A Dice tray is a great accessory for gaming that can help keep them moving and stop unnecessary interruptions. By giving your dice a dedicated space to roll, you can protect your gaming time by providing clarity to which rolls count, as well as reducing the carnage of mass amounts of dice. Never worry about your Tyranid swarm or level 9 Fireball overwhelming your table again! They also reduce the chance of dice falling off or damaging the table and getting lost or damaged. Find out below about how one simple accessory could improve your tabletop gaming experience.
- What is the point of a dice tray?
- What size dice tray is best?
- What are the benefits of dice trays?
- Do you need a dice tray for metal dice?
- Is a dice tray worth it?
- Where can you get the best dice tray?
What is the point of a dice tray?
A dice tray is designed to give you a controlled space to roll your dice in, keeping them from bumping into your game pieces and falling from the table. They are used by individual players or as a group to protect surfaces, dice, and miniatures and tokens from damage and disruption, which helps keep your game moving.
In many board games that require dice, there are also game pieces, cards, and tokens. Similarly, other tabletop games make use of painted miniatures, like Warhammer 40k and Dungeons & Dragons. Combining specifically placed tokens with dice designed to roll randomly across your table often leads to some form of disruption when the dice get rolled overenthusiastically. This can slow down the game when the dice inevitably collide with the other game pieces.
Even worse, they can cause confusion and affect the outcome of the game. This might be disrupting a whole street’s worth of property in Monopoly, when you might not be sure where all the houses were placed. Or, in games like Warhammer, might wrongly move your minis into or out of range when they are replaced after being hit by the dice.
This is where a dice tray comes in. Dice Trays are designed to sit on your table and make sure that dice are rolled in a contained space. Not only does this protect your game, but it also speeds it up. You won’t have to reach across the table to collect your dice, or dig them out of your terrain, to read them clearly. Even better, they stop your dice falling off the table. And they protect both your dice and your table from damage, especially if you’re using hard or sharp dice!
What size dice tray is best?
We found the best size for our dice trays was approximately 195mm (7.6in) each side. This means you can fit them comfortably next to an A4 notebook, and most D&D or Warhammer sourcebooks while still have lots of room for dice. The ideal size for them generally is one that can: fit easily on your table, is easy to store and carry, and yet still have plenty of space to roll.
If you are fortunate enough to have a dedicated gaming space at home, or if you’re always the host of your gaming events, then you might look at larger trays as well. These are often better suited for board games where you don’t need as much table surface and everyone shares dice. That being said, plenty of people love them for wargames and TTRPGs, and we’ve done custom dice tray designs for those who want something bigger.
What are the benefits of dice trays?
There are multiple benefits to using a dice tray for gaming, the top 3 being that they:
- Control your dice rolls
- Keep your table and dice protected from damage
- Clearly show which rolls count.
Controlling your dice rolls helps to keep your game moving along. They ensure that the time you have dedicated to playing games isn’t wasted by losing dice. When you need to roll, you simply grab the dice you want and roll them in the tray, where they remain once rolled. That way you always know where your dice are and can get your results quickly.
There is nothing worse than damaging your accessories or furniture when you’re playing games. Often they are expensive to replace or can’t be. Disfiguring your family’s heirloom table, or your custom gaming table, is equally upsetting. And if your brand new stone or resin dice fall off the table, they can be broken by hard floors – or just be hard to find! Using a dice tray keeps your accessories and gaming furniture safe from damage. And with minimal upkeep, a well made dice tray can last for years!
Another thing you might notice, and a benefit that you might not expect, is the surety of which rolls counted. A big thing in a lot of games, especially Warhammer where you are rolling a lot of dice, are the house rules about how the dice are rolled. If it falls off the table; does it count or doesn’t it? In Critical Role, whenever a player loses control of their dice rather than roll it, DM Matt Mercer will ask them if they intended to roll the dice or if they dropped it. And your honesty can really be tested when the roll you need lands outside of the game space!
Using a dice tray helps answer some of these questions. On the rare occasion that I miss the tray then the roll does not count, and it makes things so much simpler. I don’t have to worry if it lands on the floor, or across the table, because the dice tray keeps it controlled. If it I miss the tray it just doesn’t count – mostly the dice are scooped up before they even finish rolling.
Do you need a dice tray for metal dice?
While not essential, using a dice tray for metal dice is a great idea if you want to protect your gaming surfaces. Often metal dice are heavier or sharper and can easily damage both your table and your game pieces. Metal dice falling from the table could also crack hard floors. A dice tray drastically reduces the risk to your furnishings, your miniatures, and your feet.
Is a dice tray worth it?
Dice trays are definitely worth it for any tabletop game. One simple accessory can protect your table, dice, and miniatures from damage – and keep your game flowing! By controlling where your rolls land, they are one of the best accessories you can buy for any dice rolling games.
Dice trays come in a lot of shapes and sizes, and not all are created equally. Cheap imports and dropshipped items may be good in the short term, but they will likely deteriorate quickly and will need replacing more often. Most frustratingly, if the felt surface detaches you no longer have a flat surface to roll one, and so despite still having an intact tray, you cannot use it.
Our wooden dice trays are lined with leather that will mature with your accessory and will last a lot longer. Many of the leading premium dice trays are lined with leather for this reason. And they are also easy to care for: wood and leather are both very easy to treat, polish, or re-oil, and this will keep your accessories going for years!
Where can you get the best dice tray?
Our range of sustainably and ethically sourced wooden dice trays are some of the best you can buy. Designed to be practical and great looking, they fit right alongside your sourcebooks and codexes (codices?) when you’re heading to games. And with our Heritage design system, you can get a product that fits your character’s aesthetic. We can also show you how you can improve your immersion in D&D with the right dice tray.
We also do custom dice trays! So if you have something specific in mind, just get in touch and we can bring your unique dice tray to life.