Chains and blasts

A single merge is good. A chain is where Dice Burst gets its name.

How a chain starts

When three alike merge, the new die is one pip higher. At the same time, every die touching the merge goes up by one pip. If one of those lifted dice now sits next to two of its new number, they merge too — and that merge lifts its own neighbours.

Reading the board for chains

• Look for a die that is one pip below a pair next to it. A merge beside it will lift it into the pair.
• Dice touching a merge all go up together, so a cluster of the same number can climb as a group.
• Every number has its own color, so a pair one step below another pair is easy to spot.

Blasts

The highest number on the board — 6 on 6×6, 5 on 5×5, 4 on 4×4 — does not merge into a bigger die. Three of them blast off the board instead, and the dice around them are lifted one pip, which can keep a chain going.

A blast pays for every die that went into those top dice along the way: each merge folds its dice into the new one, so a top die built from many merges carries all of them. The base rate is 120 points per swallowed die, and a blast inside a chain pays more.

Why chains matter

Chains empty the board faster than single merges, and an empty board is what keeps a game going: the game ends when there is no room left to drop a die.

For more, see Dice Burst strategy.