Top Roll & Write Games of 2025

The roll-and-write genre has exploded in popularity recently. This accessible style of gameplay, reminiscent of classic Yahtzee, involves rolling dice or drawing cards, then using the results to fill in a personal score sheet. While simple in concept, roll-and-write games offer surprisingly sophisticated gameplay and endless possibilities for creative expression. Their immediate gratification and straightforward rules make them incredibly appealing to a broad range of players, regardless of experience level.

This winning combination of simplicity and strategic depth has led to a surge in innovative and engaging titles. The following selection represents some of the best the genre has to offer.

TL;DR: The Best Roll & Write Games

Rolling Realms, Marabunta, The Fox Experiment, Twilight Inscription, Super Skill Pinball: Ramp It Up, Welcome To... Your Perfect Home, My City: Roll & Build, Railroad Ink, Next Station: London, Dinosaur Island: Rawr 'n Write, Cartographers, Long Shot: The Dice Game, Three Sisters, Fleet: The Dice Game, Sagrada Artisans, Motor City

Rolling Realms

Available on Amazon. Rolling Realms cleverly incorporates themes from other board games. Each round presents a different realm and a unique card-driven mini-game reflecting its inspiration. Players manage three realms simultaneously over nine rolls, then draw new ones for further rounds. The diverse and well-designed realms provide engaging, family-friendly puzzles. For a more challenging experience, consider the standalone sequel, Rolling Realms Redux, featuring even more intricate realms.

Marabunta

Available on Amazon. Renowned game designer Reiner Knizia brings his strategic expertise to this two-player roll-and-write game. Players compete as ant tribes vying for territory rich in resources. Dice rolls offer strategic choices: expanding territory or gaining bonus points. Marabunta masterfully blends spatial strategy with surprising mathematical elements, a hallmark of Knizia's design.

The Fox Experiment

Available on Amazon. Inspired by a real-life Russian fox domestication experiment, this game from Elizabeth Hargrave (designer of Wingspan) uses dice to simulate genetic inheritance. Players breed foxes, aiming for specific traits to meet their research goals. It's a more involved experience than some others, but the unique mechanic of using dice to represent heredity makes it truly rewarding.

Twilight Inscription

Available on Amazon. This unique title cleverly adapts the sprawling 4X strategy of Twilight Imperium into a roll-and-write format. The game is divided into separate sheets representing exploration, exploitation, expansion, and extermination. Players must strategically choose which sheet to focus on each turn, creating interesting trade-offs and diverse playstyles. Twilight Inscription offers a more strategic, in-depth experience than typical roll-and-write games.

Super Skill Pinball: Ramp It Up

Available on Amazon. Super Skill Pinball cleverly simulates a pinball machine using dice and a pen. Players choose a table, then use dice rolls to navigate the board, hitting bumpers and targets to maximize their score. The inability to reuse targets adds a layer of strategic depth and exciting challenge.

Welcome To... Your Perfect Home

Available on Amazon. A "flip-and-write" game (using cards instead of dice), Welcome To challenges players to design suburban streets, placing houses in numerical order while maximizing bonus points for features like pools and parks. The strategic challenge of balancing house placement with bonus scoring makes this a highly satisfying experience.

My City: Roll & Build

Available on Amazon. Based on Reiner Knizia's popular board game, My City: Roll & Build offers a rewarding campaign-style experience. The game unfolds across multiple episodes, each introducing new rules and challenges. This layered approach allows for gradual complexity without being overwhelming. Episodes can also be played individually.

Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition

Available on Amazon and Target. Instead of filling a score sheet, Railroad Ink requires players to draw a transportation network on a grid using dice rolls to determine track placement. The challenge lies in maximizing connections while minimizing dead ends, making for a unique blend of risk and spatial reasoning. The Deep Blue edition adds rivers and lakes, offering additional strategic options.

Next Station: London

Available on Amazon. A flip-and-write game where colored pencils are key. Players draw train lines connecting stations, aiming to cover districts and tourist sites. The restriction on crossing lines except at stations adds a layer of strategic depth, making for a surprisingly nuanced experience.

Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write

Available on Amazon. This roll-and-write game adds significant depth and complexity. Players design and manage a dinosaur theme park, balancing resources, attractions, and staff while ensuring guest safety during simulated tours. The many interconnected elements create a rich and challenging experience.

Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale

Available on Amazon and Target. Cartographers introduces player interaction to the genre. Players map a fantasy kingdom, fulfilling scoring challenges, but periodically encounter monster cards that require passing maps to neighbors for placement of negative elements. This fosters a more personal experience and encourages creative world-building.

Long Shot: The Dice Game

Available at Barnes & Noble. This horse racing roll-and-write game features a track board where horses move based on dice rolls. Players bet on horses and can strategically influence the race by purchasing horses or manipulating odds. The interaction between players adds an exciting and engaging element.

Three Sisters

Available on Amazon. Three Sisters emphasizes strategic action chaining. Dice rolls determine actions in a garden where players grow crops and buy tools. Completing actions often unlocks bonus actions, creating opportunities for intricate planning and maximizing points.

Fleet: The Dice Game

Available on Amazon. Players manage a fishing fleet, using dice to buy licenses or launch boats to catch fish. Strategic choices involve balancing immediate rewards with long-term benefits from building upgrades. The interconnected options create a fast-paced and engaging experience.

Sagrada Artisans

Available on Amazon. This roll-and-write version of Sagrada allows players to color in their stained-glass window designs. It features a campaign mode with ten sessions, each adding new challenges and tools while maintaining the original game’s relaxing feel.

Motor City

Available on Amazon. This game focuses on car production. Players use a dice-drafting mechanic and a blueprint board to manage design, engineering, testing, production, and sales. It offers a more integrated strategic challenge compared to some other roll-and-write games.

For more gaming recommendations, explore our lists of the best board games of all time and the best puzzle tables.