Do you need more dice? Nevertheless, hundreds of gamers are backing Matthew O’Malley’s Celtic Knot Art Dice. O’Malley is based Maryland, and this Scottish blogger is chill with the use of cultural iconography in a commercial project.
These beautiful dice aren’t just regular dice, although they come in some (but not all) of the RPG/wargame dice range because they’re also a game in their own right. You can see progress, as the dice raise tens of thousands, over on Kickstarter.
Some knot dice do not have pips, but these ones do. It is the knot art, though, that’s dominant. The art lines up to the edges as well, which means you can arrange the dice in patterns for art.
Typical gaming dice tend to be around 16mm and are a bit larger, measuring up at 20mm. Those extra mils are, Matthew says, enough to use the dice as a desk toy – something to fiddle with while you’re stuck on the phone or mulling over a problem.
If you get 18 dice, then that’s enough to play the cooperative Knot Dice game called Kells.
The dice can also be used in a meditation practice, as an aid to focusing by creating patterns with them, or by tracing your fingers and eyes along the paths on the dice. (Follow the path of that hound in the lower-right corner…)
Backers who pledge $20 or more will unlock 9 dice as a reward, with shipping and VAT to add. Dice aren’t books, which are often immune to VAT charges, so the taxes might be higher than previous Kickstarter experiences for some backers.
Alternatively, at $20, there is a set of D4 and D8 Celtic knot dice instead.
That set of 18 unlocks for backers at $40, and this is better value than it seems, although Kickstarter’s new interface needs to highlight the extras better. Also in this tier are a rulebook and a cloth bag.
Once again, there’s an alternative $40 tier for D4 and D8 dice, no rulebook, and just the cloth bag as a perk.
A whole triangle of D4 and D8 is provided to backers at $70.
Lastly, for backers who want 36 dice, that’s enough for the triangle and square, with bag and book, there’s a $150 tier.
Delivery is slated for February 2024.
Share your thoughts on this article in the comments below.
