Mushroom vs Double Dice

Just a little statistics overthinking.

Written 24/07/2026.

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What are we talking about

In (most) Mario Party you move during your turn by rolling a d10. By using items you can roll higher, allowing you to move around the board faster.

Historically, the cheap common item that let you do so is the Mushroom, allowing you to roll 2 dices at once. It was reworked in Super Mario Party with its new dice mechanics, that were then scrapped in the next game.

Mario Party Superstars and Super Mario Party Jamboree however kept that reworked Mushroom while adding the Double Dice that has the old functionality. Thus they have 2 cheap common mobility items:

• The Mushroom adds 5 to your dice roll. It costs 3 coins in both games.
• The Double Dice makes you roll 2 dices instead of 1. It costs 5 coins but gives you 10 coins (for the games we're talking about) if you hit a double.

So with both items being so similar, of course that begs the question of "in which situation is X better than Y?".

Practical answer

The Mushroom is +5 spaces, the Double Dice is on average +5.5 spaces. Because the 2 coins difference is so negligeable (as both of those games shower you with coins),
the Double Dice is the better choice because you get that +0.5 space on average; unless those 2 coins really really matter right now.

Or alternatively just pick whichever you feel like because the practical difference is minimal.

Now we actually do some maths so we can have a more precise answer!

Rolling odds

The Mushroom is easy: 10% chance for any result between 6 and 15 (inclusive).

The distribution of the Double Dice is a pyramid: 1% chance to roll a 2, 2% for a 3, and so on until it peaks at 10% chance to roll an 11, then it comes back down again until 1% chance of a 20.

As said above, the Double Dice adds an average of 5.5 to your roll, so if your goal is just to go as far as possible (for example if you are far from the star), then the Double Dice is the correct choice.
But let's consider other cases.

Landing or avoiding a specific space

Let's say in front of you is a space you really want to land on (like an happening space) or one you really don't want to land on (like a Bowser space).
Let's break down by distance:

• If it's 1 space away, only a normal dice block (aka not using one of those 2 items) can reach it.
• If it's 2-5 (inclusive) spaces away, no item has a 10% chance while Double Dice is always less likely.
• If it's 6-10 (inclusive) spaces away, both Mushroom and no item have a 10% chance, while Double Dice has a lesser chance.
• If it's 11 spaces away, normal dice block can no longer reach (in one turn), and both Mushroom and Double Dice have equal odds of landing on it (10%).
• If it's 12-15 (inclusive) spaces away, Mushroom has a 10% chance to land on it, while Double Dice has lower odds.
• If it's 16-20 (inclusive) spaces away, Mushroom can't reach it and Double Dice has a slight chance.

You can then look at these ranges to determine which item to use (or not) depending on if you want to land on the specific space or not.
For example if a Bowser Space is 4 spaces away, a Mushroom will guarantee you dodge it. If an happening space you really want to it this turn is 7 spaces away, you should not use a Double Dice.
(If it can wait a few turns, normal dice is better in that situation because if you roll less than 7 you have another chance to hit it next turn.)

Getting at least a specific distance

Now if instead of wanting to land on a specific space or just wanting to Go Far, you want to get past a space (to get a star, visit a shop, visit Boo...),
we have to look at cumulative probabilities (aka chance of rolling N or higher).

Made with anydice.com, output 1d10+5 and output 2d10.

By looking at these lines we can find a pretty easy cutoff: if your target is 8 spaces away or closer, Mushroom has a higher chance to reach it, otherwise Double Dice.

For the actual numbers:

Roll at least	Mushroom	Double Dice
6	100%	90%
7	90%	85%
8	80%	79%
9	70%	72%
10	60%	64%
11	50%	55%
12	40%	45%
13	30%	36%
14	20%	28%
15	10%	21%

Notably using a Double Dice if your target is 15 spaces away is twice as likely to get you there than using a Mushroom.

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