"Best Size for Dice? 16mm!" Topic

You were asked – TMP link

Best Size for D6?

40% said "16mm"
13% said "12mm"
10% said "all of the above"

Yep square edged 16mm
Of course I have hundreds and sale them all.
Nationality 12mm are very popular now.
My personal set are the white with a different pip color for each side.

I expect that age has some influence on preferred dice size?
I like 16mm. Others like other sizes quite rightly.
16mm are nice and clear from the other players view. Both players should/need to be able to follow what is happening. 16mm have a nice tactile ability.

Do they roll better physically or numerically ? Not sure.

Dice are at the heart of the games I play. They provide a good focus for chat and superstition.

martin

Yep they are considered more balanced. I worked for Zocchi/ Gamescience in 1984-5. He did all sorts of studies for his dice company including hardness. That was one of his favorite as well as the 100d creation.
My son won several math fair awards when he was in school with the topic of probability balance. Still a good one for students today.
Rounded edges are chipped while being rolled and you cannot ensure that each edge will be hit the same number of times. All dice has impurities which affects a distraction and balanced. This is why swirled, multi-material dice can be unbalanced. The same goes for glitter material added to dice. Unbalanced.

If bias is a worry. Probably best to roll the single D6 120 times. Although 60 rolls would do.
If it is about 20 (1/6) (18-22) of each number then it is fine and good for gaming.

That should be fine for all game considerations.
I use rounded corner D6 and have had no problems of bias.
I don't want sharp cornered dice landing on surfaces and potentially causing damage.
Tiny deviations will not matter at all to most.

martin

School projects were 100 times rolling ten different colors and styles and recording the results. You are right 120 gives the best equal number of rolls per side. On the 100 test if a die had a result of 14 and 19 rolls it was graded as unbalanced. The short numbers was often the most visible in the results.

That is good work.

martin

I take the view that so long as both players use the same type of dice--possibly in different colors--and pick as many as they need for a particular situation out of a pool of a dozen or more, any bias in the dice will not affect the game.

Robert i think that is how most gamers, present company included, feel about it.
I meet Zocchi at his shop in Biloxi several times. He was always thinking outside the box.