Dice Game Accessories: Trays, Towers, Cups, and Cases
Dice accessories — trays, rolling towers, cups, and storage cases — serve functions that range from purely practical to quietly competitive. This page covers how each category works, what distinguishes one design from another, and how players across contexts from kitchen-table Yahtzee to tournament-level tabletop games choose the right tool for the situation. The right accessory can change both the fairness and the feel of a game.
Definition and scope
A dice accessory is any object designed to control, randomize, contain, or transport dice during play. That definition sounds simple, but it covers a surprisingly wide range of products — from a leather cup used in a pub game of Perudo to a precision-machined aluminum rolling tray sitting on a felt-lined game table at a regional tabletop event.
The four main categories are:
- Rolling trays — flat or lipped surfaces that contain dice within a bounded area, preventing runaway rolls and protecting table surfaces
- Dice towers — vertical structures with internal baffles that tumble dice through a series of angled ramps before depositing them in a tray
- Dice cups — handheld cylindrical shakers, the oldest category by far, appearing in archaeological records from ancient Egypt and Rome
- Dice cases and bags — storage solutions designed to protect dice sets, maintain organization, and transport collections without damage
Each category addresses a different moment in the play cycle: randomization (towers and cups), containment (trays), and storage (cases and bags). For players interested in the broader universe of gear that supports play, the Dice Game Authority home provides context on how accessories fit into the full landscape of dice game rules and formats.
How it works
Rolling trays work by giving dice a soft, bounded landing zone. A typical tray is 8 to 12 inches on its longest dimension, lined with felt, neoprene, or leatherette, and has a raised lip — usually between 0.75 and 1.5 inches — to catch errant rolls. The soft surface reduces noise and protects both the dice and the table underneath. High-end models use cork or dense foam bases that also dampen the acoustic impact significantly.
Dice towers are more mechanically interesting. A die dropped into the top opening falls through a series of interior shelves — typically 3 to 5 baffles — that are angled to deflect the die in alternating directions. Each collision with a baffle reorients the die randomly before it exits at the bottom. The theoretical appeal is eliminating human throwing bias; a player who has developed consistent wrist mechanics can unintentionally favor certain outcomes over time, and a tower removes that variable entirely. This is not purely theoretical — the concept underpins how dice rolling techniques are evaluated for fairness in competitive settings.
Dice cups (also called shaker cups or Yahtzee cups in their most familiar form) rely on turbulent interior motion. The player places dice inside, covers the opening with a hand or lid, and shakes vigorously. The dice collide with the interior walls and each other. Leather-lined cups reduce sliding and increase the number of collisions per shake compared to smooth interiors.
Dice cases are straightforward in mechanism — padded compartments, zippered closures, or rigid shells — but the engineering matters because precision dice, particularly the sharp-edged casino style, can damage corners and edges against harder surfaces. A well-maintained set of dice stays true longer when properly stored.
Common scenarios
Tabletop RPG sessions almost universally use rolling trays, partly out of respect for play surfaces and partly because polyhedral dice scatter dramatically. A standard 7-piece RPG set includes d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, and percentile dice — the d4 in particular is legendary for injuring bare feet, which makes containment a domestic safety issue as much as a gameplay one.
Casino craps uses neither towers nor consumer cups — instead, oversized precision dice measuring exactly 3/4 inch (19.05 mm) per side are thrown by hand against a felt wall at the table's far end. The felt wall serves the containment function of a tower. However, casino dice games maintain strict accessory protocols that are distinct from amateur play.
Board game nights and family play represent the largest volume use case for consumer dice cups. The Hasbro version sold with Yahtzee sets a functional baseline — injection-molded plastic, approximately 3 inches tall — but aftermarket cups in leather, stainless steel, and wood are available for players who want something that doesn't sound like a maraca being dropped on tile.
Tournament tabletop play increasingly specifies rolling trays as required equipment, with some events mandating that all dice rolls occur within a defined tray boundary to count as valid. This mirrors the officiating logic in dice game tournaments.
Decision boundaries
Choosing between these accessories depends on three variables: game format, social context, and budget.
- Game format first: Tower-style randomization is excellent for wargames and RPGs but introduces pacing issues in fast games like Farkle or Ship of Fools, where rapid sequential rolls are part of the rhythm.
- Social context second: A polished walnut rolling tray signals one kind of table; a pub's battered leather cup signals another. Neither is wrong, but they are different objects for different rooms.
- Budget third: Entry-level felt trays run between $10 and $20. Machined aluminum towers from specialty manufacturers reach $80 to $150. Handcrafted leather dice cups from artisan makers frequently exceed $60 for a single piece.
For players building a setup from scratch, a rolling tray is the most versatile starting point — it accommodates any dice type, requires no technique to use correctly, and serves double duty as a staging surface between rolls. Towers reward patience and precision. Cups reward tradition. Cases reward anyone who owns more than one complete dice set and would prefer not to find them loose in a drawer.