Rocket Rollout
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- Arrives
- by the end of March 2027
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You pull dice from the bag. You look at them. You calculate which system to activate. You shoot an alien to steal an upgrade, but your shields are low. An opponent moves forward two spaces. You decide to risk it all on a combo.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
A race across the galaxy using dice and alien technology
Mark Elsdon and Søren Brandborg mark Days of Wonder's return to new IPs after years of expansions for Heat and Ticket to Ride. Illustrated by Jennifer Mati, Rocket Rollout brings bag-building into space opera territory: a race to a newly discovered planet where every crew of mercenaries tries to arrive first.
Your dice represent your crew. You pull them from the bag, roll them, and use them to activate your ship's systems: engines, weapons, shields, upgrades. Each turn is a tactical puzzle of advancing, fighting alien ships to steal technology, and protecting your vital systems. The closer you get to the planet, the deadlier the journey becomes: enemy waves intensify and those with low shields risk losing access to crucial parts of the ship.
What they're saying abroad
"Compete in a race across the galaxy to a recently discovered planet."
— Days of Wonder
Rocket Rollout is a game we were able to try at the Salon Pro Vichy 2026. The tension created by the problems that emerge during the race keeps engagement high, and coordinating the dice bag with ship upgrades offers tactical choices every turn. Promising first read, September 2026.
— FroGames
Rocket Rollout
The game includes an official solo mode (min_players = 1). Without published details on how it works, it's presumably an automated system or scenario. Check at launch to see if the experience holds up compared to competitive multiplayer.
FrogScore · FroGames editorial review · first read: based on rules and official presentation, updated with early playsYour space arsenal
Ship systems, crew, and alien technology
Crew Bag
Your dice are your crew. You start with weak recruits and add powerful specialists by drawing from the bag. Each die has different faces that activate specific ship systems.
Ship Tableau
Cards representing systems: engines, weapons, shields, upgrades. You activate a system by placing dice with the right icons. The more upgrades you install, the more devastating combos you unlock.
Alien Ships
Waves of enemies to take down. Each destroyed alien drops technological salvage used to improve your ship. But they counterattack: low shields mean damaged systems.
Shields
The most critical system. Keeping them up costs precious dice, lowering them lets you move faster but risks losing access to engines or weapons. Every turn is this dilemma.
🎲How to playThe rules in four steps▼
How to play
The flow of every round
Every turn follows the same loop: draw dice, choose what to activate, deal with the consequences.
You pull a handful of crew dice from your personal bag. You roll them. Look at the faces: engine icons, weapons, shields, resources. What comes up determines your options this turn.
In turns, you place dice on your tableau to activate systems: engines to advance, weapons to shoot at aliens, shields to protect yourself. Each system requires specific icon combinations. The best upgrades amplify the effect.
If you activated weapons, you engage the enemy ships on your tile. Taking them down gives you technological scrap to buy ship upgrades or stronger crew dice. But they strike back: damage to your shields or systems.
Spend resources to add more powerful dice to your bag or install upgrade cards into your tableau. Each choice shapes your engine: do you want a lean, lethal crew or an armored ship? The round ends, and you draw again.
⏱️Your first gameThe play-by-play chronicle▼
A game in five moments
What happens at the table
Not the rules. The experience.
Setup and first draw
You assemble your ship's tableau with basic systems. You fill your bag with rookie crew dice: weak faces, few options. You draw your first handful. Someone already has a lucky combo, others curse their results. The race begins.
First alien waves
The first enemy ships appear. Everyone wants to shoot them down for scrap, but attacking costs dice that you need to move forward. Someone decides to ignore them and speed ahead. They take damage, lose a shield, and curse. The others laugh. For now.
Mid-race, engines at full throttle
You have bought stronger crew dice, and the bag starts giving you decent draws. You activate chain combos: one die powers the engine, one shoots, one charges the shields. You advance three tiles in one turn. But you look at the board: you're only in second place. And ahead, the waves are getting denser.
The moment of sacrifice
Someone lowered their shields too much to sprint. An enemy wave strikes them, and they lose access to their weapon system. Now they can only run or die a slow death. The table erupts: some laugh, some pity them, some take advantage to overtake while they're paralyzed. This is the turn you'll remember.
Final sprint to the planet
The last few tiles are a meat grinder. Alien waves on every side, shields at minimum, dice not rolling your way. Whoever built the best engine wins. Those who bet everything on the attack crash one step from the finish line. Someone makes it, raises their arms, others slam their fists on the table. The end.
