Tabletop game nights offer a great opportunity to spend time with people you care about and enjoy some friendly competition. Whether between family or friends, however, many game nights go bad when disagreements arise about things like turn orders and dice rolls.
While we can’t solve all of the challenges that come with tabletop games, we can help you to make die rolling fair once and for all. Have you ever wondered what tabletop games would be like if you didn’t have to roll the die manually? Either way, we’ve got some great DIY dice tower projects for you to check out.
What Is a Dice Tower?
Dice towers are simple objects that are made with one task in mind: rolling dice. You drop your die or dice into the top, they fall through a series of baffles and come out at the other end with a truly random roll. Dice towers come in loads of shapes and sizes, but you can easily make your own dice tower at home with the right tools.
3D Printed Dice Towers
3D printing can almost feel like cheating to some DIYers, but it presents an excellent opportunity to make a dice tower that looks as though it came from a store. We’ve found a couple of unique and interesting dice towers for you to take a look at that you can easily make with your 3D printer at home.
1. Simple Printable Dice Tower
This first dice tower is incredibly simple, providing you with an easy design to get you started. The idea of this tower is that you drop the die into the top so that it falls down a set of internal baffles; you then lift the whole tower up to retrieve the die from the bottom. There are three different versions of this design, but we focused on the largest.
You can use just about any material for this, though an option like PETG or ABS might be best if you want it to last for a long time. You can choose to print with or without supports, though we would recommend using them if you want to get the best results on your first print. With supports and the print settings in the image above, our slicer estimates a 4 hour and 19 minute print time for this tower.
2. Three-Path Dice Tower
This next dice tower is a little more complicated than the last one. Coming with the appearance of an old castle tower, this Three-Path Dice Tower gives your die three different routes to follow. A set of stairs sits at either side and a doorway can be found at the front, so it can come out from any of them after being placed in the top of the tower.
As a printable design, this dice tower is a great choice for those with 3D printers and a lot of time. A range of files come with this model, but you can use the all-in-one version if you have a large enough build area on your printer of choice.
We added supports to keep the archways clean, and this gave us an 11-hour print time with a 0.3 mm layer height. Those who choose to build this dice tower as separate pieces will also need some sort of adhesive to stick them together.
Wooden Dice Towers
Not everyone has their own 3D printer, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t build a dice tower for yourself. If you’re willing to get out the hand tools, you can quickly and easily make an attractive dice tower that will look great on your table during games.
3. Quick & Easy Scrap Wood Dice Tower
Designed to be made from scrap wood, this Quick & Easy Scrap Wood Dice Tower is a good choice for DIY beginners. The design is incredibly simple, with the finished product being a basic wooden box with two openings.
The real beauty of this design is the ease with which it can be made. You only need a few pieces of scrap wood, a bottle of glue, and some felt to make a dice tower that will offer premium results. You could also use nails or screws for an even sturdier build. This build should only take a few hours and you have everything you need at home to make it.
4. See-Through Wooden Dice Tower
For those with more advanced woodworking skills, this See-Through Wooden Dice Tower could be an even better project to take on. Beautifully designed as a functional piece, this dice tower is portable, strong, and attractive, with the ability to take on the form of a small box when its lid is closed.
You will need some power tools to take on this project. A drill will be essential, and access to a pillar drill can make it even easier. Having a powered saw will also make the job easier.
You can build a dice tower like this in a day or over the course of a weekend, with various levels of finish being achievable depending on the wood you choose for your dice tower. You can download the dice tower plans for this project from the site linked above.
DIY Dice Tower Kits
Not everyone likes the idea of building a dice tower from scratch. It can be hard to source tools and materials, and many people don’t have the time to put into making a project like this. This doesn’t mean that you can’t experience the satisfaction of building a tower for yourself while also enjoying an easy task: you can buy a kit.
5. DIY Kit to Make Your Own Dice Tower
Using a dice tower kit for your project is a great way to get great results. Rather than having to follow DIY dice tower blueprints, you can use a trusted design that comes with parts similar to flatpack furniture. This option from Etsy is a good example of this, but you can find loads of different dice tower kits that give you everything you need to complete your project.
Choosing the Best Dice Tower for You
Building a dice tower can be a fun project that enables you to explore both your creative and practical sides. Choosing the right dice tower plans for you can be a challenge, though it will get easier when you are able to assess the options available.
Those with 3D printers will like the projects we started with, while those without may prefer the projects that came after. Of course, though, we encourage you to explore other ideas and work to make something that is unique to you. Whatever you choose, your tabletop experience will be enhanced by your dice tower no matter what.
