The first game to include a d10?
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Post Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:51 am 
 

I was writing a article on the first appearance of different polyhedral in board gaming.  The d10 is a bit murky and was hoping for some help.
Since Gamescience invented the modern d10 in 1980 and the Moldvay set came out in 1981, is it right to say the moldvay set was the first board game that included a modern d10 with the game?  The expert set is also a 1981 release, and perhaps the updated basic and expert sets were released simultaneously and should share the distinction.
Top Secret is listed as a 1980 release but I can't remember if it came with the 2d10 in the first release.  If there was a Top Secret set with d10 included in 1980, I think it may have the distinction of the first game with included d10.
I think star frontiers & gangbusters came in 1982 and boot hill was still using 2d20.

Any discussion or really concrete info on which was the first to include d10 inside would be appreciated!

  

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Post Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 8:43 am 
 

This chart may be helpful:

DiceDB - The history of dice

According to this, in 1906 a 10-sided dice was patented in the US.  Whether it was for a game or not, I do not know.

But if you go to dicecollector.com, they show a patent for a poker d10 on November 22, 1898(United States Patent: 614,524).   8)


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Post Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 9:16 am 
 

seodude wrote in The first game to include a d10?:Since Gamescience invented the modern d10 in 1980 and the Moldvay set came out in 1981, is it right to say the moldvay set was the first board game that included a modern d10 with the game?  The expert set is also a 1981 release, and perhaps the updated basic and expert sets were released simultaneously and should share the distinction.
Top Secret is listed as a 1980 release but I can't remember if it came with the 2d10 in the first release.  If there was a Top Secret set with d10 included in 1980, I think it may have the distinction of the first game with included d10.
I think star frontiers & gangbusters came in 1982 and boot hill was still using 2d20.


The earliest Top Secret boxes (Wizard Logo) came with pink and white soft plastic d20s numbered 0 to 9 twice. These were by the same manufacturer who was making the dice in the Holmes set. TSR sold the same dice as a percentile set in the 1970s.

I don't believe Gamescience was making a d10 die before TSR. TSR was also the first to make a d20 numbered 1 to 20 for that matter.

  


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Post Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2021 5:05 pm 
 

"TSR was also the first to make a d20 numbered 1 to 20 for that matter."
If you change "make" to "make a d20 with numbers molded onto the die" I would agree.  There was a patented, numbered 1-20, d20 before TSR existed.

This Nov 1980 advert would seem to  state that Gamescience invented the d10 in 1980.
https://imgur.com/a/jG5cmZD

This ad goes further saying the d10 was invented and patented by Gamescience.
https://imgur.com/a/FqKvJSg

Just to be clear, I am trying to determine the first game to include a (modern)d10 in the box, not when the first 10 faced die was made or patented(some of the old patented polyhedrals were not fair dice nor regular polyhedrals).

  


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Post Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 12:04 am 
 

seodude wrote in The first game to include a d10?:the first game to include a (modern)d10 in the box


The 1981 D&D sets are a good guess. Most companies wanted to include the cheapest dice in boxed sets, & so wouldn't be likely to adopt a new type when older types probably cost less. Example:

DICE from classic Call of Cthulhu box sets: Some reference pics (1981-5) – Wayne's Books
"The only thing that was pretty standard when it came to the dice included was that the D6s were white, smaller, and had pips instead of numbers because, wait for it, they were cheaper that way."
(The pictured dice include 20-sided D10s, but no 10-sided D10s.)

Some companies seemed to prefer the type throughout the '80s. The basic MERP set came with a pair of inked gem dice that were 20-sided D10s, so cost was apparently not the driver of the decision to include them.

  
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