Renegade Game Studios will release a roll and write adaptation of its colorful Lanterns: The Harvest Festival game this May: Lanterns Dice: Lights in the Sky.

Designed by Chris Bryan (Dragon Ball Z: Perfect Cell, Favelas) and featuring art by Beth Sobel (Viticulture, Arboretum, Wingspan) and John Shulters, this new spin on the harvest festival has players acting as artisans, decorating the palace late with floating lanterns and launching fireworks for a beautiful, colorful display for the emperor. Players roll dice and choose what colored lanterns will fill their scoresheets. Each color lantern has a special action and combining several colors can create powerful combinations. When shapes are completed, cover them with fireworks tiles to score points and put on a dazzling show. MSRP is $25.00.

The box includes 4 lantern dice, 48 fireworks tiles, 1 dice tray, 3 emperor cards, and 1 pad of scoresheets. The game is for 2 – 4 players, ages 10 and up, and plays in 30 – 45 minutes.  

Roll and Write (roll ‘n write) games have been around in Europe as a recognized genre for a while, but now are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. The games all involve a worksheet, scoresheet, or erasable board which players fill in based on the results of die rolls (or occasionally based on card draws).  Popular roll and write games include Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition, Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age,The Castle of Burgundy: The Dice Game, Qwixx, Catan Dice Game, and Yahtzee.

Lanterns: The Harvest Festival was released in 2015 (see “Renegade Partners with Foxtrot Games,” and has proved an enduring title. It won a Mensa Select award (see “'Castles of Mad King Ludwig' Wins Mensa Award”), and appeared on TableTop  (see “'Lanterns' and 'Codenames' Chosen for 'TableTop'”).