Swedish Dice Hockey

This is the pen-and-paper hockey of the eighties, as an app. One round per page of the pad, the results rolled with a twelve-sided die that actually rolls across the paper, the league table written below the games. Nothing is decided in secret: every result comes from a roll you watch, and the reading stands next to the die so you can check it yourself.

HOW YOU PLAY

Every team gets a slip — exactly the one you wrote in the margin back then. The home team rolls, then the away team. Level after regulation means overtime, and if that isn't enough, a shootout. Once the result is in, small green dice roll out and decide who scored, line by line, with assists.

A WHOLE CAREER

A book is a career: season after season in the same pad. Between seasons the players age, the oldest retire, juniors fill the gaps, some go abroad and teams are promoted and relegated. The archive remembers everything — an all-time table, career scoring leaders, a record book and every player's journey from club to club.

CLUB MODE

Become the coach of your team. Before every game you pick a plan — Gamble, Normal or Safe — and see what is at stake in the table. Event cards bring injuries, luck and hard choices before puck drop. Between seasons comes a summer with the board's goal, bids for your star, a signing and the juniors. The local paper writes about every game, and when the season ends comes The Year in Review. If you would rather have the pad as it always was, choose Classic.

THE ATTACK

Hold the die and your team goes up the run across the ice. Release early for a safe shot, or carry the puck further for a higher number and a bigger risk of losing it. It is a choice, not a reaction test — and the die always finishes rolling on its own. In club mode the attack costs a card, and cards are few: attack cards on your own roll, defence cards when the opponent rolls.

TUNED AGAINST REALITY

Goals per game, share of overtimes, the spread of points, the top scorer's tally and how often someone scores ten in a game — all of it is checked against real hockey statistics, not gut feeling.

TWO RULE SETS

Modern: fourteen teams, 52 rounds, overtime and a second league simulated in the background. 1985: ten teams, 36 rounds, two points for a win, ties that stand, a qualifying series and two groups below.

YOUR TEAMS

Pick which teams you roll yourself and the computer fills in the rest of the round. Rename the teams as you like — the default teams are neutral town teams and the players are invented.

ALSO

• Real dice physics with recorded sound and haptics

• The whole book can be run from the keyboard, with your own shortcuts

• iCloud sync between Mac, iPad and iPhone

• Backups as ordinary files

• English and Swedish

• No accounts, no ads, no data collection

Swedish Dice Hockey is not affiliated with or endorsed by any real league, club or organisation.