The beauty of tabletop role-playing is that it takes so very little to jump in and start playing. For many games, all a a group needs are pencils, character sheets and dice. Sure, there might be a little extra investment in rule books and supplements, but even many of those are available for free, and others can be very inexpensive. It’s a great hobby. No frills. Just you and your friends around a table telling stories and vanquishing foul beasties. But wait, are we as gamers really ever satisfied with keeping it simple? For many that answer is a resounding ‘NO’! We buy miniatures and terrain, we craft and paint, sculpt and draw, we have bookshelves full of books, we buy hand carved dice and gaming tables that cost more than our vehicles! You get the point. Well, for the gamer who loves that awesome, shiny new toy, I give you the Ultimate Dice Case from Woodcraft by Benjamin.

What you see is what you get here, and that’s a very good thing.

This product is beautifully handcrafted right in my home state of Michigan, and I was really pleased to have the opportunity to get up-close and personal with it. What you see is what you get here. It’s a dice case shaped like a giant D20. What’s not to love?! In person the case absolutely lived up to the gorgeous photos I saw online. The craftsmanship is excellent and they are solidly built with great attention to detail. The wood is smooth and even, the sides of the “dice” fit well together, it is well sanded and finished, and functionally it works as a dice case.

The Nitty Gritty

In order to hold the lid of this case in place, several magnets are embedded in the edges of the case and lid that fit together. While you can put the lid on any way and it will look fine and hold decently, to get the best hold with all magnets making contact one will need to line the 8 up with the 20 on the die. The pull of the magnets is pretty strong, and while the lid is easy to remove by pushing on the 20, there is a fair amount of friction in that action, and it is likely that the finish on the edges would get worn over time. That part is usually not seen, so I doubt it would ever be a major issue.

The inside of the case is lined with smooth black cloth that helps dampen the sound of the dice so that they aren’t rattling around and knocking against the wood so much. The various styles are all great looking in my opinion. I particularly like the Old English style numerals and the Anglo Saxon runes. The latter look like they are burned into the wood, and the former looks like inlay. The only one that I could see had numerals painted on was the glossy red case with Arial style numerals.

In terms of practical functionality the dice case works really well at home, but when I’m packing up to game elsewhere it’s probably more practical to use my old dice bag. It would actually work well when tossed in a backpack, and the magnetic hold is strong enough that there’s no way it would open and dice would spill out. Still, it might not fit so well once you start adding your RPG books and binders. So while it works as a dice case, the strength of this product is that it just looks awesome! It sits here on my shelf and I simply love it as a decorative piece. And when I pull it down off the shelf and bring it to the game table, other people love it too. They want to hold it and marvel at what is surely the coolest dice case they’ve ever seen.

The Verdict

The Ultimate Dice case is an excellent, handcrafted product that is well worth the $85 price tag. While that price point will certainly be outside the budget of many gamers, for the discerning gamer that likes to have high quality gaming products that look great, this case is an excellent choice. If function over form is more your style, there are certainly more practical choices. Still, as the holiday season approaches I imagine there are a lot of you out there who wouldn’t mind seeing one of these stuck halfway down your stocking. Just make sure to clean out the coal before you throw your dice in.

Other questions about these products? Let me know. I’d love to hear your thoughts as well. Would you buy one?

Other Products from Woodcraft by Benjamin

I also had the chance to review the Ultimate Dice Case XL, and two dice rolling trays (both pictured below). Both were excellent products, and maintain the high standard of workmanship evident in the Ultimate Dice Case. More detail can be seen in my video review, and of course see the full gallery of gaming products over at Woodcraft by Benjamin.