There is something hugely symbolic about the set of polyhedral dice that sits upon my desk at work. I’m not entirely sure why but the sight of them this morning nudged something deep inside my psyche and I found myself feeling very pleased.

There is something very pleasing about the acceptance – of the gamer and their hobby – when dice can sit on a desk and not be the target of negative commentary. Far from my days of youth, when polyhedral dice were something to mark you as the outsider, somehow most people seem to recognise them as representing fun.

But more than that, the fact that a student yesterday was having fun telling about us the icosahedron and how to use it to roll an attack against a Giant Spider… well, that’s progress. Of course, maths geekery and gaming have long had a relationship but the reaction of others was far more accepting and amused.

Yes, there’s something pleasing about the ease with which we can articulate our polyhedral dice in public. It’s a clear mark of the D&D player, even if that concept is nebulous and not necessarily referential to the marketed game of the same name. Polyhedrals are part of that “folk D&D” which has been spoken about by Ben Milton.

I like having dice on my desk. Of course, there are far more in the dice bags, on almost every surface, and in every draw of my home too. But dice on my desk make me smile.

Game on!