Too Many Bones and Why Dice Building in a Dungeon Crawl Changes Everything

Too Many Bones At A Glance

I have played Too Many Bones thirty-seven times. I have played it on the beautiful neoprene mats that come with the game, and yes, they really do make a difference. I have died spectacularly with nearly every character they call Gearlocs (Wikipedia). I have won about sixty percent of my solo campaigns, which sounds respectable until you realise I mostly play on the easier difficulty levels because this game will absolutely crush you if you get cocky. I keep detailed notes on which dice combinations work best for each character, and I am still discovering new synergies after all these plays.

What fascinates me about Too Many Bones is how it completely reimagines character progression in cooperative dungeon crawling. Where most games give you new cards or static upgrades, this game hands you actual dice. Physical, chunky, satisfying dice that you roll to determine your actions. Every skill point you earn translates into a new die face, and every new die face changes how your character behaves in fundamental ways. It is character building you can hold in your hands, and it transforms the entire experience of growing stronger over the course of an adventure.

This is not a game that treats dice as random chaos generators. These are dice as tools, dice as character expression, dice as tactical choices made manifest. When people talk about dice building, they often mean it abstractly, but Too Many Bones makes it completely literal. You are building your dice pool one face at a time, and every single face matters.

## What Too Many Bones Really Is

Too Many Bones is a cooperative tactical adventure where you play as unique characters called Gearlocs (Wikipedia) trying to survive increasingly dangerous encounters. The game uses dice building as its primary progression system (Wikipedia), which means instead of gaining new cards or static bonuses, you literally add new faces to your dice as you level up.

Each turn, you roll your dice and use the results to perform actions. Attack dice might show sword symbols for damage, defense dice might show shield symbols for protection, and utility dice might show movement or special ability symbols. What makes this brilliant is that as you progress, you choose exactly which symbols to add to which dice, customising your probability curves to match your playstyle.

The game structures itself around encountering baddies, making camp to rest and upgrade, then moving to the next encounter. Combat happens on a battle mat grid (BoardGameGeek) where positioning matters enormously. You might have powerful ranged attacks, but if enemies get too close, those dice faces become useless. You might have defensive abilities that require specific positioning to activate.

The cooperative element works beautifully because different Gearlocs excel at completely different things. One might focus on dealing massive damage but needs protection. Another might specialise in crowd control but relies on teammates to finish enemies off. The dice building system lets each character develop in multiple directions, so cooperation emerges naturally from complementary strengths rather than rigid roles.

## The Revolutionary Dice Building System

Most character progression systems are fundamentally abstract. You gain experience points, spend them on upgrades, and your character sheet changes. The actual gameplay experience might feel marginally different, but the progression exists mainly on paper. Too Many Bones makes progression tangible and immediate. When you add a new face to a die, you are physically changing the tool you use to interact with the game world.

This creates a completely different relationship with randomness. In traditional dice games, randomness is something that happens to you. You roll, you get results, you work with what fortune provides. In Too Many Bones, randomness becomes a resource you actively shape. You decide which symbols to add to each die, which means you are literally designing your own probability distributions.

I have spent entire sessions just experimenting with different die face combinations on a single character. Adding more attack faces increases your damage output but makes you less versatile. Adding utility faces gives you more options but might leave you underpowered in crucial moments. The choices feel meaningful because they directly affect what you can roll, and what you can roll determines what you can do.

The physical component of this cannot be overstated. These are proper poker dice, hefty and substantial. When you upgrade a die, you physically take a sticker and place it on the die face. The action of customising becomes part of the game experience. You are not just checking boxes on a character sheet, you are modifying the actual tools of play.

## Tactical Combat That Rewards Planning

The battle system uses a grid-based tactical approach where every position matters deeply. This is not just about moving pieces around a board, it is about understanding how your dice interact with spatial relationships. Some abilities require line of sight, others need adjacent positioning, still others work best from specific ranges.

What makes this exceptional is how the dice building system supports tactical depth. As you add faces to your dice, you are not just increasing numbers, you are expanding your tactical vocabulary. A new movement symbol might let you reposition before attacking. A new defensive symbol might let you protect adjacent allies. Each addition changes not just what you can do, but where and when you can do it.

I remember one particularly memorable battle where I had built my character around crowd control abilities. I had dice faces that could stun multiple enemies, slow their movement, and push them around the battlefield. But the encounter space was cramped, and my positioning tools were limited. I had to completely rethink my approach, using walls and chokepoints to funnel enemies into positions where my control abilities would be most effective.

The game rewards this kind of tactical thinking by making positioning genuinely consequential. Cover matters, range matters, adjacency matters. You cannot just optimise for raw damage output, you need to think about how your abilities work within the constraints of physical space and battlefield conditions.

## Character Specialisation and Meaningful Choice

Each Gearloc starts with different base dice and different upgrade options, which means character choice affects not just your starting capabilities but your entire progression arc. This is not a cosmetic difference, it is a fundamental difference in how you engage with the game systems.

