Tales of the World: Dice Adventure

Lore & Background

Tales of the World: Dice Adventure combined roleplaying game and board game mechanics. Players rolled virtual dice to move characters across a board, forming parties, experiencing story events, and engaging in battles. The game featured many characters from the main Tales series, depicted in a cutesy, chibi style reminiscent of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. It was a free-to-play title requiring only a Bandai Namco ID to sign in, with optional purchases of in-game items using real money. Additionally, Namco Bandai released snack food containing serial codes for downloadable content.

Reader's Guide

Tales of the World: Dice Adventure holds significance as a short-lived but notable entry in the Tales of the World subseries, which specializes in crossover content. Its browser-based, free-to-play model made it accessible to a wide audience, though its Japanese-only language limited its reach. The game's use of a board game mechanic was a departure from typical Tales action RPGs, and its chibi art style was a deliberate aesthetic choice. The involvement of animation studio A-1 Pictures, known for work on other major game franchises, added a layer of production value. The game's service ended after just over a year, on June 28, 2013, making it a brief experiment in the series' history. Its legacy lies in demonstrating the Tales series' willingness to explore different genres and business models, even if the experiment was short-lived.

Did You Know?

• The game was first revealed in December 2011 at Jump Festa and in Weekly Shōnen Jump.
• Special animation for the game was created by production studio A-1 Pictures.
• Namco Bandai separately released snack food that contained serial codes for additional game content.
• The game offered smartphone support.