Dice Align

Playbook

How to play Dice Align

A cube sits on a 3x3 floor. Each roll onto a neighbor turns the cube. When the top face matches the tile you are on, that cell locks. Clear the board. There are no lives; a wrong color is information. Slide Nine slides tiles without rotating faces. This is a 3D die, not a 2048 grid.

Faces turn; tiles do not slide

Dice Align is a cube you roll. Play it when you want a 3D puzzle without a life meter, and when Slide Nine’s sliding tiles already feel solved.

The top is the only match that counts

Nine floor tiles have colors. The cube’s faces turn as you roll. A lock happens only when the top matches the cell you occupy. Locked tiles brighten. A new board deals when all nine are done.

Lock what you already match

You lock a tile you already match, then roll a planned path so the next top is ready. Wandering in circles is practice at walking, not at faces.

Stuck is a named top, not a panic shuffle

There is no life to lose. If a sitting feels stuck, name the top you need for a corner and roll only toward it. Instant restarts of the whole board throw away information.

If you wanted sliding tiles or a 2048 grid

This is not Slide Nine and not Block Merge. Slide Nine slides tiles; faces do not turn. Block Merge merges powers of two. Dice Align rolls a die onto colored floor.

Why this puzzle has no hearts

A life on a wrong color would train fear of rolling. A wrong top is information. The 3x3 is small so a sitting can finish. We did not add a timer that turns a spatial puzzle into a runner.

Controls

Roll the cube onto a neighbor cell with WASD, arrows, or by tapping a side of the playfield. Each roll turns the cube. When the top face matches the tile you land on, that cell locks. You cannot roll off the 3x3. There are no lives.

Scoring and lives

A lock scores. Clearing all nine tiles adds a board bonus and deals a new floor. Score is local. There is no life meter and no collision. A wrong color is information: roll away and come back with a different top.

Habits that raise the ceiling

Name the top face before you roll. If a tile already matches, lock it while you are there. Do not wander to a pretty color that you cannot match yet.

Common mistakes

• Rolling in a circle without looking at the top
• Leaving a matched tile to chase a far corner
• Treating this like Slide Nine, where tiles slide and faces do not turn

A two-minute drill

Lock three tiles in a row without reversing the last roll. If you reverse, restart the count. The drill is planning the next top, not wandering.

A longer sitting: three locks without a reverse

Lock three tiles without taking back the last roll. If you reverse, restart the count. The sitting is planning the next top. There are no lives, so a wrong color is a note, not a crash. Shuffle the board only when you have actually cleared it or when you meant to start a new sitting.

Slide Nine is the sliding cousin. Block Merge is the merge cousin. This cube is for people who like turning a die in their head. Stop after one cleared board even if the next deal looks friendly. Instant new boards while annoyed rehearse wandering.

Three locks without reversing. The Dice Align guide is the planned-top article. No lives by design.