iPhone: the $100 dice roller

What do you do when you want to play a game with your child and realize that the dice have gone missing? You could scurry around in search of another pair of dice, make up some other way of playing, or just use your smartphone.

The other night I went to play a game with my son. We were both disappointed to see that the dice were missing and almost put the game away. That's when we realized that we could probably download a dice roller on the iPhone. When I say "we" I really mean my five year old, since he immediately said,

"Dad, can't we just get one on your iPhone?"

When I was his age the game would have been unplayable, but thanks to modern technology, my $100 iPhone (technically $200, since it's the iPhone 3GS) can be turned into a dice roller.

This isn't the first time that my iPhone has saved the day when it came to playing a board game. Another time was when we couldn't find the instructions for how to play a game. One google search later and not only did we have instructions at our fingertips, but about a million variations of game play, too.

There are a lot of dice rollers to choose from--both paid and free--but we settled on Virtual Dice. While some of its competitors had better 3-D effects, my son liked the realistic sound effects that accompanied the dice roll.

Of course, I use the iPhone for a lot more than just dice rolling, but it's nice to know that it can serve a simple purpose, too, and save the day.

Has your smartphone or specifically your iPhone saved your day? Share your stories below.