Dice Like a King
Written by Clarissa_28
The Story
Long before Roo Island was discovered, long even before flash games were
available for the amusement (and, of course, profit) of Neopians, there was
Dice-a-Roo. Along with Gormball, Scorchio Slots and the long gone Lenny Trivia,
this game was one of the main attractions in Neopia.
As we can find in the Neopedia, Dice-a-Roo was introduced to a very bored King
Roo by a mysterious cloaked Blumaroo. And from that day on, the king never saw a
single day of boredom. Today, Dice-a-Roo might seem an odd choice for
entertainment, let alone profit. But with enough disposition and a little
training, you’ll become addicted in no time.
The Basics
For only 5 NPs a game, Dice-a-Roo might be expensive only on the patience
department. But if you keep your thoughts on the jackpot, the x10 bonus and a
fresh new avatar for your collection, your angry thoughts are guaranteed to fade
away.
As we learn from Neopedia, the game officially consists of five different
colored dice: red, blue, green, yellow and silver. The player should roll one at
the time, switching only when rolling the “Level Up” face. Each die has six
faces but (a lot) more than six possible results. Sometimes, you might roll a
“Lose” but manage to survive or a “Level Up” but be stuck in the same die.
In theory, the goal of Dice-a-Roo is to reach the silver die and aim for the
jackpot. But as we’ll see, there’s a lot more to this game than just rolling for
the big (and rare) bucks.
You can play Dice-a-Roo every day for quite a long of time until your pet gets
bored. Chances are if you can’t refresh your game automatically, you’ll be bored
long before he does. For me, it usually takes a couple of hours refreshing every
5 seconds. To have an idea, if I start the Wheel of Monotony and DaR at the same
time, the wheel stops spinning and Dice-a-Roo is still up and running. So be
prepared for a long ride.
But, at any time during the game, you can collect the NPs on your tally and
leave.
Before you Start
Before starting the game, it’s a good thing to keep your Quick Stock open on a
different window (or tab) and a couple of cheap items in your inventory (rotten
sandals and pieces of omelette will do just fine).
If your browser allows you to auto-reload, do it every 5 seconds, but make sure
to keep an eye on the game. Your browser should just save you the clicking and
speed things up, not play the game for you. Because as soon as you start getting
items, all that refreshing might trigger random events and take them from you
just as quickly as you got them.
A good way to Dice-a-Roo is to play a flash game while at it. Faerie Bubbles is
an excellent choice, since it uses a small window that allows you to see what’s
going on in the background.
Whenever the big event box shows up, stop everything, head straight to your
Quick Stock and send the new item to your SDB. But remember to keep the other
items in the inventory.
When you start getting lucky in the Neopoints department, it might be very
tempting to collect them and leave, but my advice (pretty much the same you’ll
read at every DaR guide) is never to quit. The amount of NPs is always very
small, and you can cover for that with pretty much any flash game – no matter
how bad you are at them. The items gained here always cover up for the expenses.
Rolling On!
As you might remember, there are five dice in this game. Each one has similar
possible results, one or two new faces appearing each time you switch dice. The
difference is, at every new die, the prizes are a little higher and so are the
stakes.
1 | Red Dice-a-Roo
Interestingly, the first dice is also one of the hardest to get through. It’s
very common to lose the game on your first roll, especially when the jackpot is
low. When that happens, instead of getting mad (especially if it’s the fourth
time in a row), remember it happens to all of us. All the time. But if that
doesn’t help, well, it was only five bucks, come on.
The possible results here are:
Tiny Win (1 NP)
Small Win (1-4 NP)
Medium Win (1-6 NP)
Lose Neopoints (1-3 NP)
Level Up? (you might or might not move to the next die)
Lose (or Phew! Nearly)
2 | Blue Dice-a-Roo
Similar results but prizes and stakes a little higher. It’s not very common to
stay in the blue for too long. Whether you lose or move on to the green. The
possible results here are:
Nothing!
Tiny Win (1 NP)
Small Win (1-4 NP)
Medium Win (2-6 NP)
Big Win! (3-8 NP)
Level Up?
Lose Neopoints (1-8 NP)
Small Lose (1-4 NP)
Medium Lose (2-6 NP)
Big Lose (3-8 NP)
Lose (or Phew! Nearly)
3 | Green Dice-a-Roo
This is where your game really starts. Here, you get the chance to roll the
“Food!” face and win the fresh food items that will cover most, if not all, of
your gambling expenses. If you haven’t already, now is the time to leave your
Quick Stock open and ready for some action. As an example, my average in a day
is rolling between 4-15 items – playing, of course, until my pet is bored out of
his poor little mind. Just treat them a nice raspberry milkshake afterwards and
it’s like nothing happened :)
The possible results here are:
Nothing!
