How Does A Dice Tower Work? All You Need To Know!

If you’re like me, you love understanding how things work. Recently, I got really interested in how dice towers work. I don’t really even use them when playing games; but the concept was intriguing.

So how does a dice tower work? A dice tower uses baffles, angles, and other objects to deflect dice through its vertical structure to create random outcomes in the tray at the bottom. The key is for the tower to be complex enough to deflect dice through it so that the outcomes cannot be manipulated in the dice roller’s favor.

Dice towers are vertical structures

Dice towers are generally vertical, hollow structures. The exact height depends on each manufacturer, but generally dice towers are anywhere from 6 inches tall to a foot tall. It’s rare for them to get much taller than that. There are also some that may be shorter than 6 inches, but most aren’t because they must have enough deflection as dice are falling to ensure they come out at the bottom with truly random outcomes. The inside of the towers are “hollowed out”, or built so that they are basically four walls with baffles or dowels in the middle to deflect the dice. Some dice can be seen while inside the dice towers, while others only allow players to see the dice once they’ve emerged at the bottom of the tower.

As might be obvious at this point, dice towers are vertical structures for a major reason. There needs to be physical space for the dice to be able to hit things on their way down to the dice tray (the container that catches the dice once they drop free from the dice tower). Gravity is the hero by creating easiest way to accomplish this. Players can just drop the dice at the top and gravity takes care of the rest. Other structures wouldn’t work nearly as efficiently in attempting to complete the same task.

Randomly arranged baffles or dowels

Baffles and dowels are used as the objects that actually divert the dice from their current path. Let’s discuss them below.

Baffles

Baffles are objects built inside the dice tower to deflect the dice in predictable but random patterns. They are flat surfaces that are usually made from the same material as the rest of the tower. They usually span the whole width of the tower but only half (or a third) of the length. They are placed in the tower at a downward angle so that the dice hit them and continue falling through to the other baffles—eventually exiting the tower at the bottom. They are typically evenly spaced in a predictable pattern in the tower so that the dice hit each baffle on their way down. Most dice towers use at least 3 baffles to create enough variables leading to random outcomes; though, it isn’t uncommon to see 5 or more built in. Some very small dice towers use only one or two baffles for dice to bounce off of, but that is more rare.

Dowels

Dowels are cylindrical objects sticking out from various walls on the inside of the dice tower deflecting the dice in less predictable directions—eventually directing the dice to the bottom of the tower. Sometimes the dowels span the entire length of the inside of the dice tower, with each end of the dowel secured to the wall. Other times, the dowels are only secured to one wall of the tower, with the other end suspended to some length on the inside of the tower. The number and size of the dowels can vary from tower to tower, but they all leave enough space that dice of all shapes and sizes can be deflected through the tower without a chance of getting caught. The dice move in less predictable paths with dowels than with baffles, but they both provide random dice rolls at the bottom of the towers.

Others

Other objects and systems can be used in dice towers to create the desired random effect on dice rolls. They aren’t limited to just baffles or dowels to divert the dice into different paths, but these two types of systems are the ones used in the vast majority of dice towers on the market today.

Creates true randomization of dice rolls

A good dice tower creates outcomes that cannot be predicted. They create a number of variables that allows the dice to tumble many times while passing through the tower and out the bottom onto the tray. A player dropping dice into a tower can be confident that the tower isn’t going to somehow produce predictable results (meaning the same number being rolled each time).

Very close to the idea that dice towers create unpredictable outcomes, they also ensure that outcomes can’t be manipulated. It’s a very similar idea but distinct in one key way. All players desire unpredictable dice rolls, but only some players try to cheat the dice results. Players looking to exploit the weaknesses of a dice tower might find a way to manipulate it. So, in my opinion, eliminating that possibility is probably the most important task a tower must solve. Dice towers must ensure that a player cannot drop the dice in the same way each turn and cheat their way to predictable results. This allows players to play with anyone and not worry that someone is somehow being sneaky or underhanded. Admittedly, pretty much any decent dice tower is going to easily accomplish this task.

Materials Used to Make Dice Towers

Dice towers are built with many different types of materials. Depending on which type of material is used, creators can build them in many different shapes and patterns. Some of the materials used to make dice towers are plastic, wood, and cardboard. Plastic dice towers allow for molding and shaping the towers in very unique patterns that look cool. These can get very complex when compared to dice towers of other types. Wooden dice towers often look fancy. The wood is almost always finished with a nice stain on the outside. Cardboard and homemade dice towers are usually functional and don’t look as nice as the others. Though people are amazing and this doesn’t always hold true.