Diced Veggies Dice Game Overview
There are a lot of different healthy meal plans out there, but our goal since the beginning of the year has been to consume more fresh foods and less processed ones. This means incorporating a lot of vegetables. We have been doing more soups, salads, and meals that cut out unnecessary elements in order to help us eat more of items that give us what our bodies want, vitamins and minerals.
It can be hard to change your diet when some of the sugary and processed foods have changed your brain so much, and you keep craving them. We decided to continue trying as hard as we can, and found some new recipes to help us on this journey. Some were similar meals we have eaten before, but this time using healthier elements with it. Others were brand new recipes, which made it exciting to try something new for the first time. Involving the kids in the process became a tool to get them excited about the new recipes and eating better.
When we received a copy of Diced Veggies from Kids Table Board Gaming, we decided to try a new dish with a lot of vegetables after we played this game with the kids. With a focus on vegetables, the game helped dice up the boring old recipes and think of new, more exciting things we could make. It worked! They were so excited about eating all the veggies as they talked about the game.
Diced Veggies is a dice collection game of fulfilling recipe cards with certain colored dice. The setup for the game is fast and easy. All the dice are added inside the cardboard frame, and you will either shake or push the dice so it forms a 5 x 7 block. The hype cards and recipe cards are shuffled and placed out in their respective decks. Three recipe cards are flipped over face up to make a display. Each player then takes one hype card from its deck, two recipe cards, and one chef token. The first player will take the cardboard cleaver to begin the game.
The cleaver is used to chop off dice that represent ingredients to use to complete recipes. When cutting there are some specific rules you will need to follow. You can only chop off dice that add up to 10 or less. You will place the cleaver on the seam of your chosen dice and push them sideways away from the block. The cleaver must always enter from an outside edge, and you cannot angle the cleaver to avoid pushing other dice out. You can cut only one piece of any number of dice, minding the pip limit rule. Lastly, you cannot split the block leaving it with more than one piece.
The lowered number dice are usually better because you can get more ingredients that way. After collecting your dice, you can cook with them, turning in a recipe card with all the dice shown on it. You will place the used dice back into the frame and flip your completed recipe card over, face down. Everyone should be able to see how many recipes you’ve completed.
In addition, you can add a hype card if you use the indicated values on your dice. One hype card can be used for each recipe, and they will give you additional points. Some will make you use a total value shown on your dice, other require a specific requirement using the numbers shown on the dice, instead of the color. You can also use a chef token to change either a number or a type of die when cooking that recipe. After cooking, you will then draw either one hype card or one recipe card to work on for your following turns.
With time less dice will be included in the block, and whenever at least one ingredient type is missing, you can choose to restock by taking all the used dice and the remaining dice, and roll all the dice inside the frame to make a block again. At this time, each player also retrieves their chef token if spent.
Players continue until someone completes six recipes, with each other player taking one last turn. Points are counted up from completed hype and recipe cards and the player with the highest value claims vegetable victory.
The theme is exactly what should be used in board games because it makes kids more excited about eating healthy foods. Not only do they remember the ingredients, but also the name of the recipes in the game. When they see these in real life, they’re less likely to turn their noses up. I was a very picky eater as a kid, and this probably comes from many factors. A game for kids where you get excited about chopping off some mushrooms, and onions, and then get to see similar ingredients used for dinner the same day, makes eating them more interesting.
If your kids love games but might not be keen to try new foods, Diced Veggies could possibly be very helpful for you. You can find copies on Amazon or direct from KTBG. They’re cooking up some other great titles so be sure to follow them on social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) to see what else is hitting the table soon.
What’s your favorite vegetable you like to eat or cook with?
