There are hundreds of dice games out there, from classics that use regular six sided dice like Yahtzee and Liar’s Dice, to a whole host of modern variants that mix up the formula. Franky: Rock’n Vegas is one such modern take, but with that said, it offers little more than a reskin of any dice chucker you care to mention.
The objective of Franky: Rock’n Vegas (which supports up to six players in theory, but there’s really no limit) is to construct as many Frankie’s as you can, as the result of rolling a barely manageable handful of custom dice. There are nine six-sided dice, one eight-sided die and a ten-sided die, all of which are initially rolled together.
After assessing their roll, the active player will reserve as many dice as they like – as long as they keep at least one. Any dice reserved this way will be collected together, with the player collecting dice until they are satisfied. The purpose of this is to match Frankie heads with Frankie bodies, then electrifying them with a charge.
There are two different coloured Franky constructs to make, with one requiring only two dice and the other three. The more of a given Franky you can complete, the more points you’ll score. The eight and ten-sided dice provide more complex scoring options, with elements of push your luck and gambling thrown into the mix.
One thing I noticed early on is that the scoring in Franky: Rock’n Vegas is very swingy. A really good roll with the ten-sided die can score more than thirty points, whilst a bad collection of rolls on the six-sided dice might yield six or seven. As you might imagine, each game takes place over several rounds, but there’s little to it besides from luck of the dice and deciding when to gamble or not.
Now, obviously such games have their place and for me, Franky: Rock’n Vegas fits in the same category as something like Zombie Dice: Horde Edition. If anything, this is one of the less complex dice throwing games out there, and as such it is ideal for when you have a few friends around and everyone has had a beer or two.
Whilst the simplistic gameplay isn’t groundbreaking, I do like the presentation of Franky: Rock’n Vegas. The custom dice are large, chunky and heavy, with basic but clear artwork to show the body, head and lightning symbols that players need to match. The inclusion of a really clear and helpful scoring pad is welcome, and it can easily be photocopied if needed.
To reiterate then, Franky: Rock’n Vegas is not a game that is going to change the way you think about games, and its high reliance on luck and a very broad range of scoring possibilities means it can be frustrating. That said, it is nicely presented and it wears its lightweight theme on its sleeve for all to see. Overall, it’s not great, but if you’re looking for a dice game with a bit of theme, you could do worse.
You can pre-order Franky: Rock’n Vegas on 365 Games.
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