Dice

Players race to construct a plastic bug, rolling a die to see which piece they get to add.

The Hennepin History Museum states that the first Cootie game was designed by William H. Schaper in 1949. However, Schaper's game was not the first based upon the insect known as the "cootie". The creature was the subject of several tabletop games, mostly pencil and paper games, in the decades of the twentieth century following World War I.

In 1927, the J. H. Warder Company of Chicago released Tu-Tee, and the Charles Bowlby Company released Cootie; though based on a "build a bug" concept similar to Schaper's, both were paper and pencil games.
Schaper's game was the first to employ a fully three dimensional, free-standing plastic cootie.

Known in Australia as Creepy Critters and in the UK as Beetle Drive.

The Dragon Hordes expansion (55 cards, two small pages of rules) to Warriors adds a new creature, the Dragon, along with additional Catapults and Attack Cards, and makes the game playable by up to 6 players.

Dragons, unlike other creatures, must attack and defend individually, but just one can wreak havoc. They roll two dice on both attack and defense, adding one to each die roll. Catapults have only one chance in 6 of killing Dragons, and their defense can be augmented by "Flames" (basically, extra lives that must be eliminated before the Dragon can be killed). Having the most Dragons at the end of the game also gains victory points.

Warriors is a card and dice-rolling game with a fantasy military theme. Each player begins with a randomly dealt army of 11 units. Most will be creatures of one of the game's 6 types (Barbarians, Goblins, Elves, Trolls, Dwarves, Undead). A lucky player may also get Wizards (which protect creatures of one type from attack) or Catapults (one-use weapons that have a 50/50 chance of destroying a target card). Creatures come in three varieties (infantry, archers, cavalry).

Armies are placed face-up in front of the players, and three rounds of warfare ensue. At the start of each round, players receive additional cards, including the vital Attack Cards, without which an army can only stand on the defensive. Attack cards are of two types. One ("Battle") allows all of a player's creatures of one type to attack creatures of either the same type or the type that the attacker most dislikes. Elves, for instance, may attack an opponent's Elves or his Trolls (the Elves' "natural enemy".) The other type of Attack Card ("Mercenary Army") allows creatures of different types to combine in an attack against creatures of any one type, but limits the number of attackers. Attack Cards also provide various bonuses to the attacker.

The resolution of attacks is modeled on Risk. The attacker rolls up to three dice, the defender up to two (the number depending on how many infantry each side has in the battle). The side with more archers, if either, adds one to its high die roll. The highest and second highest rolls for each side are compared, and the low roller in each loses a card (with the defender winning ties). The attack continues until one side is wiped out or the attacker voluntarily breaks off. Attackers with surviving cavalry can then make further attacks.

Players gain victory points for enemy units destroyed and for having the most creatures of a particular type at the end of the third round of play.

Can you stack six dice on top of each other within thirty seconds? Who can be the first person to roll a triple? Can you name as many state capitals as your roll? Know what arachibutyrophobia is? Arachibutyrophobia??? DICEcapades – which includes a mixture of dice games, physical challenges, artistic creations, and trivia questions – doesn't involve just the luck of the dice, but also the smarts of the roller!

Developer Stefan Brück at alea describes Las Vegas as "an easy, dice-rolling, fun-and-luck game with a lot of interaction and 'schadenfreude'". Who doesn't love schadenfreude? (Well, other than those being schadened, I suppose...)

In more detail, Las Vegas includes six cardboard casino mats, one for each side of a normal six-sided die. For each mat, players draw money cards until at least $50k is showing, but the amount may end up being a lot more, making that casino more desirable.

Each player has eight dice of a different color, which they take turns rolling. When you roll your dice, you can choose to place them on the relevant casino cards; for example, a die showing a 1 will be placed on the casino mat marked "1". You must place at least one die per turn, although you may place more. All players take turns doing this until all the dice have been used. Finally, the player with the most dice on each casino card takes the money associated with it. In case of a tie, the next non-tied player takes the highest-valued money card at that casino.

Las Vegas rates a 1 out of 10 on alea's difficulty scale.