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Game Overview

Vitreum is roll and write print at home game for unlimited number of players. You and your fellow players become stained glass glaziers. Your job is to create the most beautiful piece of art from glass. During the game you will try to create the best stained glass for your benefactor. He will give you twelve guidelines, upon which he will judge you. It's up to you, how well you will follow these guidelines. Good luck!

To play Vitreum each player will need a single paper sheet and a pencil. You will be using colored pencils (blue, yellow, green and red). Players can share the pool of colored pencils. Additionally you will need two six-sided dice.

Vitreum and Iron made playthrough and review:

Italian tutorial:

Italian playthrough:

Provided components:
- 3 different game sheets,
- rulebook,

Needed components:
- Colored pencils (4pcs. red, blue, green, yellow)
- Dice (2 pcs.)

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User reviews (1)

Latest reviews:

5,0

Mr Cow (2025-07-10):

A Stained-Glass Symphony in Pencil and Dice
A Review of Vitreum by Percival B. Longhorn, Esq.

As a matter of principle, I do not assign numerical ratings to games - for I find it quite impossible to capture the soul of a design with something as dry and lifeless as a number. My reviews are guided by experience, not arithmetic.

Good day, esteemed enthusiasts of graphite an [read more] gamecraft,
It is I, Percival B. Longhorn, your ever-courteous connoisseur of roll-and-write entertainment, returning with tales from the continent and an encounter with a most curious specimen of our beloved genre.

During a recent grand tour across Europe - with polished hooves and travel satchel in tow - I had the pleasure of visiting Spiel Messe in Essen, a festival of cardboard delight nestled in northern Germany. Amid the hustle and velvet bustle of the fair, I acquired several treasures, all awaiting their turn. But today, I present to you one in particular: Vitreum, from the elegant minds at DicePen.

What Is It?
Although one might classify it as a roll-and-write, Vitreum deserves its own distinction: a color-and-compose experience. It is a game of radiant panes, careful symmetry, and the quiet thrill of outmaneuvering yourself - and your benefactors.
To play, you’ll need: One game sheet, one standard pencil, four colored pencils (or markers/crayons) in red, yellow, green, and blue per player per player. And two standard six-sided dice. Any number of players - truly, there is no limit

Structure of Play
The game spans exactly 13 turns, each one unfolding like the careful layering of glass. You are, in spirit, a stained-glass artisan commissioned to create a resplendent window for noble patrons - benefactors with very specific tastes.
The game sheet before you is divided into nine quarters, each made up of smaller panes to be filled with color over the course of the game. At the beginning (or as I like to say, the spark of inspiration), each player chooses one color and uses it to fill the central pane of their window.

Then, the rounds begin.
How It Works? Each round proceeds as follows: 1. One player rolls the two shared dice. 2. All players, simultaneously, choose one of the two dice. 3. Each die value is associated with a pair of colors (e.g., 2 = green & blue, 5 = red & green). The player must place both of these colors, one pane each, onto their game sheet. 4. Each player scores chosen guideline.

A critical restriction: panes may only be filled if they are adjacent to previously filled panes. Thus, color spreads like light through glass - slowly, deliberately, and always from the center outward.

Benefactor Guidelines - Scoring in Three Dimensions
After placing colors, each player selects one of twelve unique benefactor guidelines to score. This is the strategic core of the game - elegant, layered, and delightfully unforgiving.
Each guideline scores in three separate ways, all at once:

Main Color Objective. You score 1 point for each quarter containing at least one pane of the featured color (maximum of 9). This encourages thoughtful distribution - not just dense blobs of color, but graceful expansion across your entire window.

Color Pairings Objective. You score when two adjacent quarters each contain one of two specified colors. Multiple pairings between the same quarters may be scored if the panes allow. It’s a game of connection and proximity, rewarding clever placement.

Shape Pattern Objective. You score by forming a specific geometric shape - spanning multiple quarters - using the designated color. Each instance of the shape on your window scores, so a visionary layout may reap multiple rewards.
Each of these three objectives is scored independently within a single chosen guideline - a sort of thematic trinity. And each guideline may be used only once per game. This limitation - combined with the bonus scoring of your first-used guideline again during the 13th turn - creates a delicious tension. You must not only choose the right guideline for the current state of your glass, but also time it so as not to waste high-scoring potential too early... or too late.

I confess, more than once I caught myself muttering, “Oh, this guideline would score brilliantly now,” only to realize, to my horror, that I had used it long ago in a moment of short-sighted zeal.

This dance of opportunity and restraint is, to me, the game’s finest layer. The scoring system demands awareness of color balance, spatial development, and long-term planning. The mechanics are elegant, yes - but also rich with meaning.
And the length? Thirteen turns is pitch-perfect. Longer, and one’s brain would begin to bubble like glass in the kiln.

On the Game Sheet
Let me say this plainly: the game sheet design is superb.
It is clean, intuitive, and beautifully composed.
The colors are bright but never overwhelming, allowing your growing mosaic to shine without distraction. The separation of quarters is elegant, and the layout makes gameplay easy to navigate even for those unfamiliar with roll-and-write titles. It looks as good in play as it feels in hand.

Components & Format
I purchased Vitreum in gamebook format - a compact notepad-style volume with 50 double-sided pages. Each side presents a different stained-glass template and a new set of benefactor guidelines - essentially two full games in one book.
The print quality is excellent, with clear linework and well-calibrated color. The rulebook is concise and refined, and a one-page player aid is included for communal use - a thoughtful touch. Best of all, the book fits snugly in one’s briefcase (or satchel, or picnic basket). It is travel-ready. Just do not forget your colored pencils and dice.

Final Thoughts
I raise my glass (of iced tea, naturally) to Vitreum. It is a brilliantly crafted, quietly clever, and remarkably replayable experience. It manages to take something as humble as four colored pencils and a single sheet of paper - and turn them into an hour of spatial tension, artistic delight, and strategic beauty.
This, dear readers, is what the roll-and-write genre is capable of when handled by thoughtful designers.

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