The Specialty Dice of Gemlok

Roll and Move the Arrow Dice in Gemlok

Gemlok is a dice game with 2 oversized specialty dice unlike any others you’ve probably ever seen. Instead of pips or numbers, these dice sport arrows that prescribe how you can move your pieces on the game board.

You start Gemlok with 8 cylinders on the edge of the board. You can place them on any of the 14 available squares. Most of the time, you’ll probably want to keep them towards the center, since your goal is the moving them to the middle of the board.

On your turn, roll the pair of dice and move two of your pawns as the arrows show. Once a few pawns are out in the playing field, you have the option to bump another piece up to three additional spaces.

If your move from the dice roll ends on a space containing another pawn, you can move that piece the additional spaces. It can be any pawn on the board.

Your goal in Gemlok is to get as many of your pawns on the high-scoring central 6, 7, 8, and 9 point squares. Hopefully, when you have some of your pawns on those spots, you’ll roll something else that’s found on each die – a Gemlok.

When you roll the word Gemlok, you must flip one of your pawns over so that it also shows the word Gemlok printed on its face. That pawn cannot be moved for the remainder of the game.

After 10 rounds, any player may announce that the next round will be the last. After that final round, you add the value of all the gems on which your pawns are located. High score wins as usual. There is a scoring pad provided, but it isn’t the most useful. You still have to keep track of how many rounds have been played, which is an easy thing to neglect.

Also, be careful when handling the dice themselves. The arrows and Gemlok printing comes off far too easily, especially if players have moist hands.

If you’re interested in rolling dice in a fun board game like Gemlok but would rather use traditional dice, check out Igel Argern, which uses just one die in a fun game of racing hedgehogs.

Check the price of Gemlok on Amazon.