Introduction
On-A-Roll is an addictive blend of Bingo and Yahtzee. The game is played in teams with either 2, 4, 6 or 8 players.
Origin
On-A-Roll Second Life Edition is an authorized reproduction of On-A-Roll by World Research Company of Tyler, Texas.
Regrettably, the First Life Edition of On-A-Roll has been discontinued and is no longer available for purchase. See the the On-A-Roll history FAQ for details.
House Rules
Most K.R. Engineering games have a variety of options or “house rules” that can be turned on and off by the game owner to change how the game plays. These options can include changing the winning criteria for a game, adding new rules or disabling other rules, or just placing time limits on how long you can be away before the game skips you. It is often helpful to know what house rules you are playing with when you sit down at a game. You can touch the game logo on any K.R. Engineering game to see a list of which options are enabled and which are not.
For owners/administrators wishing to change these options, please see the Administration section of this article.
Getting Started
If you are new to owning a K.R. Engineering game or have upgraded from an older game version, then you may have questions about your new table. Please see this FAQ for answers to some of our most common beginner questions.
Bug Fixes and Upgrades
Most owners of K.R. Engineering games are entitled to free upgrades to newer versions of the game. If a new update is available, then following the updating instructions for your game will result in a new copy of the most recent version being sent to you by the update server. This process is not automatic. You must request an update manually.
If you are having problems with your game, please search this knowledge base or contact us for product support. If the problem you are having has not previously been encountered, a new game version will be released with a fix as soon as possible, and you may qualify for a bug bounty.
DISCLAIMER: The appearance and feature set of games are subject to revision between versions as the capabilities of Second Life change over time. Please see the detailed ChangeLog for your particular game before upgrading. By upgrading. you are agreeing to accept any and all changes that have been imposed on the updated version of the game.
Joining the Game
Most K.R. Engineering games can be played simply by right-clicking on a chair and choosing “Play.”
K.R. Engineering games can be played on a variety of themed furniture objects, and the “chairs” may not always look like chairs. For example, on the Chess theme, the “chairs” are the giant chess pieces. If you are unsure what is a chair and what isn’t on a particular theme, that’s okay! You can right-click and select “Play” on any part of a theme and it will automatically place you in an available chair, even if you didn’t click on a chair specifically.
Important: K.R. Engineering games use a rezzing system. This means that the game (buttons, dice, cards, game boards, etc) is a separate object from the furniture/rezzer/theme. You must right-click on the theme to play, not the game itself, as you cannot sit on the game pieces (such as dice, game boards, cards, etc). You must sit on the furniture around the game to play, not the game pieces.
While most game themes include furniture that you can sit on, there may be some exceptions. The Pocket theme, for example, cannot be sat on, as it has no chairs. Instead, you can join a game on a Pocket theme by clicking the MENU button on the game.
Game Play
TWO PLAYER MODE: If only two players join the game, one must be red and one must be purple, and they can play anywhere on the playing board.
FOUR PLAYER MODE: If four people are playing, there are two on each team. Two red, two purple. Anyone can play in the middle gold section.
SIX PLAYER MODE: If six people are playing, there are three on each team. Three red, three purple. Anyone can play in the middle gold section.
EIGHT PLAYER MODE: If eight people are playing, there are four on each team. Four red, Four purple. Anyone can play in the middle gold section.
The objective of the game is for one team to be the first to create 3 “runs”, which are groups of 5 playing pieces in a line. These can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. Runs can also cross over the center divider to join with pieces on the other side. The very center of the board is a ‘free’ spot that counts towards either side and cannot be directly played upon, but can be used to create runs. Once a run has been completed, it is then crowned. Crowned pieces cannot be removed from the board (explained below under Bouncer Rule), and only one crowned piece can contribute towards a new run. Runs that cross over more than one crowned piece from the same run are not valid and will not be scored.
Turns proceed in order from player 1 to player 4. Each player gets three rolls to attempt to create one of the patterns shown on the board. Players begin their turn by clicking the ROLL button. They can then select any number of dice by clicking on them (they will turn red when selected) and clicking ROLL again to re-roll the selected dice. The board patterns are as follows:
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read the Classic vs. Simple section below. The board defaults to CLASSIC!