🐸Know before you buyThree honest things, from friends▼
Know before you buy
Three things to consider
The dice are your crew
It's not a pure combat game. You manage a bag of dice that represent people: engineers, pilots, gunners. Each die has faces with different icons. You draw, roll, and hope for the right results. If you hate seeing plans ruined by unlucky rolls, know that it will happen. But that's the beauty of it: adapting.
The shield/speed dilemma is constant
Every turn you choose: keep shields high or lower them to advance faster. Low shields expose you to alien damage, which can block critical systems (engines, weapons). But those who play too defensively finish last. This balance is the heart of the game, and it creates tension in every round.
Double engine building
It's not enough to upgrade the bag. You also have to build the ship tableau with upgrades that amplify the results. Coordinating the two layers is complex: buying strong dice without cards to exploit them is useless, and vice versa. Those who master this synergy dominate. Those who ignore it struggle until the end.
🏆Victory and defeatWhat the finale rewards▼
How it ends
How you win and how you lose
It's a race: whoever reaches the planet first wins. But the journey is full of ways to collapse before the finish line.
Victory
- Reach the final tile of the track (the discovered planet) first
- Whoever has the most efficient engine and the best combos advances faster and wins
- Managing shields and risks well in the final stretches is decisive: those who sprint too early collapse
Elimination or defeat
- If your shields collapse and you take too much damage, you lose access to vital systems (engines, weapons): you are paralyzed
- Drawing poorly from the bag for too many consecutive turns leaves you hopelessly behind
- Investing only in attack or only in defense unbalances you: those who don't balance the bag and tableau lose
Rocket Rollout promises to combine bag-building, combat, and racing into a tense, tactical engine builder. Expected release: February 2027, from Days of Wonder.
💬FAQQuick answers before you checkout▼
FAQ
Rocket Rollout FAQ
What mechanics does Rocket Rollout use?
The game combines bag-building with dice (you draw crew dice from a bag that you improve over time), engine building (you build a ship tableau with upgrades that amplify die results), dice rolling (you roll the drawn dice to activate systems), and racing (a competitive race toward a planet). It also includes combat against alien waves to obtain resources.
Is it suitable for those who don't like games too dependent on luck?
Dice introduce randomness, but you build the bag: the more strong dice you buy, the more reliable draws you get. The ship tableau amplifies good results and mitigates poor ones. Luck is involved, but the experienced player who builds their engine better wins more often. If you are looking for total control, look elsewhere. If you accept manageable tactical variability, you might like it.
How long does a game last?
The duration estimated by French retailers is 90–120 minutes for 1–4 players. We don't have official confirmation from Days of Wonder yet, but the medium weight (bag-building + tableau + combat) suggests games of an hour and a half or more, including explanation.
Does it work well solo?
The game supports a 1-player mode according to BGG data. We don't have details yet on how it works (automa? scenario?). Rocket Rollout was born as a competitive race, so the multiplayer experience will likely be richer. We will update this FAQ when we have official information.
Is it available in Italian?
Yes, the Italian edition is distributed by Asmodee Italia with a release expected in February 2027. The rulebook, cards, and materials will be fully localized. You can pre-order it on FroGames to receive it as soon as it is available.
The people behind the game
Who invented it, who illustrated it, who publishes it — and what else have they done.
Rocket Rollout is a strategy board game for 1–4 players, ages 10 and up, with 90–120 minute playtimes. Designed by Mark Elsdon and Søren Brandborg, published by Days of Wonder and distributed in Italy by Asmodee, it combines dice bag-building, engine building, and competitive space racing. Players build a crew by drawing dice from a customized bag and activate ship systems represented by a tableau of upgrade cards. The game's distinctive mechanic is the double layer of engine building: you must coordinate the dice bag (crew) with the ship tableau to perform powerful combos and advance toward the final planet. Combat against alien waves provides technology to upgrade the ship, but it lowers shields and exposes you to damage that can block vital systems. Expected release February 2027. Available on FroGames.it.
Frequently Asked Questions
The answers you're looking for, no beating around the bush.
📸Do the images match the actual product?
The photos on the website often come from BoardGameGeek and are intended to give you an idea of the game. They may vary slightly from the version you receive. The content declared by the publisher is always binding.
📦Does the content of the box match what is indicated?
We always strive to provide the correct content, but minor variations are possible due to reprints or updates. The information comes directly from the publishers. If you have any questions, please contact us!
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