Kdice

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kdice

Developer(s)	Ryan Dewsbury
Publisher(s)	aplayr
Engine	Flash, AJAX
Release date(s)	1 December 2006
Genre(s)	Turn-based Strategy
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Platform(s)	Browser
System requirements	Web browser, Internet connection
Input	Keyboard, Mouse

The correct title of this article is kdice. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

kdice is a browser-based multiplayer strategy game based on Taro Ito's Dice Wars. kdice is programmed in Adobe Flash and AJAX by Ryan Dewsbury and was released in 2006. Gameplay in kdice is similar to Risk with the primary goal of the game being to control every territory on the map.

1 Gameplay
- 1.1 Game setup
- 1.2 Turn
2 Dice probabilities
3 Ranking system
4 Strategy and playing styles
- 4.1 Luck
- 4.2 Psychology
5 Notable features
6 External links

[edit] Gameplay

kdice is a turn-based game for seven players. It is played on a randomly-generated map containing 28 to 31 territories. The goal of the game is to control every territory on the map; this is accomplished by attacking other players' territories.

[edit] Game setup

At the start of a game, territories are randomly divided among the players and a random number of dice (representing armies) are stacked on each territory. A player is then randomly selected to go first.

In order to alleviate concerns that going last in the first round is a disadvantage, the 6th and 7th players to play receive a "one die bonus." These two players receive an extra die in their dice distributions, allowing them to possibly have stronger territories that can survive the first round of attacks from players 1 through 5.

[edit] Turn

Players can only attack territories that are adjacent to their own. When an attack is started, the game will roll the dice of each territory and compare the results. If the attacking player has the higher number, he wins control of the territory; all but one of the dice from the attacking territory are then moved to the defeated territory. Otherwise, the attacker does not gain control and the number of dice in his stack will reduce to one. At the end of the turn, the player receives a number of dice equal to the largest number of contiguous territories he controls, and the dice are placed randomly throughout the player's territories.

[edit] Dice probabilities

The following table gives the probability that an attack will succeed, given the number of dice on the attacking and defending countries. The probabilities are given to one decimal place.

Probability of a successful attack		two dice	three dice	four dice	five dice	six dice	seven dice	eight dice
Probability of a successful attack		Attacker
Defender	one die	83.8%	97.3%	99.7%	100%	100%	100%	100%
	two dice	44.4%	77.9%	93.9%	98.8%	99.8%	100%	100%
	three dice	15.2%	45.4%	74.3%	90.9%	97.5%	99.5%	99.9%
	four dice	3.6%	19.2%	46.0%	71.8%	88.4%	96.2%	99.0%
	five dice	0.6%	6.1%	22.0%	46.4%	70.0%	86.2%	94.8%
	six dice	0.1%	1.5%	8.3%	24.2%	46.7%	68.6%	84.4%
	seven dice	0.0%	0.3%	2.6%	10.4%	26.0%	46.9%	67.3%
	eight dice	0.0%	0.0%	0.6%	3.7%	12.2%	27.4%	47.1%

Note that when the attacker and defender have the same number of dice the probability of a successful attack is always under 50%. This is because when both the attacker and defender roll the same total it is counted as a win for the defender, not the attacker.

[edit] Ranking system

As of February 11, 2007, all ratings and rankings were reset to 1500. The new scoring system was put into place, which also ranks users based on dominance throughout the game in addition to place.

[edit] Strategy and playing styles

The nature of kdice makes its strategy very different from that of other "war games". The two elements that factor most heavily into kdice are luck and psychology.

[edit] Luck

The random factor of the dice means that there is not necessarily one right move for a given situation; rather there is a balance of risk vs. reward. It may be tempting to attack whenever the odds are in one's favor (and a successful attack will be useful), but the nature of probability means that while the odds may be in the attacker's favor for any given attack, the odds are very much against his winning all of them. If he has staked too much on a successful attack, he may find himself in a losing position.

[edit] Psychology

This is the essence of the game, although people may differ as to how the psychology is applied. Some may attempt to negotiate alliances wherever possible, others may attempt to play one opponent against another, others may stake out a corner and take a position of neutrality. On a basic level, though, all these strategies involve attempting to maneuver the other players into acting the way the player intends them to. KDice has several psychological aspects, the formation of Alliances, the prediction of attacks, and vendettas.

Alliances are often formed between two players and frequently met by a counter-alliance or counter-alliances. Alliances are of great controversy in KDice. Some players preferring to lose rather than to ally, because they are ideologically opposed to them. Alliances formed before a game starts, also known as pre-game alliances, are common, hated, difficult to discover, and are a completely legal part of the game. Furthermore, alliances can be broken, this is jus cogens in the KDice world.

The prediction of attacks, like alliances, is completely psychological. Not all opponents are rational. Any opponent may attack for little or no reason. Because litteraly any attack can succede, rationality is not a prerequisite for success.

Vendettas are a feature of the social interaction of KDice. Because profiles remain constant, a player may hold a grudge against another for any reason. This contributes to the irrationality of attacks, as a player with a grudge may persecute another while sacrificing position.