- Full Houses: Any combination of 2 matching dice and 3 matching dice, such as 1 1 5 5 5.
- Straights: either 1 2 3 4 5 or 2 3 4 5 6.
- Lucky 11s: The sum total of all five dice must equal exactly 11, such as 3 3 2 2 1.
- Lucky 7s: The sum total of all five dice must equal exactly 7, such as 2 2 1 1 1.
- All Others: The dice must match in whole or in part the combination shown on the board.
If a player is unable to make a play on their turn, they must pass. NOTE: You must click the Pass button TWICE. This is to ensure that it is not accidentally pressed during gameplay. It will turn red the first click, the second click confirms the pass.
Missing Players
The game will attempt to carry on as best as it can if players leave during a game. Part of this includes letting players play anywhere on the board if there are less than four players remaining, so that stranded team members are not crippled by being forced to stay on their side without a mate on the opposite side of the board. Ideally, replacement players should be found for vacant seats so that the game can progress normally.
Five of a Kind
If a player rolls 5 of a kind (such as 2 2 2 2 2), they may play anywhere on the board that is currently unoccupied. In four, six or eight player mode, this includes on the other side of the board.
Bouncer Rule
If ALL of the full houses are occupied, and a player rolls a full house OR all of the straights are occupied and a player rolls a straight, they may invoke the bouncer rule. The bouncer rule allows a player under these conditions to remove an opponent’s game piece from the board. Crowned pieces cannot be removed. Pieces can be removed from either side of the board.
Classic vs. Simple
On-A-Roll Second Life Edition is capable of using two different rule sets. The two rule sets are:
- Classic: In the classic On-A-Roll rules, the game demands that the player acknowledge the highest poker hand on their dice. This means that if you have four of a kind, you must acknowledge the four of a kind. You will not be able to play a four of a kind on a three of a kind or pair of the same dice (such as playing 4 4 4 4 on 4 4 4). The hierarchy is full house, straight, four of a kind, three of a kind, two pair and pair. The Lucky 11 and Lucky 7 are exceptions to this rule, they can be played on regardless of the poker value of the dice.
- Simple: In the simple On-A-Roll rules, the game will not insist upon poker value, and players are free to play on any piece that partially or entirely matches their dice. In this mode, you can play 4 4 4 4 on either the 4 4 4 4, the 4 4 4, or the 4 4, pending availability.
The owner or administrative users may switch between Classic and Simple modes by touching the “Classic” or “Simple” label located above the top right of the playing board. This label identifies which mode is currently engaged.
Player Substitutions
The board will not allow a game to be started unless there are 2, 4, 6 or 8 players, and if started with less than 8 it will not allow the other seats to be filled during the game. However, if a player leaves the game after it has started, another player may fill the vacated spot.
Please Wait
If the game responds to an action with ‘Please wait.’ it is currently busy trying to calculate parameters for the last play, and you should wait a second and try again. This shouldn’t ever persist for more than a couple seconds at most.
Customization
For information on switching out tables and themes, please see this FAQ entry. For an overview of the theme/table administrative menu, please check out our Game Rezzer Administration article. For detailed information on customizing animations and camera views, please see our Player Experience Customization article.
Gaming.SL Live Integration
Gaming.SL Live (also known as Gaming.SL or G.SL) is gaming platform and services system developed by K.R. Engineering, which brings a variety of enhanced features to games in Second Life that are not possible with Second Life alone. In addition to the features described in this article, G.SL can integrate with your table in the following ways.
Leaderboards
Gaming.SL connected games have a grid-wide top score database that allows players to compete and have a pervasive record of their high scores. These high scores can be viewed by using a Top Scores display board in Second Life or by accessing the Top Scores page on the Gaming.SL website. Scores can be filtered down by region, specific game tables, dates, and other criteria.
In addition to recording high scores, games keep a running tally of the total number of times players have won on a game. This information can be viewed on a Top Winners display board in Second Life or by accessing the Top Winners page on the Gaming.SL website. Winners can likewise be filtered by region and other criteria to see a more specific list of winners.
