Space Dice
Space Dice
3D
Published 2020-12-02T12:00:40+00:00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ2EsoQ-N5E
You can find out more about the variations https://www.3dpprofessor.com/2017/01/21/3d-printed-space-dice-gone-wild/
According to some anecdotal evidence, Mars isn't the kind of place to raise kids. Something about the weather. But I say maybe the problem is the inability to play board games during those cold-as-heck nights. And how are you going to play board games with dice flying all over the place. They never land, so they can never be read. What you need... is
SPACE DICE!
I went way overboard with this idea when it first came out. I see that now. What started as "Let's make some die with bucky ball magnets in the corner" turned into 6 body types, 4 numeral variations (including one I made up myself) and versions with and without the holes for the buckyballs, for a total of... a lot. Let's just say if you ever want a dice for anything you're doing, come back to this collection, grab one, and you'll never be short on dice again.
Just 3D print in your NASA approved print-in-space 3D printer. The design does need some minimal supports which are built into the STL to support the underside lips, no matter what the slicer handles because the rest is just bridging, which you know the bridging while 3D printing in microgravity is amazing. For a fair dice use the same number of top and bottom layers and try to make the walls as thick, and use minimal infill.
Once printed get 8 of those little neodymium magnet balls that you're supposed to keep away from children. You can usually "borrow" some from the desk of that one guy in the office who's got all the toys on his desk. There's always one of those guys, even in space. Snap the magnets into the corners, then lightly toss the dice at any metallic surface (and in space what isn't metallic?) and watch them stick on a random side.
Space dice do introduce a small problem when you need to roll two of them. As soon as they're in your hand they tend to snap together, locking their positions relative to each other in place. This might not be a big problem, but depending on the polarity of the magnets when you snapped them in they may resist certain alignments, so it's best to avoid the problem all together and roll them two handed. Unless you're playing Yatzee, in which case, you've used 40 of those little magnets and chances are the guy you're "borrowing" them from may start to notice his supply dwindling.
Hard core board game people may ask if these dice are fairly distributed and even, to which I say "You're rolling dice in space! Does nothing impress you?!"
| Date published | 02/12/2020 |
| Support Free | YES |