Mystic Wind (same as “Nothing!”, but with added drama)
Tiny Win (1 NP)
Small Win (1-6 NP)
Medium Win (4-9 NP)
Big Win! (3-12 NP)
Super Win! (3-12 NP)
Food!
Level Up?
Lose Neopoints (2-7 NP)
Small Lose (1-6 NP)
Medium Lose (4-9 NP)
Big Lose (3-12 NP)
Cut in Half (very self-explanatory)
Lose (or Phew! Nearly)
4 | Yellow Dice-a-Roo
Really hard to reach, this die is almost as difficult to keep rolling as the red
one. But in just a couple of throws, you might get yourself a lottery ticket. If
you manage to roll long enough to proceed to the silver dice, you should be very
proud of yourself. The possible results here are:
Nothing!
Mystic Wind
Lottery!
Tiny Win (1 NP)
Small Win (1-8 NP)
Medium Win (2-10 NP)
Big Win! (3-14 NP)
Super Win! (6-18 NP)
Food!
Level Up?
Lose Neopoints (2-18 NP)
Small Lose (1-8 NP)
Medium Lose (2-10 NP)
Big Lose (3-14 NP)
Super Lose (6-18 NP)
Cut in Half
Lose (or Phew! Nearly)
5 | Silver Dice-a-Roo
Very rare to reach, this die is where you can win the jackpot, the avatar and
all the glory that comes with them. You might have noticed during the game that
one of that passing Blumaroos says “101,228 is a lot of Neopoints” (or whatever
other value you saw there) and you might have wondered what was that all about.
Well, that was the current jackpot. And this is where you get the change to take
it all home.
Also here, you can win pretty high valued items for a 5 NP game, such as bottled
faeries. Well, your Quick Stock will be a helping hand at this time, since you
have a 1/6 chance of meeting the Pant Devil. And we all know what happens when
he’s around. So cross your fingers, keep your QS at hand and roll on! If you get
lucky here, you might be the next Neopian to flaunt a brand new avatar at the
boards. Or even reach the mysterious sixth die.
There is a chance you roll a x10 bonus for the jackpot, which certainly adds
some extra fuel to keep rolling. The possible results here are:
Nothing!
Mystic Wind
Lottery!
Tiny Win (1 NP)
Small Win (1-8 NP)
Medium Win (11-15 NP)
Big Win! (7-15 NP)
Super Win! (7-15 NP)
Food!
10x Bonus
JACKPOT!
Faerie
Level Up?
Lose Neopoints (2-18 NP)
Small Lose (1-8 NP)
Medium Lose (11-15 NP)
Big Lose (7-15 NP)
Super Lose (7-15 NP)
Cut in Half
Pant Devil Attack!
Lose (or Phew! Nearly)
10x Bonus
* spoiler alert *
6 | The Sixth Die
At his point of the game, you certainly have heard countless times about the
sixth die. Whenever that passing Blumaroo tells you it’s a secret, you probably
remember all the fuss about Jelly World and raise an eyebrow.
So, those lucky enough to reach this stage might be wondering what possible
prizes await. Well, those who came back to report say there is a button to reach
the sixth die. And they have clicked. But as you might remember, the Neopedia
article was very clear stating that King Roo got five – and only five – dice
from the cloaked Blumaroo.
So, when clicking the so awaited silver “Proceed?” button, our fellow gamers
found in front of them… Well. If that was really a die, someone must have
painted it transparent, if you know what I mean. And a transparent die, I must
say, would be a pretty difficult one to roll, now wouldn’t it?
So the ever-so-mysterious sixth dice is, so far, nothing more than a very
non-funny way to say your game’s over. But with all that food and faeries
hanging on your SDB right now, you wouldn’t really think all was lost, would
you?
*spoiler alert over, you can now proceed *
So, now that you know the basics to one of the oldest Neopian games, give it a
try: take your pets to play Dice-a-Roo for a couple of days. I’m pretty sure not
only you’ll enjoy your time but they will also thank you for the wonderful
foodies you get. Who knows? You might end up with a new avatar and even a shiny
new trophy on your lookup. So good luck :)
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