Too Many Bones (2017)

How to Play Too Many Bones

Choosing your Character

To begin, you must choose the Gearlocs that will be taking part in the adventure. There are four to choose from: Patches, Tantrum, Boomer, and Picket. Each one has a very specific set of skills. Patches, for example, is a medic, while Boomer is an expert in special grenade devices.

You’ll see on each Gearloc’s battle mat and reference guide all the potential skills they could use. Your character will have attack and defense stats which represent how many attack or defense dice are available to you on each turn. There’s also a dexterity stat, which dictates the total number of attack and defense dice you can roll in total, and how far you can move on the battle mat.

You should also choose the tyrant you want to defeat. This is basically the objective/adventure your team will be looking to complete. Each tyrant has different powers and also a maximum number of days you have to defeat it.

Taking Turns

You progress through the game on a day-by-day basis. Each one is split into four phases:

1. New Day: This is straightforward. Simply rotate the day counter by one day.

2. Encounter: The bulk of your day will be spent on this phase. Take an Encounter card and read the situation you have to face that day. As a team, you choose between the two options presented to you and then must complete the actions. One way or another, you’re probably going to end up fighting someone. I’ll explain how this works in a moment.

3. Rewards: Should you successfully complete the Encounter card, this is when you can get and spend your rewards. In most cases, this is your chance to upgrade the stats of your character.

4. Recovery: Now it’s time for the admin. You can choose to trade loot (items that give you special abilities) with teammates, attempt to pick a lock to get some trove loot (extra special items) or heal up if you were hurt in battle, among various other things.

Battles

The battles in Too Many Bones are exciting and there’s far more to them than simply rolling dice (although there will be a lot of this). The number of baddies you face will depend on how far you’ve progressed in the game and are often chosen at random, so you’re usually entering into the total unknown.

First things first, you sort each character and baddie into the order that they’ll take their turn, known as the ‘initiative meter’. This is done by rolling their dice and then placing it on the initiative meter in descending order, making it very simple to follow. You then work through each character’s turn, choosing which actions to take and rolling the dice to determine whether they were successful. Should you defeat all the baddies, then you progress onto the reward stage. If not, you’ll have to try again.

Back-Up Plans

An interesting aspect of the game are your back-up plans. These are special abilities you can use in battle, paid for in ‘Bones’. You collect Bones during battle when you roll them on the dice. Bones essentially mean your action failed. So, each time your attack misses, for example, all is not lost as it’ll contribute to you being able to use a back-up plan in the future. And, the more Bones you have, the better your back-up plan will be.

How to Win Too Many Bones

You’ll move through the days, defeating baddies, collecting loot and leveling up your character. Eventually, you’ll get the chance to face the tyrant. This battle is going to be a toughy and they’re likely to bring a bunch of friends along with them to make your job even harder.

Should you win the battle, you’ll return to Obendar a hero, giving you a chance to rest up before you’re sent out again to defeat the next tyrant.

On the other hand, if you fail, don’t worry, because you can always try again. However, just keep your eye on the day counter because if it reaches the limit before you’ve defeated the tyrant, then you lose.

Too Many Bones Official Rulebook PDF

Too Many Bones Review

“Like barrel-aged bourbon, Too Many Bones is one of those games that only gets better with time and familiarity. As players become more comfortable with the Gearlocs, they’ll discover new ways to apply skills and play to one another’s strengths. Any one brave enough to take on this journey will not be disappointed, but will want to spend time doing their research before diving into such a costly box.”

Jason Palazini, waytoomany.games

“It can be a big risk to try something different. But Chip Theory Games really came up trumps with this one. The approach really spices up the dice-rolling battle concept, requiring a level of strategy rarely seen in this type of game.

Too Many Bones is a complex beast, to be sure. But all the different cogs and switches mean that every run-out is an entirely different rollercoaster of an adventure to the last one. On top of that, with so many skills and items to choose from, there’s literally (and I mean literally) thousands of different strategies you can use to prepare your Gearlocs for what lies ahead.”

Joe Jones, gamecows.com

The content of this article is originally from Board Game Geek and gamecows.com. For more information and a better understanding of the game, you can watch the videos below.