“Dimension” is a spherical, stackable, fast-paced puzzle game from Kosmos Games. The game is for 1 to 4 players, ages 8 & up, and only takes about 30 minutes to play. All players compete against each other in real time to solve as many puzzle task cards as they can before the 1 minute-timer runs out.
Dimension is available at Amazon, and has an average review score of 4.7/5.0.
I recently played a few games of Dimension, and want to share my thoughts of this 3D puzzler with you.
What’s in the box?
- 4 Player trays
- 12 Self-adhesive feet for the underside of the player trays
- 60 Spheres (orange, blue, green, black, and white; 12 of each color)
- 60 Task cards
- 90 Point tokens
- 30 Bonus tokens
- 4 Overview tiles
How does Dimension play?
Balls can be stacked on your tray in a 3 dimensions. 7 balls will fit on the bottom row. 3 balls will fit on the 2nd row. And 1 ball will fit on the top row.
Dimension is played over six rounds, with all players competing against each other at the same time. Each round, six task cards are put into play. The task cards give you rules to follow for stacking balls onto your player tray. Here is an example of what task cards might come into play:
These task cards give you rules that you should try to follow when placing your balls on the tray. From left to right, these cards are:
- You must use exactly two orange balls
- Blue balls and black balls must touch each other
- Green balls and white balls cannot touch each other
- Black balls cannot be above any other ball
- You must use more orange balls than black balls
- & The sum of orange and white balls must = 4.
These cards are read aloud as they are played. Then the timer is flipped, and the frenzy starts. You will have exactly one minute to try assemble the 3-D puzzle to the best of your ability and try to complete and abide by all the task the cards.
Me? I would start by grabbing 2 Orange Balls, 2 White Balls, and 1 Black Ball. As you need to have exactly 2 Oranges. My Orange and White must equal 4. And I need more orange balls than black balls. That will satisfy 3 of the task cards. I would place the black ball on the bottom so it is not above any other balls. Then I would add blue and green balls best I could to try to satisfy the other two task cards. Sometimes, this is not possible. Sometimes, it is. 😉
You get a point token for every ball you use building your 3D pyramid. So if you place 11 balls in your pyramid, you get 11 point tokens. And then you get negative point tokens for every task card you fail to satisfy. You rinse and repeat until you have played 6 rounds. The person with the most point tokens wins.
Likes, Dislikes and Final Thoughts on Dimension
Likes
Dimension is nice family-friendly board game. And it is a pretty simple game to teach everyone. People will pick up the rules in just a few minutes.
This is a good “thinky” type game, but not overly stressful. It is a good game for getting everyone’s brains goings.
The game does not overstay its welcome. Rounds literally only last 1 minute. And there are only 6 rounds. You can easily play a full game of Dimension in under 30 minutes.
This game can bring a lot of smiles to people’s faces, and a lot of giggles to the table.
Dislikes
This game might not be for everyone. Some people might not be able to visualize how 11 balls are going to fit together enough to solve 4 to 6 task cards in 1 minute’s time. And this might be frustrating to them.
I almost wish Dimension played more than 4 people. I guess you could play with more people by buying another box of Dimension. There is nothing stopping you. The rules would still be the same.
Final Thoughts on Dimension
This is a fantastic filler game. You do not have to dedicate an entire game night to playing Dimension. This is a good warm-up game for a long game night, and/or a good finishing-game after a long game night.
The game really puts your brain to work. You have to analyze the 6 task cards quickly. Then formulate a plan in your head, and then stack that idea onto your board. And you have to do all of this in 60 seconds. This can be difficult at times.
The game has a lot of “Oh $h!t” moments! Where you think you have appeased all the task cards properly, only to find out that you completely botched some of them up. And that can be pretty funny.
The MSRP of this game is $49. That seems fair for this game, because you are getting a lot of components inside the box. The box is chock full of spheres!