The advent of phone and tablet games have brought in more convenient mobile gaming but has also, in some ways, shed off some things that have made gaming enjoyable, such as face-to-face interaction and a tactile feel. Dice+ now tries to bridge that gap by combining the best of digital games and traditional gaming practices.
From the outside, Dice+ looks just like any other six-sided gaming die, albeit slightly larger than normal. Roll it and its LEDs light up to show the numbers. The real power, however, lies inside, with sensors and Bluetooth that is able to communicate with Bluetooth-enabled devices such as tablets and smartphones, putting the fate of players into their own hands rather than in some random number generator.
Dice+ internals consist of various sensors, such as a magnetic field sensor for determining the die’s orientation, an accelerometer for measuring speed, a proximity sensor that determines when Dice+ is being touched, and a dual-mode Bluetooth module that supports both 2.1 and 4.0 for communicating with a device. For now, there is a limited number of supported games on Android and iOS, but the a developer kit is also available to help developers add support for Dice+.
Dice+ is now available directly from the the Dice+ website for 39.99 euros, roughly $53. Registration is required for getting access to the developer kit but no price has been mentioned.
