to put very important information into tiny, small-fonted, italicized sidebars. Stop that. If they are important rules, they should be bolded and put in the main body of the instructions.

Luck/Strategy Balance: 4 of 5. Luck exists in this dice game after all. It is certainly possible to get screwed over by the dice, but even a bad roll can suddenly become good. The player has the power, for a price, to flip three dice over to their opposite sides. For example, a roll of three ones can suddenly become three sixes. And, if you look at the dice as a common pool with prices attached to some of the rolls, it really changes the mindset from “my dice suck” to, “let me get those good dice.”

Mechanics: 4.5 of 5. Troyes does an excellent job of melding everything together. The bonus point card system is really inspired. Players don’t know for certain which items will be worth points at the end and which will simply be wasted energy. The game does a good job of limiting the detrimental impact of poor rolls. The one, very minor negative is that in a three and four player game, there will be an uneven number of turns. Though the battle against the barbarians definitely mitigates the first player advantage, I’m not sure it does so fully. Two players will have that advantage more often in a given game.

Replayability: 5 of 5. Holy cow. Despite repeated plays, I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of this gem. First, there are definite strategies in cathedral building, in fighting off events, and in going strong money in order to buy other dice. Beyond those basics, the available actions will be different each game. This leads to different strategies and different angles that are available every time its played. But each color remains viable and attractive.

Spite: 2.5 of 5. While not super prevalent, there are a couple of spite opportunities in the game. Having your good die purchased for a measly two coins can hurt sometimes. Spite can be felt when another player moves into a principle building and kicks you out, forcing you to use another turn to get back in. Or, worst of all, when the first player doesn’t kill all the Barbarian dice and sends one to you that you must now combat. Jerk. Still, there is no way to expressly attack or damage another player directly in most games.

Overall: 4.5 of 5. Troyes is good, good times. The dice provide a satisfying randomness without being entirely luck driven. The game has immense replayability, and by the final point tally I’m always satisfied with my play. Perhaps the biggest testament to Troyes’ funness is that I am a serious devotee of this game and have yet to ever win. Ever. (I have come in several close seconds, though). Those looking for a cool theme and a lot of “take that” elements may not find much of interest in Troyes. But for worker placement fiends, and for those looking for a medium/heavy euro style game that stays fresh, I would heartily recommend Troyes.