Some characters excel at direct damage but have limited utility options. Others focus on support abilities but can develop surprising offensive capabilities if you build them that way. The dice building system means no two characters ever develop identically, even within the same archetype.

I have played the same Gearloc multiple times and created completely different builds each time. One version focused entirely on defensive abilities, turning into an unkillable tank who could absorb massive amounts of punishment. Another version emphasised mobility and hit-and-run tactics, darting around the battlefield to pick off vulnerable enemies. Same character, completely different gameplay experience, all because I chose different die faces during progression.

This flexibility prevents the game from feeling solved or predictable. You cannot just memorise the optimal build for each character because optimal depends entirely on what encounters you face, what your teammates are doing, and what kind of tactical challenges emerge during play. The game forces you to adapt your development strategy based on circumstances, which keeps character progression engaging throughout multiple campaigns.

## Why Cooperative Design Matters Here

Too Many Bones succeeds as a cooperative game (Wikipedia) because the dice building system naturally encourages specialisation and interdependence. When everyone is building their own custom dice pools, you inevitably develop complementary strengths and weaknesses. This creates genuine cooperation rather than just parallel play.

The tactical combat reinforces this cooperative element beautifully. Positioning abilities that help teammates, defensive abilities that protect others, utility abilities that set up combo attacks – these become natural parts of character development because the game rewards coordination. You are not cooperating because the rules tell you to, you are cooperating because it makes your dice more effective.

I have found that some of my most memorable sessions involved discovering unexpected synergies between character builds. One player might develop crowd control abilities while another focuses on area effect damage. Suddenly, stunned enemies become perfect targets for explosive attacks. These synergies emerge organically from player choices rather than predetermined combos, which makes them feel earned and satisfying.

The game also handles player elimination gracefully through revival mechanics that keep everyone engaged without trivialising danger. Characters can fall in battle, but they are not permanently removed from play. This lets the game maintain genuine tension while preserving the cooperative experience.

## Is Too Many Bones Still Relevant Today?

Released in 2017 (Wikipedia), Too Many Bones feels remarkably fresh and innovative even seven years later. The dice building mechanism remains unique in the dungeon crawling space, and no other game has quite captured the same tactile satisfaction of physically customising your action dice.

The component quality stands up exceptionally well. The neoprene mats are practical and durable (Wikipedia), the dice feel substantial and satisfying, and the overall production values justify the premium price point. This is not a game that feels dated or cheaply made.

The play time of 60 to 120 minutes (BoardGameGeek) hits a sweet spot for modern gaming sessions. Long enough for meaningful character progression and tactical depth, short enough to complete in a single session. Setup is reasonable, rules complexity is manageable, and the game respects your time commitment.

My only criticism involves the learning curve for new players. The dice building system is intuitive in concept but requires experience to optimise effectively. New players often struggle with upgrade choices because they do not yet understand how different abilities interact with encounter types. This is not a fatal flaw, but it does mean the game rewards repeated play more than casual exploration.

The expansion support has been excellent, with new Gearlocs adding meaningful variety without overwhelming the core system (Wikipedia). Each new character brings genuinely different gameplay approaches while maintaining system consistency.

## Why You Should Play This Game Solo

If you enjoy tactical combat that rewards positioning and planning, Too Many Bones provides exceptional depth without overwhelming complexity. The dice building system creates meaningful progression that affects how battles play out at a mechanical level.

If you want character customisation that feels tangible and immediate, the physical dice modification system delivers satisfaction that digital implementations cannot match. You are literally building the tools you use to interact with the game world.

If you appreciate production values that enhance gameplay rather than just looking impressive, the neoprene mats and substantial dice create a premium experience that justifies the investment. These components make the game better to play, not just prettier to look at.

If you prefer games that reward system mastery and repeated play, Too Many Bones offers exceptional depth for solo exploration. Each character provides multiple viable build paths, and the encounter variety means no two campaigns play identically.

If you want cooperative mechanics without requiring other players, the game scales perfectly to solo play while maintaining the tactical depth that makes cooperation meaningful when playing with others.

## Verdict

Too Many Bones earns a 9/10 rating for revolutionising character progression in tactical dungeon crawlers. After thirty-seven plays, I am still discovering new character builds and tactical approaches. The dice building system transforms abstract character development into tangible, immediate gameplay changes that you can feel with every roll.

This is a game that understands how physical components can enhance mechanical design rather than just decorating it. The dice building is not a gimmick, it is a fundamental innovation that changes how progression works in cooperative adventure games. Every upgrade choice matters, every die face affects your tactical options, and every campaign feels like a unique journey of character development.

Too Many Bones demonstrates that premium components and innovative design can work together to create experiences that simply cannot be replicated in other formats. It is expensive, but it delivers value that justifies the cost through exceptional replayability and satisfying progression systems.

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Janet

Janet’s a librarian from Bristol who swapped bedtime stories for board games. She writes about family-friendly titles that actually get played, balancing fun, fairness, and kids who can’t stand losing. Her motto: no game should last longer than a child’s attention span.