On supported games, players will also be assigned a rank that compares their performance to other players who have played the same game. Players can improve this rank by playing well against other players. Rank information can be viewed on a Top Ranked display board in Second Life or by accessing the Top Ranked page on the Gaming.SL website.
Achievements
Gaming.SL includes support for Achievements in participating games, where-in you can unlock trophies by performing miraculous or mundane feats of gameplay. Achievements are awarded automatically and announced in Second Life when they are unlocked. Players can check their own achievements by visiting the Achievements page on the Gaming.SL website.
Jackpots
Gaming.SL supports the option to have ongoing recurring Jackpots where players can win cash prizes just for playing, no purchase necessary! Visit the Jackpots page on the Gaming.SL website to see the current jackpot standings, and who you need to defeat to win a prize. Prizes are based on ranking on a leaderboard that is erased during each jackpot period. Players must play during each period to be eligible to win during that period.
Licensing
Gaming.SL connected games utilize a licensing system that allows scores, ranks, winners, and other attributes to persist between rezzes of the same game, regardless of location in Second Life. This licensing system also allows games to have COPY permissions while still offering instancing control.
Public Games
Games that use Gaming.SL Live can also optionally be specified as a PUBLIC game by the game’s owner. This will display the game on the Gaming.SL Live Games page, including game status, options, and location, and a button to let a user teleport straight to the game to play. All games default to PRIVATE unless explicitly changed by the owner of the game.
Privacy
See the Gaming.SL Live page for more details on the Gaming.SL Live system, as well as our comprehensive Privacy Policy detailing the information we collect and how we use it.
Administration
To access the game’s administrative menu, simply click and hold your mouse button down on any part of it for two seconds. A menu will pop up on your screen displaying current settings and providing options to change them. (In slow simulators, this may take slighter longer than two seconds, just hold the mouse button down until you see a menu.)
On certain rezzer versions, depending on where you click, you may open the REZZER’S administrative menu instead of the GAME’S administrative menu. This is okay! If you are in the rezzer admin menu, you can switch directly over to the game admin menu by pressing the “Game ↗” button. Likewise if you open the game menu by mistake, and wish to switch over to the rezzer menu, you can simply press the “↙ Rezzer” button.
Some elements of the administration menu are accessible only by the owner, while others can be accessed by anyone who is considered an administrative user, either explicitly added or implicitly through the Group Admin feature.
There are too many options to fit in a standard dialog window, so the window has been divided into pages. You can use the <<< and >>> buttons at the bottom of the admin menu to change which page of options you are currently viewing. If you don’t see the option you want, it’s on another page!
Rezzer Options
Many options that were formerly in the game admin menu have been moved to the table/theme/rezzer admin menu. These are options that are game-independent, such as admin users, branding, sound volume, and updating. These options are now set on the table/theme/rezzer and apply automatically to whatever game is being played on that table or theme. For details on accessing the rezzer admin menu and what options are in it, please see the Game Rezzer Administration article.
Owner-Only Options
- Indicators: A menu for changing the color of the turn indicator lights on the game board.
- Color: An alternate way to access the color/theme menu for the table. This is the same as pressing the Color button on the table top.
Administrative User Options
- ↙ Rezzer: This button will directly open the rezzer’s administrative menu instead of the game’s menu.
- Players: Access the player management menu to skip or evict players from the game.
- Abandoned: Select this button to change the number of seconds the table waits to reset an abandoned game after all players have left.
- Timeout: Select this button to change the number of seconds the table waits for idle players to begin their turn. If they don’t roll before the timeout occurs, the game will skip them for this round. (Use 0 to disable)
- Evict On: Select this option to instruct the game eject idle players from the game (after turn timeout).
- Evict Off: Select this option to instruct the game to merely skip idle players (after turn timeout).
- Quiet: Enable quiet mode, reducing the amount of chatter that the game will send to local chat.
- Chatty: Disable quiet mode.
Additional Questions
If you have more questions, please use the search tool on our main page to browse our many helpful articles and FAQ entries. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, you can contact us for assistance.
ChangeLog
You can find the ChangeLog for On-A-Roll by visiting this article.