Rules
On the fourth day of University War, the ace selection showed a die and a path across a floor. The die would roll along the path, square by square, and the players had to work out which face touched the floor on four marked squares and give the sum. On the show, the answer was 19.
Our version
- The floor is a 6 by 6 grid. The trail starts at START and ends at the arrow. It never crosses itself.
- The die is a standard die: opposite faces add to 7, and with 1 on top and 2 at the front, 3 is on the right.
- Each roll tips the die over one edge onto the next square. Rolling towards the top of the screen puts the back face on the floor, rolling right puts the right face on the floor, and so on.
- Four squares on the trail are numbered 1 to 4. The last square is always number 4. Add the faces touching the floor on those squares.
- A run has three trails of 6, 9 and 12 rolls. Each takes one answer. Your score is your time, and each wrong sum adds 30 seconds.
- After each answer the die rolls the trail on screen and stamps the floor faces.
- The Daily trails are the same for everyone each day. Free play trails can be raced against friends in an online room. In Practice you can roll the die one square at a time.
Strategy
Track two faces, not six. Hold only the top and the front in your head. Every other face follows: the bottom is 7 minus the top, the back is 7 minus the front.
Know what each roll does. Rolling away from you: the front comes to the top. Rolling towards you: the top comes to the front. Rolling sideways leaves the front alone and swaps the top with a side.
Straight runs repeat. Four rolls in the same direction bring the die back to how it started. Use that to skip through long straight stretches.
Write as you go. Say each counted face out loud, or keep a running total, so a long trail does not wipe out the early squares.