# Dice games **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [March 25, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779 "2010-03-25T18:20:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/1 "2010-03-25T18:20:21Z")
I’m going on a long trip with the kids and due to packing room, I’m not bringing anything big with, but I have room for 10d6. My co-worker is going to teach me Farkle, but what are some other fun games to play with dice? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/2 "2010-03-25T18:33:32Z")
[Liar’s Dice](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liar%27s_dice), as seen in _Pirates of the Carribean_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/3 "2010-03-25T18:35:22Z")
Yahtzee, of course. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/4 "2010-03-25T19:02:18Z")
Mexican. OTOH, maybe you don’t want to teach your kids that “55” is known as “tits in a window”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/5 "2010-03-25T23:10:05Z")
Golf for quarters. It’s probably got a proper name, but we always called it golf. 6d6. Everyone puts in a quarter, or token. Winner takes all. Ties are solved by reroll. Roll all six dice, you can choose to keep or reroll any of the dice, but you must keep at least one each time you role. The point is to get the lowest score, and 3’s are worth 0. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/6 "2010-03-26T02:52:11Z")
Oh, and not directly to the OP, but a deck of cards takes up about the same amount of space as that dragonsbreath worth of dice, and opens up a lot more game possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/7 "2010-03-26T04:01:12Z")
Pig: (from Wikipedia) > [@](#): > > Each turn, a player repeatedly rolls a dice until either a 1 is rolled or the player holds and scores the sum of the rolls (i.e. the turn total). At any time during a player’s turn, the player is faced with two options: > [ul] > [li] **roll** - If the player rolls a[/li][LIST] > [li] **1** : the player scores nothing and it becomes the next player’s turn.[/li][li] **2 - 6** : the number is added to the player’s turn total and the player’s turn continues.[/li][/ul] > [li] **hold** - The turn total is added to the player’s score and it becomes the next player’s turn.[/li][/LIST]The first player to score 100 or more points wins. > **Example Play** > > For example, the first player, Ann, begins a turn with a roll of 5. Ann could hold and score 5 points, but chooses to roll again. Ann rolls a 2, and could hold with a turn total of 7 points, but chooses to roll again. Ann rolls a 1, and must end her turn without scoring. The next player, Bob, rolls the sequence 4-5-3-5-5, after which he chooses to hold, and adds his turn total of 22 points to his score. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/8 "2010-03-26T06:13:28Z")
You need a set of [Cosmic Wimpout](http://www.cosmicwimpout.com/) dice. ---
**Author:** ![jimmycolorado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@jimmycolorado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmycolorado)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/9 "2010-03-26T07:49:01Z")
I remember [chinchirorin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinchirorin), a Chinese dice game played with three dice and a bowl, was featured in the Suikoden series of PlayStation games. It was a great way to make a large amount of scratch in the game, and you needed it because upgrading your characters’ weapons required a mint. Fun, simple game. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/10 "2010-03-26T14:26:22Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > You need a set of [Cosmic Wimpout](http://www.cosmicwimpout.com/) dice. That’s what I was going to come in here to say. We used to play this at lunch all the time. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/11 "2010-04-12T17:53:47Z")
Reiner Knizia’s “Decathlon” All you need is 10 dice and a score sheet. You can print one out from this link > **[Reiner Knizia's Decathlon](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6955/reiner-knizias-decathlon)** > > Press your dice luck and prove yourself the most skilled decathlete. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/12 "2010-04-12T21:29:44Z")
We used to like a game called “Zilch” (it may have other names). Six dice, you roll them all and keep some scoring combination, and then roll the rest; or stick on your current score provided it is worth at least 1000. Game is any previously agreed score. Scoring combinations are: 1-2-3-4-5-6 sequence on one throw of all the dice - 1000 1-1-1 - 1000 n-n-n (n \>1) - 100n A single 1 - 100 A single 5 - 50 If all six dice have scored, all become “live” again, but any throw of your presently “live” dice that yields no score voids all of your current turn (so you score “zilch”). You do not _have_ to keep all dice that _can_ score. ---
**Author:** ![Kingspades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/13 "2010-04-15T17:30:55Z")
A similar game to **Malacandra** ’s that my grandparents used to play was “10,000.” They only used five dice; 1-2-3-4-5 was not scored specially; you’re forced to freeze all scoring dice; and the winner is the first player to 10,000, though each other player does get one last turn. I’d never heard of the six dice version until the prior post, though that’s how the [10,000 article on Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice_10000) explains the game, too. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2021, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/15 "2021-08-09T09:03:54Z")
Just encountered this thread this morning while searching the forum for “Farkle” as I just learned that game last week. To me, Farkle is a more interesting game than Yahtzee as Farkle has the element of wiping out your turn’s score, similar to the game Pig mentioned by **needscoffee** : > [@needscoffee](#): > > Pig: (from Wikipedia) The rules **needscoffee** quoted are for the single die version. While serving aboard the _USS Carl Vinson_ homeported in Alameda, my friends and I were introduced to the [two-dice version of Pig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_(dice_game)#Two-Dice_Pig) at a bar in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The basic rules listed in that wiki article are: > This variation is the same as Pig, except: > - Two standard dice are rolled. If neither shows a 1, their sum is added to the turn total. > - If a single 1 is rolled, the player scores nothing and the turn ends. > If two 1s are rolled, the player’s entire score is lost, and the turn ends. We quickly got into the game and made it a bit more complicated. We added to the rules: - If your current roll score is a double (11, 22, 33, 44, etc.), you must roll again. - If your potential score (score going into the turn plus current roll score) is a double, you must roll again. - To win, you must hit 100 exactly; if you go over 100, you lose the points for your current turn and must pass the dice. - If your potential score is 97, you lose the points for the current roll and must pass the dice. - If your potential score is 98 or 99, you lose all your points and must pass the dice. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dice-games/533779/16 "2021-08-10T01:56:19Z")
There are a bunch of roll and write games — some use custom dice, and many use different colored dice. Here is a list: > **[Mechanism: Roll-and-Write | Family | BoardGameGeek](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/41222/mechanism-roll-and-write/linkeditems/boardgamefamily?pageid=1&sort=rank)** > > Games (expansions, promos, etc.) using a roll-and-write mechanism in gameplay, not just in images or theme. > > > These are (usually) small and portable games that involve players rolling dice and marking the results on sheets of paper or erasable... Qwixx is family friendly but does need dice of different colors. Nice that you play even on other player’s turns. Brian