Roll the Dice, Count the Cheese! A Review of Cheese Master

Party games aren’t always taken seriously. Some people don’t even consider them real board games—just a small box, simple rules, and an almost primitive gameplay mechanic often based on a single concept. But not all party games are the same. One such compact game is Cheese Master. Let’s take a look at what this game has to offer and whether it’s worth players’ attention.

Cheese Master is designed for 2 to 8 players, with a game lasting 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the number of participants. It was first released in 2023 by IELLO.

The game’s story unfolds in a kitchen. A chef is preparing food when a few pieces of cheese accidentally fall to the floor. Immediately, mice rush in to snatch the cheese, followed closely by a cat—and perhaps even a dog running after the cat! In all this chaos, no one is quite sure how much cheese actually ended up on the floor.

The game comes in a small box, which, obviously, cannot contain many components. However, they are somewhat unexpected. Usually, in such games, you expect a deck of cards, but inside, there is something different. There are indeed cards, but they are square and double-sided. Additionally, the box contains seven fairly large wooden cheese wheels and six unusual dice. These, like the cheese, are quite large, and instead of the usual dots, each face has some kind of image.

Before the game starts, each player receives five cards. One of them is placed in front of the player on the table so that the side with the number 7 is facing up. This represents the player's lives. The remaining four cards must be held in hand. As already noted, they are double-sided, featuring numbers from 0 to 7. Additionally, wooden cheese wheels are placed in the center of the table. There should be one fewer than the number of players. Then, the first player is chosen, they take the dice in hand, and the game begins.

A turn proceeds as follows: the active player rolls the dice, after which all players act simultaneously. There are no turns; everything happens in real time. All players must carefully observe the dice, count the cheese wheels that appear, place a card from their hand with the chosen result in front of them, and then grab a cheese wheel from the center of the table and place it on the chosen card.

However, not everyone will be able to do this. Remember that there are fewer cheese wheels than players? As a result, one player will end up without cheese. The slowest player loses one life (the life card in front of them is rotated to the next lower number).

After this, players check whether everyone counted the cheese correctly. The total cheese count on the dice is verified, and each player’s chosen number is checked. Any player who made an error receives a penalty of minus two lives. So, in this game, it is more beneficial to carefully count the cheese rather than rush. After all, the slowest player is penalized only one life, which is a lesser penalty than an incorrect answer.

If a player runs out of lives, they are eliminated from the game. They no longer participate in the game, and one cheese wheel is removed from the table (there must always be one fewer than the number of players). Then, a new round begins.

At first glance, what’s the big deal? You roll the dice, count how much cheese appears. When does it actually become fun?

The answer lies in the dice. It’s all about their unusual faces. The game includes six dice, three yellow and three orange. The yellow dice are simpler, while the orange ones are more complex. Most faces on the yellow dice show cheese—some have one piece, some have two, and some have three. There are also two faces with mice—one showing a single mouse, and one showing two mice. And one more face with a cat.

When the dice are rolled, you must quickly sum up all the pieces of cheese and then check for mice. After all, each mouse eats one piece of cheese, so the total cheese count decreases. Do you get the challenge? You need to add up all the cheese and then subtract the number of mice. And do it fast, so you’re not the slowest player. But that’s not all. If a cat appears, it chases away one mouse, so you don’t need to subtract it.

See how many ways there are to make mistakes? You might miscount the cheese, miscalculate the number of mice, overlook a cat, or forget to subtract mice. It seems like the game would already be fun like this. But then there are the orange dice.

The orange dice add new faces. There’s a dog, which scares away the cat, meaning the cat doesn’t have time to chase away a mouse, so the mouse still eats the cheese. Then there’s an innkeeper, who chases away all cats, dogs, and mice, leaving the cheese untouched. And there’s also the Mouse King, who isn’t afraid of anyone—not even the innkeeper. If the Mouse King appears, he eats one piece of cheese, and nothing can stop him.

Feel the tension rising? With the orange dice, making mistakes becomes even easier. You need to count dogs, not forget to subtract cats, ignore everything if the innkeeper appears, and always remember that the Mouse King eats cheese no matter what. And all this while still counting all the cheese pieces correctly!

And don’t forget the cards in your hands that you use to mark the cheese count. They’re double-sided, so on top of all the symbols on the dice, you also need to make sure you find the correct number, on the correct side of the card, as quickly as possible

If someone thinks that all these yellow and orange dice with different faces seem complicated and confusing, that’s actually not the case. It’s enough to show once what can appear on them, and that’s it—you’re ready to play. At most, to avoid overwhelming players, you can play the first couple of rounds using only the yellow dice. Once everyone understands how the game works, that’s the perfect time to introduce the orange dice with their more complex effects.

And that’s it. The result is a fast-paced and exciting game. Each roll lasts just a few seconds. The dice hit the table, hands fly in, players slap down their cards showing the counted cheese pieces, and everyone rushes to grab a cheese wheel to avoid being the last one. Then comes the review phase—some players slap their foreheads for miscounting the cheese or missing a mouse, while others celebrate being the slowest, knowing the others received an even bigger penalty.

And the tension steadily increases. After all, this is an elimination game, so those who count worse or react more slowly gradually drop out, leaving only the best counters at the table. That’s why even those who lose all their lives still find it interesting. First, the rounds themselves are quite short, so you’ll only be out for about ten minutes at most. Second, it’s still fun to watch the action unfold and see the remaining players battle it out.

That’s Cheese Master for you—fast and simple. It’s a game literally anyone can play. Sit down someone who has never played a board game before, and within a couple of minutes, they’ll be fully engaged. And if you put an experienced gamer at the table, they won’t turn up their nose either, because the gameplay is both engaging and unique.

The pacing is excellent—each turn lasts only a few seconds, but those seconds are incredibly intense. Plus, every turn ends with a dramatic climax when the cheese count is verified and the results are checked. And it’s always funny, because almost no one ever gets everything right.

Another small detail—this is one of those rare games where people often play standing up. Technically, nothing stops players from sitting as usual, but the tension is so high that everyone naturally leans forward or even stands up to get a better view of the dice and reach for the cheese wheels faster.

In short, Cheese Master is a fantastic game. Does it have any drawbacks? Probably not. Maybe at two or three players, it’s not as exciting. It’s definitely a party game, and the more players, the more fun it is. Also, keep in mind that it’s a real-time game with simultaneous turns and a dexterity element (who can grab the cheese faster).

What does it take to create a great party game? It should have simple rules, appealing components, preferably a tense gameplay experience, and, most importantly, something for players to laugh about. Cheese Master has all of these elements. It’s truly a great game. So don’t pass it by! Especially since you can play it with just about anyone.